'Those eyes, they're very similar to his,' Bruno said.
'The hero's bastard? Yeah, he looks a bit like him. After all, he was one with the world, too. The difference is he was being controlled by the Queen. This child doesn't seem to be the case,' Alm replied. By now, they could at least tell who that Queen had an influence on and who didn't. It was like a sixth sense.
The skeleton then approached the chains towards the boy while muffled whispers were heard around them. The child didn't move, as if he fully trusted the skeleton in some way. Then, with a small trace of QI within the bones, he touched the boy's forehead, who didn't resist. A large amount of information flowed into Alm and Bruno's minds afterward.
'This...' Alm commented.
'It looks like I won. This is definitely a secret side quest within the main quest,' Bruno said, laughing.
'He was able to sense perfectly that we were sent to help him. Saving him might not be a bad idea, but do you want to forgive this race and save them? Have you become stupid?' Alm grumbled.
Suddenly, the skeleton's orbits turned dark and deep, sending a shiver down the spine of all those chained there. 'Don't forget that you and I are one being. I'm not better than you. I just don't want to follow the same path anymore. These bastards need to pay for what they're doing,' Bruno replied sinisterly.
'Great, now we're on the same page,' Alm added, amused by the situation. They quickly focused on sensing the guards nearby and began manipulating the locks with their fingers, skillfully working the bolts.
'Haha... master key, being nothing but bones does have its advantages,' Bruno mentally said, and the lock quickly opened.
"Is that a damn skeleton?" growled a man with a beard covered in blood and soot.
"Shut up. Apparently, he's our skeleton," retorted another younger man, pointing to the anchor's locks. After reading the boy's memories, Alm and Bruno were able to understand this rudimentary language perfectly.
Triumphantly, Bruno began to pull the chain, thinking it would free the slaves from their shackles. However, he forgot that there was an anchor at the end of the chain. A whole group of slaves started moving slowly in the staging area, piling up against each other as the skeleton slowly pulled the chain with its arms.
A young woman panicked and began whispering, "Stop, stop, stop." In response, Bruno spoke in their language in a sinister and guttural whisper, saying, "Just give me the chain!" This made her tremble even more.
All the slaves were freed, and as Bruno and Alm undid the anchor's lock, they kept the chains as intact as possible, so that from a distance, no one would immediately notice any difference.
Then, they looked up and realized there was almost an hour left until daybreak. Without wasting any time, Bruno called the boy and gave him some orders, also handing him a leather map they had picked up earlier. Everyone was to stay in place until he gave the command, at which point they would all flee together in the same direction.
The skeleton moved stealthily toward the larger tent and waited silently inside it. As the first rays of the sun began to radiate from above, it was time for everyone in the camp to wake up.
As predicted, he heard footsteps approaching. It was a group of men who seemed to be the most powerful commanders, and they soon entered the tent, arguing among themselves about whether they had time to fuck the women until they were satisfied. A smile formed on Bruno's face... alright, it didn't, but you get what I mean... as he hid among the women.
It didn't take long for several bound women to be lowered and their legs spread. But soon, those men began to feel a strange drowsiness and fell paralyzed to the ground.
Bruno and Alm nodded, satisfied with the success of the plan. Now that Bruno had read all the memories of the boy, he also had knowledge about the items that were in the spatial rings they had confiscated from the soldiers earlier.
Among these items, they found various herbs and poisonous substances that could be used to heal wounds since there were no alchemy or healing techniques in that society.
These men were the most robust and powerful at the outpost, naturally taking advantage of their rest time while their subordinates kept watch. The morning was about to begin, the perfect time for them to visit the captive women. Now, after making sure the poison would keep them paralyzed for several hours, Bruno and Alm freed all the women.
They fixed their gaze on the empty sockets of the skeleton, and even with its skeletal face, they could sense a sinister smile of satisfaction from it. After giving some instructions to wait for the signal, Alm turned to leave and added with a malicious tone, "Have some fun, but don't kill them."
This time, Bruno had no complaints.
There were many weapons made of primitive mystical wood in this world, but the bow and arrow were the most common and primitive weapons they had accumulated. Using arrows and simple traps, the shadowy assassin skeleton silently eliminated the soldiers who woke up and left their tents, acting with precision and lethality in each accurate shot.
After collecting their belongings, Bruno and Alm took the initiative to absorb all the blood energy and death Qi of these soldiers, strengthening themselves with each victim. It was a dark but effective process where they were experts.
The horizon gradually brightened with the morning sun, and the soldiers responsible for the watch began to wonder about the absence of the commanders and comrades who should have already awakened. A sense of unease spread throughout the camp, and the silence was interrupted only by the whispering wind.
It was when suddenly they felt something wrong: a dark and malevolent presence approaching stealthily from behind them. The metallic and dense smell of blood permeated the air, sending a shiver down the spine of each soldier. It was as if death itself was approaching, seeking their souls.
Less than ten surviving soldiers remained there, and they all turned in unison towards the threat, their eyes wide with terror. What they saw before them was a nightmare vision: a skeleton emanating an aura of bloody and black Qi. Sunlight touched its bones, and a dark and sinister vapor rose from its skeletal figure as if something was burning its existence. The scene only served to leave everyone paralyzed with fear.