Stop, Friendly Fire!

<Chapter 24. Operation - Bro, why are you there? - 3>

While patrolling the inner city for the past few days, Lee Shin Woo had figured out exactly where all the knights and soldiers were stationed.

From first glance, their defense looked impenetrable, with no avenue of getting through, yet the corridor leading to the lord's bedroom chamber wasn't watched. And above all, so long as one wasn't discovered as soon as they entered the lord's chamber, no one would even try to stop them from exiting through the corridor.

[Thank you for all your hard work, Sir Seta.]

"You too. Is the lord asleep?"

[Yes, he is. With the Magician Leader. Ahem.]

The knight sheepishly slandered the lord. Lee Shin Woo imagined their skin and bones coming into contact with each other, entwined in lovemaking, and felt truly disgusted. But that just meant that this was his opportunity!

"If you're aware of that, why are you standing here? We should just let them enjoy themselves and leave them be."

[Actually, I've already sent the other soldiers away. I've already confirmed that it's safe, so I was going to go...]

"Alright. I should go rest too."

Since a level 6 magician was with the lord, more protection shouldn't be necessary. As such, with just one sentence from Lee Shin Woo, the knight obeyed and left without any suspicion.

His plan probably wouldn't progress as smoothly if the level 6 Knight Leader were here, but as soon as Lee Shin Woo had entered the inner city, the Knight Leader completely trusted in Lee Shin Woo and continued with upholding the imperial command. Everyone in the city trusted Lee Shin Woo!

'Yeah, this moment is when it's most exciting.'

When he was sure that the knight had left and there was no one left that could see him, Lee Shin Woo comfortably walked through the corridor. Soon, he gripped a Lightning Tooth in his hand.

'At the very least, they fortified the room with magic in case of intruders.'

'Even if it's rotten, it's still a Herring', huh. The lord's bedroom was complicatedly equipped with alarm and defense magic. But that was all. To Lee Shin Woo, who could ascertain the very base structure of magic, it was even more useless than a physical wall.

"Hut."

Lee Shin Woo swung his blade, emitting powerful lightning, while curving it intricately; the next moment, all the magic that had been set-up vanished.

If a smarter magician had set this up, then the moment that the magic was forcefully dispelled, there would be an additional measure, like a magical formula that trapped the invader. But unfortunately, the city's Magician Leader wasn't that talented.

"Hmph."

But regardless of how stupid the magician was, they should at least be able to quickly recognize when their magic was released. Therefore, Lee Shin Woo didn't hesitate and walked through the room. To an onlooker, seeing the two bare undead would cause severe psychological damage; the man and woman looked shocked and locked eyes with him.

[Huh!?]

[You're...]

He hadn't acted very covertly, but he had been quick; the moment he entered the room and they discovered him... Lee Shin Woo's Lightning Tooth shot out like lightning, and struck the Magician Leader's neck, cutting her off from speaking.

No matter how much Lee Shin Woo's stats had gone up, or how powerful Rule of Bone was, an elite level 6 undead wouldn't go down from just a single strike. However, what he used wasn't just a regular sword. It was artifact that contained the lightning element, an element that he'd unleashed to its full potential.

[Ga...ah...]

"You probably can't move. Yeah, it seems like you don't have lightning resistance either. I would've preferred if you did, and could still move around..."

Amongst all of his other elements, lightning was by far his most powerful. The lightning element was inherently quick, and was ridiculously powerful as well. Aside from that, the lightning element possessed a special ability: the electric current would paralyze the recipient for a short time.

Even if he wasn't able to kill them, the fact that he was able to momentarily impair their movement meant that he had an advantage. Moreover, the electricity prevented one from speaking, so it was suited for covert operations.

[What are you...]

The lord stood up and attempted to yell at Lee Shin Woo's brutality, but from out of nowhere, a Lightning Tooth flew like lightning at the back of his nape, striking true. Of course, the lord was likewise silenced.

If the two hadn't been bare naked, with no defensive equipment on, and hadn't been engrossed in each other, things probably wouldn't have progressed so easily.

'As I thought, they can't stop themselves from engaging in their habits... Because they weren't able to completely give up their humanity, they die so emptily.'

The lord and the magician had stiffened in place, but Lee Shin Woo didn't become careless, and struck them with another two flying Lightning Tooths. This was because their paralysis would soon wear off.

[Guah...]

"..."

Lee Shin Woo, who'd acquired so much time to finish the job, gripped the first Lightning Tooth that was still embedded in the magician's neck, and discharged all the lightning, completely blowing her head up. A truly clean and explosive strike, befitting of the name Bursting Thunder!

Lee Shin Woo's lightning had paralyzed her mana, so it was impossible for her to guard against it, even if she had attempted to use her magic to do so! Ultimately, the level 6 elite magician pitifully lost her life in an instant.

[You have acquired 157,550 Perium.]

[You have acquired the Lv6 Kadinan Magician Leader, Soulrit's finger bone.]

Lee Shin Woo collected the loot with his free hand that wasn't gripping a sword, and turned his head. The lord was bare naked like his lover, Soulrit, who had been the first to go, but when Lee Shin Woo looked over the lord's unattractive body, and in particular, a specific part of his body, he became more and more pissed off.

"I'm a level 6 undead too, so why...!?"

[Gaahk...!]

Of course, it was because they were bare naked that he was able to kill them so easily, but even so... why!? He couldn't go any further, as saying anything more left a bitter taste in his mouth. Lee Shin Woo gripped the sword burrowed in the lord's neck and forcefully twisted.

A powerful electric current was quietly discharged, afflicting the lord's body with a horrific pain, but... contrary to Lee Shin Woo's desire to torment and curse at the lord for hours on end, the lord soon died.

[You have acquired 210,780 Perium.]

[You have acquired the Lv6 Undead Commander - Nellopa's lower jawbone.]

[You have acquired the Lv6 Undead Commander - Nellopa's sphenoid bone.]

It had been a long time since one of Bone Reinforcement's abilities, Lucky Finish had activated, but because of it, he'd acquired two level 6 elite bones. This should've been a happy occasion, but he didn't feel all that happy about it right now.

He'd definitely killed the lord with his own two hands, yet it felt unbearable, as it felt like he'd been defeated by the lord! Lee Shin Woo had acted it up, but Lee Shin Woo similarly couldn't completely give up on his humanity.

"Damn it... Huh?"

However, whilst muttering in frustration, Lee Shin Woo turned his attention elsewhere, looking at the table next to the bed where the lord and the magician had placed their clothes. Plan A was progressing well, so this was something he definitely needed!

"The equipment will probably transform. But the clothes that have no abilities should be fine..."

Lee Shin Woo steeled himself and grabbed the pile of clothes, but he felt something else inside of it, something that wasn't cloth. The moment Lee Shin Woo tilted his head, he saw an odd light. Fortunately, the clothes hadn't changed, but an item that was hidden within them had changed!

[You have acquired the Lv5 Heart Evolution Pendant. Through Bone Reinforcement, the item has transformed. You have acquired the Lv6 Bone Evolution Pendant.]

"Oh!?"

As soon as the light subsided and a message appeared, Lee Shin Woo hastily grabbed onto the... level 6 pendant that had been inside the clothes.

The pendant shined a clear, dark grey and was composed of bone as expected. He didn't know what it was originally made of, but he could strangely feel that it was extremely durable!

"I didn't expect to get something like this... Moreover, it's a level 6 artifact. As I thought, level 3 danger zones sure are different!"

Lee Shin Woo was deeply touched and muttered. Moreover, this was the second level 6 accessory he'd gotten since the earring!

It'd evolved from level 5 to level 6, so he felt like he could tell what its special characteristics were; moreover, all he had to do was wear the pendant around his neck, so he could actually equip it, unlike the earring! He checked the item's information in genuine happiness. Then...

[Bone Evolution Pendant]

[Lv6]

[Durability: 570/570]

[Options: Health +30, Magic +30]

[Special Passive Skill: Bone Evolution - Through this skill's effect, your bones gradually, and permanently become stronger. In effect, as your health increases, your body evolves.]

"What!?"

Putting aside that vague description of evolving his body, it would increase his health permanently, so he could understand why it was a level 6 artifact!

But if that's the case, then did the earring that he'd picked up before have a similar permanent growth ability? Unfortunately, before he could check its info, it had transformed into bone, so he didn't have a way of checking its previous ability.

'Wait, no. There's nothing to feel bad about. This pendant is a good enough find.'

Moreover, this pendant's growth ability was created due to its evolution from Bone Reinforcement. Just because it was a high level item didn't mean that every high level item would have this kind of ability.

Now then, there's one thing left...

"Do I just equip this or absorb it?"

Even so, the skill was too special. He was worried that he may not gain the skill if he so recklessly absorbed it. But on the other hand, even if he didn't absorb the skill, he would be able to call it from Bone Armory.

"...Yeah. Dad always used to tell me this. Things will work out.'

It didn't take long for Lee Shin Woo to make his decision. Honestly, he didn't have much time to even think things through right now, which helped him quickly make his decision. He immediately raised the pendant and activated Bone Reinforcement.

[The Bone Reinforcement skill has become Lv8. The amount of information you can extract from each and every bone has increased.]

[Absorbing the Bone Evolution Pendant. Health and Magic have increased by 30. The Bone Evolution skill is absorbed, divided between Rule of Bone and Bone Armory. Both skills' abilities have increased.]

[The Rule of Bone skill has become Lv8. Bones under the effect of Rule of Bone will gradually and permanently evolve. All stats have increased by 5.]

[The Bone Armory skill has become Lv7. You can now summon six pieces of equipment at a time. All equipment information recorded in the Bone Armory are gradually and permanently upgraded. Health and Magic have increased by 20.]

"Oh, oooh...!"

Right after he checked his messages, Lee Shin Woo was sure that his gambit was a success.

He hadn't acquired Bone Evolution as it was; he had fundamentally improved his two core skills: Bone Armory and Rule of Bone. He had attained a much better result than merely absorbing Bone Evolution.

From the start, he'd always reinforced his bones through Rule of Bone. Absorbing the skill was the right choice, as Rule of Bone had attained the Bone Evolution skill.

'But that's not all. Bone Armory was affected as well.'

If he were honest, he was much happier about Bone Armory's evolution than Rule of Bone's. All his weapons' information would be upgraded because of Bone Evolution!

It was extremely radical to say, but as time passed, he would be able to summon level 6, maybe even level 7 equipment!

'I'd just infiltrated the level 3 danger zone to find out what was going on inside to complete the golem's quest, yet I found an unimaginable treasure here.'

When he thought about it, it was always like this. Obtaining his current karma, the Joker, as well as core abilities, Bone Armory and Rule of Bone, was all due to luck.

Of course, he hadn't obtained all of that just because he was lucky. He'd worked diligently in multiple areas so that he could collect different pieces of karma; the moment those pieces gathered into one, that karma had simply sublimated into something greater. The growth of Rule of Bone and Bone Armory was similar.

"...Nice. Then..."

He felt like he could destroy the entire city all by himself, but Lee Shin Woo wouldn't act purely out of self-confidence.

Lee Shin Woo sighed deeply, even though nothing came out, and examined the loot he'd acquired with a calm gaze. Whether Operation - Bro, why are you there? would proceed with Plan A or Plan B relied on this loot, the lord... Nellopa's lower jawbone and sphenoid bone.