Despite being shattered by occasional intruders, the greater skeleton had continued its relentless killing, driven solely by the ingrained orders of its master. Over time, its consciousness had faded, nearly disappearing entirely. Had more years passed, its awareness would have completely vanished. But now, in the remnants of its dimming consciousness, it understood that its torturous existence was finally ending.
“Ta-ta-ta,” it clattered its teeth, welcoming the final blow with joy.
“Seven…”
A slight sound echoed as the black Ogre’s silver arm pierced through the back of the skeleton’s robust armor, cleanly and effortlessly. The arm protruded from the skeleton’s back for barely a split second before withdrawing, yanking out the spine. The divine power in the silver arm obliterated the greater skeleton’s existence, causing its bones to lose cohesion and scatter around.
“Three seconds faster than expected. It was weaker than I thought. Or maybe the silver arm and the crimson spear are just too strong. Hmm?” Having eliminated all the skeletons, the black Ogre began to analyze his actions. He looked down at the greater skeleton’s skull, which had rolled to his feet and was moving slightly.
The skull’s subtle movements were a sign of gratitude, but the black Ogre misinterpreted it.
“How annoying.”
With that, he picked up the skull and crushed it between his massive teeth, silencing it forever.
✦ ✦ ✦
After destroying all the skeletons, I picked up the greater skeleton’s leftover skull, which was clattering resentfully, and silenced it with a crunch. I then proceeded to consume the rest of the skeleton, savoring each bite. As expected of a higher-ranked monster, the experience gained from destroying it and the taste when eaten were out of this world compared to regular skeletons. The bones were astonishingly delicious.
This is something special, I thought. Premium bones, maybe? The texture is fantastic. Yes, delicious.
[Ability learned: Lower Undead Creation!]
[Ability learned: Higher Equipment Manifestation!]
[Ability learned: Mana Absorption!]
[Ability learned: Lower Damage Reduction!]
[Ability learned: Lower Magic Damage Reduction!]
I’d first thought that those kobolds had brought nothing but trouble. But now, they seemed to me like bringers of good fortune.
I headed to the prison where Gobjii, our only cleric, was desperately trying to heal the severely injured kobolds. I quickly healed the rest of the kobolds and then put them all to sleep with a toxin to prevent any trouble while we all slept. We were exhausted from the night’s events and needed a good rest.
By this evening, I had awakened the kobolds with a different concoction and begun questioning the leader of their group—a kobold foot soldier equipped with a short spear—and a few of his aides. From their account, I pieced together the following story:
This group of kobolds lived in a natural cave—unlike ours, which we had expanded. They survived by hunting in the forest and mountains. But everything changed when they killed an orc and obtained an iron pickaxe. While the male kobolds went hunting for food, the female kobolds began using the pickaxe to expand their dwelling. This made their cave more comfortable, so they continued digging.
This led them to connect their cave to Velvet’s labyrinthine dungeon unexpectedly. Initially, the kobolds didn’t know what the new space was and planned to investigate it in the morning; they made some rudimentary attempts to block it off for the night, but it was nothing that could keep an army of skeletons from emerging after dark.
The skeletons were not enemies the kobolds could handle, so they fled in a hurry, leaving behind their belongings. However, the tireless skeletons soon caught up with them, and the kobolds’ futile resistance led to many casualties. Regardless of whether they were women, children, the elderly, or warriors, those who were caught were all killed.
After fleeing for a while, the kobold leader had shouted, “Where should we go?” and someone said, “Wait, if we head to that cave where the famous Ogre is, we might have a chance!” Someone else argued, “But won’t we get killed?” “Well, we’re going to die anyway if we stay here.” “We have to take the risk!”
That brings us to the present.
What in the world? But I guess all’s well that ends well.
After listening to their story and gathering my thoughts while fiddling with my horns, the foot soldier and other warrior-class kobolds who fought the skeletons lined up and bowed deeply.
It seems that when kobolds undergo Existence Evolution, they become kobold footmen, reflecting their samurai-like nature. Despite having killed and eaten many of them, this was something I learned for the first time tonight.
In fact, I tried to tell them that we had eaten many of their kind, but the kobolds responded extremely politely, saying that it’s only natural for the weak to be consumed by the strong. In fact, being killed and eaten by their “lord” was an honor for their kin.
Yes, they called me their lord. These kobolds, led by the foot soldier kobold, referred to me as their lord.
Their reasoning was simple: they believed that having been saved, they owed their lives to me and had no other path but to repay that debt with their lives. They were straightforward and clear-cut in their thinking, believing that once they had determined someone to be their master, they would never betray them and would gladly follow any command, even to the point of self-sacrifice.
These were their own words, and while I had my doubts about their absolute loyalty, the sincerity in their eyes made it hard to dismiss them entirely. Eyes that serious are rare.
I decided to prepare some insurance.
I retrieved a particular magic item from my item box and ate it. There were ten of them in total, and I consumed every last piece without leaving a single crumb.
[Ability learned: Subjugation!]
The magic items I ate were called Subjugation Collars, taken from the adventurers I’d killed in Velvet’s dungeon. As the name suggests, their effect was to enforce subjugation.
Now, you might be wondering why I didn’t consume these useful items sooner.
The reason is quite simple: I actually did try eating one before, but it tasted absolutely terrible. The texture was awful; the surface was sticky, and the inside was strangely hard, making me feel nauseous with every bite. The taste was a terrible combination of bitter, sour, and spicy—just indescribably bad. It had been a long time since I had encountered something so disgusting, so even though I knew it would be useful, I had avoided eating any more until now.
Now, when necessity called, I had no choice but to endure it and eat the remaining ones.
Thus, I acquired the Subjugation ability. This ability prevents rebellion, but just possessing it doesn’t activate its effects. To solve this, I began crafting additional ear cuff communication devices.
Hmm? What about the kobolds? Well, for now, I told them to stay in the prison and sleep until we decide their fate tomorrow. They had been obedient, so I didn’t want to treat them too harshly. But I still needed to think carefully about whether to keep the kobolds as part of our fighting force or devour them.
Then there was the matter of the elves and humans. From the information gathered by my clones, it was clear that a war between the two was imminent. While hunting in the forest, I had been detecting more and more elven scouts and human spies. Just the other day, a goblin returned injured after being attacked by a human during a reconnaissance mission. I wanted to tell the two sides not to involve us since we weren’t part of their conflict, but that was unlikely to work.
So, what should we do next? What actions would benefit us the most? I needed to think about this. But, even if problems arose, I’d just crush them. With these thoughts, I finished my tasks and lay down in bed.
War, huh? Personally, I do want to participate in war to gain more abilities, but I need to weigh that against the potential damage we might suffer as a group. For now, I think I’ll try to make real contact with the elves.
What will the future hold for us?
With all that, plus pondering tomorrow’s meal, I fell asleep.