Chương 10: The Skeleton Hill (II)

"If he'd spent less time shouting and more time attacking, he might've had a chance," Vilkie remarked without the slightest concern for the organs beginning to spill across the grass.

"You've got a stomach of steel for someone with such a pretty face..." Nerez commented beside her.

"Is that a compliment or an insult?"

"I already said I don't give compliments to girls with boyfriends."

"..."

"But it is a shame. They didn't seem like the kind you couldn't reason with. Aren, now that you've cut their friend in two, there goes any chance of an alliance..."

"Speaking of that... being able to hear and see what your skeletons do is a pretty useful skill," Vilkie said.

"It would've been more impressive if you hadn't thrown up on me."

"Only one drop landed on your boots, don't exaggerate... And in my defense, try receiving a hundred times the amount of information a normal human gets, all at once. It was hell until I finally got it under control!"

"I'm sorry, I still can't regulate my skill's output at its current rank," Aren cut in apologetically, steering the conversation back.

"I thought that if I didn't move fast, that slash was going to go straight through Nerez's neck..."

"In Aren's defense, it absolutely would've. It's just that Nerez had already ducked," Vilkie said while Aren scratched the back of his head.

"That's what multiple lifetimes on the battlefield will do... his intuition already feels like a sixth sense."

"I'm sorry..." Aren repeated, lowering his head again.

"In any case, I appreciate the gesture, Aren. And I also appreciate still having my head attached to my neck... Things like this wouldn't happen in the scarf-knitting challenge..."

"Look, they're glowing!" Vilkie suddenly exclaimed. In front of them, the group of four demigods began to shine intensely until, at last, they all disappeared.

"The Divine Order disqualified them," Aren said. Only the body of the one who was presumably Kaliken remained behind.

"The least that so-called Divine Order could do is return his body to his family..." Nerez sighed before motioning to a couple of skeletons.

After spending a while praying in front of the improvised grave as a sign of respect (without Aren and Vilkie quite understanding just who he was praying to), Nerez finally turned to his companions.

"I already mentioned it on the way up the hill, but seriously, why were they four... five... no, well, four now, while we're only three?" he complained.

"Doesn't your clan have any other young people who wanted to help you, Aren? Aren't you some kind of elite or something? Or do you just not have friends? Did they abandon you because you spend all your time with your girlfriend?"

"I'm just going to ignore those comments from now on," Vilkie replied as she looked around.

"And as far as I'm concerned, we're one hundred and three." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"At first, I thought Vilkie and I would be enough," Aren replied, sheathing the freshly cleaned Oath's Edge before dismissing it.

"But when I saw you, I decided I'd rather not have you as an enemy. And I can clearly see now that I was right."

"Couldn't you make the same call with a few more candidates..."

"It's not that simple. Those who think they have a real shot at achieving something with only a small group will try it that way, so they stand out more," Aren said, his expression turning serious.

"And there are definitely some monsters competing with us who can pull that off with ease." The image of the twintailed girl crossed Nerez's mind. Aren had looked at her with that same serious expression. But almost immediately, his thoughts jumped to the purple-haired young man.

"Even the greatest clan of astral gods is trying to secure a foothold in Eryndea," Aren continued.

"Their two young prodigies are taking part." It wasn't either of them! How many more dangerous people are there?! Is it already too late to run?!

"Either one of those two could do the job all on their own. Nonetheless, they act together because they belong to the same clan," Vilkie added.

"Going solo is something only a loner would do."

"Sorry for being a loner..."

"Haha, don't say that, you're with us," Aren replied, placing his hands on Nerez's shoulders.

"Although unfortunately, I don't think I can convince you to join my faction anymore."

"That's true," Vilkie agreed.

"At best, I think you'd accept being our ally."

"What's with the change of opinion? Did you finally accept that a god of the library like me doesn't need to be dragged into situations like these?"

"On the contrary," Aren said with a laugh.

"When I first saw your book, I only suspected it, but now I have no doubt: you're competing for dominion over the realm of death."

"No doubt Aren will secure a domain of his own," Vilkie said confidently.

"But if he wants to add the god of death to his faction, he'd first have to ascend as a supreme god and become Eryndea's Overgod."

"Wait, wait. What kind of nonsense are you talking about? The god of death? Don't jinx me. I'm already tired of seeing souls, and honestly these skeletons gross me out a little. I doubt they're sanitary... I don't even want to imagine what a ghoul would be like..."

"I've never had the privilege of visiting any realm of death, but I've heard they're among the cleanest and holiest places in existence," Aren reassured him with a smile.

"I think you're picturing a graveyard or some catacombs." Nerez glanced at the skeletons wandering aimlessly around them. Some still had scraps of hair, while worms crawled out of the hollows of a few skulls.

"If you say so..."

"No one would expect servant skeletons in the realm of death. In fact, they wouldn't expect to see skeletons there at all," Vilkie added, picking up the skull that had fallen off one of the soldiers and setting it back in place.

"The undead are called that for a reason. They still linger in the realm of the living."

"Okay, but don't come near me until you've washed your hands."

"They're your skeletons to begin with!"

"In any case, the god of death would be one of the worst possible outcomes," Nerez muttered to himself.

"With just one foot in this world, anyone would know my name..."

Not far from the meadow, in what looked like the smoking remains of a gigantic explosion, two striking figures could be seen.

"First the chair, then the library... Pfft!" A lone girl stood at the edge of the crater of scorched earth. Every time she moved her head, her blond hair shifted in tone with the changing light.

"What's wrong, Selene?" A tall, handsome man with fiery hair looked in her direction from the epicenter of the devastation.

"It's nothing. I was just remembering something... Have you finished desecrating the corpses?" The man dropped a charred body onto the ground. Around him lay about twenty corpses in the same condition.

"Does slaughter amuse you that much?"

"Of course not. What I want is a worthy rival; this wasn't even a warm-up... I'd have more fun if, for once, you agreed to spend the night with me."

"Thank you, but I sleep better alone. Though if I ever need warmth, you can sit in a corner of the room."

"Ha! Works for me. Just seeing your sleeping face is enough."

"... With your eyes closed and facing the wall."

"We'll be breathing the same air all night!"

"You know what? Freezing to death doesn't sound that bad after all." Selene's silver eyes drifted toward the horizon before a new smile slowly formed on her face.

"Pfft!"

"Seriously, what is so funny?!"