The day dragged on slowly, and as night fell, all the people outside prepared for a desperate fight for survival. Aware of the approaching evil, they used all the resources at their disposal to create rudintary weapons, such as wooden spears that could be thrown.
Fear was evident in the eyes of those hiding in leaf-made huts, blending in with the nightti shadow. However, a few hours later, when darkness completely engulfed the forest, everyone realized that they couldn't even see their own hands a few inches away, despite the full moon and stars shining brightly in the sky.
Guided by the glow in the sky, a peasant ntioned sothing that could instill deep terror in everyone if ntioned a day earlier. "I've seen sothing similar when my village was attacked by a necromancer... life and light... everything is being devoured by the power of death."
Everyone looked toward the imposing nearby mountain, where their savior and hope resided. Soon, a sense of security swept over them, calming their minds. They couldn't see the mountain or anything near it; it was as if all the darkness and evil in the world were converging on that place. It wasn't just the light that had disappeared; no sound of animals or anything else could be perceived in a vast area. The power of the entity protecting them seed to transcend both life and death. They loosened their grip on their weapons, feeling that no evil could match the deep and unfathomable presence of the divine skeleton.
In the middle of the night, inside the dark cave of the mountain, a bloody and malevolent rune lit up, radiating sinister power. Quickly, six other smaller runes also lit up.
"Finally, all that Qi has been refined. Not having ridians to store it and putting it into those runes carved into the bones was a great idea, Bruno," Alm comnted.
"Yes, now we are officially a skeletal Elder Lich! Or rather, an undead Overlord!" Bruno replied excitedly.
"Carving runes like weapons into your bones is sothing impossible and deadly for any living being. Normally, undead creatures don't have the intelligence to attempt sothing like this, but the potential of it can be hard to asure."
"Undead beings are troubleso, but they can be easily countered if the opponent possesses a Yang power capable of contaminating their essences. There are countless runic formations created by cultivators for defense and attack. We can cover the bones with various different thods without worrying about collateral damage. After all, the body is already dead," Alm analyzed, impressed.
"Even if the bones turn to dust, if we accomplish the mission, it will be a complete victory. We have the tactical advantage and no constraints compared to the enemy," Bruno comnted.
"Great, the energy we obtained was enough for seven useful runes. We just need more Qi and information, and a river of blood will flow through these lands. We still have ti. Let's go," Alm said eagerly to test their new sinister capabilities.
Outside, everyone heard the cadaverous footsteps echoing from inside the cave, and quickly, light returned to the surroundings. When they directed their gaze toward the footsteps, they saw a skeleton shrouded in a black cloak that seed to be made of the purest death energy. Against all expectations, everyone ran toward it and bowed in awe of that figure.
'...Is this so kind of cult, by any chance?' Bruno remarked, intrigued.
'It does seem like it,' replied Alm.
'We gain nothing by saving all these people. We only needed the child. We can use them to create more death energy. If we torture them all in a creative way, the energy will be even more intense,' Alm continued, observing the admiring looks directed at them.
'How are we going to restore the balance between life and death if we massacre everyone? Don't be an idiot.'
'If we need to kill many people, at least they will be our insurance to complete the mission,' Bruno replied, while the skeleton waved to soone in the distance.
The blue-eyed child then imdiately ran toward the skeleton without hesitation. Suddenly, a guttural and sinister voice echoed, "Your na was... Corin. I will depart, and you will be responsible for taking care of everyone. You are old enough to cultivate; do not disappoint ."
"Sir..." The boy's eyes trembled upon hearing that. "Will I et you again?"
Alm and Bruno were surprised; they had only helped a little and hadn't interacted much. But Corin seed to instinctively understand that the Divine Skeleton was a unique entity in this world—this was a once-in-a-lifeti opportunity, one he would never get again. He radiated an unmatched willpower, and it moved Bruno. That was the kind of strength a cultivator needed within themselves to transcend their limits.
"Kid, don't place your hopes and future on —that depends only on you. Whenever you put your happiness outside yourself, you'll regret it bitterly sooner or later," Bruno spoke calmly, but his guttural voice made it sound like an ominous echo. He could feel the boy's desperation and scoffed internally.
"Fight, study, and most importantly, reflect on yourself and your actions. If your effort is enough, Heaven's Will shall act."
Bruno finished, choosing a random ending just to encourage him. But... he would only realize in the future how right he had been. After speaking, his skeletal fingers touched Corin's forehead, and a crimson rune shone intensely. The rune embedded itself into Corin's forehead and then vanished abruptly, as if it had never existed.
Corin instantly collapsed on the spot, and the sinister voice resonated even louder, "Everyone can sleep without worries. I will personally confront the nearby necromancer."
Everyone imdiately fell to their knees, and then a chilling wind swept through them all, making the sacred skeleton disappear instantly. A woman picked up Corin, who had fallen and carried him to an improvised tent. Everyone dropped their weapons imdiately and fell into a deep sleep that night, without a trace of doubt regarding their savior's words.
***
"Are you an idiot by any chance? How could you give one of our few runes to that child, you bastard?" Alm spoke sharply.
"I gave much more than that rune; he has the potential to reach the pinnacle of a universe. Now he possesses sothing that doesn't exist in this primitive world: knowledge," replied Bruno.
"The rune was one of the weakest we created. Even if it's only etched into his soul, it may be useful in an ergency. Don't be so stingy; we need to perform good deeds to avoid following the sa path as in the past," said Bruno, while Alm continued to grumble.
The night still had much to offer, and the necromancer was completely recovered from the internal injuries of the previous day. It took so ti for him to try to explain to the other dark generals who were fighting in different places against the living why he had not followed the Queen's plans and attacked.
He would never admit a personal failure, such as summoning a skeleton too powerful and failing to control it, causing a problem and injuring himself in the process. Therefore, the excuse used was a sneak attack by the enemy, which caused internal turmoil among them.
However, they were unaware that, strangely, on the other side of the battlefield, their enemy was terrified after a scout found a camp completely massacred. Well, so soldiers were still magically in deep slumber. Soon, they concluded that it was a sneak attack by the enemy and gathered to seek solutions. Both sides thought the other was responsible for their misfortunes. Too bad, it was the mighty Divine Skeleton's doing!
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