Chapter 52: The Third Skeleton King

From the flames that were still burning on the ground beneath the Sea God Drib Ulf, something or someone was coming out.

Someone who stood 11 feet tall came out of the void. It looked like it tore the void open from the inside.

His plate armor had spikes and was covered with black flames. With every step, the floor went black. It burned from his fire.

Arit: "Oh my..."

Idmon was kneeling.

Idmon: "(t) I'm sorry."

Arit: "Hmm. Hahaha! Don't worry about it, kid."

When he laughed, the room shook. He covered his face with a full helm adorned with three horns. You could see his green eyes through the slit on his helmet.

Drib Ulf: "Who are you? Another weakling in search of his second death?"

Arit: "Second death! Hahaha! A pretender like you should not make jokes, you know."

Drib Ulf: "Pretender? Brave words."

Arit: "I think you've been slacking around underwater too much. I just slipped in through the huge amounts of N.E. Idmon released. It's only a matter of time before the void pulls me back."

Drib Ulf: "Running away already?"

Arit: "Not at all. I just thought that it's just the right amount of time to put you in your place."

Drib Ulf was infuriated.

Drib Ulf: "Then, I'll make sure to kill you before you escape!"

!

Arit: "Hmmph. A shower."

[Stand Firm]! [Full Guard]!

He didn't use any spells, just combat skills. He raised his shield and stood still. The torrents hit his shield like rain on a rock.

Drib Ulf: "Don't think that's my strongest attack!"

!

The Third Skeleton King deflected the two attacks with his weapon.

Drib Ulf: "Impossible! My claws should have broken your weapons!"

Arit: "You see. I've spent decades making my weapons powerful enough to destroy the gods. I got close, but in the end, I just couldn't get it done."

You could see the relief on Drib Ulf's face because he misunderstood something.

Drib Ulf: "Hah! You prepared for this battle!?"

For him, that was the only explanation why he couldn't crush this newcomer.

Arit: "Prepared? Don't think too much of yourself. This weapon was for someone I knew a long time ago. You are just someone that is going to be crushed under its power."

Drib Ulf: "You imbecile! It's time to show you my true form!"

The dragon shed its skin, and from inside, a giant hydra-like monster came out. It had eight sea serpent heads. It was a unique sea serpent, pretending to be a dragon.

!

Light and water seemed to converge in front of his mouth. It must be a holy or water-type attack.

Drib Ulf: "Begone!"

The breath attack went directly at the Third Skeleton King, who doesn't even flinch.

Arit: "Hiya!"

With a swing of his weapon, he shook the whole ocean floor.

FWUUSHHHH!!!!

Royal Guard: "The breath attack..."

Royal Guard 2: "It disappeared."

All of the spectators were awestruck.

Drib Ulf: "How... Monster!"

Arit: "I told you. The gods aren't so weak that you can just call yourself one. Die."

An aura darker than black surrounded him. With one glance, you can already see what was going to happen.

His inhuman dash left a trail of dark flame, and with a swing, the head of the Sea Dragon, Drib Ulf, flew.

After that, the Royal Guards dropped their weapons in surrender.

Arit: "Ah, the void's calling me. Idmon."

Idmon: "(t) Yes, Third SK?"

Arit: "You should take care of yourself more next time. You took a big risk in casting that spell. What if no one came out of the void?"

Idmon: "(t) I know you would."

Arit: "Haha! But knowing this, I won't be able to come to this realm for some time. The overlords of the void keep us on a short leash."

Idmon: "(t) I understand. Thank you very much!"

Arit: "You're welcome. It's fun to get some action from time to time."

Idmon: "Can I ask one more favor from you?"

Arit: "Sure, what is it?"

Idmon: "That old man there. The wizard. You cursed him a long time ago. I want to take him under me, so I hope you get his curse uplifted."

Arit: "Curse? When was that? AH! That one! I had totally forgotten about it. I thought everyone died from it a long time ago. That old man is fascinating, indeed."

Wizard Ybab: "Ah!"

With a glance from the Third SK, the old wizard dropped to his knees.

Arit: " Begone!"

The Old Wizard lost consciousness. I think he is finally sleeping now after all those centuries.

Arit: "You see, Idmon. Sometimes, attacking the mind is much more effective when you are fighting humans. Keep this in mind."

Idmon: "(t)I will. Thanks once again."

Arit: "Farewell for now!"

A black hand came out of the hole in the air. It was the void calling Arit back.

Arit: "Ahhhh! It never gets less embarrassing!"

He was taken back without resistance.

Lina: "Idmon!"

Bon: "Idmon!!!!"

Everybody from our side came to me. They worry too much.

Bon: "What were you thinking!?"

Idmon: "(t) Settle down, Bon. It was part of the plan."

Bon: "Huh?"

Everyone was bewildered.

Idmon: "I knew I couldn't take down the dragon. That was nothing but a gate for my friends in the void. The real name of the spell is

Bon: "Ah... Once again, you amaze us with your flawless strategy."

Bon is back to his usual self. It's unusual to see him get flustered.

Idmon: "(t) It wasn't flawless, Bon. The Third Skeletal King said it himself. I relied on the chance that they would make their entrance."

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They carried me away from there. We need to prepare for Rina's ascension after that battle.

Rina approached his father's body. His father sacrificed himself in a desperate attempt to protect the throne.

Rina: "You idiot, Father. Have fun with Mother."

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(Third SK POV)

Ah, the Overlords are breathing on my neck again. They brought me to this room, where they sit on very high chairs and look down at me.

It's a good thing since their voices are so loud that I could hear them from down here.

Nor (5th SK): "What in the endless void are you thinking!?"

Treb (7th SK): "You took a big risk and came out of the void! And to use your infamous weapon! There will be no doubt that they will get wind of this."

Arit: "Calm down. Old men like you need to relax."

Nor: "Ah, fool! We're going to take the fall for your actions. Oh my. To think that we need to apologize for the 543221st time."

Arit: "If you could just kill them, then we wouldn't need to bow down to them."

Treb: "Hah! Still as ambitious as ever. If you didn't die early, maybe we could have hoped to win."

Arit: "It's still not over. I'm putting all my bets on our future Skeleton King. Idmon."

Nor: "He's not even in the Skeleton King class yet. Who knows how long it will take before that happens?"

Arit: "Not too long now."

Nor: "Hmm... What did you do?"

Arit: "I just gave him a helping hand. That's all."

Nor: "Anyways, you need to write a for formality. We don't want the Overlords to think that this is the start of a rebellion."

Arit: "Would be enough?"

Nor: "I don't care; just write up some excuse and send it up there."

Arit: "This is unfair, you know. The First SK never apologized for his actions."

Both Skeleton Kings froze for a second when I mentioned the first.

The original king The strongest of them all and the most terrifying.

Treb: "You keep your mouth shut. You'll exist longer that way."

Arit: "Yes, yes. Roger."

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(Idmon POV)

It's time to make it official.

Idmon: "(t) Rina."

Rina: "Yes."

Rina looks out from the Pearl Hall window. All of the sea-dwellers gathered outside, waiting for their new ruler to come out.

Rina: "To all of my subjects, I have completed the Rite of Ascension. With my father defeated and ousted from his position, I will become your new queen. Anyone who has any objections can initiate another Rite of Ascension right away!"

There was a long silence. I thought at least someone would object, but none of them did.

After the long silence, a huge applause came from the sea dwellers. They have finally accepted the results.

It was smart of her to make that move. If she gets challenged after we leave, then she'll have to fight on her own.

Rina: "Idmon."

Idmon: "(t) Yes, Rina?"

Rina: "Thank you very much... If you ever need our help, we would be happy to provide it. Anytime, anywhere."

She hugged me and then kissed me on my cheekbone.

Idmon: "(t) You're very welcome."

For a moment there, I thought I could feel murderous glares from behind me. I decided to ignore them; it might be dangerous.

The Searcher: "Finally, we're getting out of here!"

Zombie King Yalk: "Let's go to my kingdom! We're going to have a festival!"

Bon: "Yes, yes. You carry this old man."

Zombie King Yalk: "What!!!?"

Yalk ended up carrying the old wizard on his back. It's a good thing that his

I thought I could have used his powers here, but he's an excellent addition anyway.

Rina: "We will let you ride on our sea serpents for fast and safe travel."

Idmon: "Thank you, Rina."

Rina: "One more thing. We will give the pearls back to the sea again."

Idmon: "(t) Why?"

Rina: "They are magical stones that illuminate the waters. My father was a greedy man. He was hoarding the pearls as a present for my dead mother. It made the sea dark and gloomy."

Idmon: "(t) I'm glad."

The sea serpents spread the magical pearls around the sea. Finally, illuminate the waters and show their real beauty.

The ocean floor regained its original beauty.

After saying our farewells to Rina, we went back to the Grave Isles on a live sea serpent.

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(Souta POV)

Lord Idmon sent a telepathic message to us saying that they were already on their way home.

Souta and the others were fighting off some sea-dwellers and sea monsters that harassed the Grave Isles while their king was gone.

Good thing I left my army there, so they crushed them.

Souta: "Everyone, I just received a message! Lord Idmon and King Yalk have beaten the sea-dwellers!"

Soldiers: "Yeahh!!"

More Soldiers: "ROOOARRR!!"

There were cheers and applause from soldiers and beasts alike, but only a few were surprised. But how could they not be?

That trip's goal was to search and rescue, not to take a kingdom down overnight.

Alno approached me.

Alno: "Hahaha! They impressed me once again! Truly, they are legends."

Souta: "Do you have any idea how they were able to win the war on their own?"

Alno: "I don't know the specifics, but I know for sure that it's something outrageous."

While everyone was celebrating, the sound of a ship hitting the shore made everyone quiet.

After a few seconds, everyone was on guard.

This ship wasn't one of us.

Alno: "Its design... It's orcs!"

Alno was familiar with various races since he was a mapper. He had been in Orcish land before.

Alno: "Why are they here? Is it another war?"

The big shots of the Zombie Army came out. Harat was leading a hundred Grave Champions in battle formations.

Lea: "Let's prepare ourselves too."

Lea was preparing to cast a colossal ice spell that Lina had taught her before. A massive ball of ice was forming in her hands, and snow was starting to fall from the sky.

Souta: "Wait. Let me talk to passengers first."

Alno: "Souta? Why?"

Souta: "It's just one ship. It's a bit strange for anyone to launch an invasion with a single ship."

Alno: "When you say it like that, it does make sense. The strategy of orcs is to overwhelm enemies with unbelievable strength and numbers."

Souta: "Roln will come with me."

Roln: "...Okay."

Tens of thousands of arrows were already drawn and aimed at the orcish ship. Mages and wizards alike were also casting a lot of offensive spells. All that was left was to unleash them.

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(Young Orcish Warchief)

My full name is Noel Warbreaker. My specialty in the clan was "breaking wars." It's not as amazing as it sounds.

To keep us from facing multiple enemy countries at a time, I proposed to take a break from war with truces with other clans and races.

We were able to gain a lot of territory in return. A lot of clans joined ours. However, my father and our soldiers still disapproved of it.

It was the only way to survive.

Well, until those monstrous humans came.

Orc Warrior: "A peaceful orc from a warrior clan? Hah! Will they believe that?"

All of the orcs on these ships were children and women. The warrior women stayed behind for the war.

So basically, all of us here are either weak warriors or civilians. We do have a few warriors on board who are my friends. They decided to guard me on this escape.

Escape. How did we end up doing something so shameful?

Orc Warrior: "Young Warchief!"

Noel: "What is this?"

Suddenly, while our ships were on course to some island south of us, mist covered the whole area.

Orc Warrior: "We can't see a thing."

Noel: "How about our scouts?"

They were orc scouts positioned on the highest point of the ship.

Orc Warrior: "There's nothing but mist!"

Noel: "Tell everyone to brace themselves! We might bump into some!"

Everyone: "Ooooggghhhh!!!"

BOOM! Creak...

Luckily, we hit the shore of an island, not a huge rock.

Noel: "What do we see now?"

I asked the scouts, but they looked pale.

Orc Scout: "Thousands... no. Tens of thousands of undead!"

Noel: "Everyone, stay inside and hide on the ship."

Orc Warrior: "What are you going to do, Young Warchief?"

Noel: "I'll try if we can get away peacefully."

It's my specialty. However, this might not work against the life-hating undead.

Orc Warrior: "They're undead! They are out to kill every living thing!"

Noel: "We have no choice. Let's just hope there is someone who can understand our speech."

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(Souta POV)

The Orcish speech was different from what we were using in Haven.

(Continent where Idmon's Kingdom is located.).

Alno was a huge asset in situations like this since being a mapper means you get to interact with different races. Because of this, Alno possesses a lot of language spells, including

Souta: "Eherm... hermmm. Hello."

Alno: "You're good to go, Souta."

Souta: "We'll be off, then."

Alno: "Yeah. Take care."

Roln and I climbed the ship and got ourselves on the deck of the vessel.

Souta: "Hello."

Noel: "What!? H-hello."

He was quite surprised. He must be expecting hostile undead.

Noel: "We..."

Souta: "We just like to know your intentions. Are you the Orc Warchief?"

Noel: "Y-yes. We are just here by chance. We don't have any ulterior motives."

Souta: "Hmm. Why are you on a ship all the way here? I believe Orclands are north of Haven."

I looked at him curiously.

Noel: "It's a long story. Immortal humans in white armor came to our lands and pushed us to the brink of extinction. My father made a decision no warchief has ever made before. He gave and ordered us to escape."

Souta: "I see. Paladins, huh?"

Noel: "Yes... I believe that was what they called themselves. We never left the Orclands before. Not even for trade and invasions. We kept ourselves on land, so we only had a few ships."

Souta: "Don't worry. Since you're not here for war, we are not going to attack you."

Noel: "Really? Thank you very much!"

He was about to kneel. He's mellow for an orc warchief.

Souta: "You need not go that far. I am not a king."

Noel: "What? I felt you were strong enough to be a king. Is it the warrior beside you?"

Souta: "No, our king is a much greater person than us. He will be coming back soon."

Noel: "I understand. So our fate isn't decided yet?"

Souta: "Don't worry too much. Our King is a brilliant person. You never met a non-hostile undead before, right?"

Noel: "Yes..."

Souta: "It's because he gave us our wills back, and we decided to give it all up for him. We're not too different from other kingdoms now."

Noel: "Amazing. Such an undead ruler exists."

Souta: "Yes."

The orcs listening in on the conversation cannot believe what they heard and dropped their weapons in shock.

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(Idmon POV)

Idmon: "(t) We're back."

King Yalk: "Wereeeee Backkk!!!! OHH!!!! What are orcs doing here?"

When we came back from underwater, a large group of orcs was in the middle of the beach. They were being watched, but they weren't treated like prisoners.

I approached Souta, who was in command.

Souta: "They are refugees from the Orclands."

King Yalk: "Refugees? That's a word they don't use, brother."

King Yalk was skeptical.

Idmon: "Don't be too hasty. What happened?"

Souta: "Here is the young warchief."

A reasonably strong-looking orc came forward.

Noel: "Sir, I mean, Lord."

Idmon: "Hmm, you can call me Idmon since an orc warchief is like a king."

Noel: "Telepathy... If you don't mind, Idmon. We were attacked by the

Paladins, led by a monster they called Hero."

Idmon: "I see you need not explain it further."

This situation only means one thing. The humans have already made a move to invade other lands.

The hero is ambitious. Or is there something driving him to do this?

Noel: "Thank you... Please have mercy on us."

Idmon: "(t) Haha! Don't worry too much, Young Warchief! Instead of destroying the entire Orc race, I will be glad to accept you into my land."

Noel: "Wa-really!?"

Idmon: "(t) Yes. But of course, it isn't for free."

The orcs' faces went dark the moment I finished the sentence.

Noel: "Are you asking for living tributes? Some of our Orc ancestors served demons, and they appeased them with living sacrifices."

Idmon: "(t) No, it's nothing like that. You and your people will enter an eternal alliance with me and all the generations after you."

Orc: "Alliance?"

Idmon: "(t) I say alliance, but to be honest, you will raise armies to fight for me, and in exchange, I will protect you from those white monsters in the form of humans."

Humans are not the lowest in the food chain anymore.

Noel: "We accept."

Bon: "Don't look so grim, Young Warchief."

Bon reassured him.

Bon: "All of our allies are allowed to rule their lands if you remain loyal to our Lord."

A look of surprise and gratitude was displayed on the warchief's face; he could not believe it.

The others still have a look of disbelief.

Noel: "I see. We are forever thankful, and we will enter whatever rites and rituals you may have."

Idmon: "(t) We don't need any rituals. We will reach an agreement. You will make sure that every chief after you will remember our deal, and that is all you need to do."

Noel: "We understand. People and creatures look at orcs like they are nothing but brutes. But we value honor, and we will keep your words forever in our minds and hearts."

Idmon: "(t) Tell me your name, and I will make your race one of the greatest warriors in the world!"

Noel: "It is Noel Warbreaker! I swear eternal allegiance to you, Lord Idmon."

Idmon: "(t) Excellent. We are not going to stay here since this gloomy kingdom is King Yalk's territory."

King Yalk: "Hey!"

Idmon: "(t) Everyone! Prepare to sail back home!"

Bon: "Yes! Understood!"

Lina: "Yeah!"

The Searcher: "Got it!"

King Yalk: "Oi!! I'll come with you! I want to check those women out in Haven!"

King Yalk...

To seal my pact with the Warchief, we did the agreement spell that the Old Man Wizard did for Rina and me. By the way, that spell was already gone since Rina did his part of the agreement.