Chapter 357: The Lost World (12)

The moment I activated Lord of Bones, it happened.

Clatter!

The Skeleton Troll's remains twitched.

[Skeleton Soldier 1002 desires to kill humans.]

[The inscribed Command Matrix (A++) activates automatic command.]

[The Rune of Efficiency nullifies additional control requirements.]

[Control used: 2]

[Would you like to restore damaged areas?]

[The Rune of Efficiency greatly reduces Mana consumption.]

Restore.

Crunch! Crack-crack!

Scattered bones pulled inward, reconnecting as fractured segments sealed shut in an instant.

[You have directly utilized a necromantic array of A+ rank or higher!]

[Aggregating subordinate-rank mastery...]

[Lord of Bones skill proficiency has greatly increased!]

[Lord of Bones skill proficiency has reached 25%.]

[You can now repair damaged bone structures.]

[You may assign (2) bonus Stats to any undead under your control.]

[Undead receiving Stats will develop significantly increased Affection toward you.]

[Warning: Due to the Rune of Interference Block, Affection may disperse instantly like smoke.]

[Current Controlled Units:

— 1002 (Skeleton Troll Lv. 27)]

I stared blankly at the cascading messages. All I did was use the necromantic formula Gith-Za-Rai had carved into them, yet the skill proficiency surged explosively.

Is this intentional?

There was no way Gith-Za-Rai didn't know enemies were lurking. She had to have foreseen the coming battle and predicted that Gilaut would drop hints. Maybe she sensed how much I relied on her, and deliberately made me walk alone even briefly, so I could grow.

"..."

I turned again, eyes drifting over the floating status window.

Clatter... clatter...

The skeletal Troll rose fully, towering among countless corpses as it searched for a weapon suited to its size. Spotting a massive iron maul, it shook off the dried black blood, and hefted it proudly.

Bonus stats to 1002.

[Confirm assignment of bonus Stats to target 1002, Skeleton Troll Lv. 27?]

Confirm.

[Distributing Stats.]

1002's Strength, Stamina, and Affection increased.

Vwoom! Vwung!

He swung the maul in wide, eager arcs, practically vibrating with excitement as he looked my way.

[1002 wishes to tell you that you can rely on him completely!]

"Wow... he really got up again?" Gilaut asked.

"You taught me how. Why are you surprised?" I asked.

"It's still shocking! Seeing someone other than my master do this—another undead, no less—is honestly unbelievable."

It wasn't that strange. After all, Lord of Bones was Gith-Za-Rai's unique skill. Of course it worked best with her own inscriptions.

"Let's keep going."

Control wasn't an issue.

Clatter. Clatter. Clatter.

[Control: 27/50]

Even after raising the last soldier, I still had plenty of room left. It was barely over half my total capacity.

"It's like watching my lord herself work," Gilaut murmured as the restored skeletons rose one by one.

It wasn't anything impressive, really. Then again, they weren't exactly my soldiers. Both the runes engraved in their skulls and the interference block belonged to Gith-Za-Rai. If she wanted, she could reclaim them instantly.

Still, after assigning bonus stats, the Affection floating above their heads wasn't unpleasant to see.

Clatter!

[1014 says he would happily perform an orc folk dance for you!]

Clatter-clatter!

[1017 agrees enthusiastically!]

[1024 says he can even perform his tribe's lion dance! His increased Agility makes him even better at it!]

I held up a hand to stop the overly eager ones. "That won't be necessary..."

I glanced over the twenty revived skeletons, then knelt to inspect a fallen Gremlin corpse. Black, ink-thick blood pooled along its skin. It was chilling.

[Insufficient Control.]

[Required Control: 25]

[Available Control: 27/50]

Doesn't work.

Of course. Gremlins had no necromantic inscriptions from Gith-Za-Rai. They required the full amount of control, with no discounts. Worse of all, not a single green essence shimmered from them.

Right. With Essence Absorption Lv. 1, only killing someone like Chandler or an imperial guardsman ever yielded green light...

Though the Demon King's possession had made them abnormally strong, that strength was not their own.

I checked other Gremlin corpses, but there was nothing worthwhile. No essence either. Even their weapons were inferior to the gear of my skeleton soldiers. Nevertheless, there was no point in being disappointed.

"Let's move."

The real exploration has started now. Since this was a demon-world incursion base, it was worth examining thoroughly. Without Gith-Za-Rai, when would I ever get to enter a place like this? Even if I could enter, venturing alone was far worse than proceeding with Gilaut and the soldiers.

More importantly, this is undoubtedly Gith-Za-Rai's test.

If I turned back early or failed to investigate properly, she would not react kindly. She could even make me repeat it. In that case, I might as well push forward until the end.

Clatter. Clatter.

Whether they grasped what I intended or were merely following orders to bar my escape, Gilaut and the skeleton soldiers advanced on my cue. My steps fell unconsciously silent after that brutal battle and the encounter with those bizarre creatures.

My grip on the sword tightened. The farther we went, the dimmer the light grew, and even the air thinned. The cave grew quieter and quieter. Our many footsteps filled the silence, but soon even that felt swallowed.

Scuff.

I walked ahead, eyes scanning the ground. On the unmoving dust were small footprints, smaller than a human's. Something had moved here.

I focused sharply. Even in this oppressive darkness, the tracks became clearer and clearer to me.

Gremlins. They'd gone back and forth more than once.

The moment I realized it, something flickered sharply inside my mind.

[Detection Lv. 1 restored!]

[Your trained senses activate.]

[Most clear traces can now be identified.]

Once I spotted one, the Gremlins' tracks stood out even through the darkness.

Gilaut's presence slipped between my heightened senses. "You noticed something too?"

Scrrrkkkk...

He scraped his blade along the cave wall and showed me what clung to the tip. A smear of pale pink dust. "Isn't this quartz? You know, the stuff those Gremlins were carrying."

"Right."

He pointed with his blade. "It's all over the place."

By the faint light, streaks of pastel-colored quartz clung to the rock in shades of pink, greenish, and pale red. Most of it was far above Gremlin height, and every reachable patch had been carved clean. They appeared to have exhausted the minerals deeper inside and migrated toward the entrance to harvest the dark moss.

Killing such diligent creatures for nothing...

"And... do you hear that up ahead?"

Tik. Tik...

"It's boiling."

The overlapping bubbling hinted at the temperature.

I took the lead and walked forward. "That's probably the sulfur spring they mentioned."

The passage narrowed, but the rising heat and thickening sound confirmed it.

Fwooosh...!

The tunnel suddenly expanded, and a cloud of sickly yellow vapor washed over us. A shallow sulfur spring hissed and bubbled, belching yellow steam. Despite the suffocating fumes, the spring itself seemed unimpressive. The Gremlins had likely mined every last bit of nearby quartz on the Demon King's orders, then moved outward to harvest moss.

Those earnest things. And they were killed pointlessly.

"So the Demon King really spreads his territory through springs like this...? It's not even deep," asked Gilaut.

"A dimensional tear can be made with a bowl of water."

Gilaut stared at me in surprise. "Oh? Is that so!"

I muttered, almost defensively, "Just something a sorcerer told me."

That sorcerer no longer existed, and the thought stabbed somewhere deep inside me. Gilaut didn't pry. He wiggled a bright yellow quartz stone. "Should I throw it?"

[The Demon King Murmur watches you with eager, shining eyes.]

So he was watching. Probably because we were near his spring.

"Don't throw it."

[The Demon King Murmur rages, demanding to know what kind of law that is.]

What law? Don't be ridiculous.

I ignored him completely. Leaving the soldiers to gawk at the sulfur spring, I focused on Detection. From far away, there was a thin, steady current of water.

"This way." I followed the sound, the soldiers trailing behind. As the trickle grew louder, the narrow corridor opened into an impossibly massive river. "Didn't expect this in a cave..."

It was too vast to even consider crossing on foot. No visible beginning, no visible end. Only the heavy flow of dark water.

Plop.

Gilaut dropped the quartz stone into the river. He was trying to test the depth. It kept sinking... and sinking... and sinking, going far beyond my detection range.

"I can't even guess how deep."

I nodded. "We can't go down there."

Especially not in a demon incursion zone . Who knew what lurked in that depthless black?

Clatter... clatter...

[1002 wishes to dive into the river in your stead.]

Rejected.

It was far too dangerous. It appeared calm, but who knew what waited below? If he were swept away, there'd be no recovering the bones.

[1040 thinks it would be better to go back and enjoy a hot spring bath.]

Is that skeleton insane?

I ignored the soldiers' suggestions and continued to think.

"Hey! Something's coming!"

Shwshhhh... shwoosh...

A massive boat cut through the dark current, gliding toward us. The hull pierced the water with eerie smoothness like mist being split open. A long oar protruded from the stern, dipping left and right, yet no rower could be seen. The boat was easily large enough for fifty people, but no one was aboard.

"A ghost ship?" Gilaut whispered, fascinated.

[1083 is terrified of ghosts!]

1083 was a three-meter-tall Skeleton Ogre.

The ghost would be terrified of you.

With more soldiers came more strange personalities.

Eeeeek...

The oar arced gracefully, carving a wide stroke that sent ripples across the river's surface. The boat stopped ten meters from shore, balanced like a performer mid-trick, then drifted gently toward land.

Thunk.

Its bow tapped against the ground.

"We're supposed to board?"

A hollow voice flowed from the boat. But no matter where I looked, no one was there.

"Ooooh! A real ghost ship! I've always wanted to ride one!" Gilaut shouted with unrestrained excitement.

Was he serious? Black smoke swirled restlessly from his neck stump, and the Skeleton Ogre retreated five whole steps in horror. I found myself stepping half a pace away from the Ogre out of sheer embarrassment.

And then, the voice erupted again. "You stupid bastard! Everything you said from start to finish was wrong, you worthless sack of bones! If anything's a ghost, it's YOU! Who the hell are you calling a ghost!?"