Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Cough, cough!"

The laboratory deep within the sinister mana-filled tower.

The Necromancer Malach spat out a clot of blood and collapsed against the desk as though he could no longer support himself. Dark-red blood dripped onto the old parchment, forming ominous stains.

His rotting body was reaching its limit.

The price of excessive large-scale necromancy.

The mana flowing through his veins was running rampant in reverse, gnawing away at his internal organs.

"Damn it... Even the medicine doesn't work anymore."

Malach roughly wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve and glared at the enormous skeleton restrained on the experiment table.

It was the huge Orc Skeleton that had walked into the laboratory on its own after being drawn by his summons.

Some of its joints had been grotesquely fused together, and traces of the hardening magic Malach had infused into it were tangled across the bones like black veins. It was undoubtedly tougher and stronger than before.

But that was all.

"Tch, no change. This amount of stimulation isn't enough to show any signs of evolving into a higher undead."

Malach irritably tapped the skeleton with his staff.

Only its physical strength had increased, and there was no sign whatsoever that it would evolve into a higher undead. All he had gained was a sturdier meat shield—no, bone shield.

Malach recalled the wondrous mutant he had witnessed before.

A beast's reverse-jointed left leg and a goblin's arm.

Grotesquely unbalanced as they were, those bones had meshed together perfectly as though they possessed wills of their own, releasing explosive elasticity.

But that mutant had ignored even a forced command and vanished without a trace.

How could a low-rank skeleton possibly possess free will and escape?

As frustration and irritation rose within him, pain flared in his chest once again and the taste of blood filled his throat.

At that moment, someone's mocking voice flashed through his mind.

- How long

are you going to keep

fiddling with those worthless piles of bones,

Malach

? Looks like that's

the limit of

your talent.

Malach ground his teeth and slammed his bloodstained hand down on the experiment table.

There was no need to be impatient. He simply had to perfect the material currently in his grasp first.

He turned his gaze back toward the Orc Skeleton in front of him.

"It's unfortunate, but for now, I'll have to modify this one to its absolute limit. Those Red Wolves have caught the scent and are stirring up the outskirts."

Sticky mana flowed from the tips of Malach's gaunt fingers and began soaking into the enormous skeleton.

_____________

Early the next morning.

While the entire city was still submerged in bluish darkness, I left the inn with light steps.

My leather pouch was filled with plenty of sloshing Polymorph Reagents.

Last night, I'd mixed the remaining Chameleon Slime mucus with additional mana catalyst and made even more spare reagents.

I had been a little short on mana catalyst, but that wasn't a major problem. A penniless skeleton like me had no money to buy such expensive materials, but didn't I have an excellent 'credit guarantor'?

"Ah, put the payment

under the name

of the Red Wolves

Mercenary Company

."

Even the merchant who had been giving me suspicious looks handed over the goods without complaint at the name of the Red Wolves. Because merchant caravans had stopped coming and supplies had grown scarce, he'd demanded an absurd price, but whatever. I'd make far more profit once we looted the tower.

A company card really is the best thing in any world.

When I reached the city entrance, Rena and ten elite soldiers were already waiting in the cool, dew-laden air, fully prepared to depart.

I could also see the face of Toby, the rookie I'd saved yesterday.

"Ready?"

"Of course."

I nodded and took my place at the head of the formation.

The moment we entered the forest, dense fog rushed over us like a living creature. It was a typical disruption spell that made it impossible to see even a step ahead.

"Maintain formation! Don't lose sight of the person in front of you!"

Rena's sharp command rang out. The mercenaries gripped their weapon hilts tightly, completely tense, but my steps were as light as though I were strolling up a neighborhood hill.

[Forced Command: Move to the Tower of White Bones]

[Forced Command: Move to the Tower of White Bones]

[Forced Command: Move to the Tower of White Bones]

...

'The old bastard sent more notifications overnight.'

It was all thanks to this helpful system navigation flashing red at the corner of my vision.

No matter how much the fog obscured my sight, if I focused on the mana line of the forced summons Malach had placed on me, I could clearly sense the direction of the tower.

"You really have a remarkable sense of direction, Arcanus."

Rena, following closely behind me, spoke in an admiring voice.

"We sent scouting parties three times in the past, but once they reached around here, they always lost their sense of direction and ended up going in circles... Yet you walk forward without hesitation, as though you're strolling through your own front yard."

"If you spend long enough wandering, you naturally develop a good sense of direction."

Illusion magic that stripped away one's sense of direction was useless before system navigation that gave absolute coordinates.

I was walking along while replying smoothly when,

CRACK!

"Hm?"

One of the mercenaries directly behind me tilted his head.

"Didn't you hear something just now? Like something hard knocking together..."

'Whoops.'

Because I was forcing my reverse-jointed legs to follow a human walking pattern, it seemed the sound of my bones slipping out of alignment occasionally leaked out.

"Ahem! Cough!"

I hurriedly coughed repeatedly to cover the sound.

"Sir Arcanus, didn't that sound just come from your joints? It sounded almost like a bone breaking..."

"N-No. It's nothing. An old chronic condition. My joints ache a little when the weather's damp."

At that, Toby, who had been walking at the very back, came rushing forward in a panic.

"Sir Arcanus! Do you have bad joints? I just heard your bones creaking! Our unit has an ointment that's amazing for arthritis. I'll apply it right awa—"

"No, I said I'm fine! Don't worry about it!"

Horrified, I shoved him away.

Fortunately, the fog was thick enough that they didn't seem able to see my awkward expression clearly.

As we carefully walked deeper into the center of the forest, the suffocatingly dense fog suddenly vanished as though washed away, revealing an enormous clearing.

And in the center.

"That is..."

Rena swallowed dryly.

A sinister spire towering as though it would pierce the sky, built from black, grotesque stone and the bones of enormous magical beasts.

The Necromancer Malach's stronghold, the 'Tower of White Bones.'

Dozens of skeleton soldiers and undead patrolled around the tower in loose formations.

"Good. From here on, I'll scout ahead first."

I lowered my body and whispered toward Rena.

"Platoon Leader, can you wait here and then charge the front exactly thirty minutes from now?"

"You're going alone? It's the middle of enemy territory. That's too dangerous!"

Rena frowned and objected. I shook my head.

"Scouting and infiltration are more efficient with fewer people. If I infiltrate the interior and draw their attention while you attack from outside, it'll be much easier."

At my firm gaze, Rena hesitated for a moment before giving a heavy nod.

"Fine. Exactly thirty minutes. Once thirty minutes pass, we'll charge in from the front even if there's no signal."

"That's plenty."

I gave a light bow and slipped into the shadows of the forest.

While cheering inwardly.

'Letting others fight while I profit may be classic, but it's also the most reliable strategy.'

While Rena's group made a huge commotion at the tower's main entrance and fought an all-out battle, I planned to loot the inside, which would practically be an empty house.

And I also needed to find that Orc Skeleton and sneak him out beforehand. With a frame that conspicuous, he shouldn't be hard to find.

Once I reached a secluded blind spot on the side of the tower, beyond Rena's line of sight, I dispelled the polymorph without hesitation.

Fssssss-.

The human skin scattered like smoke, finally revealing the familiar white skeleton underneath.

'It's strangely refreshing, and that pisses me off.'

There was none of the warmth of a human body, but in exchange, the awkward restrictions and oppression unique to the polymorph vanished completely.

Like stepping from mud onto solid ground, the skeleton body's uniquely light and sharp mobility enveloped my entire frame.

'This appearance is more suitable from here on.'

After all, while wandering around inside a tower crawling with piles of bones, this form was a hundred times more natural as a disguise than looking human.

I raised my gaze and measured the tower's rough outer wall.

[Skill: Beast's Leap(Lv.3) activated!]

THUMP!

The instant I kicked off the ground, my body sprang upward like a coiled spring.

The overwhelming elasticity produced by the Black Hound's legs.

Using protrusions on the tower's outer wall and massive rib-bone decorations as stepping stones, I began scaling the wall as though ignoring gravity.

Hop! Hop!

Stones that would have collapsed under the weight of a human body easily supported the feather-light weight of a skeleton.

I peered inside through gaps in the windows scattered across the walls.

'The Tower of White Bones is basically a franchise outpost mass-produced by the Lord of Immortality.'

According to the setting of <​Dungeon and Empire>, this 'Tower of White Bones' was essentially a mass-produced outpost used by Necromancers who followed the 'Lord of Immortality.'

Hundreds of them were scattered across the continent, and their internal structures were all identical, as though the blueprint had been copied and pasted.

This tower I was climbing now was probably the same structure I'd looted dozens of times back in the game.

'Basement level 1 is the prison, floors 1 through 9 are troop quarters, and the top floor, floor 10, is the Necromancer's laboratory...'

The place I needed to go now was obvious.

For an undead army, supplies didn't mean food or weapons, but fresh and sturdy 'parts' themselves.

Without hesitation, I crossed the corridor and headed straight for the 'material storage room' located deeper on the third floor.

Clack?

Two low-rank skeletons patrolling the corridor tilted their heads when I suddenly appeared. Since I was another pile of bones, they seemed to think I was an ally.

'Oh, hi.'

SLASH! SLASH!

[You have defeated Skeleton(Lv.2).]

[You have defeated Skeleton(Lv.3).]

Before they even had time to return the greeting, my bastard sword flashed and cleanly severed their neck bones, sending their skulls rolling across the floor.

Without wasting even a second, I stepped over their skulls and raced toward the end of the corridor.

A familiar route. I bounded up one flight of stairs and turned the second corner, where an enormous iron door blocked my path.

[Experimental Material Storage]

'Here it is.'

Without hesitation, I smashed the iron bolt and kicked the door open.

CREEEEAK—BANG!

The interior of the storeroom came into view through a cloud of dust.

And I could feel the blue flames in my eye sockets flickering greedily.

'Wow...'

Filling the room were mountains of bones.

Animal bones, monster bones, even the skeletons of enormous magical beasts whose size was impossible to estimate.

Of course, most were worthless bones from low-level trash mobs, but nothing could escape my hawk eyes, [Precise Observation].

There had to be pearls hidden somewhere in this mountain of garbage.

'This is insane. The old bastard had one hell of a collecting obsession.'

It felt like I'd walked into a massive shopping mall for skeletons. Suppressing my excitement, I rummaged through the piles of bones.

[Precise Observation(EX) activates.]

The dopamine rush was enough to send a thrill through this bony body.

'As expected, if I'm replacing something right now, this should be the first.'

I picked up a bone carefully displayed on a shelf in the corner, radiating a faint green glow.

A perfect curve, a smooth texture without a single flaw, the crystallization of flawless mechanics.

With satisfaction, I lifted the bone and was about to activate the skill that would replace part of my frail body when—

'Killing intent?'

An unpleasant chill swept over me from behind.

It wasn't an aura some ordinary low-rank trash mob could produce. There was overwhelming weight mixed into that killing intent.

I reflexively aimed my bastard sword and spun around.

"...!"

At the broken iron doorway of the storeroom.

A gigantic shadow stood there, nearly reaching the ceiling.

Bones as thick as logs, two viciously protruding horns, and an orc forearm bone crudely fastened at its waist.

'The Orc Skeleton!'

I was about to approach while clacking my jaw in delight, but froze in place.

In its right hand was an enormous executioner's double-headed axe smeared with congealed blood, something it had never possessed before.

And inside its empty eye sockets.

The foolish, warm blue flames that had once shone as it followed me everywhere were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, murky, dead gray flames as black as pitch flickered emptily in their place.

'Does it... not recognize me?'

Its jaw creaked open as it stared at me, and then,

WHOOOOSH-!

It swung the enormous axe and began charging fiercely toward me.

The Skeleton Soldier Is Good at Replacing Bones

Author:

Metdoyo

Publisher:

Jakga Dabang

Publishing Registration:

No. 2025-000022

Address:

3rd Floor, 50-9 Myeongmul-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Telephone:

02-313-7388

Email:

info@jakgadabang.com

ISBN/UCI:

G720:N+A475-20261015075

Publication Date:

October 23, 2026

Copyright © Metdoyo.

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