The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon

The chains coiled around my bones like a woman’s long hair. The crimson chains emerging from the medal emitted a dark red glow as they constricted tightly around every joint and bone. The thin chains wrapped around each of my ribs.

Clink! Clink!

The chains binding my bones crackled with crimson flames. Yet, I felt no pain. Not even a message indicating my health was depleting appeared.

[Access denied.]

[Barrier activation has been forcibly terminated.]

[Curse overload. Unmeasurable backlash. The sealing chains have turned against the caster.]

Curse overload? What does that mean?

[Assimilation Rate is dropping.]

[79.4%...]

The crimson chains weren’t binding my bones. They were constricting something inside of me.

”This... This doesn’t make any sense!”

The chains gave off a deep, muted rumble before exploding. Whatever was thrashing inside me was now tightly ensnared. Then, it was dragged away, scraping along the ground, toward the medal resting on the stone.

”Ahh, guh, aaaaaaaah!”

I heard a scream, filled with horror and disbelief, tear through my ribs and crawl up my spine. The shriek, thick with fear and despair, grew weaker with each cry. Then, it suddenly disappeared into the night.

Boom!

With a loud explosion, crimson letters were engraved onto the medal resting on the stone. The ominous black aura that had been swirling around the graveyard dissipated instantly.

”Neeeigh?”

The reddish-brown steed, which had been used as a sacrifice, let out a light snort. The other two horses were also completely unharmed.

Clatter.

I moved my hands, then my legs. I wiggled each finger one by one. I rotated my neck in a full circle.

Then, I stammered, ”Wh-What... just happened?”

Isaac was gone. I had fully regained control of my skeleton. However, this wasn’t the time to stand around in a daze.

In the silence, only one sound reached my ears.

Tap.

Rena took a step forward. Clenching her fists and gritting her teeth, she was drenched in cold sweat. She regained her composure slowly.

Is she waking up from a nightmare?

A thin trickle of blood ran down from her lips as if something inside her had been damaged.

Click! Click!

Acorn had been circling Rena when he suddenly recognized me. The little creature hopped forward energetically, bounding straight to me.

Just as he had seen through Isaac when he took over my skeleton, Acorn now recognized that I had regained control. That in itself was impressive and endearing.

I crouched and held out my hand, and Acorn leaped directly into my arms. Though his tail had initially been raised in vigilance, it now wagged so vigorously that I could feel the wind it created.

Suddenly, a translucent status window appeared above Acorn’s head.

Ding!

[Acorn (Wolf Lv. 11) has achieved the hidden achievement of Recognizing the Master.]

[Acorn’s Wisdom has increased by 1.]

[Congratulations! Acorn can now recognize even your soul.]

[Mastery of Lord of Bones has increased significantly.]

[Mastery has reached 30%.]

[You can now grant a bonus stat (+1) to a controlled entity.]

[Under your control...]

Grant bonus stat.

I immediately allocated the stat to Acorn.

[Selecting target...]

[Acorn’s Wisdom has increased by 1.]

The stat was automatically assigned, and a message indicating an increase in Affection appeared.

[Acorn is extremely happy!]

He’s growing fast.

I approached Rena with Acorn in my arms. It was as if the nightmare had lifted—her eyes were now fully open, filled with clarity. She watched Acorn wag his tail in my embrace.

”Master? Have you really returned?” Rena asked.

I nodded and stepped closer to her. The crisp, late-autumn night air felt remarkably fresh.

”I’m sorry... I couldn’t help you,” Rena muttered.

I should be the person saying those words, not her.

”Thank you... for recognizing me,” I croaked.

”I thought... I’d never see you again.” Rena trembled slightly as she leaned against my arm. ”How are you feeling? Are you hurt?”

”I’m fine. The dream itself wasn’t much. Trying to wake up from it was exhausting.”

Click.

She unfastened a potion from her arm brace and quickly gulped it down. The potion wasn’t as potent as the marquis’ elixirs, but it seemed effective enough to restore some energy.

After regaining some of her strength, Rena’s complexion looked much better.

”How... did you escape?” Rena asked.

”I don’t know. What did you bring earlier?” I replied.

”There was a modified ballista in the armory. I took note of it and brought it with me.”

”Did you carry it here yourself?”

”No, I loaded it onto a carriage.”

Rena pointed downward. Below the narrowing mountain path, the faint outline of a carriage was visible under the moonlight. The two-horse carriage seemed to have made it as far as possible.

”That makes five horses in total...” I muttered.

No matter where we went, we wouldn’t have to worry about transportation.

Clatter! Clatter!

Even though we hadn’t decided on a destination yet, Acorn had already taken the lead a few steps ahead as if he intended to guide us.

”Where are you going?” Rena said.

Tap.

Rena took a step forward to pick up Acorn, but a small yet desperate voice echoed inside my mind.

—Hey!

What was that?

The voice came from behind me. I turned my skull, but there was nothing there.

—Over here! I’m right here!

Rena pointed to the rock. ”Master, that thing... it’s shaking.”

The metal medal on top of the rock was vibrating slightly. It was the medal engraved with Grassmere’s landscape—the same one the lord had given to me as a token of gratitude for resolving the request. It had never seemed particularly valuable.

”I forgot about that,” I admitted.

I stepped closer and looked at the medal. It was no longer the same as before.

Isaac... Bel... Homec...?

The commemorative medal, once adorned solely with the landscape of Grassmere, now had the sorcerer’s name etched clearly onto it. As I approached, the voice became even more distinct.

—Don’t go! I said, don’t leave me here! If I stay here, my consciousness will completely vanish!

Clatter! Clatter!

Acorn jumped onto the rock and furiously stomped on the medal with his dirt-covered paws.

—You little mutt! I spared you, and now you dare—!

”Can you shut up already?” I grumbled.

—Grrr... Aaaagh!

”Who are you talking to?” Rena slowly read the red letters engraved on the medal. ”No way...”

The moonlight illuminated the medal, and since the writing itself emitted a faint glow, it wasn’t difficult to read.

”Isaac? You mean that sorcerer?” Rena asked.

—That’s right! It’s me!

However, Rena couldn’t hear his voice.

”Looks like he’s trapped in there,” I answered.

Rena scoffed. ”Oh-ho... really?”

Clink.

Rena picked up the medal that Acorn had been stomping on. ”We definitely can’t just leave this behind.”

—Of course not!

”I’ll deal with this myself. We should toss it into a furnace and melt it down. Or maybe drop it into a vat of acid?”

—What are you talking about?!

”Oh, but if we destroy it, will the soul be freed? That would be a problem.”

”I don’t know about that.”

”Then maybe we should just toss it into a swamp or sink it deep into the ocean. I’ll figure it out.”

—Hey! No! Don’t listen to her!

That sounds more like a confirmation that we should do it...

—I... I can actually help you! You’ve witnessed my power firsthand, haven’t you? What do you want?

​​”I don’t know.”

I had no interest in what he was saying. What surprised me more was Rena’s response.

Throw it into a swamp? Let it sink into the sea?

Three hundred years apart, yet these two people had strikingly similar thoughts.

Could they be similar in personality?

A strange chill ran down my spine.

”Actually...”

I ended up telling Rena most of what had happened with him. Although it felt like I had experienced a long adventure, once I started speaking, the story was over before I knew it.

Rena listened intently, alternating between gasps of admiration and sighs of frustration. Then, as if she remembered something, she pulled out a peculiar silver candlestick from her coat. It had a simple circular base with a sharp spike for holding a candle.

”What’s that?” I asked.

”It’s the Candle of Yemera.”

”The Goddess of Repentance?”

”That’s right. You know your theology well.”

I had once absorbed the doctrine of Yemera from a fallen paladin’s corpse.

Without pain, there is no repentance. If you sin with your whole body, then you must suffer with your whole body to be absolved.

Rena inserted a small candle into the silver candlestick and continued speaking. ”It’s a consecrated relic. I got it from a defrocked bishop. I was planning to use it to threaten the sorcerer... but it looks like the problem has already been solved?”

Fwoosh!

The small candle ignited brightly.

”What are you planning to do?”

”We should put it to good use. You said your mind is still linked with him, right?”

”Yeah. For now.”

”Then... you should be able to tell if he can feel pain, right?” Rena said eerily.

—What the hell?! W-Where did you even get that crazy woman Yemera’s candle?!

Isaac’s voice suddenly turned desperate.

—What’s the problem?Turn it off! Put it out!

I didn’t bother relaying Isaac’s words. Even if he screamed for her to stop, there was no way Rena would listen. Instead, she seemed to be enjoying herself as she scorched the medal with the candle.

—Aaah! Aaaahhh! Ugh... Aaaah!

Isaac’s pitiful, agonized screams echoed loudly in my head.

”It seems like he can feel pain,” I commented.

Rena let out a small sigh. ”Hah. Good. I traded an entire opium den for this thing. Looks like it was worth it.”

”Hmm...”

”Any signs of him escaping?”

—Aaaaah! Ugh, hiiiik... Stop!

”Doesn’t seem like it.”

Isaac continued screaming while Rena kept scorching the medal from different angles. It didn’t seem like she was just experimenting—she had a clear purpose.

By the time the entire candle had burned away, Isaac’s cries had turned into pitiful sobs.

—Hey. Hic... Hic... Sob... Oi. This can’t be happening... For me to suffer such humiliation... I can’t believe it...

I wanted to ask something, so I finally spoke to him.

”Weren’t you the one trying to imprison me? How did you end up being the one trapped?”

—That’s what I should be asking! My magic... It rebounded like some pathetic trick! I wasn’t even at the sealing stage! I was just trying to find your true name, and it bounced back!

Rena casually took out a new candle and prepared to place it into the silver candlestick.”Master? Are you talking to him?”

”Yeah, for now.”

”Should I roast him some more?”

—No! No, tell her not to!

”Hmm...”

—Please... I beg you...

”Let’s hold off for now.”

”Yes, Master.”

Rena pulled the candle away from the spike of the candlestick, but she still kept it in her hand. I turned back to Isaac.

”I don’t trust you, and honestly, it seems like the best course of action would be to melt you down and sink you into the ocean.”

—What do you want? Whatever it is, I can give it to you. By now, my followers should have received my letters. Go to my cult. Tell them I am inside you! Thousands—no, tens of thousands—of devoted followers will obey your every command.

I relayed Isaac’s words to Rena. ”That’s what he says.”

”Hmm. That’s tempting.”

—What’s there to think about?! Of course, you should take me with you!

”You’re really loud,” I bluntly said.

”Should I burn him?” Rena asked.

Isaac immediately fell silent.

I consulted with Rena for a moment. If we were going to dispose of him, it was better to do it ourselves than leave him here.

Clatter.

I picked up the scorched medal and casually placed it on the guard of my greatsword.

Click.

Then, I rummaged through my backpack. I pulled out an empty vial and showed it to Rena. The Lurium was completely gone. Only a single drop remained. Isaac had used all of it to create the inside of my skeleton.

I apologized. ”I’m sorry.”

”For what?” Rena asked.

”You were supposed to use this... but I couldn’t stop him.”

The silver liquid was something Rena needed to take to the capital. She had planned to use it to become the head of the T&T branch.

Rena comforted me. ”What are you talking about? Even after everything you went through... you still thought about me. That means more to me than anything.”

Without warning, Rena suddenly threw her arms around me. She trembled slightly. I stood still, feeling the faint quiver in her embrace. The medal slipped from my fingers and fell to the ground. Acorn stepped onto it, tilting his head curiously.

Crushed beneath Acorn’s paws, Isaac shouted desperately.

—I know!

Still held awkwardly in Rena’s arms, I responded to Isaac.

”What do you know?”