Felis had no idea that his boss had very little faith in him. In Felis's mind, the boss treated him far better than that damned sword-and-shield skeleton. So right now, like a busy little bee, Felis cheerfully led over a hundred skeleton archers far from their home territory, dutifully carrying out the task assigned by his boss.
Truth be told, Felis didn't really understand why his boss wanted living captures—live skeletons were troublesome. They resisted constantly, and catching them was far harder than simply killing them. Still, loyal little Felis worked diligently, because he feared disappointing his boss even more than he feared that cursed sword-and-shield skeleton stealing the credit.
With full effort and relentless focus, it took Felis less than an hour to finish the job.
Eager to hear his boss's praise, Felis immediately had his increasingly well-drilled skeleton archers form up in small squads of two or three each, escorting thirty-four captured skeletons—each above Level 3—back toward home at a breakneck pace. Along the way, Felis grinned inwardly. At this speed, I should definitely beat that annoying sword-and-shield skeleton back!
And indeed, had Felis made it straight home, his speed would have been much faster than Orlis's. But… could he really get back that easily?
The answer: no.
Not long after he set out on the return trip, Felis ran into an obstacle—one that wasn't meant to block the road, yet ended up blocking it all the same.
As Felis's party marched forward, two figures suddenly appeared ahead. One was a greatsword-wielding skeleton; the other was an undead Felis had never seen before. For some reason, the moment Felis laid eyes on that strange, four-legged, oddly-shaped skeleton, an intense, almost primal desire burst into his simple mind: Take it. Make it mine.
On the other side, the greatsword skeleton spotted Felis's group. At first, it had no interest in getting involved—until it noticed Felis's burning, possessive gaze fixed on the skeleton horse it had only just captured and had yet to tame. That stare instantly soured the greatsword skeleton's mood.
Still, as a Level 5 skeleton with a maturing mind, it quickly assessed the enemy's strength and decided against teaching Felis a painful lesson… for now.
But the greatsword skeleton had overlooked something—skeleton horses had intelligence too. Just as it was about to turn and leave with its prize, the horse suddenly lashed out, kicking hard toward its captor.
Startled, the greatsword skeleton instinctively let go and leapt back, narrowly avoiding the blow. That brief moment was all the horse needed—it bolted at full speed… straight toward Felis.
"Hmph. Still disobedient?"
The greatsword skeleton didn't panic. With a disdainful snort, it charged after the fleeing horse, greatsword in hand. Whether through skill or sheer power, it matched the skeleton horse's speed stride for stride. In the blink of an eye, it closed the distance, raised a foot mid-run, and kicked viciously at one of the horse's forelegs.
The blow landed with bone-shattering force. The leg snapped cleanly, sending the horse tumbling across the ground in a roll.
"I told you—run again, and I'll break your legs!"
The greatsword skeleton slowed its pace, swaggering toward the fallen horse that now struggled just to stand.
"Little skeleton, what do you think you're doing?" it said suddenly, stopping in its tracks.
The unlucky horse had collapsed just a short distance from Felis. Seeing the prize practically delivered to him, Felis couldn't help himself—he stepped forward, crouched slightly, and stared into the horse's soul-fire. When the greatsword skeleton's cold question rang out, Felis looked up blankly at first, then seemed to register the words, and abruptly stood.
"It's… mine… you… leave."
"You can't even talk straight, and you're saying it's yours?" the greatsword skeleton said, lifting its blade slightly, its tone icy. "Little skeleton, I suggest you get as far away from me as possible before I lose my temper. Otherwise, I can't guarantee you'll leave here in one piece."
"It's… mine… you… leave."
Though his speech was slow, Felis's movements were anything but. In a flash, he raised his spear and leveled it at the greatsword skeleton, making his stance clear.
The greatsword skeleton's soul-fire flared. "Looks like you've decided you don't want to live." It stepped forward sharply, then blurred into motion—faster than when it had chased the skeleton horse earlier.
"Die!"
In the span of a heartbeat, it crossed more than ten meters, swinging its massive blade in a deadly arc toward Felis's skull.
Clang!
Felis, unable to dodge, barely managed to raise his spear in time to block. The force of the blow was overwhelming; he staggered back two or three steps, struggling to absorb the impact.
"That's all you've got?"
Seizing the momentum, the greatsword skeleton lunged forward again, kicking Felis's weapon mid-guard. The powerful strike sent Felis flying.
It didn't relent—charging after him, it raised the greatsword high and brought it down toward Felis's head.
Crack!
A sharp sound of bone breaking rang out as Felis was hurled away once more—but he had managed, at the last second, to sacrifice an arm to save his life.
"Not bad," the greatsword skeleton said with a faint note of surprise. "You actually survived a full round from me. Looks like you're tougher than I thought."
But then its expression twisted into a cruel grin. "Still… I'm tired of this pathetic struggling. Die, you worthless insect!" It surged forward again.
"Stop… talking… nonsense…" Felis growled, bracing himself on his spear. He lifted his head suddenly, soul-fire blazing. "…I'm angry now. You… are… dead."