The Skeleton Who Commands Hundreds of Bats
No Hayun spoke as she strode along the path Bae Jua had paved through the swamp. "Yeon-hee, since you have a quest, focus on that for now. I'll support the rest of the team. Everyone joining us for the first time today, feel free to cut loose and show what you can do."
Baek A-rin was still technically our party leader, but No Hayun's voice carried more weight with every passing hour. She'd made up her mind to stay with us for good, so her proactive attitude made sense. Still, I scanned the others with a twinge of concern.
…Nobody seems bothered by it.
Yeon-hee and the rest simply nodded without a hint of resistance. For the time being, it looked like we could keep moving forward like this. In my previous life I'd seen too many parties tear themselves apart fighting over who got to lead, so I couldn't afford to ignore these dynamics.
Perhaps inspired by the call to show her skills, Ham Eun-yeong began to sing. It sounded more like poetry than a spell at first—her voice so soft it was almost inaudible—yet it gradually etched itself into the mind with an eerie resonance.
"Krrrik?!"
The monsters that had been crouching in hiding froze the moment her song reached them. A small, wavy mark floated above each of their heads.
Oh? Now that's an ability I've never seen before.
It seemed the effect only triggered on monsters that actually perceived her song.
"Even if the mark appears… it doesn't have any ef… effect…"
That's the effect, you silly woman. What more do you want?
Eun-yeong fidgeted with her fingers, clearly embarrassed, but the ability to visually pinpoint hidden enemies was already incredibly useful.
Whoosh—!
"Krrk-!"
"Perfect! Just three hundred more to go!"
Thanks to Eun-yeong's new skill, Yeon-hee could focus her arrows on the marked targets and steadily fill her quest progress. She had started as an archer, and her old trait Danti's Blessing had grown to a remarkable level. Ordinary dungeon monsters often died in a single shot—provided she landed a clean headshot.
And the mark from Eun-yeong's song floated directly above their skulls. The synergy was perfect.
Ting—!
"Ah! That frog guy!"
Of course, not every arrow found its mark. The Frogfolk used its long tongue to swat the shaft mid-flight, deflecting the arrow's trajectory. Our party's specs were overwhelming, but the creature was still a monster capable of giving C-grade hunters serious trouble.
"Churrarak!"
Thud—!
The Frogfolk that had just deflected Yeon-hee's arrow had its head sent flying high by Lizard No. 1's blade.
"Ah… No. 1, I told you to catch them, not kill them!"
"Churrup…"
Having the summons bring monsters back so Yeon-hee could deliver the final blow turned out to be trickier than expected. Not only did the summons sometimes kill them by accident, but any creature they damaged heavily wouldn't count toward the quest even if Yeon-hee finished it off.
The System is so annoyingly strict about the stupidest things.
If the System were standing in front of me right now, I would've told it to loosen up a little.
"Uwooooooh!!"
"Churrararak!!"
The combined roar of the No. 1 brothers shook the air. They couldn't seem to contain their overflowing power and kept slaughtering monsters left and right.
"Maybe merging them was a mistake…"
Yeon-hee scratched her head, looking frustrated. The narrow terrain here made it impractical to summon all ninety-plus creatures at once, so she'd combined the Lizard and Orc squads despite the experience loss.
"Could you quiet them down a bit?" No Hayun grumbled. The noisy brothers were constantly revealing our position.
"I… I've warned them several times, but they go right back to it after a while."
They obeyed orders in the moment, but the lack of lasting obedience was probably tied to my Domination stat.
"Hmm… Is it instinct? Well, with that much power overflowing from them… I can understand it, I suppose."
"And when they roar like that they get happy, which makes them even stronger. Only for a little while, though."
They really were as absurd as Yeon-hee, who grew stronger through her bond with me. Roaring to feel good and get stronger—what kind of logic was that? So many things connected to Yeon-hee defied common sense.
"Is that so? What strange creatures. Well, nothing we can do about it."
No Hayun's complaint had been nothing more than an offhand remark. She simply accepted Yeon-hee's helpless explanation and moved on. She trusted that Yeon-hee would handle it when the time came that silence was truly necessary.
"Combining them definitely reduced the experience gain. I might need to separate the ones I want to raise from the ones I'm willing to let stagnate."
Yeon-hee nodded. She clearly needed to start making choices and focusing her efforts. The two zombies hadn't been used in ages, and the harpies had lost their purpose once the Were-Raven was summoned.
"By the way, Jua. You don't have to make stone paths for our kids."
"Ah, it's fine. Think of it as practice."
Even when the massive No. 1 brothers stepped on the rocks, Bae Jua simply made an 'OK' sign with her fingers, completely unfazed.
She's grown a lot. It couldn't be easy for her, yet she was still pushing herself. I felt a surge of pride.
Thump—!
"Argh… They keep dying in one hit."
"Krrruu…"
The merged No. 1 brothers' attack power was simply too high. Monsters kept exploding the moment they were struck. No matter how many times Yeon-hee told them to be careful, such delicate control seemed beyond them. As a result, her quest progress remained painfully slow.
Slash—!
While Yeon-hee struggled, A-rin danced lightly across the swamp's surface.
New sword?
The one she'd carried before was already high quality, but it looked like she'd poured every won she'd earned into new blades and protective gear. Her determination to never die again was palpable. The longer blade had dramatically increased her reach. Every time she spun past, monster heads bid farewell to their bodies.
The Great Calamity incident must have affected her deeply. Her movements are much cleaner now.
Thanks to our steadily improving party, dungeon exploration went smoothly. I decided to devote my time to helping Yeon-hee with her quest.
"You two, focus on protecting Eun-yeong and Jua."
"Uwoh!"
I assigned escort duty to the No. 1 brothers, who still struggled with power regulation. They carried Jeombaki and Ddakkak on their shoulders and used provocation to gather hordes of monsters.
Using the absolute minimum mana…
Flame Chain
Flame Chain
Flame Chain
Crack—!
With delicate control, I captured monsters one by one and tossed them in front of Yeon-hee. The two Were-Ravens flying above her immediately pinned the creatures down with their talons, and Yeon-hee's Danti's Blessing-enhanced arrows flew true every time.
Thanks to my efforts, the quest counter rose rapidly.
Even while helping Yeon-hee, I stayed alert. The moment anything new entered the range of my senses, I reacted instantly.
Can't let my guard down. There's no telling what might happen next.
This world had become one where we had to remain in a permanent state of emergency. After all, a Great Calamity could drop out of the sky at any moment.
"Hoo… Shall we take a short break?"
A few hours later we entered a save zone to rest. I looked at the message that had appeared earlier and smiled with satisfaction.
Oh? The evaluation that used to call it complete trash has improved a little.
The System had basically treated the creature like garbage, yet its mana cost remained at 1 while its combat power had increased fivefold. Going from 1 to 5 still didn't feel particularly impressive, but the fact that the skill's overall grade had risen significantly put me in a good mood.
Let's… give it a try.
I wondered whether I should reveal my ability to the others, but unlike my usual overthinking, the hesitation didn't last long.
A summoner's summon performing a summon isn't that weird, is it?
Of course, it wasn't proper summoning like Yeon-hee's ability to call beings from other worlds. These were merely crude lifeforms created through my own power.
If I say it's a summon, then it's a summon.
I tapped Yeon-hee on the shoulder and showed her the summoning of 'Gori'.
"Kkigigit…"
"Whoa! Huh?! Why is it so big?"
The creature that had once been smaller than my palm now materialized starting at knee height.
Just how much has it grown?
It wasn't simply bigger than before—it had grown large enough to feel genuinely threatening. Its cry was clearer, and its appearance differed greatly from its kin in the cave. The wide, flattened body and the clear single eye set in its round face were still striking. Though its wings were folded now, when spread they would undoubtedly cover a massive area.
It feels like some of my personal taste got reflected in the design.
"Oh my goodness! What is that thing? It's super cute!"
"Wait, doesn't this bat look familiar?"
"I-it's… the bat from the cave back then…"
"Is it a new summon?"
At the barrage of questions, Yeon-hee simply nodded. Since even she was seeing the grown 'Gori' for the first time, she stared at it with open curiosity and gave a vague response.
Hmm… Gori?
"Kiit?"
Still cute as ever… What exactly changed? You've gotten bigger, but do you have any new abilities to show me?
"Beh!"
In response to my question, Gori flapped its wings several times and shot into the air.
"Oho? Are you going to show us something?"
Not just me—everyone watched with expectant eyes. Gori circled the cavern ceiling a few times before suddenly accelerating at a frightening rate.
Its speed has definitely increased dramatically.
Then it dove straight toward me, raking my arm with its claws as it passed.
……I didn't tell you to attack me, you little brat.
It was absurd, but from my experience handling Gori, the creature tended to perform actions that best matched my intent. If I set more detailed conditions, this sort of thing probably wouldn't happen.
Looking at the spot it had scratched, I immediately understood what it had been trying to demonstrate.
If I hadn't been wearing Flame Armor and Chain Mail, that would have torn me up pretty badly. The blood drain must have increased significantly too.
I felt certain that summoning around a hundred of these would create a genuinely threatening offensive option.
As long as time permits, summoning a swarm before battle wouldn't be too difficult.
Since each one only cost 1 mana, if I could shorten the manifestation time even a little, I'd have another tool in my arsenal. The fact that their growth didn't reset upon death was also crucial.
A skeleton commanding hundreds of bats… Heh. I've become a truly bizarre creature.