The Will of the King
I felt my body changing and, at the same time, found myself dropped into some strange place.
Where the hell is this? An unknown space filled entirely with pure white. I stood there in the middle, dumbstruck.
I'd clearly been reveling in the start of my evolution just moments ago. But when I came to, I was here.
"Walker of the Star's Path."
The sudden voice made me whip around. Someone had appeared in the empty space. A lizardman.
The difference was that, unlike the ones outside, this one exuded a heavy aura. He positively radiated the presence of a real heavyweight.
"Do you possess the qualities of a king?"
Qualities of a king. What kind of king? I had a Star, if that's what he meant.
The lizardman's soul felt like it was itching to challenge me right then and there to prove my worth. If you've got a problem, bring it on.
I casually raised the Drake Soul Sword, and the lizardman soul immediately backpedaled.
"...You seem more than qualified."
The soul nodded as soon as it saw the sword. Maybe, like with the elder, it had gauged my level. Or maybe it just chickened out.
"We are all heirs to the blood of dragons."
Lizardmen were a sub-species of dragons, descendants of ancient draconic bloodlines. Nothing special about that. There were more dragon-blooded races than you'd think: drakes, wyverns, dragonians. Among them, lizardmen got the short end of the stick. To wanderers, they were just walking trash mobs you stumbled across on the road. Even scouring world history, they'd never amounted to more.
"Make the lizardmen greater."
With those final words, the white space plunged into darkness in an instant.
"Clack?"
When I snapped back to reality, I was already back in my original space. The scattered bones still lay neatly around me. The only difference was that the ten skulls I'd placed in front of me had all vanished.
Probably disappeared naturally upon quest completion. Wait, then what about the evolution? I'd definitely felt my body changing.
I looked myself over to check the changes. Luckily, there was an old mirror in the room. I hurried over and peered closely at my reflection.
It was made of bronze or something; not exactly crystal clear. But it was good enough to make out my new form.
The most striking change was to my face.
"Clack!"
No more human-like skull head. Now it was a long, crocodilian snout, just like a lizardman's.
My size had grown considerably too. I now towered well over any average adult man. Even the color of my bones had dulled a bit.
But the changes weren't just skin-deep—or bone-deep, I guess.
"I look so damn cool now?!"
I could finally speak properly.
Forming actual words instead of stringing together fragments felt downright weird. I'd been so frustrated not being able to communicate properly. Sure, once I could spit out basic words, simple exchanges worked, but I'd hit walls plenty of times.
At this rate, I might actually turn human someday.
Still buzzing with excitement, I checked my status window.
It looked way different from the pathetic old days. The name, the star beside it. The evolution had changed my race name.
I was still a skeleton. Just a King Lizardman Skeleton now! What a badass title.
I nodded proudly. It was an evolution, after all—had to come with new skills, right? I was about to check when—
BAM!
A suspicious noise erupted from outside. What the hell was that racket?
My sky-high mood crashed straight to rock bottom. I tried ignoring it and checking my skills anyway.
BAM!
But another grating sound pushed me over the edge. I kicked the door open and stormed out.
"Keep it down out there!"
Damn insulation was trash! I glared around, ready to slice the source of the noise to ribbons.
But...
"Huh?"
What I saw was the lizardman village, inexplicably engulfed in flames.
What the hell just happened? Did enemies invade or something?
"D-Dragon Slayer!"
As I stood there puzzled, Ketilen came running up from afar, his face frantic.
"What happened?"
"Y-Yes! A bunch of wanderers invaded the village! B-But, Dragon Slayer, your appearance..."
The elder lizardman Ketilen gawked at me in shock. From his perspective, the bone-rattling skeleton he'd known had suddenly transformed—he had every reason to be stunned.
But I focused on what he'd actually said. Wanderers had invaded.
Humans had come all the way here? The world's unbreakable rule, same as always: the strong devour the weak. No power, you get eaten. That was the true law here.
To wanderers, lizardmen were nothing but EXP and loot piñatas.
"Where are they?"
At the very least, I had enough conscience to fight for those who'd shown me kindness first. Thanks to Ketilen, I'd leveled up re:bone and evolved into a King Lizardman. Time to pay that debt.
"Still in the village."
With my enlarged frame came a perfectly scaled Drake Soul Sword. I slung it over my shoulder, kicked off the ground, and charged ahead.
I soon reached the lizardman village.
"Kill 'em all, not a single one escapes!"
The rampaging wanderers weren't that numerous—about five, by the look of it. A small group. But each one outclassed the lizardmen by miles. No beginners here; their combat prowess was no joke.
Lizardmen corpses already piled up around them, those who'd dared to fight back. Ruthless slaughter. Their blades spared no one, swinging even at the young hatchlings.
Frail little things, barely reaching my knee. One wanderer brought his sword down mercilessly on such a hatchling.
"No!!"
I was about to leap in when someone beat me to it. Kran, the first one who'd pointed a blade at me.
Without a second thought, he blocked the hatchling's path, throwing himself in harm's way. The wanderer's swing faltered at the sudden obstacle, merely grazing Kran's shoulder.
"Guh...!"
Kran writhed in pain but didn't budge an inch from the hatchling's front. He just glared at the wanderer with fearless, blazing eyes.
"Damn, that's cool."
I had to admit, I was impressed. Knowing his life was on the line and still charging in to protect the weak—that was something even I respected. Pure instinct. Heart overriding head with pure goodness.
"Die!"
The wanderer raised his sword, unperturbed. To him, Kran was just an EXP chunk. What a coincidence.
Me too.
SLASH!
I shot forward and swung the Drake Soul Sword in a blur. The wanderer's head came off clean; his body dissolved into blue mist in seconds.
"S-Skele...ton...?"
Kran stared blankly at the vanishing wanderer, then his eyes turned to me.
"Thank you for the save. But... why the change in appearance...?"
Whoops. Guess I stole his heroic moment.
Kran eyed my new lizardman-skeleton form intently, then asked gravely,
"Why did you save us...?"
Why? I paused at his question.
Dreaming of becoming human while slaughtering wanderers to side with them—there was only one reason.
"Just 'cause."
No need to overthink it. If I want to do something, I do it. From the moment I dropped into this world as a skeleton and slit those boys' throats.
I've always acted that way. And I figured it was right.
No matter how much I wished otherwise, they'd never accept me as one of their own. And as a former human, I knew that better than anyone.
So I acted freely. It was the world's rule, the human way.
Before I knew it, I'd ended up on the opposite side. But I don't regret it. Just achieve my goal of becoming human someday.
Even if humans call it evil.
I swiftly decapitated the remaining wanderers. Scanning the surviving lizardmen, their numbers had halved since I arrived. The rest were all battered.
This was bad. Leave things like this, and extinction was inevitable.
I surveyed the ruined village. I'd been through this before. Now that wanderers knew the location, they'd swarm like flies. Thrilled at the new hunting ground.
"I'll give you a choice."
No forcing it. Just offering options.
"Stay here and wage war against the incoming humans."
They could defend their home honorably. Even if it meant nothing to me, it might to them. The graves showed they'd lived here centuries at least. Hard to abandon.
"Or build strength and bide your time."
So I offered a new path: follow me, leave, and resettle. I had a dungeon with plenty of space.
"...I'll follow you."
"Kran?"
The answer came from an unexpected source. The young lizardman stared at me with fiery eyes, then stepped forward, locking gazes.
"If it means killing those vile humans, I'll do anything!"
Clearly, he'd taken enough beatings; rage against humans burned hot in him.
Perfect. I don't hate eyes full of that kind of drive. Especially when it aligns with mine.
"Lead us, my king!"
And just like that, I ended up with a bunch of subordinates.