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===BREAK===
[Kkigik, kkikikig…!]
The Bone Lord's massive body jolted, disturbed by the cleanly drilled hole created by the blinding beam of light.
Since his very existence was synonymous with this domain, any jolt from him triggered what could only be described as an earthquake.
Ruuuumble!───
The entire territory of the Bone Lord shuddered violently as the ground split open.
Between the cracks, the Turncoat King's army began slipping downward, almost as if being sucked in.
[Kkikik!]
[Khak! Khakak!]
Meanwhile—
Tssssss…
White smoke rose from the barrel of the Zeus-444 Railgun.
Though only a single shot had been fired, the residual heat it left behind was nothing to ignore.
["Master, nice shot! Look at that! There's a huge hole in his body!"]
'Considering his body size, it's probably no bigger than a needle prick.'
["Getting pricked by a needle still hurts, doesn't it?"]
'You say that like you've been stabbed before.'
Indeed, the damage inflicted on the Bone Lord wasn't insignificant, but neither was it decisive enough to turn the tide.
For a Bone Parasite monster—especially one like the Bone Lord—it would be fair to say he had no real weak points.
'Hrm…'
I looked toward the Bone Lord.
True to a beast that spanned an entire domain, despite taking notable damage, his ferocity hadn't waned.
Worse, where the Turncoat King and Queen's strategy had seemed to gain traction, the Bone Lord's near-perfect countermeasures had once again thrown the battle into uncertainty.
'It was inevitable.'
Honestly, I hadn't planned to get involved in the clash between the Bone Lord and the Turncoat King this early.
From my perspective, the best moment to intervene was when both sides had worn each other down.
That's why I had wanted to wait and watch longer—but unfortunately, things hadn't gone as I hoped.
'More precisely, the Turncoat Queen didn't let them.'
Even with all their preparation, I never believed the Turncoat King and Queen would be able to take the Bone Lord down easily.
And they themselves likely knew that too.
Which meant the Queen understood that such a moment of stalemate would eventually come.
'And the fact that she let herself appear to falter against the Bone Lord's counterattack was essentially a message to me.'
She was telling me: How long are you going to keep hiding back there, waiting for an opportunity?
Even though I knew she wasn't out of cards yet, this once—I decided to take the bait.
Sure, I was moving sooner than expected—but I could just make sure I got paid back for it in full.
"Let's go."
The one who responded was Turncoat Rook, who had been busy devouring the Bone Lord's tendrils nearby.
"…Already? I figured you'd wait for your moment."
"The situation's changed."
"Hmm. If you say so. Want to move in now?"
"Yes."
Rook nodded.
He'd already eaten through most of the Bone Lord's nearby tendrils.
Appetizers were done. It was time for the main course.
"I'm curious how the Bone Lord tastes."
With a savage grin, Rook spread his bone wings wide.
Though a degraded version of the Wings of Ankelenth passed down from Janus, they were more than powerful enough.
"..."
Turncoat Knight, as always, remained silent but likewise unfurled his wings.
As usual, no special preparation was needed.
They simply advanced.
'Janus.'
[Gigit!]
The Wings of Ankelenth spread wide.
Compared to the bone wings of Rook and Knight, the difference in size and color was stark.
More importantly, the power contained within them couldn't be compared.
'They contain the very power of Ankelenth, after all.'
Even after consuming just a fragment of its fang, Janus—a monster of formidable scale—still hadn't fully digested it.
Ankelenth, the Beyond-Grade Dragon.
To someday face the beast that would burn the Ark's skies, we had to make sure the Bone Lord was thoroughly consumed here and now.
'In that case…'
Leaping from Horus, I activated the Wings of Ankelenth and fired up the Z-74 Jetpack.
Boosted by my enhanced greaves, the sudden acceleration transformed my entire view in an instant.
'First—the battlefield.'
The frontlines were now divided into three major areas:
The first—where the Turncoat King and Queen were directly engaging the Bone Lord.
The second—the perimeter, where the armies of the Turncoat King and the Bone Lord clashed fiercely.
And the third—up here in the skies, where Horus, Rook, Knight, and I operated.
The skirmish between the Bone Lord's army and the Turncoat King's had little direct impact on the overall war.
But it couldn't be ignored either, since their conflict was applying substantial pressure on the Bone Lord's resources.
'That was likely the Turncoat Queen's aim from the start.'
All along the Bone Lord's perimeter, the Turncoat King's forces fought with unrelenting fury.
At first, the venom they'd prepared was effective—but as the Bone Lord's soldiers developed resistance and began deploying their own toxins, the situation had turned.
That shift was why I had no choice but to accelerate my involvement.
[Lv.1]
The colossal Zeus-444 Railgun in both hands sparked repeatedly.
Loaded were 120mm A-985 High-Density Explosive Rounds.
Perfect for wreaking havoc on a battlefield of this scale.
Screeeeech!───
BOOOOM!
The 120mm A-985 rounds rained down, igniting tremendous explosions across the front.
Many of the Turncoat King's soldiers were caught in the blast, but that didn't matter.
What mattered was delivering even greater damage to the Bone Lord's army.
'If I can cut down the King's influence while I'm at it—all the better.'
I didn't need to distinguish between friend and foe.
To me, everyone below was the enemy.
BOOM!───
BOOM-BOOM!
Swapping magazines, I fired alternating 120mm A-985 High-Density Explosive Rounds and 120mm NA-44 High-Yield Napalm Rounds, setting the ground ablaze.
But the one-sided bombardment didn't last.
The Bone Lord's soldiers were parts of him—they were not bound by space.
It didn't take long for them to recognize me overhead and surge upward.
["They're coming!"]
Soldiers—extensions of the Bone Lord via tendrils—launched toward me en masse.
It was a grotesque spectacle, but there was no reason to hold back the trigger.
If anything, their approach made it more essential to pull it.
Click–
The blast tore them apart.
Their transformation into soldier forms had come at the cost of durability—one solid hit and they exploded into pieces.
Hssssss…
Each time one of them ruptured, violet-black smoke billowed into the air.
That pungent smoke—
Pure venom.
A lethal toxin emanating from the Bone Lord's soldiers. If a normal human were here, even proximity would've reduced them to a puddle of blood.
["It's poison! Be careful!"]
'No need to worry.'
Having consumed beasts like Opacum the Rotting Body, Janus had gained total immunity to poison.
And I—enhanced through serums, traits, and Janus—was nearly immune myself.
No ordinary poison could touch me.
'Though direct contact with the core venom would still be bad…'
That much, Esther could easily handle.
And sure enough, any direct toxin aiming at me was intercepted by her Ether shield.
[Block…ed…]
The tide of battle turned rapidly under continued bombardment.
Firing off 120mm A-985s and NA-44s like this—ammo so expensive even the Ark hesitated to use them—made the result inevitable.
"…All cleaned up already? Guess there was a reason you rushed."
Turncoat Rook, now at my side, looked on with disbelief.
Like he was staring at a monster.
But I didn't care.
"This isn't your fight."
"You've got a knack for making insults sound polite. Impressive."
"You'll get your turn soon."
"I hope so. I'm starting to wonder what the Bone Lord tastes like."
With the outer zone mostly cleared, I turned my attention elsewhere.
Because the real fight in this war wasn't happening here.
Thud!
BOOM-BOOM!
The Turncoat King, Queen, and Bishop flew around the Bone Lord's core, launching repeated assaults.
None of their attacks were trivial.
Yet the Bone Lord's immense size and durability rendered them largely ineffective.
'As expected—this won't be easy.'
Just as predicted, neither side could deliver a critical strike.
This battle's essence was a land-grab—a war of attrition.
Only by completely consuming the other could it end.
Fortunately, momentum was beginning to tilt toward the Turncoat King.
The chaos in the perimeter stretched the Bone Lord's control too thin, weakening his ability to respond to the King's maneuvers.
'He's in.'
Perhaps because of that—
One of the Turncoat King's tendrils successfully reached what could be called the Bone Lord's core body.
It didn't take long for that tendril to transform into a ravenous predator.
Crunch!
CRACKKK!───
The sound of the Turncoat King devouring the Bone Lord's flesh sent shivers down the spine.
And his body responded—his tendrils shifting, evolving.
This wasn't just scavenged scrap.
He had consumed a true part of the Bone Lord—and change followed.
["That's…"]
Esther watched, jaw agape.
Turncoat Rook and Knight reacted similarly.
"That's not normal."
"..."
The Turncoat King.
The first of his kind ever classified by the Ark.
A Turncoat known as the king among Skulled.
Now, at last—
He was beginning to transform into something never seen before.
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