The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon

Two autumns. That meant two full years had passed. It sounded absurd, but as much as I wanted to deny it, I couldn’t. After all, it didn’t feel like a lie.

I looked at Isaac. His feathers were patchy and missing, while his beak was cracked. He bore the marks of a brutal journey, it made me believe twenty years had passed.

Gone were his layers of gaudy accessories, likely sold off somewhere along the way. If it were two years later, then Gith-Za-Rai would’ve been long gone. The Empire’s war of invasion had probably begun. That guy, Chandler, had probably turned into a caterpillar by now. More than anything else...

I gritted my teeth. ”Rubia... what happened to her?”

Two years passed without me by her side. Anything could’ve happened. Perhaps it was just gut feelings, but I always felt that this world had never been fair to Rubia.

I remembered the handkerchief she gave me, which she embroidered herself. It had long since rotted away with everything else.

”Do you want to know?”

Of course I did. I had to. At the same time, a part of me refused to ever hear it. Would I be able to handle the shock? However, this wasn’t about want or don’t want. It was something I had to hear. A duty that chained me like a shackle.

I slowly nodded. Isaac said nothing. The silence was terrifying, making the distant cries of the forest birds sound like grim chimes.

Finally, he said, ”All the T&T bases in the capital were wiped out.”

The entire operation had failed. Tropin Naneow was dead. Of course, everything would’ve been cleaned out.

”Most of them were killed.”

Crack.

My bony fist clenched tightly. Another failure.

”Rubia was taken north.”

”She was taken? So she’s still alive?”

”Yes. They wouldn’t have taken her to Boawood if they wanted to make quick work of her.”

”Boa...wood?”

”The Pale Tower. Also known as the Winter Fortress, a Boawood research facility.”

The word research chilled me. I was scared to hear the rest.

”Rubia is being held there as a test subject. She likely piqued the mages’ curiosity. She’ll live for at least ten years. Well... saying ’live’ is a bit of a...” Isaac continued, voice unnervingly calm, ”whether she’ll still be the Rubia you knew, who can say?”

My joints stiffened. Cold tension seeped into every crevice of my bones. Rubia... as a test subject? The flood of horrific images in my mind. I crushed and denied them, refusing to entertain them. I kept shutting them out until my mind went numb.

Yet, Isaac went on saying, ”Because of the stunt you guys pulled... there was a widespread purge. Everyone connected to, it including Marquis Ivote, was executed. Anyone even slightly less in the favor of the war? Gone.”

”Marquis... Ivote...?”

The name came completely out of nowhere.

”You didn’t know? He’s the one who was leaking imperial info to T&T.”

I never even imagined it. He was the insider all along. I remembered how agitated he got when I first brought up Kevin Ashton. What was their connection? He complained about getting a fake book, and yet he’d been on our side all along? None of it mattered anymore.

”Why was Rubia taken?”

”When the Ivote family was executed for treason, Rubia was lumped in with them. The rest were all killed outright, but due to some strange testimonies, Rubia was accused of demon worship.”

”Demon worship?!”

”They said she talked about having a demon who protected her at Marquis Ivote’s tea party. That demon sounds an awful lot like you, doesn’t it?”

”Rubia would never... she’d never say such a thing...”

”Sensational stories always get exaggerated. Besides, the girl who testified Sisel was the daughter of an inquisitor. That helped.”

I remembered what Rubia had said at the party. That it didn’t matter if I wasn’t human. That she got anxious when she couldn’t see me. It felt like we were connected somehow. Merely thinking that she ended up as a test subject because of what she said about me... It felt like my entire world was shattering.

”All because of... that...”

”Then came all the other miracles people witnessed. That’s what really drew the mages in.”

The so-called miracles Rubia had performed were all things I did, or were connected to me.

”The mages love experimenting on anything even a little unusual. And the kids’ testimonies? Proven truthful with interrogation magic.”

Death, at least, was an exit. But being turned into a test subject? That was too much.

”You... why didn’t you save Rubia? If you were strong enough to break through that barrier to rescue me, then you should’ve saved her first!”

It was absurd. An outrageous accusation. Isaac had no obligation to save her. I expected him to scoff coldly and call it nonsense. Instead, he fell silent for a moment.

Then, he explained calmly, without a hint of conflict, ”I thought about it.”

”You... thought about it?”

”I debated whether to save you or the girl. Whichever one I chose, the moment I made a move, they would’ve become aware of my existence.”

”...”

”And that would’ve made moving around far more difficult. Plus, I was at my limit. I used up every bit of Lurium I had absorbed to break that barrier. If I had gone to save her, you would’ve remained trapped in that place until you forgot even who you were.”

Isaac had made the wrong choice. He should’ve saved Rubia. It wouldn’t have mattered what happened to me. Even if I had died in there, I would’ve simply started over. Meanwhile, Isaac was Rubia’s final hope in this timeline.

Still, I couldn’t blame him for not knowing that. He didn’t know I could reset the world. He didn’t know I could begin again. That was on me for not trusting him enough to tell him.

”We have to save her.”

Even if I died, I had to change the fact that she became a test subject. There was no way I’d abandon Rubia, who gave me that handkerchief, and run away.

”Give it up,” Isaac said, laden with resignation.

”I can’t. Even if you won’t help, I’ll find a way to do it myself.”

”Haa...” He shook his head slowly from side to side. ”You can’t. Every tower is surrounded by layers upon layers of extreme distortions. I don’t know what kind of mages you’ve dealt with before, but there are hundreds of them stationed in Azure. And the tower lords? They’re on a completely different level.”

He was probably right. Still, I couldn’t just give up. I reached for the only frame of reference I had.

”How do they compare to the swordmasters?”

”You talk like you’ve fought them. There’s no way you’d survive.”

”...”

Isaac went on. ”It depends. Are you defending or attacking? When it comes to taking something, tower lords are much harder opponents. The level of preparation they do is otherworldly. The swordmasters prepare themselves. Tower lords prepare the battlefield, the laws of space, and cause and effect. If you just stumble into a fight, sure, the swordmaster might win. But in a defensive battle? Ninety-eight out of a hundred... no, maybe every time, the tower lord wins.”

I imagined Leandro von Batyenne, the Swordmaster I’d encountered most. Isaac’s words felt distant and unreal.

”There’s that much of a gap?”

”Picture a neutral area. Somewhere akin to this forest.”

”So?”

”Now imagine gravity, coincidence, friction... everything in that space working in favor of just one side. It isn’t just a trap, but an entirely different world.”

”Then why?”

”What?”

”Why do those kinds of monsters stay holed up in the north?”

The mages who died escorting the false emperor during patrol. The ones who were killed transporting Lurium. If Isaac was right, those people weren’t even close to the real deal.

”A spider that weaves a fine web doesn’t want to leave it. The more intricate the web, the more bound they become to it.”

”You mean the ones who never leave Azure, who don’t get deployed... those are the real ones?”

Isaac nodded. ”Now that I’ve explained all this, maybe it’s time you stopped this childish talk about attacking the Pale Tower.”

”I can’t...”

”What? You still don’t get it? Even if there were ten or twenty of you, it wouldn’t be enough. Hell, even thirty wouldn’t be enough to conquer one tower.”

”Then I’ll just have to become stronger than that.”

”How?”

Isaac looked at me like I was insane. However, beneath that disbelief, I could detect something else. Something faintly hopeful.

Two years. Rubia, locked away in Azure’s tower. Maybe this was its trap. Maybe it was provoking me, trying to uncover some secret. If so, then I’d fall for it willingly. Being used by it was a small price compared to saving Rubia.

”I can see the hole in the heavens.”

”...”

Isaac stared at me like he was begging me to say more. There was no point hiding it now.

”When I kill someone, I grow stronger just like that. The stronger the one I kill, the more power I receive. It appears in the air, right in front of me.”

Isaac shuddered. He knew I was telling the truth, better than anyone.

”There’s no need for effort. Killing is growth. I can absorb power from powerful corpses. It floats in the air. I assume that’s the hole in the heavens you mentioned.”

Still, Isaac said nothing. Even his beak didn’t twitch. He understood I was different from every other being in this world.

Not like Isaac. Not like the ghosts. Not like the mages. Not like the knights. None of them grew the way I did. They couldn’t even see stat windows like mine. They couldn’t gain strength this way. It was an overwhelming advantage. And I was finally beginning to understand how to use it.

Clack.

As if settling his thoughts, Isaac slowly clicked his beak.

Then, folding his wings to his chest, he asked, “Would you do anything to save her?”

The answer was simple.

”Of course I would.”

Isaac nodded as if smiling. ”Then... I have a very good idea.”