How to Raise Your Skeletons

Chapter 129: The Dragon Slayer (2)

Among the six hunters, Vladimir stood at the forefront, unleashing a sharp tirade.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“Are all dragons like this? We saved your life when you were getting your scales handed to the Giant Magic Dragon, and now you want to kill us ‘mercifully’? Wow, how does someone even think like that? Truly impressive.” He spat to the side, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“…Vladimir, what are you doing?”

“Hm… I don’t think that dragon’s going to listen to us…”

Olena and the other team members wore worried expressions, but Vladimir didn’t stop.

“Fascinating, really. Hey, lizard face! Let me ask you something. Are all dragons selfish creatures incapable of gratitude? Or have you simply grown senile with age? If it’s the latter, I might understand.”

—Whoosh!

Vladimir swung his staff threateningly, taunting the dragon.

“The dragon’s aura reeks of impure intent. Do you think my spear, which has judged countless murderers, cannot pass judgment on a dragon?” Beside him, the Judgment Spear positioned himself, exuding a violent, rough killing intent.

—Sizzle! Splash!

Meanwhile, Olena continued to support their platform with her water magic.

“Hm.”

Aranballon furrowed its brow as it gazed at the six hunters. Its expression was one of disbelief, like words had failed it.

“Surely, you don’t think you can challenge me with such meager strength? Even if I’m injured, do you believe you’re a match for me?”

The energy emanating from the dragon grew increasingly menacing.

“And gratitude, you say? What a joke. Do you feel grateful to insects that happen to help you in a fight?”

“I do,” Vladimir replied with a smirk. “Why wouldn’t I? If an insect helped me and we could communicate, I’d definitely be grateful. But of course dragons are too self-absorbed to understand that. No empathy, no decency.”

Vladimir didn’t hold back his words. After all, the dragon had already declared its intent to kill them. What was there to fear? He could provoke it or stay silent—either way, the outcome would be the same.

“Enough!”

Aranballon’s golden eyes flared dangerously, but Vladimir didn’t back down.

“You still don’t get it, do you? Your spartoi and that Giant Magic Dragon both died because of us. What makes you believe your fate will be any different?”

“I’ve heard enough.”

—Rumble!

Aranballon flapped its powerful wings.

“I was going to end this quickly, but I’ve changed my mind. I’ll make sure the noisiest one among you suffers, unable to die even if he wants to!”

Its killing intent intensified as a brown magic circle appeared in the air.

“Damn it! Everyone, get ready!”

“Brace for impact!”

The hunters shouted, crouching and covering themselves with various skills to shield against the incoming attack.

But then…

—Rip! Tear! Slash!

A strange noise echoed from below. It was out of place. It sounded like dragon hide being shredded.

“…?”

“…!”

Both Aranballon and the team paused, looking down.

—Slash! Stab! Rip!

A tiny weapon and a human arm became visible as crimson blood spurted skyward.

“What… is that?”

Witnessing the bizarre sight, Aranballon fell silent. It had assumed there were only six hunters because one had died, but it turned out that the missing one was in there.

So that’s what it was.

Now, it made sense to Aranballon. It understood why the Giant Magic Dragon had been in so much pain and why it had screamed, taking its attacks without fighting back.

It was that human.

There was no doubt it was that human who had done it.

—Rip! Tear!

The figure below slashed fiercely, then pulled himself out, gripping the torn hide tightly. With a heave, he yanked himself free and gasped for air.

“Gah! Argh! Huff, huff!”

He looked utterly exhausted.

“Huff, haah! I thought I was going to suffocate. Damn it, why is this dragon’s body so massive?”

He panted heavily, muttering complaints. His body was drenched in blood and sweat, which dripped incessantly.

“Hoon? Hoon!”

“Team Leader!”

“My friend! I knew you’d be alive!”

Seeing him, the team members cried out in relief.

“Huff, huff!” The young man looked up at the sky where Aranballon loomed. “Hey, Mr. Aranballon?”

The dragon locked its golden eyes on the young man. It was surprising. Despite his ordeal, his body looked relatively unscathed. His eyes were bright, full of vitality.

“I heard everything while I was coming out. Leaving me out of the fight? That’s just rude.” The man smiled broadly.

“Huff, huff!”

—Thump, thump!

My heart pounded loudly. Using all that strength for so long had my muscles screaming for oxygen. I could’ve taken my time climbing out, but I didn’t. I could hear everything Aranballon and my teammates were discussing outside.

Fine.

This was for the better. If Aranballon had been cooperative, I might have felt bad. But since it wasn’t, I could fight it with a clear conscience.

After all…

I wasn’t planning to leave it be. My final mission wasn’t to slay the Giant Magic Dragon—it was to deal with Aranballon. In other words, that enormous Dragon of Greed was my prey.

“You…”

Aranballon growled

“You must be their leader. If I kill you first, the rest will follow.”

The dragon’s full presence bore down on me. But I wasn’t afraid because I wasn’t the same as before. I recalled the moment I stabbed the Giant Magic Dragon’s heart, losing myself in the motion of stabbing even as the world shook.

—Boom!

Suddenly, the world made a really loud noise, as if it was splitting in half, followed by a notification.

—Ring!

[You have defeated the ‘Giant Magic Dragon.’]

Finally, the message confirming its death appeared. At the same time…

[You have achieved the greatest contribution points in slaying a dragon.]

[You have accomplished a monumental feat.]

For the second time in my life, I received an achievement reward.

[Receiving rewards!]

[Congratulations!]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Bone Dragon’ (S-rank)!]

If my first achievement reward had been the S-rank ‘Fire Dragon’s Staff’ for clearing an immeasurable stage, this time, I received the ‘Bone Dragon’ skill. Before I could fully check the skill’s details, another notification popped up.

[Hidden condition achieved!]

[This is the hidden condition for ‘Unique Ability: Cursed Necromancer’!]

[Condition: Dragon Slayer!]

– To upgrade the rank of your unique ability, you must achieve a monumental feat.

– Slay an existing ‘dragon’ in any world!

“Damn,” I cursed aloud when I saw it.

This was the same message that appeared every time my unique ability ranked up. What kind of unique ability required slaying a dragon to rank up?

[Congratulations!]

[Your rank has been upgraded to S-rank!]

Well. By now, I understood that the hidden conditions were part of the system’s design. It simply meant I had accumulated enough achievements to justify reaching S-rank.

[A reward for the rank change has arrived!]

The best part?

[Your energy is fully restored!]

[Energy: 1,220/1,220]

Not only was my energy replenished but my wounds were healed, and my fatigue vanished. It was like being reborn. And then the next best thing was…

[Skill: ‘Summon Skeleton Knight’ (A-rank) has been upgraded!]

[Skill: ‘Summon Skeleton Lord’ (S-rank) acquired!]

My summons had evolved to my former alias—the Skeleton Lord.

[Skill: Summon Skeleton Lord]

[Rank: S]

[Effect 1: Consumes 10 energy to summon a Skeleton Lord. A maximum of 10 can be summoned.]

[Effect 2: You can name each skeleton.]

[Effect 3: Each skeleton’s energy increases by 500.]

[Effect 4: Each skeleton can summon 10 skeletons one rank lower than itself.]

“Ah, Master… I can feel the power coursing through me.”

“My lord, it seems that I can now wield about 50% of my former strength.”

Sunny and Eldrin, once absolute beings of their respective worlds, had grown exponentially, almost ten-fold. Their presence, once faint, now radiated with force. And it didn’t end there.

[A new primary weapon for the skeleton has been adjusted!]

[Assigned skeletons: ‘Bonehead 8’]

[These skeletons will now respond to your command!]

Even Boney 8, which had been sealed, was released. If I had more time, I would have sat down to review all the changes and rewards. However…

“…”

Time wasn’t on my side. I had started running out of breath because Olena’s magic had long since dissipated. More importantly, I didn’t know what was happening outside to my teammates.

After clearing away the notifications, I climbed out in haste, which led to my current situation.

“Phew.” Snapping out of my thoughts, I stared at the ferocious dragon. “Sunny.”

“Yes, my lord.”

—Swish!

Sunny appeared on my right, radiating an overwhelming presence.

“Eldrin.”

“Yes, Master.” Eldrin stepped forward on my left.

“Can you two take that thing down?”

“It’s injured and can’t muster even 10% of its strength. What’s there to fear?”

“No problem at all.”

—Shuffle!

Both had already summoned their subordinates.

—Rumble!

The skeleton army began to grow, swelling in number. Each Skeleton Lord could summon up to 10 Skeleton Knights (A-rank). Each Skeleton Knight could summon 10 Great Skeletons (B-rank). Each Great Skeleton could summon 10 Balanced Skeletons (C-rank).

So how many Skeletons could Sunny summon alone? One Lord (himself), 10 Skeleton Knights (A-rank), 100 Great Skeletons (B-rank), and 1,000 Balanced Skeletons (C-rank). A total of 1,111 Skeletons.

Not including Demir, who’d be working diligently outside, my other subordinates—Boney 1, Sunny, Eldrin, Boney 4, Boney 5, Boney 7, and the newly unsealed Boney 8—there were seven Skeleton Lords in total. Together, they amassed an army of 7,777 Skeletons.

Boney 8, equipped with gauntlets, seemed to have a martial arts role, reminiscent of James.

Anyway.

The sight of nearly 8,000 skeletons standing armed for me was breathtaking.

“How insane…”

“That’s incredible.”

“It’s practically a skeleton legion.”

“So this is… the Skeleton King?”

Even the team members watching were astonished. But…

“Hmph!”

Aranballon wasn’t impressed.

“Insolent fools! You think you can overwhelm me with sheer numbers? Insects are still insects, no matter how many there are!”

It scoffed instead.

Fair enough. I wasn’t going to stand proudly before a dragon with just this.

“Wait for it.”

Now, I’d show it something truly spectacular.

—Whoosh!

My staff felt light as I swung it. Radiant light burst forth.

[Using skill ‘Bone Dragon’ (S-rank).]

[Consuming 100 energy.]

I used the achievement reward I had obtained, pointing my staff toward the corpse of the Giant Magic Dragon.