Chapter 20: Luck of the Hapless

Peace had a good memory...

Not the best, but good.

Good enough to vividly replay the harrowing scene of the beastified Lacan’s execution. He was confident he’d be able to replicate David’s strike perfectly.

Digging his back heel into the bone, Peace ground it around until he found a somewhat stable foothold, nearly trapping himself in place. Then he slid his other foot forward while swinging the femur crosswise, aiming for the skeleton’s neck.

Immediate regret flooded Peace’s mind.

The problem was...

’Ah, I’m an idiot.’

He’d replicated the ’execution’ perfectly.

His enemy might be brainless, but it wasn’t going to accept an execution like the delirious Soul Stealer.

The first Skeleton Warrior raised its bone sword and deflected Peace’s strike with near-equal force, knocking the already unstable Night Elf sideways while the skeleton itself stumbled backward and slid a short distance down the mountain.

And while the incline wasn’t great, only about 40 degrees, one misstep was all it took for Peace to slip on a random bone and nearly join it.

Momentum carried Peace’s left shoulder down and forward.

To keep himself from stumbling straight into the other three skeletons, he threw his head back and drove his left heel into the slope beneath him.

’Ow!’

Peace barely managed to skid to a stop in an almost split as the next Skeleton Warrior closed in, its sword raised.

One hand had been propping him up, but he was forced to grab the femur with it and reinforce his grip.

The skeleton swung down as Peace lost what little balance he had left, its sword crashing straight into the middle of the femur raised above his head. Peace landed awkwardly on his back, but fortunately, some of the force was absorbed by his backpack.

Unfortunately, his makeshift weapon had snapped in the middle, leaving him with two awkwardly sized clubs.

Sprawled on his back and staring at the red sky, Peace watched three Skeleton Warriors loom above him, the fourth already climbing back toward the group.

His gaze met the hollow eye sockets of the emotionless executioners.

’Yup, this is pretty bad.’

That didn’t mean he was going to give up.

His sister might be here, in this strange world.

He’d gracefully accept death if he confirmed she was truly gone, but that hadn’t happened yet.

And also...

’If I’m gonna die here, it’s not going to be to a Tier 9!’

Let alone one of the lowest classes?!

He’d be shamed in the afterlife!

Peace threw both halves of the femur at the skull of the nearest skeleton, staggering it, then rolled over while slipping his arms out of his backpack straps.

By the time he rolled onto his back again, he had the backpack clutched by its straps. He flung it upward at the three skeletons, using it as a shield against several sword strikes that cut into the bag and slammed it back into Peace’s face.

Hot pain flared across his face as one of the canteens in the bag smashed into his nose.

But there was no time to dwell on it.

Peace threw the torn bag off himself, kicked wildly at the mass of bones, and used the motion to send himself into a small roll down the Maw of Hell.

He managed to escape the three, only to slide directly into the first Skeleton Warrior, which had recovered farther down the slope and wasted no time attacking.

Grabbing the nearest bone with his right hand, a frail tibia, Peace swung upward to counter the blow.

But without much support, he couldn’t come close to matching the power of the skeleton’s downward slash. The bone sword cleaved through the tibia with relative ease, but the deflection knocked its path aside. Instead of sinking into Peace’s chest, it skimmed his left forearm.

Peace held back tears as he reached up, grabbed the skeleton’s arm, and yanked it off balance and down beside him.

Using the opening, he slid farther down the mountain to gain space. Narrowly escaping the other three who had been just about to cleave his head off.

Unfortunately, his little maneuver sent him sliding into the same skull from earlier. That same skull bounced farther down the mountain and crashed into another Skeleton Warrior, aggroing it.

He now had five closing in on him.

But at least Peace could stand...

For how long was another question.

His ankle hurt. Blood trickled from his nose and slid down his chin. His left palm was stained red with blood seeping from his forearm.

Peace looked down at the skeleton scrambling up the slope toward him, then back up at the other four bounding down the mountain after him.

’...Uh oh.’

A nervous smile crept across Peace’s face as blood fell into his mouth and stained his teeth a bright crimson.

He nearly let out a laugh.

It was funny... hilarious even, how much the world hated him.

It took his sister, then gave him a small glimmer of hope, fed by a ferocious self-delusion that he could reunite with her in this foreign world.

Yet, with every situation he’d been thrown into, it didn’t seem like he was ever meant to survive...

There wasn’t really any skill in his survival over the past two days at all. Just luck.

He should have been dead three times over.

But...

’What kind of backwards luck do I have to end up in these situations in the first place?!’

His bloody smile widened.

’I’m not lucky at all!’

Bending down, Peace snatched up the nearest femur. Fed by hate, he spun and put all of his strength into a wild strike aimed at the skeleton charging up the hill.

Peace’s red eyes seemed to glow as his blow collided with the Skeleton Warrior’s head, knocking its unsightly cranium from its resting place.

[You have slain a Tier 9 F-Class, Skeleton Warrior]

[+2 EXP]

Of course, this reckless attack wasn’t without consequence...

The skeleton’s sword, now ownerless, continued forward toward his chest. Just as the tip was about to sink into him, it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

’Ah, seriously, world... Do I have bad or good luck?’

When a beast was killed in the dungeon in Enemies of Corruption, its body would nearly always remain, but items would disappear. If the item didn’t disappear, then you earned it as a drop.

So, Peace had been saved by his bad luck of receiving no drop.

Naturally, he wasn’t entirely sure how that functioned in this world, or whether it worked the same at all, but he didn’t exactly have the luxury of hesitation at the moment.

Peace cared little about whatever the separated skull might have flown into and snapped his head up at the four Skeleton Warriors nearly upon him.

Thoughts of his sister filled his mind, and his smile widened.

’I’ll either be seeing you soon...’

’Or I’ll have sent these fuckers back into the ground.’