Chapter 12: Arrival
At the entrance of Bone Village, a stumbling figure approached.
It was the old Village Chief returning.
His body was covered in cuts from thorny bushes, his lips cracked and bleeding, and he was so thin his face looked sunken.
For the past few days, he had slept less than three hours a night, running back solely on sheer willpower.
"Run! Run away!"
He screamed with every ounce of strength he had left.
"The people from Iron Fortress... are coming to slaughter the village!"
The dozen or so remaining villagers gathered around at the sound, their faces filled with shock and confusion.
A burly man frowned and asked, puzzled:
"Old Chief? Didn't you guys go to seek refuge at Iron Fortress? Where did you take the others?"
The old Chief's eyes were red with anxiety. He grabbed the burly man's arm.
"No time to explain!"
"They're almost here! If we don't leave now, we're all done for!"
The villagers looked at each other. No one moved, because the only people willing to listen to him unconditionally were already dead arrows-cushions.
A woman holding a child stepped forward and said skeptically:
"You say run? Where can we run to?"
"You took half the village with you, and now you're the only one back. How can we trust you!"
"Did you sell them out?!"
Each question stabbed into the old Chief's heart like a knife.
He knew whatever he said was useless.
Immense panic made it almost impossible to think, but his survival instinct remained.
He scanned the vigilant eyes around him, and his brain latched onto the only path of survival left.
"Into the forest! Go into the Bone Forest first!"
This suggestion made everyone gasp.
"Crazy! Are you sending us to our deaths?"
"There are undead in there! We'll just be snacks if we go in!"
The old Chief didn't want the villagers to be slaughtered because of his judgment again.
In the forest, cavalry formations couldn't charge effectively.
Moreover, no normal person would think a group of villagers would actively run into undead territory.
And most of the undead there were just Novice Skeletons. The villagers might suffer casualties, but they definitely wouldn't be wiped out.
That place was actually the safest.
But he had no strength left to explain.
The days of running and the mental trauma had completely drained his last ounce of energy.
His vision went black. Thud. He fell straight backward.
The villagers instantly went quiet, looking at each other, at a loss for what to do.
Just then, the burly man who had questioned him first gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
"Damn it!"
He cursed under his breath, bent down, and hoisted the unconscious old Chief onto his back.
"Let's go! Trust him one last time! If he dares lie to us, I'll shove an apple pie up his ass!"
The group hesitated no longer and plunged headfirst into the shadows of the Bone Forest.
Their heels had just disappeared into the woods when the heavy sound of horse hooves approached from the distance.
A squad of cavalry in fine armor appeared at the village entrance, led by none other than Sir Kyle.
Beside him, Hamus looked at the empty village. His tense nerves relaxed slightly, and he spoke hurriedly:
"My Lord, I... I've been away from the village too long."
"Maybe there weren't many people left in the village to begin with. Those we met a few days ago might have been everyone."
Sir Kyle reined in his warhorse. On that face forever wearing a compassionate smile, no emotion could be read.
The Knight squires behind him spread out with trained efficiency to search the village.
Moments later, a squire returned to report.
"My Lord, the stove fires still have embers, and the food in the pots has just cooled. They left not long ago."
Sir Kyle nodded, turning his head to look at Hamus, his tone still gentle enough to make one's skin crawl.
"Hamus, where do you think they would go?"
Hamus's heart contracted violently.
He certainly didn't know where the villagers would go, but the only threat to the village was the Bone Forest.
So, he subconsciously assumed something must have happened in the Bone Forest, forcing the remaining villagers to flee Bone Village toward Iron Fortress.
But he still raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the forest.
"It should be... the Bone Forest."
Sir Kyle smiled.
That smile held a playful hint of having seen through everything, yet he didn't point it out.
"Then let's go to the forest."
Hamus stole a glance at Sir Kyle, his eyes full of gratitude.
Kyle, of course, had his own considerations.
What he needed was a story tear-jerking enough.
And having this story told by a few survivors who didn't know the whole picture and luckily escaped...
Was far more infectious than a pile of cold corpses.
As for Hamus, a future Honorary Knight, giving away a trivial favor didn't matter.
Kyle gave the order.
"Clean up this place."
Several knights dismounted, pulled out a few badges engraved with the Holy Emblem of the Theocracy from their bags, and tossed them casually into the mud at the village entrance.
Then, a torch was thrown into the nearest thatched cottage.
Flames roared to life, instantly igniting the dry thatch.
Billowing thick smoke rushed into the sky, dyeing half the heavens an ominous grey-black.
"Let's go."
Kyle turned his horse around, leading the squad unhurriedly toward the forest.
Meanwhile, deep in the forest.
Kaito was looking at his fledgling undead base, his head aching as if it had doubled in size.
"Where is your Safety Officer?! Did he teach you to test hardness with your head?!"
He had just pulled a dim-witted skeleton out of a pit who tried to test the foundation's stability with its skull, when two soul links transmitted messages.
The first came from Skele-Pride.
This newly promoted Tier 3 Skeleton Berserker was leading a 200-strong army sweeping the outskirts of the forest, expanding their forces.
His message was concise and arrogant.
"Ruler. A group of lowly life forms has intruded upon your domain. Total count: thirteen."
Kaito's Soul Fire jumped.
Humans? Coming for me?
The thought of kidnapping them to interrogate them about the world's lore popped into his head.
The other soul message came from Skele-Wrath.
This Skeleton Knight, also evolved to Tier 3, was leading another elite cavalry unit responsible for the perimeter security of the entire territory.
"Ruler! A squad of cavalry is coming towards us! Let me turn the smelly humans into fragrant skeletons!"
Villagers? Cavalry?
Kaito guessed.
This isn't a coincidence. This is a pursuit!
He slowly straightened his body. In his empty eye sockets, two points of Soul Fire suddenly blazed up.
This is truly a case of "Sitting at home as a skeleton, and a pot (trouble) falls from the sky!"
"Interesting."
Kaito's jaw clicked open and shut, emitting a soft clack-clack.
Not long ago, as the number of his undead legion broke through 1,200, a massive amount of feedback energy surged into his body.
It allowed him to successfully break his shackles and advance to Tier 3. Besides gaining an extra slot for authorization...
He also obtained a new ability: [Ruler Immortal, Subjects Undying].
As the name implied, unless Kaito completely died, even if his skeletons had their Soul Fire extinguished, they would resurrect—it was just a matter of time.
Outwardly, he was still an unremarkable skeleton.
But his instincts and his soul told him he had completed a leap in life hierarchy.
Since crossing over, he was either running away, on the road to run away, or working as a foreman on a construction site.
Now, he held an army of 1,200 undead and six Tier 3 Generals.
Kaito spoke into the soul link.
"Silence!"
Instantly, the clamor of the entire construction site ceased.
Whether digging pits, chopping trees, or moving logs.
The movements of all skeletons froze at the same moment, their skulls turning in unison toward their Ruler.
On the forest outskirts, the army led by Pride stopped silently, blending into the shadows of the trees.
On the other side, the cavalry under Wrath pulled their reins, suppressing even the Soul Fire breathed by their skeletal warhorses.
The entire Bone Forest seemed to have hit the pause button.
1,200 units were waiting for the singular will.
Kaito's will was transmitted clearly to every corner through the soul link.
"All units, cease all actions. Conceal yourselves."
After issuing the command, Kaito walked to the wooden pillar throne the skeletons had made. He sat down grandly, crossing his legs.
His consciousness instantly spread to every corner of the forest.
Through the eye sockets of hundreds of Skeleton Soldiers, he saw the panic-stricken villagers fleeing.
He saw the burly man carrying the old Chief, and the trembling child in the woman's arms.
Through the eye sockets of another hundred Skeleton Soldiers, he saw the squad of knights strolling unhurriedly as if walking in their own back garden.
He saw the hypocritical smile on the face of their leader, Sir Kyle.
"Alright, the actors are all here."
Kaito's finger bones tapped gently on the armrest of the throne, making crisp click, click sounds.
"Welcome to my world."
"Let me see what kind of good show you are prepared to put on."