Chapter 17 · 8 min

Chapter 17

BOOOOM-!

The massive executioner's double-headed axe mercilessly smashed down where I had been standing, shattering the stone floor.

Using the elasticity generated by [Beast's Sprint], I threw myself into the air and barely avoided the blow.

'What the hell is with that ridiculous power?'

I rolled across the floor, regained my stance, and glared at him.

He had definitely been level 10 when I scouted him, but now an unfamiliar number floated above his head.

[Enhanced Orc Skeleton(Lv.20)]

'His level doubled overnight?'

His original frame had already been large, but now he was even bigger. On top of that, whatever the hell old man Malach had done, the surface of his bones was coated black like iron, and the killing intent pouring off him was astonishing.

'Hey! Snap out of it! It's me, me!'

I clacked my jaw and shouted, but the gray flames flickering in his eye sockets didn't so much as twitch.

CRASH! BOOOOM!

He swung the axe wide once again.

The axe blade cut through the air and smashed apart the bone shelves covering one side of the storeroom wall.

Hundreds of rare bones collapsed all at once and poured across the floor. Pale bone dust billowed so thickly that it obscured my vision.

'Aaaagh! My precious materials!'

I felt like crying tears of blood.

But he had no idea how I felt and raised the massive axe once more.

I darted all over the cramped storeroom, avoiding the collapsing piles of bones. There was no way I could break through those vicious iron-like bones in a head-on fight.

But while avoiding his attacks, a strangely misaligned structure caught my eye.

[Precise Observation(EX) activates.]

[Skill: 'Mana Sensitivity(Lv.3)' activates in conjunction.]

The instant his interior was converted into a translucent wireframe structure and entered my vision, I sucked in a breath.

'What the hell is this? He's completely patched together.'

Bones of unknown origin that Malach seemed to have forcibly transplanted were grotesquely embedded throughout his original skeleton.

The problem was compatibility.

A defective assembly with mismatched parts forcibly jammed into place.

Naturally, there was no way his original mana circuits and the mana circuits of the newly transplanted bones could properly connect.

CRACKLE!

Every time he moved, mana twisted at the joints and sparks flew.

It seemed to be a rejection reaction between his original bones and the forcibly transplanted ones. Hardening magic tangled like black veins was crudely stitching the gaps together, but it looked like nothing more than a temporary fix.

'So that's what it was.'

The sparks flying from his shoulder joint whenever he brought the axe down.

For that split second, the trajectory wavered slightly.

Whenever he changed direction, the forcibly transplanted knee bone also failed to withstand the load and locked up for a brief instant.

His raw power had become absurdly stronger, but the discord in his movements was severe.

So those tiny delays and rejection reactions were his weaknesses.

But inside this cramped storeroom, completely avoiding the range of that enormous axe was nearly impossible.

'And the more he rampages, the more precious bones are getting ground into powder...'

I had to finish this as quickly as possible.

WHOOOSH-!

A horizontal slash that was difficult to dodge came flying at me. Reflexively, I raised the bastard sword in my right hand and tried to deflect the axe blade at an angle.

CLAAANG!

'Urgh!'

I hadn't even taken the axe head-on, only glanced it aside, yet an ominous cracking impact slammed through my right arm.

[Severe fracture detected in Right Forearm Bone.]

'Aagh!'

My right arm was still made from the pathetic level 1 Skeleton's bone I'd had since the moment I first possessed this body.

Compared to the Goblin Chief bone in my left arm and the magical beast legs in my lower body, its durability was absurdly poor. There was no way that old bone could withstand his overwhelming strength.

My sword hand trembled, strength draining from it.

If I blocked that axe one more time, my arm was going to shatter.

'I need to replace the bone. Right now.'

While avoiding the axe, I searched the chaotic storeroom floor for the bone I'd marked earlier. The one I'd noticed as a replacement part the moment I'd entered the material storage room!

[Lizardman Guard Humerus(Grade: Advanced)]

[Lizardman Guard Forearm Bone(Grade: Advanced)]

[Expected major increase in Strength upon transplantation]

Lizardman. A bipedal reptilian humanoid monster.

The arm's range of motion and structure should match perfectly.

And those scale-like fine ridges covering the surface of the bone. That structure was excellent for dispersing and absorbing impact.

'They actually implemented surface texturing like that on a bone. Those developers really were insane perverts.'

It was fortunate that the bastard's axe hadn't shattered it, but the problem was that I was currently in the middle of a fight.

I needed an opening to use [Bone Replacement]... and of course those parts had fallen on the side where the Orc Skeleton was standing.

WHOOOSH-! WHOOOSH-!

He charged again, swinging the axe.

The enormous axe rose high over his head. I had to use the opening that came after this pattern.

His black-coated shoulder joint spread wide as he raised the axe overhead. At that moment, crackling rejection sparks flew from the joint and the trajectory wavered for an instant.

'Now!'

The instant the axe reached its apex, I rushed straight in.

BOOOOM!

The axe came crashing down like lightning, gouging the floor where I'd just been standing into a crater.

But I had already slipped past the axe's falling trajectory, and without hesitation, I grabbed my entire right arm bone and tore it out.

CRACKCRACK!

Anyone watching would have fainted at the insanity of it. Ripping out your own arm in the middle of combat.

'It doesn't hurt, but it feels fucking awful.'

I threw away the old bone I'd pulled out, then hurled myself to the floor, snatched up the Lizardman bones, and roughly pressed them into place.

[Unique Skill: Bone Replacement(Lv.5) activated!]

SSSSSS!

Along with black smoke, mana spread out like blood vessels and tightly bound the new bones in place. The transplant was completed in an instant.

[Transplant successful!]

[Strength has greatly increased!]

[Defense has greatly increased!]

[Proficiency in Skill: 'Ironclad Grip(Lv.5)' has been inherited.]

[Achievement unlocked: Combat Transplant!]

[Proficiency has greatly increased. 'Bone Replacement' has grown to Lv.6.]

'Nice!'

A thrilling sensation shot down my spine and spread throughout my entire body.

The new arm felt incomparably heavier and sturdier than the old bone. It was like going from swinging a rotten branch to gripping a solid iron club.

At that instant, his axe came crashing down toward the top of my head like lightning once again.

I didn't dodge. Instead.

'I'll catch it!'

Instead of using the bastard sword, I thrust out my sturdy right hand, covered in scale-like ridges, and met the descending axe shaft head-on.

[Skill: Ironclad Grip(Lv.5) activated!]

BOOOOM-!

A tremendous impact blasted the dust across the storeroom floor outward in a circle.

But my right arm didn't break.

With the dense bone structure unique to reptiles and the skill's effect maximized, I completely stopped the enormous executioner's axe barehanded.

'Got you, bastard.'

The Orc Skeleton struggled in confusion, trying to wrench the axe free, but my right hand didn't budge, like a steel shackle.

'Now it's my turn!'

Using the explosive elasticity of my reverse-jointed legs, I sprang directly into the Orc Skeleton's guard while still gripping his axe.

My goal wasn't to destroy him.

Those joints whose mana circuits had been tangled by Malach's crude enhancements.

I reached into the inside of his skeleton.

[Skill: Sneaky Pickpocket(Lv.2) activated!]

My sharpened fingertips slipped into the gaps of his leg joints.

I precisely targeted the seam in his left knee where the forcibly transplanted bone met the original bone, creating a gap in the mana circuit.

Then the mismatched bone that had been forcibly jammed in loosened from the socket and slipped free.

CRUNCH!

Having lost one of the supports holding him up, the enormous Orc Skeleton collapsed to one side with a heavy crash.

Clack, crack.

Then I dislocated the right knee and both arms one after another with the precision of dismantling machine parts. A complete neutralization that stripped away his mobility without physically striking him.

With all four limb joints dislocated, he was reduced to flailing helplessly on the floor.

'Sorry, man.'

His violent struggling gradually subsided, and for the briefest instant, a familiar warm blue flame flickered inside those empty gray eye sockets.

Clatter...

The pitiful sound of his jawbones knocking together, as though he recognized me.

But it lasted only a moment. The mental domination crushed down on what little remained of his self, and his gaze was painted over once more with cold gray.

"..."

Having finished what I needed to do, I relaxed and slowly stood up.

At the waist of the fallen Orc Skeleton.

The 'Orc Warrior's Forearm Bone' I'd given up for him when I first saved him was still hanging there, carefully preserved.

'Haah. Never thought I'd feel this way about a monster.'

I hoped he could escape Malach's grasp and become free too. It would be nice if that happened while I was clearing this tower anyway.

I carefully pushed the jointless Orc Skeleton into a corner of the storeroom so I wouldn't accidentally kick him.

I wanted to storm straight into the boss room and smash Malach's head right away, but I decided to stay calm.

If there was one thing I'd learned in five years at my company, it was that acting emotionally when pissed off only led to more overtime.

'Farming before the boss fight is basic procedure.'

This was a Necromancer's material storage room, after all. That guy had destroyed more than half the shelves while rampaging, but half of them were still intact.

[Precise Observation(EX) activates.]

Useful parts began revealing themselves among the piles of bones.

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

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