Three Skulls Awaken

Tring! [As an immature successor, you have left your first footprint as a Dominator: "Massacre of the Emotionless Comrades."]

[The second footprint has been activated.]

[Restrictions on magic usage have been lifted.]

['Death Field - White Bones', 'Grudge Field - Wraith's Obsession', 'Pain Field - Bite' have been added.]

[Death Aura has been converted to LV2.]

[Due to special interference, LV2's effect has been converted to 'The Reaper'.]

[Preparing to leave the second footprint.]

Notification windows visible only to him poured out before Joyeon's eyes.

"Hoo— What the hell are these?"

Once the situation had somewhat stabilized, Joyeon returned to his usual way of thinking and scratched his cheek while staring at the notifications.

'Ah, it's the usual Joyeon... What's going on?'

Artie, standing nearby, sensed the shift in Joyeon's atmosphere thanks to her artist's intuition and found it strange.

'At least I understand that I can use magic now.'

Meanwhile, Joyeon skimmed through the notifications he could comprehend and opened his status window to check the newly available spells.

One simple attack spell, one peculiar debuff spell, and one support ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spell that would be quite useful to the current ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Joyeon.

'Oh, I was getting tired of doing the same incantations over and over. Being able to use White Bones is great.'

'White Bones' was an excellent spell for Joyeon, whose magic mostly consisted of long incantations aside from the Pain Field and support spells that could be cast without them.

"[Death Field - White Bones]"

Joyeon immediately activated the newly available spell. Then, as if emerging from his head, a pristine white skull appeared.

Joyeon examined the floating skull from various angles.

"Hmm— Seeing my own skull feels weird."

-Don't say weird things.

"Huh? You can talk too?"

-Of course. How else would I do the incantations if I couldn't speak?

"You've got a point."

Just as Joyeon, who had been muttering nonsense to himself, came to his senses and was about to give the skull an order, Tring.

"Huh? What did you say?"

As he stared at the skull wondering what that meant, two more skulls emerged from it just as it had emerged from Joyeon's head. A bright red skull and a pitch-black skull.

"...What the hell is this now."

"Three skulls... Joyeon has three skulls?"

"Don't say nonsense. How can a person have three skulls?"

"That's true."

'If Joyeon's skulls aren't three, then what is three...?'

"......"

The red and black skulls, completely hardened by magic. Joyeon, momentarily dazed by the inexplicable phenomenon, muttered,

"...These will do the incantations in my place too, right?"

He casually brushed it off with his usual "whatever" mindset.

"Alright. For now, sto—"

Twitch.

Grin~

The black skull suddenly smirked.

The black skull began pouring out attack spells it could use against the war trolls at will. The speed was so fast that Joyeon's thoughts couldn't keep up, as if a PC were spamming Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, and every time a massive jawbone formed above a war troll's head, the mana in the Nuclear Mana Reactor began to plummet at an alarming rate.

"Uh. Uh, w-wait a second..."

-Tsk! The most inefficient thing possible...

'Ehh— The red skull is somehow like the earlier Joyeon...'

The red skull clicked its tongue at the black skull's rampage and began its own incantation without waiting for Joyeon's command.

-[Only after death do the dead realize how precious the things they once held were. Now that they no longer possess them, it is only natural to covet what others have. Seize them. Their souls.]

Once the red skull finished its incantation, red souls began to crawl out from within the Death Aura that had covered the entire battlefield.

Beings different from the souls of 'Grudge of the Dead'.

-[Wraith's Obsession]

The 'Wraith's Obsession' debuff, which dealt unavoidable additional damage and had become available with the activation of the second footprint, began to cling to the war trolls—one for each of them.

At the same time, jawbones formed above the General's head, preparing 'Bite' for all the war trolls.

The black skull, seemingly pleased with the red skull's preparation, grinned and—

-This is fun...!

Along with the debuff cast by the red skull, the black skull's magic bit into the war trolls' heads. Those who couldn't react properly because they were fighting Joyeon's followers died instantly or suffered fatal wounds. Even those who survived took irreversible damage from the subsequent attacks of the followers.

-Hmm~ Well, I guess my role is set.

-[Death is equal to all, but its timing is highly unequal. Sudden moments of death always come with regret. Those who regret, rise.]

Even the white skull, which had seemed the most willing to listen to Joyeon, used magic based on its own judgment.

-[The Abyss That Raises the Dead]

The war trolls and chameleons whose lives had been cut short by the black skull and the followers' attacks rose again. The numerical advantage had completely shifted to Joyeon's side. Only a few armored war trolls, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠including the General, remained alive—barely in the double digits. But even they were destined to become Joyeon's followers soon. The hope of survival had long since vanished from their eyes.

"...Well, the effect is good, so whatever."

Though it was a bit excessive, Joyeon, thinking that it saved him the trouble, walked between his now over three hundred followers toward the General, who was on the verge of death.

The General, kneeling and staggering, seemed to have no strength left to resist. Distracted by Khan and Ron's combined assault, it appeared to have been hit by 'Bite'—a massive bite mark remained on its neck.

Joyeon approached the General without caution, wanting a closer look, when Tiasia and the other followers rushed over in a hurry.

"Master, you must be careful. It hasn't breathed its last yet."

"I know, I know. Don't worry. Artie, don't come."

"Uh, okay."

Khan and Ron, who had been confronting the General, looked flustered upon seeing Joyeon approach and bowed their heads.

'Why are these guys acting like this again?'

Thud!

'M-Master... I-I'm sorry! The General's disposal isn't finished yet...'

"Huh? Ah, now that you mention it, I did say that."

Recalling that he had told them to bring the General's head to instill vigilance in Khan and Ron, Joyeon waved his hand dismissively.

"It's fine. I interfered midway anyway, so let's just forget it."

Tap...

'B-But...'

-Don't bother and just forget it.

As Joyeon frowned and was about to say something to Khan and Ron for interfering with his approach to the General, the red skull reacted first, glaring at them with a menacing glow.

Khan and Ron trembled slightly at the sight of the red skull and lowered their heads without another word.

'Hmm... This red skull is mine too, I guess.'

With that idle thought, Joyeon arrived right in front of the General and looked it over. Even while kneeling, its massive frame forced Joyeon to look up. Though on the brink of death, its eyes still burned with fighting spirit unlike the other war trolls, making it impossible to let one's guard down.

Joyeon met the General's gaze.

"...Hello."

"......"

"...This kind of end—being massacred like this—was bound to happen someday. It's just that your luck was particularly bad, and mine was particularly good today, so it happened sooner."

"......"

"Your defeat is already decided. Are you still going to resist?"

"...Kuaaah!"

The General swung its blood-soaked club at Joyeon as if it understood his words. However, Tiasia, who had been waiting nearby, blocked the General's final attack with both hands. Joyeon didn't even flinch, as if he had known someone would protect him.

"Nice. That refusal to give up until the very end is something to admire."

Joyeon said this to the General and gestured to Khan and Ron. Understanding his intent, they raised their swords high toward the General.

"Take care of me from now on too."

With Joyeon's words, the General's head fell to the ground. And with that, the last living war troll's life was extinguished.

Just then, the white skull's incantation also ended.

-[The Abyss That Raises the Dead]

The undead conversion spell Joyeon had used countless times today. The final corpses that had vanished into the black abyss slowly rose once more. Then the General, who had been the boss of all the war trolls, picked up its own head, walked over to Joyeon, and prostrated itself.

"Your name ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is 'Pon'. From now on, command the soldiers for me."

"Haa... It's over."

Seeing the notification that everything had ended, Joyeon let out a deep sigh and relaxed.

The battle against the war trolls, which he had thought impossible to win, had instead ended with Joyeon absorbing them all as his followers.

"White Bones, release now. I feel like you'll cause trouble if I leave you out. Especially you, black one."

-...Kek! This is fun...!

The white and red skulls quietly disappeared, while the black skull grinned at Joyeon before obediently vanishing as well.

"What's so fun about it? I wasn't having any fun at all. I almost died. Seriously. And just what the hell are you guys anyway?"

Joyeon grumbled, nitpicking at the black skull's words.