The Crimson Skeleton's War Cry

The massive lord's castle, large enough to rank among the top ten buildings in the city, scattered in all directions like a Lego model targeted by a child. And the giant red skeleton that had been flinging the lord's castle around like a toy cackled madly. Anyone who witnessed the scene firsthand was frozen in terror, unable to move for a long while as goosebumps covered their entire body.

—A high-ranking skeleton species...? Only Krone Liapil showed interest rather than fear as he observed the red skeleton.

—A superior variant of Death Knight... No. That can't be right. I've never seen a superior variant like that before. Then is it not an undead? A magic effect? What the hell is it?

After some time, the people gathered at the Curia Temple finally came to their senses.

"W-what the hell is that... Why is something like this happening in Neveiria all of a sudden?!"

"I knew we should've run instead of listening to the lord!"

"Where did the Lord of Neveiria go?!"

"Idiot, the lord is already dead!"

Lily also stared at the red skeleton with hollow eyes. 'A giant undead... Where on earth did something like that come from...'

Clatter-clatter-clatter! While the battlefield had fallen into a brief lull, the red skeleton, having already flung away every last remnant of the lord's castle, turned toward the Curia Temple and roared.

'Ugh...? It's not a provocation spell...?'

Even though the distance between the lord's castle and the Curia Temple was at least three kilometers, the effect of War Cry made Lily feel as though she were staring directly at the red skeleton from up close.

Fortunately, the fear wasn't deep enough to last, but she still couldn't tear her gaze away from the red skeleton—and neither could anyone else.

Uwooooh...! Kwooooh...!

The hundred thousand undead that had been advancing toward the Curia Temple completely turned around under the influence of War Cry and began slowly moving toward the red skeleton instead.

Krone, who had been observing the red skeleton from the sky, let out an admiring murmur at the undead's movements.

—Hoh? To think a mere shout could make them forget my orders... How intriguing. But wait. First, I must kill that damned Dominator of Reason. After that, I'll take my time examining you, so stay put.

Krone muttered to himself from a distance where his voice couldn't possibly reach, then snapped his fingers. The undead under his control flinched slightly before turning back and resuming their march toward the Curia Temple.

Lily, who had briefly held onto a sliver of hope that the sudden irregularity might let them survive, was crushed by despair at Krone's unwavering will.

'I absolutely refuse to die like this...'

Kyahahahaha!!!

A voice she had never heard before pierced through Lily's mind as she was on the verge of giving up. Maniacal laughter. She instinctively knew who the owner of that voice was.

The red skeleton, still holding her gaze captive, was now pouring out a dark crimson aura from its entire body instead of the red energy from before, its frame trembling as it looked up at the sky.

Shiver!!

A warning from instinct, not from any notification window.

'I have to run...!'

BOOM!!

Before Lily could even move, the red skeleton leaped toward the hundred thousand undead.

*****

"Agh~! There are so many things happening everywhere, I can't focus. Mado, minimize everything except the Korean notifications. We'll check the others later."

"Sure. It's not like I'm interested in the others right now anyway."

A pure white space. The gods who had been watching events unfold across the fused world turned their attention away from everything else and focused solely on what was happening in Neveiria of the Kingdom of Shun.

"The scale of the battle is huge, so let's turn on the detailed notifications and switch to holographic map view."

"Okay. That'll be easier to watch."

Modern nodded at Mado's suggestion and gestured toward the hole through which they could look down at the ground.

The hole transformed into a massive three-dimensional map five meters in diameter with Mado's gesture, allowing them to clearly see what was happening in Neveiria.

Once it became a 3D map, the most eye-catching figure was naturally the largest being on the battlefield—the red skeleton, Karl.

His frame was so viciously built that it was impossible to believe it was made of human bones. A crimson aura constantly leaked from his body like armor protecting it. And the long, massive weapon he held, crudely hammered into the shape of a sword from rebar, looked so brutal that anyone seeing it for the first time would immediately recognize how dangerous he was.

"Oh! We made it in time. Mado! Did you get what I asked for?"

"Yeah, here. It was chocolate caramel popcorn, right?"

Modern, who had finished preparing before Karl even started moving, excitedly grabbed a handful of the popcorn Mado handed over and shoved it into his mouth. At the same time, Karl moved.

The amount of crimson aura leaking from Karl's body surged dramatically before turning a dark blood-red.

BOOM!!

In an instant, Karl leaped forward at a speed unbelievable for his over-ten-meter frame and swept away the undead at his landing point in a single strike.

"Aha! Going all out from the start. How many undead disappeared from that one hit?"

"If he'd swung just a little wider, he could've wiped out a thousand undead in one go! If he had a title window, he'd definitely have earned something like 'Mage who annihilated a thousand undead in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a single strike.' Mado! Sit down already!"

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm watching properly too."

Mado also settled down beside Modern, placing her onion salt popcorn and double chocolate parfait on either side of her.

BOOOOM!

In the meantime, an undead whose upper body had been sent flying toward the Curia Temple from Karl's attack passed right by Lily Cubus and exploded against the wall.

The moment Lily realized she had survived by a hair's breadth, she wet herself on the spot.

"Martial, you really don't need anything to eat? It doesn't have to be popcorn."

"I'm fine. I wish to enjoy the moments of battle purely with my eyes."

"I see. If that's your reason... Ability? You didn't answer earlier so I didn't prepare anything. It's not too late. If you need something, I'll get it right away."

While focusing on the battle, Mado called out to Ability, who had been frozen since earlier.

Ability slowly raised her pale face and looked at Mado.

"...Niya."

"Huh? What? Niya? Was there a flavor like that?"

"Are you insane?! What the hell is that?!"

She shouted at him. Mado, who had been listening closely to hear Ability's words clearly, covered his ears and grimaced.

"Why are you getting angry? What's the problem?"

"Don't act like 'What's the problem?' is something you can just brush off!! What the hell is that thing?!"

Ability pointed at the three-dimensional map with her finger.

At the end of her finger was Karl, using the dark crimson aura flowing from his body like tentacles to crush the undead clinging to him in resistance.

"Ooh! So that dark crimson stuff has physical form too? I thought he was just strong, but with that, there's no way mere undead can stop him."

"Hoh~ Is this the realm of sword control through energy? Using aura instead of the body to subdue enemies—quite the unique ability."

Modern and Martial clapped in admiration at Karl's frenzied rampage while Mado scratched his cheek and answered Ability's question simply.

"...It's Karl. He received a blessing from Ju Joyeon and his rank rose significantly, so his appearance changed a lot, but he's still his follower. Did you doze off in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the middle? I thought you were watching with us."

"That's not what I'm talking about! I know it's Karl! What I'm asking is what the hell is with that ridiculous spec!!"

A notification window responded to Ability's words and displayed Karl's status window.

"What the hell is that species name?! Ultra Massacre?! That didn't exist before!"

"Ability, you need to speak properly. It's not that it 'didn't exist'—it's that no being had ever 'reached' that level until now."

"Does that even make sense?!"

"It does."

Modern cut in as Ability pressed Mado.

"Ability, I understand why you'd think that since you're ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠basing it on your own world, but this world is still one where nothing has been decided yet. Anything is possible. It's not strange at all for a human with no connection to magic to use magic, or for a completely unrelated otherworlder to reincarnate here—so a higher-ranking undead species that hasn't been discovered until now appearing is nothing unusual."

"Well, honestly, his luck was ridiculously good though. Of all times, ten thousand or so unliberated souls just happened to appear right in front of the supporting character who became the successor to the Ruler of Souls. It's practically a miracle. And since he poured every single one of those souls into Karl without caring about efficiency, it's only natural his rank rose this much."

"Ugh, calling it just luck...!"

"Why are you getting so worked up? Mado and I are saying there's no problem. And if Ju Joyeon gets stronger, that's good for the human you care about too, isn't it?"

"There's such a thing as moderation... It's not like there's only one of them!"

The moment Ability finished speaking, someone burst out from beneath the lord's castle.

"Ooh~ It's Ron."

"Karl's flashy transformation is nice too, but I think this one's cooler."

"Really? I guess Mado prefers the clean type."

Ron's appearance, which Mado was praising, was the very picture of elegance. Originally a spotless white skeleton, Ron had transformed into a transparent white that reflected light, and all the bones composing his body had become armor-like, making him look so beautiful from afar that one might mistake him for a holy knight rather than an undead. Moreover, mounted on the skeletal steed connected to his body and holding a massive kite shield and spiral lance made of bone in both hands, Ron was the very image of a knight.

The moment Ron arrived on the battlefield, his eyes gleamed as he surveyed the field.

"Ron's going all out from the start too! Nice, nice~!"

Modern watched the map with an expectant expression after checking the notification.

Rumble-rumble-rumble...!

The pristine white bones spreading from the hooves of Ron's mount transformed into cavalrymen of similar appearance at regular intervals. It took only about ten seconds for over two thousand cavalrymen to form. The sight of over two thousand white cavalry standing in formation was awe-inspiring beyond grandeur.

Ron didn't stop there and raised his lance high toward the sky.

—I swear to achieve complete victory for my master.

A pristine white aura flowed from his body, spreading across the ground to the entire cavalry unit.

The cavalry unit that had been standing in formation charged forward in a triangular formation led by Ron. And they were shot toward the undead like a single ballista bolt.

Dudududududu!!

The ground shook even louder than when the hundred thousand undead had moved. Hearing the sound and recognizing Ron's charge, the undead threw themselves forward to attack him.

Crack-crack-crack-crack!!

Starting from the tip of Ron's lance, the cavalry unit pierced through the undead and advanced. The undead had tried to block Ron's breakthrough with sheer numbers, but his piercing power was worthy of being called the strongest.

Clatter-clatter-clatter!

Ron's charge didn't stop until he had pierced through every last undead densely packed all the way to the entrance of the Curia Temple.

"Does that even make sense? Just two undead have already wiped out nearly ten thousand undead?! And in a place where 'Necropolis' is active, against Krone Liapil's undead no less?! The balance is completely broken!"

"Hmm~ Even if we're talking about balance, he hasn't done anything wrong at all."

"His discovery of the Abyss was pure coincidence, and those hundred thousand souls were something Lily Cubus spent months creating..."

"If we tried to do something to him, that would actually be the action that breaks the balance."

Ability couldn't refute Modern and Mado's explanation. She had been watching alongside them from the beginning and knew full well why Karl and Ron had become so strong.

"Fine... Ju Joyeon getting stronger is a good thing. It's really good for me. It's the path to making my cute Artie safer. I'll accept Karl and Ron too. If their rank rises several stages, their species names might be unique and their abilities might be amazing. It's not like A-rank abilities only they have. But!"

Ability pointed once more at the hole where the lord's castle had been.

"No matter how you look at it, that one's weird!"