Book 4: Chapter 31

“Ah, finally,” Mr. Skelly said as his finger poked through the stone ceiling. His body was still in the same position it was in two months ago, the only difference was his slightly bent arm. After persistently scratching at the surface above him, he had dug a wide enough gap for his finger to sink into. And with that, he shifted his arm, tugging on the surface above. It didn’t budge. He turned his skull towards the dead body beside him. “Perhaps it’s the wrong way, what say you?”

There was no response. Mr. Skelly chuckled and shifted his arm the other way. There still wasn’t a reaction. “Don’t tell me these people are superstitious and bury their dead upside down,” he murmured. He wasn’t sure how long he had been stuck down there, but it felt like a pretty long time. If he had spent most of his time digging on the wrong surface, then he’d have to start all over again. His eye sockets narrowed as he wedged his finger deeper into the gap he dug out. With a sharp tug, the surface of the container shifted, so slightly that he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not. He tugged again, and there was a small grinding sound. A wide grin split his skeletal face, and Mr. Skelly continued tugging until a centimeter-long gap appeared near his feet.

“Perfect,” he said and kicked his legs up, wedging his toes into the gap. He wiggled them while tugging with his finger, sliding the ceiling of the container further and further. While dislocating a few bones, he shifted his body towards the open end of the container and grabbed the sliding surface with his hand. Pushing against one end with his left arm and pulling with his right, he managed to open a gap large enough for his body to squeeze through. Unfortunately for him, above the ceiling of the container, there was another ceiling that seemed to be made of rock. “Well,” he said and stared at the new surface keeping him trapped, “at least they didn’t bury me upside down. They’re quite rude to the dead though. The container was so small, and the container was stuck in an even smaller niche. Perhaps I should be glad I’m not buried?” He had been buried quite a few times, and he knew how it felt just by judging through the mana concentration around him. It was clear that the coffin or sarcophagus he was stuck in was stuck in a recess rather than buried underneath a few feet of dirt.

Mr. Skelly planted his bony palms against the rock surface above him and wiggled his arms. After a few repetitions, the coffin he was in shifted. “There we go,” Mr. Skelly said and continued pulling and pushing. An unknown amount of time passed, and a falling feeling enveloped Mr. Skelly’s body as the coffin tilted. With a crack, the base of the coffin touched the rocky surface above, nearly cutting off his fingers. The edge of the coffin scraped against the top of the niche, and after a few moments, the coffin came to a halt.

Mr. Skelly laughed and climbed out of the coffin. “Free at last!” he said and reached inside, pulling out a few bones he had removed from himself to maneuver inside the tight space. Within a few moments, he was fully reassembled, standing in a narrow hallway. All along the hall, there were coffins resting in niches. Even with his night vision, it was impossible for him to tell how far the corridor extended. “Such a large gathering of the dead,” Mr. Skelly said and stroked his lower jaw. “There’s only one explanation: a necromancer is preparing a ridiculously monstrous ritual.” His skull contorted as he furrowed his brow. A magic circle was the simplest way to resurrect the dead. However, the corridor he was in was perfectly straight. Perhaps it was so large that it seemed straight but actually curved? The amount of mana freely floating about indicated perfect conditions to hold a ritual of this size.

“Hmm.” Mr. Skelly stroked his lower jaw again and sighed. “It seems like no matter where I go, I always encounter something world-ending. It’s time for me to don the title of hero once more.” He shook his head and adjusted the coffin he was just lying in and pulled out his coffin buddy. His eye sockets glowed with a bluish-white light, and he smacked the top of the skeleton’s skull. “Heed the call of the Corrupted One. She commands thee to serve her.”

That’s right, the simplest way to prevent a ritual that would summon a massive amount of undead was to simply revive all the undead and bring them under his command before the other party could. Luckily, the abundance of mana in the catacombs allowed him to survive and live on without the aid of Alice. There was even enough mana to spare for him to bring other undead back to life. Dust whirled around the skeleton in front of him, sinking into its cracked and withered bones. It rose to its feet and a green light flashed in its eye sockets before vanishing. It made eye contact with Mr. Skelly, then it screamed and ran away. However, the corridor was too small, and the skeleton crashed into the wall before shattering into dozens of fragments while letting out an explosion of dust.

Mr. Skelly blinked, his eye sockets contorting. “Uh, you’re a skeleton now too. You don’t have to be afraid of the dead.”

The crumpled skeleton muttered something, but Mr. Skelly had no idea what it was saying. His eyes lit up. “A language barrier, is it?” he asked. The mistress had taught him how to deal with language barriers once upon a time. He chuckled and picked up the crumpled skeleton’s skull. “Sorry about this, but you’re already dead, so this shouldn’t bother you too much.” Mr. Skelly poked a bony finger into the crumpled skeleton’s eye sockets and fished around before pulling out a green light. The crumpled skeleton went limp once the green light left its skull. “For the mistress,” Mr. Skelly said and opened his jaws. Then he stuffed the green light into his mouth and swallowed. His body went rigid, and after a few seconds, he exhaled. “Latin, an interesting language, never heard of it before.” He scratched his cheek and looked around. “I wonder how Alice is doing. Well, before I find her, I should save the world, I guess.” He sighed and pulled at another coffin buried in the wall.