The Body of the Undying King (3)
It was an incredibly intense light.
'What on earth is that light…?!'
This was the treasure vault where countless doljabis had been held over the centuries.
Among the participants had been true prodigies.
The people of Eshua, who by now were rarely surprised by anything, felt differently this time.
'A light like this has never appeared before!'
What in the world was happening inside?
But that wasn't even the most shocking thing.
"L-Lord! The demonic energy has completely disappeared!"
"What?! You mean the Fourteen Demon Beasts guarding the Skeleton King's body?"
"Yes! The demonic energy is still interfering with a detailed view, but… it seems one of the children inside has taken care of it!"
What the—?
The adults were in an uproar.
The demon inside the Saintess's treasure vault was well-known among the divine faction.
No one knew the exact details, but it was said to be a dangerous upper-class demon, at least 8th-tier.
Once its seal was broken, they'd insisted the doljabi should be halted immediately, and the children rescued.
But one of the kids defeated it?
No, there was no need to ask who it could be.
Who else could it be?
All eyes turned to one place.
'It must be Kina Verit.'
Cardinal Verit, catching their gazes, smiled with satisfaction, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
From the beginning, no one but her had the ability to drive out that demon.
And as expected—
"It seems the child who defeated the demon has claimed the Skeleton King's body!"
"Oh! Isn't that the artifact even the greatest heroes struggled to approach?"
"To think a child was able to lay hands on such a thing!"
"As expected of the Pope's bloodline!"
"Congratulations, Your Eminence. You must be pleased."
"Rescuing the other children and obtaining the Skeleton King's body! Young Lord Kina has both virtue and strength—and now honor too. What more could one ask for?"
"Indeed, the papacy is not a seat just anyone can occupy."
As the nobles marveled and praised, Cardinal Verit's smile deepened.
His gaze shifted to the opposite side.
In this festive atmosphere, the Eshua faction sat in silence as if they'd swallowed bitter medicine.
His eyes met Rilai's.
'Eshua, I know exactly what you wanted.'
You wanted the Skeleton King's body.
That's why you set the terms and made us bring it out.
But in the end, it didn't end up in Eshua's hands, did it? It went to the papal family.
'If you want it now, you'll have no choice but to bow before us.'
The impudent faith of Qing, daring to challenge the Pope's authority.
How long would the proud Saintess's household be able to keep their chins lifted high?
The nobles aligned with the papal faction spoke up loud enough for Eshua to hear.
"Though Eshua hosted the doljabi, this treasure vault is divinely ordained."
"The outcome reflects God's will. The Saint has already proven themselves."
Cardinal Verit locked his fingers together and sneered at Rilai.
"Indeed. It seems this has been a truly splendid moment of proof."
The moment he spoke, Rilai's friend Simon grabbed the back of his neck.
"Rilai, did you hear that? Hey! Did you hear?!"
"Yeah, I heard."
"'A splendid moment of proof,' my ass! God, what a smug bastard. Ugh, I hate that look. Is that smug face a passive skill of theirs? Honestly, isn't this dirty? How is anyone supposed to beat a kid who gets one-on-one training from the Pope himself?!"
"Simon, as God's envoys, it's a blessing no matter who retrieves the Skeleton King's body. Look—see how the elders are all roaring with joy?"
"Gaaah! Verit!!"
"Aaaargh!"
…That looks like joy to you?
They were practically groveling to the papal family, trying to figure out how to retrieve the body—and looking like they were at a funeral while doing it.
"That's my burden to bear. No one else needs to kneel," Rilai said quietly.
But that wasn't even what he was focused on.
His eyes hadn't left the treasure vault's entrance.
There, the other children who had been eliminated earlier were sniffling as they received treatment.
And shockingly, Isaac still hadn't come out.
Because of that, the Eshua people were still holding onto a sliver of hope.
"Since he hasn't come out yet… could Shuri be holding out?"
"Yes! Looks like he's doing a good job protecting his younger cousin! We never expected the Skeleton King's body anyway, but if only they could bring back the Holy Armor of the 7th Saintess or the Gauntlets of the 18th Saintess…!"
"Right! Even just the necklace of the 79th Saintess—anything recent would do!"
As the Eshua elders began their desperate wishing, Rilai clenched his hands tightly.
'Isaac, forget those treasures—just come back safe and sound.'
In the midst of this tense atmosphere, the retainers spoke to the emperor.
"It seems the papal family truly is formidable."
To think the emperor had come all this way, only to witness the papal family's triumphant rise.
Seeing it all, Rilai furrowed his brows.
The papal family had claimed both honor and wealth this day.
He'd put on a calm face for Simon, but the truth was, it stung.
They'd been enemies for centuries, but the papal family had been especially cruel lately, after what happened to Isaac's parents.
Still, personal feelings had to be set aside when it came to duty…
"Oh! The last of the children are coming out!"
"It's Shuri!"
"!"
At that name, Rilai's head whipped around like a magnet.
Suddenly, a group of children came rushing out. Judging by their numbers and faces, these were the ones who had entered the 3rd chamber!
Rilai frantically scanned for someone.
One, two, three, four… ten!
The kids were nearly all out—but Isaac! There was no sign of his young nephew anywhere!
He rushed toward Shuri.
"Shuri! Thank goodness you're safe. But Isaac—where's your brother?!"
Despite his uncle's urgent questioning, Shuri just stood there, sweating profusely.
"W-Well, you see, Uncle…"
What was that?
What kind of reaction was that?
Why did everyone else come out, but Isaac didn't?
Why on earth?
"The kids from Group 3 came out with treasure! He's the only one who brought something from the treasure vault!"
"Ooooh!"
"Let's check the treasure right away!"
The adults approached the children who were lined up in a row.
Naturally, all eyes full of admiration turned to Kina Berit.
He was already the hero and star of the festival.
Cardinal Berit also approached his son with a pleased expression.
But as soon as he saw his son, the cardinal's face noticeably stiffened.
"Kina. Where is the Skeleton King's body?"
"Well…"
"And what's that thing in your hand?"
In Kina's hand was a worn-out brooch—an obvious piece of junk to anyone looking at it.
"Who told you to bring back something like that?"
Kina Berit couldn't raise his head.
"Kina?"
Something was off.
Now that he thought about it, where was the baby, who should have stood out the most among the kids…?
And at that moment—
"Oh my, look there!"
With someone's shout, a beam of light shone over the door of the treasure vault.
Flash!
A huge silver wolf appeared, looming over everyone.
And the chunk of meat it was holding…
"Isaac?!"
"Young Master Isaac!"
The baby was comfortably suckling on something with a contented look.
Isaac's nurse, Ashil, had gone completely pale.
"That thing holding Young Master Isaac—isn't that a dragon?"
"…!"
It was true.
That was the young guardian dragon guarding the treasure vault…!
No, that wasn't even the main issue right now.
"Rilai. Isaac… he's sucking on something—what is that?"
"What do you mean? It's a bone."
"Right. A bone…"
"Yes, a bo—"
A bone?!
The people of Eshua all turned ghostly white, and everyone there couldn't believe their eyes.
That magical aura—and in the treasure vault, there was only one bone like that!
'No way… is that the Skeleton King's body?'
Everyone was horrified.
"Isaac! Why do you have that?!"
"That's not the issue right now! Is it even safe for him to suck on that?!"
"There's no way that's the Skeleton King's body! It must belong to some thief who died inside!"
As chaos broke out, the nobles murmured and looked at the cardinal.
Cardinal Berit glanced coldly sideways at Kina Berit, his eyes sharp.
"Kina. Did you give the Skeleton King's body to that child? And brought back that piece of junk?"
His voice was as cold as steel.
"I… I…"
"Were you thinking of impressing His Majesty? A bit of stagecraft from the 'saint' to uphold the host's honor might not be the worst idea—but this doesn't seem like a very smart move."
Just as the cardinal opened his mouth to reveal the truth—
[Stagecraft? What nonsense are you spouting now?]
"!"
It was the dragon, holding Isaac, that spoke.
The young dragon, still in the form of a silver wolf, said in disbelief:
[The one who brought out the Skeleton King's body is this kid.]
"…What?"
[I'm telling you—he's the one who defeated the 14-6 demons, got the Skeleton King's body, and even let the other kids have the treasure. This kid did it all, brat!]
What?
"What did you say?!"
The others were the ones who shouted in shock.
"The Eshua baby did that?"
It was hard to believe, but the speaker was a dragon. A young dragon personally summoned by the Gammo of Eshua to guard the treasure vault—a dragon closely tied to the Holy Dragon.
No one knew exactly why such a rare hatchling was in the vault, but a dragon was still a dragon.
No matter how young, a dragon was far better at magic than humans, and there was no way it could have misjudged the situation.
Even amid everyone's shock, Rilai still scolded the dragon.
"Even so, wasn't it reckless to break the seal on the 14-6 demons? You knew the kids couldn't handle demons like that…!"
[Why blame me? It was the Berit kid who asked me to break the seal.]
"!"
The nobles turned, horrified, to Kina.
Cardinal Berit, catching their gaze, let out a mirthless laugh.
"Young dragon, don't lie. Do you think we don't know your close ties with the saint's family?"
But then voices rang out—
"No, it's true! Kina told us to activate all the traps in Group 3!"
"That's right! We didn't even want to go, but he dragged us there!"
"Because of him, we almost died to the demons!"
The parents of the children from Group 3 turned to Cardinal Berit in horror.
'Is the Papal family insane right now?'
'He told them to unseal demons?'
Soon, the angry nobles began advancing on the cardinal.
At the same time, other nobles watching the scene were stunned in a different way.
If what they said was true, it meant the Eshua baby had defeated the demons that Kina unleashed.
"No way… that boy from the Eshua family actually beat a child of the Papal House…!"
"If word of this spreads to those who weren't here today, it'll cause an uproar."
All eyes from the trembling nobles turned to Eshua, but the Eshua family themselves had no time to care about any of that.
Because of none other than Isaac.
"Come on, Isaac! Be a good boy! Here's your pacifier! No, no, not that—yucky! Yucky! Let's put that down, okay?"
Nope. Not letting go, suckers!
Smooch smooch smooch smooch!
Isaac, sucking on the Skeleton King's thumb like a candy, let out a snort of laughter.
Sweet.
The high-quality mana he hadn't tasted in ages was absolutely divine!
Damn, must be because of the 'Survival' blessing. I'm absorbing it instantly just by sucking.
Normally, to absorb mana of this caliber, you'd have to train in isolation for at least a hundred years.
But eating it? Instant absorption!
Isaac joyfully kept sucking on the Skeleton King's dwindling bones.
Smooch smooch smooch smooch!
And while the tug-of-war to snatch it away continued—
"Oh, ohhh! As expected, Isaac pulled it off!"
"Elder!"
The missing elder and councilman, who had vanished in the treasure vault, appeared, looking like beggars.
"Where have you been all this time…?!"
"We got caught in some bizarre trap by demons. We were about to tear it apart when—poof! It vanished. Damn it! Who knows where it went!"
Well, yeah, I did tell the Shadow Lich to catch and release you.
Isaac kept chomping on the bone.
Chomp chomp chomp chomp!
The elders, watching Isaac munch away, looked as delighted as if it were their own victory.
"For this child to bring it back instead of Berit!"
"Yes, yes! Lady Gamo will be overjoyed. No—the entire Eshua family will rejoice!"
Yeah, sure. Keep celebrating.
While you're busy cheering, I'll be using this to build up power and steal your whole family and country.
But Lilai, seemingly impatient, yanked on the bone, hinting at the elders to stop watching and start helping.
"Yes, Mother will finally be able to fulfill her wish! With this, we can finally track him! So please, help out already!"
Isaac's eyebrow twitched.
Hmm. Track?
Track what?
As someone blessed with the "Survival" ability, Isaac felt a cold chill run down his spine.
Wait. Come to think of it, why did Melissa want me to bring back this body in the first place?
She even offered an absurdly huge reward.
Why?
Is she some kind of pervert? A corpse fetishist?
"With the Skeleton King's body, we can perform a tracking spell to follow the Skeleton King's soul," the elder explained.
Ah, I see.
With just the body, you can track the Skeleton King's soul—wait, WHAT?!
[Whoa there, if these guys are right, they're about to locate you, boss! Then again, maybe not—the Saint's body, different race… might not work.]
But it seemed Isaac wasn't even hearing anymore.
"I don't know where he's been hiding all these 150 years, but with soul-tracking, we'll find the Skeleton King for sure."
Track? More like desecration!!
"As soon as Lady Melissa arrives, we'll begin. Isaac! Hand it over now! Here, take this pacifier instead. Finally! A chance to hunt down and kill the Skeleton King!"
Hey, hold up!! If you haven't found him in 150 years, maybe take the hint and GIVE UP already!!
"Come now, Isaac! We need the Skeleton King's body to pinpoint his location! That's the last one left in existence! Let's start the tracking spell!"
No! No need for a tracking spell!
The Skeleton King is RIGHT in front of you, you lunatics!
These freaks have totally lost it!
"Sweetie, that thing's really precious, the last of its kind! Please, don't break it—give it here!"
Finally, Lilai sighed and lifted Isaac up high.
"Isaac, listen! That thing is too powerful and dangerous! Just holding it could cause something terrible to happen. So hurry and—"
But at that very moment—
Gulp!
"…Huh?"
The faces of the Eshua family turned ghostly pale in an instant.
Because Isaac had just… put the Skeleton King's bone in his mouth and gulped it down.
…Gulped?!
W-wha? Whaaaa?
"Hhhuuuhhkk."
"Aaaaaaah!!"
THAT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU EAT!!
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