Night on the Seremuse Plain.
Camping in a place teeming with countless undead meant they couldn't afford the luxury of pitching tents and taking a proper rest. Wagons were arranged into a defensive perimeter to ward off the deepening autumn chill. Inside, the group huddled around campfires for warmth, while the sentries on the outer edge kept watch, similarly relying on small fires to stay alert.
The atmosphere was a far cry from the earlier stages of their journey. While the members of the former Mobile Unit remained stoic, their families and associates cast anxious, trembling glances into the surrounding darkness. Even though they knew the journey to the Kingdom of Mireana wouldn't be peaceful, the contrast was jarring. Before entering the Seremuse Plain, they had spent their nights in villages or pitched tents without this crushing sense of tension. Today’s shift felt wrong to them.
"I wish we could have just pushed through the night in one go," Rei muttered. He leaned against Seto's body, the gryphon lying down as usual just outside the ring of wagons.
"Guruuu..." Seto purred, sounding as though he was telling Rei it couldn't be helped.
Indeed, Rei and Seto both possessed night vision. If they were so inclined, they could have taken to the skies and crossed the Seremuse Plain in the blink of an eye. However, that was only an option for the two of them. While a normal human might have some limited vision in the dark, they were effectively blind in these conditions with the moon obscured by clouds. The few beastmen among them fared better, but since the horses couldn't run in this pitch-black darkness, it was essentially a moot point.
"The lack of moonlight is the real problem. If we at least had a clear sky, we might have gained a bit more distance."
Rei continued his internal grumbling, though he knew that forcing the horses to run through the night without rest would only lead to injury or total exhaustion. This group didn't carry heavy cargo like a standard caravan, and with fewer passengers per carriage, losing a few horses might not have been a catastrophe—yet the wagons and horses were personal property. They were moving to an unfamiliar place like Gilm; they couldn't afford to ruin assets that would be vital for their new lives.
"So I know this was the best way to handle it, but..."
"Gururuuu."
Seto purred at Rei's muttering. It wasn't a purr of agreement, nor was it a spoiled plea for food. It was a warning cry.
Hearing the sound, Rei stood up and snatched the Death Scythe from the ground where it had been resting. He waited, and soon, a light clicking sound approached through the gloom. Rei already knew exactly what kind of monster made those footsteps.
He didn't have a massive amount of experience fighting the undead, but he’d faced them in the dungeon where he first met Elena, during the Spring War, in Exil, and when he’d previously passed through the Seremuse Plain on his way to the Bestia Empire. Among those encounters, he had fought the owners of these footsteps several times.
Relying on the campfire as his only light source, Rei used his night vision to focus on the monster as it emerged.
"As I thought. It's just you."
The skeletal figure looked brittle at a glance. However, these weren't ordinary bones; they were reinforced to some degree with magic power. Nevertheless, they were just Skeletons—the lowest-rank undead. It would have been a different story if they were more powerful.
"If only they were at least a High-ranking Species or a Rare Species, I could've made good use of their magic stones."
Rei had already obtained Skeleton magic stones in the dungeon he explored with Elena. Both Seto and the Death Scythe had absorbed them, but neither had gained any skills. Considering Skeletons were Low-Rank Monsters, that was only to be expected.
Raising the Death Scythe, he stepped forward and unleashed a single horizontal slash. Infused with magic power, the blade swept through several Skeletons at once, cleaving through their ribs—the area where their magic stones were located—and bisecting them across the chest.
Even so, because they were undead, they didn't die instantly. Rei reached into the upper rib section of a severed Skeleton and forcibly tore out the magic stone within. The moment the stone was removed, the monster collapsed into a heap of bone.
A Skeleton's magic stone served as both a material and a proof of subjugation part. For a high-rank adventurer of Rei’s caliber, these stones were almost negligible, but he gathered them since they were right there for the taking.
After repeating the process a few times, the attacking Skeletons were wiped out. Rei stored the extracted magic stones into the Misty Ring and prepared to return to Seto to enjoy a sensation akin to a high-class duvet. However, as he left the skeleton remains behind, his ears caught a metallic sound coming from elsewhere.
"More Skeletons? No... wait!?"
He’d assumed it was another skeletal raid, but the metallic noise wasn't just the clashing of weapons; it was the sound of metal armor rubbing together. None of the people currently on sentry duty were equipped with metal armor. Of course, that wasn't an absolute rule—someone might have gone to help, or an experienced adventurer or soldier might have pulled out their old gear.
However, given they were on the Seremuse Plain, the first thing that came to mind was Living Armor. Rei had fought those undead—grudges inhabiting suits of armor—before. They weren't a challenge for someone of his skill, but their physical-specialized defense made them an absolute nightmare for anyone who couldn't use magic.
"Seto, I'm going to provide support over th—"
Rei cut himself off. The clicking footsteps were approaching his own position once again.
"Tch. More Skeletons? No, this is different!"
The figure emerging from the darkness was indeed a monster made of human-like bones, but its composition was clearly different from the ones he’d just destroyed. While the previous bones were white, this one was made of translucent, crystal-like bone. It was an existence several ranks above the previous group.
(Now that I think about it, I’ve heard rumors before. The Seremuse Plain is so thick with undead that they often turn on one another. The victors of these skirmishes supposedly evolve into higher-ranking species. It’s like a massive, open-air version of a jar-poisoning ritual.)
Having guessed the creature's nature, Rei wore a faint smile as he stared down his opponent.
"The Bestia Empire was nothing but fighting people. It’s been a while since I’ve faced a new species of monster."
Readying the Death Scythe, he sized up the Crystal Skeleton.
"Guruuu?"
"Yeah, leave this one to me. Seto, go help with the Living Armor. Someone has to stay here anyway."
Seto purred, asking what Rei would do, and Rei gave a short answer. It probably wouldn't have mattered which of them stayed, but he decided it would be better to fight the Unknown Monster himself for the sake of experience. Sensing Rei’s intent, Seto gave a short cry and dashed away.
Rei watched his partner's back for a moment before turning his attention back to the Crystal Skeleton. Its presence was far more imposing than the common Skeletons. Even its weapon was superior—it didn't carry a broken or rusted blade, but a Crystal Longsword likely manifested through its own abilities.
"Creating your own weapons is a handy trick. Though, crystal is a bit too low-rank to face me."
Whether it understood him or not, the creature rattled its jawbone, emitting a cackling sound. Rei couldn't tell if it was actually laughing or if the wind was just rattling its bones, but he took it as a laugh and responded with a ferocious grin.
"If you’ve got the strength to laugh at me, then come on. But let’s see if you can back it up. I’ll give you a sporting chance—I won't use the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor. I’ve been slacking on my combat training in my base state lately."
He swung the Death Scythe once, cutting through the night air, and began his approach. One step, two steps, three... The Crystal Skeleton lunged, swinging its Crystal Longsword with a speed that was in a completely different league from a normal Skeleton.
Rei evaded the strike and swung the Death Scythe, aiming for the creature's outstretched right elbow. The hit landed as a partial counter, easily slicing through the joint.
"Eh?" Rei muttered.
The strike had been sharp, but it was supposed to be a probing attack. He was caught off guard by how easily it had worked, and his expectations for a challenge vanished.
(In the end, a Skeleton is just a Skeleton.)
He decided to just take the magic stone and end it. But as he prepared to swing again, he paused in confusion. The Crystal Skeleton reached out and caught its own severed arm mid-air. It pressed the limb back against the stump, and crystal began to grow over the joint. An instant later, the arm was firmly reattached.
"...Heh."
Rei let out a small breath of admiration. He’d seen monsters regenerate before, but he’d never seen a restoration process using crystal. It wasn't necessarily powerful, but it was certainly hard to kill. Rei felt a surge of genuine joy. He knew from experience that special monsters like this were almost guaranteed to provide a new skill from their magic stone.
"Besides, a body made of crystal should fetch a pretty high price as a material."
Rei spun the Death Scythe in his hand. The Crystal Skeleton approached, jawbone still rattling with that eerie cackle, sword at the ready.
"It’s true that minor wounds are meaningless if you can just patch yourself up with crystal. But being a Skeleton means your weakness is always wide open!"
Rei kicked off the ground and charged. Both combatants closed the gap instantly. The Crystal Skeleton swung its sword to intercept the Death Scythe.
Rei had used a counter earlier, but this time, he stopped his momentum the moment their weapons were about to clash, causing the Skeleton's strike to whiff through the air. Expecting a heavy impact, the Crystal Skeleton lost its balance when it met only resistance-free air. As the creature stumbled, Rei brought the Death Scythe down.
The blade cleaved through the center of the ribs. The Crystal Skeleton’s upper half was sent flying into the air. Rei watched as crystal began to sprout from the severed edge, attempting to restore the body as it had with the elbow, but there was no reason to play along now that he knew the trick.
He reached into the shattered chest cavity and snatched the magic stone. As soon as the stone was separated from the body, the crystal frame and the longsword collapsed into a heap of lifeless shards.
"...Well, I guess that’s that."
Rei stowed the magic stone, the crystal longsword, and the skeletal remains into the Misty Ring. He muttered to himself, turning his gaze toward the direction Seto had gone.