Saintess Summons Skeletons

[Kidjikkik Destroyer - Lv. ??? - Imprint power : Keystone - Effect : Unknown]

Sofia hid her presence as the creature entered the cavern.

Keystone again. Then I can assume this thing might be close in level to the Veik King who also had that. He was around 380…

Hmm…

It’s an inevitability that I am going to need one of those Keystone imprints, is it not? Maybe it would be smart to get one while I still have a comfortable level of health.

The Veik King is not an option, he could crush me with his eyes closed, but if it’s not a smart creature, like say, a big dumb worm, then maybe, just maybe I can pull something off.

That is how I got my cheater title, after all. Won’t be able to drown this one in blood, though, I fear.

It still does not know I’m here, so I have an advantage. Realistically, if it finds me, I am dead.

What tools do I even have that could deal with this?

Thankfully, once it entered the spawning grounds, the Destroyer was not moving much, it seemed content to stay on its wall, and every so often, it would cast a sweeping gaze over the resting Matriarchs. It seemed not to notice anything wrong with the infiltrator down below who was hanging around the small group of Carriers, and it never even looked in Sofia’s direction.

Sofia went over all her tools and options several times, and she was not liking her prospects of winning.

It had been hours and the Destroyer was not moving, meaning Sofia could not even leave if she wanted to, not without taking the risk of using the graveyard skeletons, at least, and she was not willing to bet on that going unnoticed.

The unlife rune’s stealth effects might be all that is keeping me safe right now…

Suddenly, the connection with the infiltrator skeleton was cut. It had expired.

Crap. The destroyer’s sure to noti-

The walls of the cavern shook. Sofia was debating whether or not to take a look, and decided that if there was a moment when she could, it was now or never, while something was happening. Still, she could only bring herself to look through the reflection in a handheld mirror. She would have gone with the levitation vision token trick again if it wasn’t what had gotten her spotted the first time.

Quickly moving the mirror to try to get a view on the destroyer, she found the giant red worm in the middle of the hatchery, the red light spewing from its eyes making it hard to miss. From what Sofia could see, it was chewing on something, and that was as long as she felt confident looking before she hid the mirror.

Did it eat the shell of the infiltrator?

My beddings…

While Sofia deplored the loss of the pillows that had died for the cause, she was running through all of her previous ideas again in light of the new data she had just gathered.

If a Kidjikkik acts weird or dies under certain conditions, the Destroyer will eat them.

I can use this.

Sofia lost track of time as she waited for the destroyer to leave for its next patrol round of the cities.

It felt like forever, and during that time, she slowly refined her plan of action, so that she would be ready for when the time comes.

It’s a massive gamble. But when has that ever stopped me?

The first phase of the plan was to sneak back out of the hatchery after the Destroyer had left. That much went without a hitch, and Sofia hid in a far corner of the undercity to prepare the next phase.

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She had a few extra empty Kidjikkik shells, prototypes and replacements for the infiltrator project, so she took the time to prepare a new one with a clean bone lining inside, ready to host the dumb Kidjikkik skeleton again.

Turning to Bookie, Sofia asked, What do you think? It can work…

The small skeleton seemed as uncertain as she was about the idea.

Ah… I wish I had kept that Leviathan teardrop…

Inside of the empty Kidjikkik shell, Sofia made bone bubbles in the free space normally occupied by organs which the skeleton did not need. Using a long bone tube, she filled them one by one. The plan was as simple as that, a trapped meal. The major issue with it being that she had only one shot at it, as it was likely that the Destroyer, no matter how dumb it looked, would not fall for the same ploy twice.

A good half of the bone bubbles were to be filled with a bunch of the [Water of the Underworld current] that she had pilfered from Hugo’s secret base, but she would add that at the last minute since the eternally freezing water was quite corrosive to bone. In the other bubbles, Sofia dumped various liquids and poisons, despite not having the Leviathan’s teardrop anymore, she still had plenty of random poisons from her days of training VPPV, and she also had quite a few which Alith had just handed to her throughout the end of the year. The large majority of the poisons were quite weak and unlikely to do much to the high-level creature, but Sofia hoped that it would at least do some damage.

Damaging the creature from the inside was her best shot at taking it down, ideally she would have gone in there herself, dug her way out of the stomach and to the bones with the third key, and turned the creature’s bones to dust. But that was counting on the Destroyer not chewing its food, and on her body being strong enough to resist its stomach acid, and Sofia was not about to bet her life on that.

Anything else I could stick in there? There’s plenty of space, still. I could fill it up with blood but that would not accomplish much.

Well… Now should be a good time.

Sofia removed her Dragon-scale arm, taking care to transfer hers and Pareth’s mana hearts to safe padded pouches which she then secured against her chest with a bunch of bone inside of her armor.

You’re up, Bookie. Are you sure you want to go yourself?

The small skeleton nodded.

Alright. I’m just worried because you have never been killed in your lich form so if something happens to you I’m…

Bookie stepped closer but he was just a bit too short to pat Sofia’s head so tapping on her thigh was the best he could manage, she got the massage either way.

Right… I know it wouldn’t work with the high-priest directly but I’m still uneasy about letting you get eaten you know…

Alright, go on.

Bookie took a step back and fused himself with the High-priest skeleton, gaining a cute scepter and all the holy powers that came with it. Then he walked back up to Sofia and presented his neck.

With a clean strike of the third key, Bookie’s neck was severed, and Sofia grabbed his skull. He let his body dissolve back into a mana mist, but before it could disperse, he managed to pull a bunch of it to his skull, and to gather it within his cranium.

You managed to keep a lot more than I thought. Let me give you Pareth’s Bone dominus blessing. You’re going to need it more than him.

The transfer of blessing done, Sofia kissed Bookie on the forehead before sticking his small skull into her Dragon-scale arm armor. Filling the arm with more bone, she made sure that Bookie was securely fitted inside, both able to look out through the shoulder hole, and not at risk of falling out.

Such a stupid idea.

Bookie’s book form appeared near Sofia while the skull was still in the arm.

I get to keep a small part of you, huh.

The book opened, presenting the single Kidjikkik’s page. Sofia ripped it off and the skeleton appeared perfectly in place with the shell. Sofia then stuck the dragon-scale arm with Bookie inside in it. It fit snugly between the poison-filled bone bubbles and the Kidjikkik skeleton’s spine. With the preparations done, Sofia closed the entire thing back up with bone, and let the infiltrator do its job, and infiltrate the hatchery again.

The Destroyer was currently in the upper city, so the infiltrator could calmly make its way through the dark undercity and get through the guarded gate without trouble.

Sofia then summoned a few random low-cost skeletons from the leftover soulless book with the tiny bit of fog Bookie had left in it.

Now I have to re-cast the unlife rune and then I just wait.

The wait was nerve-wracking. Sofia was worried for Bookie and for her precious draconic piece of armor, but this was the price to pay for trying to shenanigans her way into killing a creature multiple filters ahead of her.

If I do all this, manage to kill the thing, and survive, and I can’t absorb the Keystone imprint because of some dumb reason like it being too damaged, I’m never saving the erased admin. Be warned, System.

Soon after, the dark undercity was bathed in an unnerving red light.

It’s coming.

Bookie.

It’s time.