Crystal Skeleton

CRASH-BANG!

The suited Yang went flying through the air and came down on a table, splitting it clean in two. Shattered plates and glasses rained down over his body.

"KRAAGH!"

Spaghetti draped over his head like a wig, he staggered upright.

No—tried to stand. His legs were clearly not cooperating; he wobbled sideways and landed right back on his rear. Even so, his eyes stayed locked on Simon the entire time.

"What was that just now!"

The emotion in them was half fury, half bewilderment.

"You barely touched me with your palm—how could you—!"

He never got to finish. A streak of crimson light shot in from the side and wiped Yang's body away like an eraser across a page.

With a heavy SLAM!, Yang was crushed flat against the wall.

Simon turned his head in surprise and found Lorraine, one arm still raised.

"Was I interrupting?"

"No—thanks for the save."

Simon said that while staring past her.

Amazing, every single time. All around her, space peeled itself open to reveal countless crimson eyes. What in the world lay on the other side of that rift?

When she lowered her hand, the opened spaces snapped shut and vanished without a trace.

"Lorraine, is your opponent—?"

She jerked her chin toward the far wall. A cat was embedded there, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in much the same state Yang had just been in.

"A bonus objective!"

Because they'd smashed through everything with raw force instead of playing the game the way it was meant to be played, a bonus objective had popped out.

If anything, Simon thought, that worked out even better.

The raft game he'd cleared with class president Jamie at the start had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠done the same thing—once he outran all the monsters on the back of the Deimos, a bonus objective had appeared. That was where he'd picked up the glasses that revealed the terrain's colors.

This time there would surely be a reward as well.

Having failed to play their parts as assassins, Yang and the cat melted away into thin air.

Simon and Lorraine exchanged a single glance, then backed cautiously toward the Pig Princess, warily sweeping the room.

"S-s-save me."

The Pig ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Princess trembling all over.

"Even if my ears are short, you can say I'm one of you! Even if I have no fur, I'll acknowledge you as my equals! Just spare my life, please—!!"

"Keep your mouth shut and stay still."

At Lorraine's icy words, the Pig Princess instantly clamped her mouth shut and crouched down low.

Simon added a word of his own.

"Your Highness, we're here to protect you."

"Li-lies!"

the Pig Princess screamed, shaking like a leaf.

"You just killed the sheep and the cat, and now you—!"

CRASH!

SMASH!

Their conversation was cut short against its will. Every glass window in the mansion burst outward, and hooded assassins came pouring through.

Shk! Shk! Shk!

A dozen or more men had them surrounded in an instant. Their hoods were shoved back far enough to show their faces—but instead of expressions, thick gray smoke billowed out from beneath them.

Simon and Lorraine lowered their stances, weapons of wariness drawn, while the Pig Princess squealed "Eeek!" and shrank into herself.

Clank. Clank.

A man in armor beneath his robe walked forward. Gray smoke was leaking out of his helm as well.

A hideous voice oozed from his mouth.

Ta-at!

The assassins drew their blades as one and charged.

"Well then."

Lorraine swept her falling hair back over her shoulder.

"No more need to hold back, is there?"

Once again space tore open behind her in jagged slits, and crimson eyes spilled out. From within them, scarlet pillars of destruction erupted in every direction, blasting the assassins away.

[!]

KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAAAM!

Nearly half the assassins slammed into the walls and died on impact.

Simon could only marvel.

'Sh-she really is Nephthys's daughter, all right.'

"Simon! Front!"

At Lorraine's shout, Simon whipped his head around. An assassin dead ahead was raising his sword.

He'd been waiting for it to come.

WHOOM!

He slipped back out of the first swing with ease. Before the second could even land, he snatched the man's wrist and wrenched him in—and the moment the man was dragged off balance, Simon released the wrist and hammered his elbow into his head. With a wet crack! blood sprayed, and Simon twisted his whole body through the spin, his whipping roundhouse kick blasting the man's skull away.

WHAAAAM!

The assassin collapsed in a heap, and three more came rushing in behind him. Not that Simon had any intention of letting them surround him.

'Open Gate!'

Shhhrrrrrrk!

Shhhhrrk!

Overlord's blades came flooding out and drove the assassins back.

'No rushing—take them one at a time, slow and clean!'

Having broken out of the encirclement, Simon reversed the flow, dropping low to the ground and charging. Jet-Black coiled around his fist as he bore down on an assassin who'd just landed.

KAANG!

Fist met sword in a shower of sparks. The man was still crouched from his landing, which made Simon's follow-up the faster of the two.

He kicked the man's knee out from under him, sending him kneeling to the floor, then flowed around behind him like water and hauled his head up by the hair.

THWACK!

An arrow came screaming in from the front and buried itself dead center in the face beneath the hood. The assassin's body slumped.

"Nice shot!"

The Skeleton Archer gave a little clacking rattle as it drew its next arrow.

Two left, though. From Simon's rear, a pair of assassins slashed down.

CLANG!

CHANG!

Two shield-bearing skeletons leapt out and blocked the blows instantly.

In that gap, Simon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crouched low, thrusting his arm out between the skeletons' legs to aim at his targets.

'Cloud!'

Emerald vapor spread out and coiled around one leg of each assassin, then yanked hard. Both men were dragged forward with their stances shattered—and the two shield skeletons dissolved into loose bone in an instant, floating up into the air.

Clack-clack! Clack-clack!

Hovering midair, the bones rotated their sharp ends downward. Simon's index finger dropped.

<Bone Nail>

THUK! THOK! THOK! THOK!

The bones rained down from above with grisly wet impacts, and the assassins shuddered and went still.

Watching from a distance, Lorraine breathed a quiet sigh of admiration.

'...Innate instinct, and a combat logic that seizes control of the entire flow.'

He was stacking how many of those difficult techniques at once? And on top of his main discipline, Summoning, he was deploying Magic Combat, Hemomancy—everything Kizen had taught him, each skill in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

He was still only a first-year, yet glimpses of a complete necromancer shone through Simon.

'That's right.'

No matter what happened, she would never let Serne take Simon from her. Lorraine swore it to herself once more.

The armored man who seemed to be their commander grabbed a massive glaive and joined the battle himself—a boss-monster-grade presence, heavy as a landslide.

"QUAAAAEK!"

While the two of them were briefly distracted, the Pig Princess—deep in full panic mode—was sprinting away, tears and snot streaming down her face. She appeared to be planning to escape the mansion all on her own.

"Simon!"

Lorraine shouted, tearing open a subspace.

"I'll take the boss—the princess is yours!"

"Got it!"

A flying skeleton burst out of her subspace. She spread both arms wide, and the skeleton broke itself apart, snapping piece by piece onto her body.

Lorraine's Bone Armour.

The plate design fit her frame perfectly, trim and elegant. The skeleton's beak-like faceplate shifted into a spear and settled into her hand.

Moments later, boss monster and Lorraine both loosed a spear-shattering war cry and collided.

'Beautiful. I'll leave that side to Lorraine.'

"QUAAAAAAEK!"

Mid-scream, mid-flight, the fleeing Pig Princess found her path cut off by two assassins. She shrieked "Eeeek!" and scrambled backward.

"Honestly!"

Simon sighed, then shoved both arms out to his sides in a motion like shaking out laundry.

Two skeletons shot out like arrows and dressed the Pig Princess in Bone Armour.

Shk! Shk! Shk!

The moment her body was sheathed in bone, the Pig Princess screamed as if something hideous had crawled onto her.

'Two won't nearly be enough!'

She was just too massive. He had to add two more skeletons—four in total, layered over her bulk.

In the meantime, an assassin lunged out and slashed at the Pig Princess.

"KYAAAAAK!"

KAANG!

Needless to say, the Bone Armour turned the blade aside without a scratch.

The assassin stumbled back a step in shock—and Simon moved his fingers. Like a marionette, the Pig Princess clenched her fist and charged.

"Wh-wh-what is this? My body's moving on its own!"

WHAAAAAM!

Clean hit.

Under the Pig Princess's blow, the assassin flew back spouting blood and crashed to the floor. This time Simon drew his finger sideways.

WHUP!

With both hands, the Pig Princess heaved up a nearby sofa and whirled it around like a club. The assassins scrambled back in horror.

"HYAH!"

CRUNCH!

Seizing the opening, Simon slipped back around and shattered one assassin's skull from behind.

"...!"

The other raised his blade warily. But Simon's attack didn't come from the front.

Fss fss!

It came from above. A web of spider silk dropped from the ceiling and pinned the man in place—one of the Corpse Spiders, the summon-type undead Simon had just brought out.

Simon grinned and flicked his arm through the air.

"Now, Your Highness!"

"KYOOOOOT!"

Puppeteered by Simon, the Pig Princess charged sofa-first, rammed the assassin, and slammed him hard into the wall.

BOOOM!!

The assassin, who had been trembling in the web's grip, finally sagged, head lolling.

"Oh, oh! OHOHOHOH! Serves you right!"

the Pig Princess cackled.

'Ugh.'

Meanwhile, Simon grimaced and pressed a hand to his forehead.

'She got so excited she's burning through my Jet-Black—'

KWAAAAAM!

At the eruption of sound, he turned—only to find a scene that made his jaw drop.

The boss monster was embedded in the wall, his body punched through with about five holes. Instead of smoke, blood was pouring out of his helm in sheets.

THRAK!

Lorraine's spear punched straight through the boss monster's helm. She gave a short hmph through her nose and drew the spear back. A fleck of blood spattered onto her cheek.

'No need to worry about Lorraine at all.'

With their leader down, mopping up the remaining stragglers was no trouble at all.

Once every assassin had fallen, a new message appeared.

The boss crumbled away into nothing, and where his corpse should have lain, two treasure chests appeared.

Only then did Simon let out a long breath of relief and smile.

"Good work, Lorraine."

"You too, Simon."

They traded the words and walked toward the treasure chests. The moment her Bone Armour dissolved, the Pig Princess squeaked "Eeek!" and bolted straight out of the mansion.

As Lorraine's shoulders twitched at the sight of her fleeing, Simon caught her by the arm.

"It's fine. It's over and done with."

"Mm."

Simon and Lorraine each picked a chest.

What would be inside?

Heart thumping, Simon opened his.

"Whoa!"

A cry of delight burst out of him.

"A Crystal Skeleton?"

Inside the chest was nothing less than a packaged product containing a brand-new undead.

Grinning ear to ear like a kid with a birthday present, Simon lifted the package out.

'Th-thank you, Lord Endolas Vaudeville...!'

While Simon was lost in gratitude, Lorraine gave a little hmph through her nose, turned her head away with a lukewarm look, and said:

"I don't really need one. Want mine too?"

"!"

Simon's head whipped around, eyes shining.

Then, a beat too late, he decided he'd just shown an embarrassing lack of composure, and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I-I'm grateful, but that's really too much—!"

"Here."

Lorraine lifted her own chest and set it on top of his. Simon wobbled and hurriedly steadied himself under the double weight.

"Take it. No strings attached."

Simon's shoulders trembled.

"I—I'll pay you back for it, I'll send you the money!"

"I told you, it's fine. Hmm."

Lorraine allowed herself a faint smile.

"Shall we call it a debt you owe me, then?"

Simon made a wounded face.

That line. Why did it sound so familiar?

"Wait—that's what Serne would—!"

"The return portal just opened over there. Let's go."

Lorraine headed off ahead with light, easy steps.

Simon quickly stowed both Crystal Skeletons into his subspace and hurried after her.