Emperor of solo play

Chapter 174 - Red Desert (1)

Ddul-goo-ruhk, ddul-goo-ruhk······.

There were two Skeleton Knights on Skeleton Steeds around the Sand Snake. They looked forbidding as they moved slowly.  It looked as if they were on guard.  Both of the Skeleton Knights were showing a bold front, yet Hyrkan didn't feel good looking at them.  His foul mood was inevitable.

‘The Skeleton Knight was taken down in a single...’

When he arrived at the Red Desert, it was as if the Sand Snake had been waiting for Hyrkan.  He immediately came across the most famous monster inside the Red Desert.

Hyrkan decided to answer the Sand Snake's welcome.  He gave it Skeleton Fragments as gifts for coming into its house.

The battle itself wasn't too bad.  The Sand Snake's exoskeleton was hard as it looked.  On the other hand, the monster didn't have any Special Abilities.  The Skeleton Warriors were trained well enough to fight in a melee with the Sand Snake.  Then there were the Skeleton Knights strengthened using the Legendary Rank Ancient Power.  With the help of the Skeleton Knights on their Skeleton Steeds, the Sand Snake wasn't a difficult opponent.

Moreover, the [Corrosive Ghost] Skill effect worked very well on this monster.  Hyrkan had a Transcendent Rank Ancient Power leftover inside his storage, so he had used it on the [Skeleton Science] Skill.  The [Corrosive Ghost] Skill had become much stronger, and it quickly weakened the exoskeleton of the Sand Snake.  Thanks to the recently purchased [Cursed Doll] Skill, it was easy to inflict the Curse.

The early portion of the battle was so easy that it made Hyrkan surprised.

‘Of course, there is nothing easy inside this game.’

In a flash, the Sand Snake suddenly grabbed onto the Skeleton Knight.  After biting the Skeleton Knight, who was wailing away at the Sand Snake, the ground sunk inwards.  The Skeleton Knight was killed.

Instantaneous Death.

Results that usually never happened to his Skeleton underlings occurred.

Afterwards, he entered into another battle with a Sand Snake.  In the process, two Skeleton Warriors suffered the same fate as the Skeleton Knight.

‘I get what they were trying to do.  Still, the Skeleton Knight atop the Skeleton Steed is immense.  How does it make any sense that it could be dragged underground like that?’

After assessing the battle again, Hyrkan clicked his tongue in dismay.

This wasn't an insignificant loss that could be glossed over.

Hyrkan couldn't summon the Skeleton Knights indefinitely.  The Skeleton Knight suffering an instantaneous death was a very big loss for him.

‘I think the Golems might be the only ones that can tank the Sand Snake.’

Of course, he had to change his tactics from the norm.  He couldn't use the Skeleton Knights as hybrid Tankers and Strikers.  For tanking, he would have to send out a big Golem.

‘My magical consumption would be too large.’

In the end, that was the problem.

Hyrkan didn't use the Golems as his main troops not, because they were weak.  The Golems were strong.  However, the cost of summoning was too large to use them against normal monsters.  Basically, if one took out a Golem in a fight where one Skeleton Knight would suffice, one was killing a chicken with a butcher’s knife meant for a cow.

Moreover, everything Hyrkan did here was costing money.  It wasn't as if there was an infinite number of consumables he could use.  If his consumption was too fast, it would restrict the number of hours he could operate here.