The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon

I wanted to see things for myself, but with my current strength, it was impossible. For now, the best I could do was stay by Gith-Za-Rai’s side and quietly build power.

”The timeline’s shifted just as you said,” Gith-Za-Rai murmured, ”but traces may still remain. Write down everything you want to know.”

I had no reason to refuse her thoughtful gesture.

I listed them all: the situation in Erast, Rubia, Rena, the orphanage near Yublam, and of course, Isaac and the Tropin Brigade. I even wanted information about the man named Lazlo Tropin. Anything that could serve as a lead, I wrote it down.

I wanted to visit the nearby regions myself, but after revealing the patrol ambush locations to the imperial guard, that was no longer an option.

”Good. I’ll have Daliac look into this.”

Daliac?

That name stirred a faint memory. I recalled an uneasy truce between high-ranking informants and assassins. So that place still existed.

”You mean the Unquenchable Lantern of Daliac?”

”That’s right. Red Flake oversees it.”

Red Flake again.

”Then... could it be...”

A thought flashed across my mind. I recalled the veiled man behind the auction.

”The auctioneer... is he one of Red Flake’s members?”

Gith-Za-Rai gave me a curious smile and laughed softly. ”Heh. Who’s to say?”

Her tone made it clear enough that my hunch had been right.

So that’s how it is.

Red Flake was the secretive assassin order. Counting the necromancer standing before me, I knew four of them in total. There was Lumen Valdorf, the werewolf; Elwin Esau, the beetle rider; and now, the nameless man behind the auction.

I pressed further. ”When I asked that auctioneer for information on Kevin Ashton, he immediately refused. Is there... some connection between Red Flake and Kevin Ashton?”

Gith-Za-Rai cut my questioning short. ”We’ll need to get closer before I tell you that.”

”Closer? We’re already...”

I stopped mid-sentence. Maybe it was just me who felt close. After so many regressions, and after each time I used Essence Absorption, it always felt like I was getting closer to her. However, to her, I was nothing more than a strange Skeleton Soldier she’d met for the first time.

My silence made her chuckle.

”Not with me. I’m only a guest of Red Flake. There’s always been seven official members, and I’m not among them.” She leaned back and added, ”And information isn’t always shared among members. I meant you should befriend the auctioneer in Daliac.”

”I see.”

But how am I supposed to get close to him?

My thoughts turned to the Kevin Ashton books still sitting in my inventory.

Maybe I could offer those as a gesture.

Or maybe I’d have to tell him what I told Isaac, that I could see the status window. However, that might be saying too much, especially to someone I didn’t understand.

Gith-Za-Rai’s cold voice sliced through my thoughts. ”Third, we need to investigate the assassination clients. I’ll personally confirm whether the Heroes’ tombs contain bodies. If they deceived me...”

KUUUUNG!

Crimson energy surged through the cavern, twisting the air.

”They’ll pay for it.”

”Is something... troubling you?” I asked.

”No...”

If I told her that I’d only guessed about the deception, she wouldn’t take it kindly.

I quickly changed the subject. ”Where will you go now?”

The imperial guard could arrive at any time. Moving quickly was the only safe choice.

”Of course, to Ember. I need to learn more there. And Red Flake must take part in this retaliation.”

I had half-expected it. The destination was the neutral city, Embermere.

So we’re finally going there.

I remembered Rubia’s words. ”I’ve always wanted to see Ember. Once I get new armor... would you go there with me?”

If only we could have gone together.

But I never even got the chance.

”Since Skeletons have no nation, perhaps Ember would suit you best!”

I had gone there once, as part of a Demon King’s army. However, that was after the city’s fall. I’d never seen it as it truly was.

They said Embermere was a city of anarchists, with thousands of self-governing territories. I’d wanted to give Rubia a domain of her own.

In the end, I couldn’t. Now I’m going to go ahead without her.

The memory of the cheerful necromancer who had first awakened me from my grave flashed in my mind. Then I turned back to the lady standing before me.

”How will you reach Ember? Or rather, how did you even bring your whole army here?”

Now that I said it aloud, I was genuinely curious. A legion this large couldn’t have moved unnoticed.

Gith-Za-Rai smiled with practiced calm. ”I hired the Merchants’ Guild. Had them ship the bones here, piece by piece.”

I blinked. ”The Merchants’ Guild... actually trades with an undead army?”

Ridiculous.

Then again, those merchants had dealt with me, too.

Gith-Za-Rai nodded. ”Of course. Red Flake is one of their best clients. They wouldn’t dare refuse. Besides, they approved of this assassination.”

If they were involved in something as monumental as the assassination of an emperor, then their ties must run deep indeed.

”So, will you move to Ember the same way? Load your army onto their wagons?”

She might summon the merchants again.

Maybe I’d meet a new member of the Confederation this time.

Gith-Za-Rai shook her head firmly. ”No.”

”No?”

”For this assassination, the intermediary was the Merchants’ Guild itself. That means the Free Confederation’s council leaders are deeply tied to the merchants.”

The Red Flake assassins. The gold-hungry merchants. The Free Confederation’s ruling council. Whose side are the merchants truly on?

Even with simple reasoning, they were clearly much closer to the Confederation than to an assassin guild.

”The council, enemies of the Empire, used those merchants to request the emperor’s assassination. Now, from your position, you’ve canceled the hit and are heading to punish the client...”

”It would be... awkward,” I finished.

”Exactly.”

”Information might leak, too.”

Even the mere act of withdrawing the contract could reveal far more than intended.

Gith-Za-Rai nodded slowly. ”Right. Not every trader keeps their neutrality. Some are closely entangled with the council’s leadership. Disgustingly so.”

The Merchants’ Guild prided itself on its ethics, but...

Not everyone I met there was that honorable.

Even I couldn’t say how Yube, Blackberry, or Nexmond would react if they were dragged into a situation like this. As I pondered that, Gith-Za-Rai reached into her pouch and pulled something out. At that moment, the cavern flared with light.

Whizzz!

A small brass-colored beetle darted through the air, its shell gleaming as it emitted a radiant glow.

”This is—!”

”Familiar, isn’t it? If you’ve met the Fox, then you’ll know what this is.”

Gith-Za-Rai hastily scribbled a letter, slipped it into the beetle’s opened abdomen, then let it go.

Buzz! Buzz!

The tiny creature buzzed away, its wings clicking like the interlocking blades of a propeller. The golden shimmer grew smaller and smaller until it vanished into the darkness.

”You sent word to Starlight Blue Fox?”

I’d already told her about Elwin Esau.

”That’s right. She’s stationed nearby, even though she’s supposed to be on sabbatical. Touching, isn’t it? Now that I know, I should contact her at once.”

So she has a direct means of communication...

That confirmed that the two women were close. No wonder the Starlight Blue Fox had waited so anxiously, staring at me with desperate eyes when she’d seen Gith-Za-Rai’s mark carved into my bones.

As the beetle’s golden light faded from view, Gith-Za-Rai asked, ”With the emperor’s assassination called off, that marquis boy won’t show up this time, will he?”

”Of course not.”

He wouldn’t. There might be chaos surrounding the failed attempt, but Isabelle would remain unscathed. As long as Captain Isabelle of the imperial guard was unharmed, Marquis Leandro wouldn’t move, no matter what became of the emperor.

”Gilaut, Owain, Hamelain, Andrei, Fenrir. Lead the legions into the pit.”

Fwoosh!

With a wave of her hand, torches burst alight in midair.

”At your command.”

The five Dullahans dispersed, vanishing into the dark tunnels.

Then Gith-Za-Rai turned to me. ”You. Come with me.”

An unseen force pulled me close to her side.

Clatter!

”So... how exactly are we getting to Ember?” I asked.

”How else? We’ll walk.”

”Walk...?”

”Yes. Along a forgotten path, a road once used a thousand years ago, and long since buried by time.”

Gith-Za-Rai stepped forward with a slow, deliberate stride. I could sense the structure around us as I walked alongside the creator of the barrier. Iron gates separated each section, glowstones were embedded in the ceiling, and candles hung suspended in the air.

I recognized it instantly.

This is... the Barren Underground Tomb.

I’d once entered this place with Rena. Now, it served as Gith-Za-Rai’s stronghold. The structure remained unchanged.

Soon after, we reached the deepest chamber. Massive stone pillars, meters thick, held up the ceiling while rust-black iron cages hung in clusters above. Hundreds of Skeleton Soldiers stood in perfect formation, awaiting their master’s command.

The sight at the end of the cave was as grim as it was magnificent. The necromancer stood motionless at its center.

I approached and quietly asked, ”Isn’t this a dead end? Where are we supposed to go now...”

”How quaint.”

Gith-Za-Rai chuckled, a dark amusement curling at her lips.

Rumble!

From the tips of her fingers, streams of crimson mana erupted, coiling and swirling through the air. It glowed as vividly as it had during her battle with the Ashen Knight. The energy traced vast circles in midair.

Huuuuummm...

Each ring of red mana rotated along a different orbit, deepening in hue until it darkened almost to black. One by one, the intricate circles carved glowing sigils into the air.

The spinning formations expanded, morphing from flat circles into a sphere, and then, impossibly, the sphere twisted, folding the dimension of time itself into its rotation.

Kuuuuuu... Krrrk!

Even time seemed to be sucked into that scarlet vortex.

”গুহাটি রক্তে ভরে যাবে এবং প্রাকৃতিকভাবে বর্ধনশীল একটি রূপ ধারণ করবে।”

BOOOM!

An unrecognizable language, or an ancient tongue, exploded through the chamber. At once, the massive, meticulously constructed sphere shattered into fragments of light. It wasn’t just power; it possessed an eerie, delicate beauty. Seeing it burst apart left behind an empty ache, as if watching art get destroyed. Then...

Ruuuumble... Ruuuumble!

The center of the grand hall sank slowly. The stone ground against stone as a circular platform descended into the depths.

Thump.

When the grinding stopped, Gith-Za-Rai took my hand and stepped toward the edge of the new chasm.

I peered down. No light reached the bottom. It was pure black. It was so black that even with my enhanced vision, I couldn’t tell if it had an end.

”This place... what is it?”