Skeleton Knight in Another World Vol. 3

by Ennki Hakari

  However, there were no lights in the hallway just outside the room, and no moonlight coming in through the windows, so I couldn’t see much farther inside. It was like a big, black pit yawning open in front of us.

  Figuring this was a perfect time for Ariane to use her impeccable night vision, I turned to look over at her. However, she was already walking unsteadily off into the darkness, as if drawn in by it.

  I whispered to get her attention. “Ariane?”

  No response. Just as I was about to try again, I noticed something peculiar.

  There was a dark, shadowy figure floating above her head.

  It was almost impossible to make out against the surrounding darkness. But I could tell that it had a round body and was about fifteen centimeters tall, with small wings on its back, a short tail, and multiple bumps protruding from its head. The creature turned its red eyes on me and cried out in an unsettling voice.

  “Gekyuu?!”

  Whatever this thing was, it clearly wasn’t good.

  “Khest!”

  The mysterious, devil-like fairy flew at me, its hand transforming into a knife, but I batted it down. It hit the ground with a wet thud that echoed through the room.

  “Nng, huh…?”

  As soon as the creature fell, Ariane’s head started darting around the room, as if she’d come out of a trance.

  “Are you okay, Ariane?”

  Ariane shook her head. “I’m sorry. I seemed to have gotten lost in my own head…”

  I motioned toward the broken figure on the floor.

  “Could this be the culprit?”

  Ariane’s eyes went wide. “What’s an imp doing here?”

  Now that she mentioned it, it did look a lot like the monsters known as imps back in the game, though they definitely weren’t this small.

  “Imps possess bewitching magic, right?” That’s how it worked in the game anyway.

  Ariane nodded, staring down at the imp.

  “But they’re usually only found in dark places like caves, or in spots where there’s a high concentration of mana.”

  “That was my pet, y’know.” A voice called out from the darkness. “What an awful, awful thing you’ve done…”

  Ariane and I tensed, turning in the direction of the voice. I reached up and gripped the hilt of my sword.

  A man walked out of the darkness. A man I’d seen before. Last night, in fact, out in the suburbs when he was drunk and hitting on Ariane. He must have had some sort of connection with the lord here.

  He was tall and well-built, his familiar braids swaying as he walked. The edges of his mouth curled into a smile as he watched us.

  “Well, if isn’t you two bastards.” He looked from Ariane to me as he spoke, a note of amusement in his words.

  I guess he remembered us after all, despite how drunk he’d been.

  “What’re the odds I’d run into you here? And who the hell are you anyway?”

  The man seemed to be enjoying himself as he questioned us.

  “We’ve got nothing to say to you.” The menace was thick in Ariane’s voice as she drew her sword.

  “Hehehe. Well, I guess I should show my appreciation for what you did to me!”

  Despite wearing a sword at his waist, the man made no attempt to draw it.

  “Once I kill that big boy behind you, I’ll be sure to treat you reeeeal good.”

  He finally drew the sword from his waist and swung it around a few times in dramatic fashion.

  Just then, two massive white beasts dove down from the second-floor balcony. Their muscular bodies stood around two meters tall, and their tails gave off a faint glow. These were the same wolves we’d encountered back in the forest at the base of the Anetto Mountains. They were able to create illusions of themselves at will in order to confuse their prey while hunting, making them quite a hassle to deal with.

  Unlike last time, however, these ones each had a metal ring clasped around their front ankles.

  “Haunted wolves?!” Ariane and I both blurted in unison.

  As if on cue, the wolves rushed toward us, their bodies low to the ground. They both dove toward me, exposing their vicious fangs.

  I spun my body to the side and used my shield to block one of the wolves while swatting at the other with my gauntleted fist. They both flew backward, howls tearing from their jaws as they crashed to the ground.

  The man seemed genuinely surprised by this.

  “Whoa! So you aren’t just some useless puppet after all. Why don’t you give this one a try?!”

  He waved his hands, a look of enjoyment on his face.

  Out from the darkness lumbered a mob of ogres. Unlike the ones we’d run into at the border near Grahd, these were all holding massive battleaxes. Around their ankles, they each wore the same kind of metal rings as the haunted wolves.

  “A monster tamer?”

  This wasn’t a class available in the game I played, but it was common in other RPGs.

  Monster tamers would usually put monsters under their control and use them to attack. However, I hadn’t seen anyone using monsters to fight like this since coming to this world, so I’d just assumed such abilities didn’t exist here.

  “I’ve heard about them, humans living up north who have the ability to control monsters!”

  Ariane held out her sword and aimed it toward the oncoming ogres, though never quite taking her eye off the smirking man.

  “My, my, aren’t you well informed! My name is Fumba Soodu Rozombanya, the beast tamer. But you can call me Fumba. So, what’ll it be? No matter how strong your armor is, with this many ogres, it’s just a matter of time until they beat you to a pulp! Hahaha!”

  I fixed the smiling man with a glare and drew my two-handed blade with one hand, holding my shield firmly in the other. I twisted my head from side to side, letting out a pop.

  A vein bulged in the beast tamer’s forehead as he shot me a murderous glare.

  “After I’ve slaughtered you, I’m going to make that girlfriend of yours squeal.”

  He was practically licking his lips, his tone venomous.

  Ariane, the subject of his lustful gaze, pulled back her hood to expose her face.

  “I hate to break it to you, but I don’t lie with the likes of you.”

  Fumba hardly seemed to notice Ariane’s insult and instead threw his hands up and let out a hearty laugh.

  “Gyahahahaha! So you’re an elf, huh? I guess that means you’re here to do some rescuing.” He fixed Ariane with a cruel grin. “Good job getting this far! But unfortunately for you, they’re all gone.”

  Was it true? Were there no more elves left in the castle?

  “Do you know what happened to them? Gyahaha! They were used as test subjects to improve monster control techniques. It’s awful, a real shame. They were just women and children, y’know? At least let us use the women for a little fun, am I right?”

  A look of rage twisted across Ariane’s face. “You son of a…”

  Fumba laughed derisively. But Ariane wasn’t playing around. A flame enveloped her sword, illuminating the room in a wavering red glow. Fumba let out a low whistle, his lips contorting into a sneer.

  “Don’t worry, missy. Unlike everyone else in the empire, I don’t discriminate between humans, beastmen, or elves. So long as everything’s where it needs to be, that’s good enough for me. Gyahaha!”

  “I’m going to shut your mouth for good!” Ariane rushed toward Fumba.

  The flame-engulfed sword trailed fire as she swung it down. However, Fumba deftly blocked the blow with his own sword. The beginning of this duel seemed to be a signal that the ogres and haunted wolves had been waiting for. They ignored Ariane and loomed closer toward me, murder in their eyes.

  It seemed clear that Fumba had entered this building on his own, and that he had no plans on calling for any backup. So long as we killed him here, we might escape without anyone being the wiser.

  I held the mythical-class Holy Shield of Teutates tighter i
n my left hand and retreated slowly, keeping my back to the wall. If I stayed here, I should be able to cut down any oncoming monsters with my Holy Thunder Sword of Caladbolg. Fortunately, I’d already encountered both of these monsters before, and neither were terribly strong.

  I deflected a strike from one of the ogre’s battleaxes with my shield and focused on the two haunted wolves approaching from my right. I could see another pair of wolves watching me from farther off, meaning that these two were an illusion.

  “Not a chance!”

  The last time, I’d been surrounded by a whole pack of haunted wolves, so the two I was facing—four, if you counted the illusions—wouldn’t be a problem. They couldn’t swarm me like before.

  I swung my sword in an upward arc toward the oncoming wolves. The blade emitted a light azure glow as it chopped them in half. Pitiful howls escaped their mouths as their bodies slumped to the floor, staining the stone floor red.

  I raised my sword again, swinging it in a horizontal slash, sending another three ogres to the ground. Watching their comrades fall, the remaining ogres cowered away from me. Then, as if ordered by an invisible commander, they rushed forward again to bang on my shield.

  I shoved one of the ogres away, sending it flying through the air and into a pillar, where it slumped to the floor.

  Another haunted wolf was now trying to get behind me. I sliced down, just barely missing it and carving a large gash in the stone floor instead. The wolf leaped backward, as if it could sense the danger. I sliced again, effortlessly cutting another ogre in half.

  “You’re no match for me!”

  I swung my blood-soaked blade through the air, splattering the walls. Fumba, locked in combat with Ariane, looked over at me in shock.

  They were talking about me.

  “Just what kind of monster is he?! Is there a minotaur lurking under that armor?!”

  Ariane grinned. “Unfortunately for you, it’ll take more than a few monsters to keep him busy. Honestly, I think you’d need a dragon!”

  Her flame-covered sword came close to cutting Fumba, instead setting his shirt on fire. He shrugged it off, ripping away the burning fabric.

  Fumba’s upper body was covered in tattoos, which almost seemed to glow, making it look like they were floating above his skin. Were they somehow related to his ability to control monsters?

  Despite Ariane’s impressive swordsmanship, Fumba was holding his own against her. She was truly skilled with a blade, however, and as I watched them fight, I could see that she was slowly gaining the upper hand. I wondered if Fumba was distracted by the fact that I was tearing his precious monster corps to shreds.

  The self-proclaimed beast master screamed in rage, sprinting backward to put some distance between himself and Ariane.

  “Dammit! All right then, how about you try this on for size?!”

  The windows running along the south side of the room shattered, sending glass everywhere as a swarm of monsters that looked like a bizarre hybrid of human and fish smashed their way in.

  Each had the lower body of a human and the upper body of a fish—albeit with a pair of human arms, clutching a metal harpoon—and they were covered from head to toe in blue scales. The fins on their backs twitched as they let forth an eerie cry.

  These sea creatures were pretty common in the game. I wondered if they’d been lurking in the lake in the garden.

  The sight of them reminded me of something I’d seen in a popular anime. Before I could stop myself, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

  “Looks like they forgot their fishnet stockings!”

  “Sahagin? Ha! That’s even a step down from your ogres!” Ariane shot Fumba a defiant smile and chopped down one of the creatures that had gotten too close.

  Several sahagin joined the mob of ogres surrounding me, so I swung my Holy Thunder Sword of Caladbolg in a horizontal slash, chopping down as many as I could.

  As Ariane had alluded to, sahagin weren’t known for their fighting prowess. However, what they lacked in strength, they usually made up for in sheer numbers.

  “Gwahahaha! They’re just to keep you from escaping. I’ve arranged a real treat for you, and it’s on its way now!”

  An immense roar echoed throughout the castle grounds, drowning out Fumba’s laugh and the sahagins’ screeching. The ground rumbled underfoot and the building shook.

  “What was that?”

  “Huh?!”

  Fumba grinned from ear to ear, as if already assured of his victory.

  “Maybe you can massacre my ogres, but can you face off against my next surprise and live?”

  The rumbling beneath our feet grew stronger. Whatever Fumba had called, it was getting closer. Had he brought an actual dragon to the fight?!

  Ariane dropped several more sahagin and chased after Fumba. The monster tamer, perhaps too confident in his victory, had let down his guard.

  “Blazing embers, heed my call. Consume all to ash!”

  A blueish-white flame burst from Ariane’s blade, licking violently up into the air. With a mighty swing of her sword, the sahagin surrounding Fumba were burned to a crisp in an instant, like sheaves of paper tossed on a campfire.

  “What the hell?!”

  Fumba had retreated behind his sahagin mob only to have Ariane reduce them to ash.

  “You wench!” Fumba shouted as his blade clashed with Ariane’s.

  But the bluish-white flames continued, wrapping around Fumba like a snake until his entire body was engulfed.

  “Gyaaaaaaaaaaugh!!!”

  The monster tamer’s dying screams filled the hall as he went up in a massive pillar of fire, reaching all the way to the vaulted ceiling. The flames spread until the whole ceiling was ablaze. The remaining sahagin dove back out the windows in order to escape. The ogres followed quickly after.

  Ariane stabbed her sword into the floor, breathing heavily. I rushed over to her.

  “Are you all right, Ariane?”

  She put a hand out to push me back, smiling.

  “I’m fine. I just used a little too much mana is all…”

  She wasn’t kidding. The charred corpses of sahagin lay all around her, fires still burning in a few of them. The lump of charcoal that had once been Fumba was barely recognizable as human. That was some impressive magic.

  “Can you stand?”

  I sheathed my sword and offered Ariane my hand.

  “Thank you, Arc.”

  Ponta, still wrapped around my neck, stuck its head up.

  “Kyiii!”

  Right at that moment, a thunderous roar echoed through the room, causing the entire building to shake on its foundation—far more violent than any tremor we’d felt yet.

  The chandeliers swung wildly above our heads. One broke free and smashed into the stone floor with a tremendous crash. I put myself between Ariane and the flying shards, letting them bounce harmlessly off my back.

  “What was that?”

  I glanced around the room. Ariane sheathed her sword and made her way to the now glassless windows before jumping through them. I followed close behind.

  Outside the sunroom was a tree-lined garden and pond, and beyond that, the castle wall. I could see several guards atop the wall frantically pointing toward us.

  No, not us. Something else entirely.

  “Arc, over there!”

  Ariane pointed across the garden to the corner of the building. I used Dimensional Step to teleport over.

  When I peeked around the corner, I saw a monstrous beast covered in turquoise scales. Multiple heads sprouted from its body on long, snaking necks, their tongues darting out as each head hissed.

  From the top of its outstretched heads to the bottom of its four large feet, the monster stood around ten meters tall. In all, I counted five heads connected to its mammoth body, each of which were busily swallowing up nearby guards.

  As it lumbered toward the building, the monster used one of its heads like a whip and smashed through the entrance, sendi
ng the mosaic-like stones tumbling to the ground with an explosive crash.

  “A hydra…”

  My eyes were locked on the awful, awe-inspiring monster. Beside me, Ariane couldn’t take her eyes off it either.

  This…thing was far different from the hydras I was familiar with. If it had the same characteristics as in the game, then it was a high-level monster with impressive regenerative abilities and a high affinity for water-based magic—as well as a strong resistance against the same.

  I wasn’t sure exactly how the hydra fit into this world, but judging by the sheer amount of destruction it was inflicting and the palpable fear of the castle guards, I had a pretty good guess.

  One of the hydra’s mouths opened and released a white beam of light into the ground, ripping a hole through the castle wall. Seconds later, I began hearing panicked screams from the town beyond the wall.

  Apparently, this was the surprise Fumba had been talking about. But now that he was no longer here to control it, the monster was free to rampage on its own. If it got through the wall, the damage to the town would be immense…assuming there was still a town left when it was done.

  “What should we do, Ariane?”

  “What can we do?! Unless you want to get into a wrestling match with it?”

  “Mmm…”

  Even if I could fell the beast, I would draw too much attention to myself, potentially hindering all our future efforts. On the other hand, I couldn’t just turn a blind eye to the countless number of townsfolk who would end up either dead or wounded.

  The castle soldiers were already running for their lives, rather than even attempting to fight the hydra. It was only a matter of time until the beast was roaming the streets.

  I sighed. Maybe I’d draw undesired attention, but it looked like it was up to me to take down the hydra.

  “Give me five minutes!”

  I waved my hand in front of me. A sprawling magical symbol appeared on the ground, emitting a hazy red light that slowly grew in intensity. It was the first time I’d used this particular skill here, but it seemed like I’d pulled it off without a hitch. If everything went according to plan, then I’d be able to settle this without calling attention to myself.

  I began chanting. “I summon forth the fire demon Ifrit!”