Chapter 323

The former human tree-shaped magical beast, which had been repeating the same words, suddenly said, "I won't let you escape"—its voice clearly reaching Tatsuro and Ai's ears.

Though the other members couldn't understand the words, they noticed the change in the spoken phrase.

As everyone simultaneously focused their gazes on the tree-shaped magical beast, a massive human skeletal right hand—easily three meters long—appeared out of nowhere, aiming to crush Tatsuro, who was closest.

However, Tsukuyomi immediately deployed a Dragon Barrier, deflecting it.

"Thanks, Tsukuyomi."

"Another one's coming!"

"Tsukuyomi!"

The repelled hand flew backward with its momentum, nearly colliding with the tree-shaped magical beast.

But then, an equally massive left hand appeared, grabbing it, followed by two giant skeletal legs emerging simultaneously. The four limbs—both hands and both feet—launched a simultaneous attack, relentlessly pounding on Tsukuyomi's Dragon Barrier.

Each strike carried tremendous force, but it was still within the level Tsukuyomi's Dragon Barrier could handle. They had her erect barriers on all six sides, including the ground, and gathered in the center to strategize.

Yet, during this moment, a skeletal body—consisting of a pelvis, spine, ribs, and clavicles—appeared, with the limbs returning to their proper positions.

"At this point, it's pretty clear what's coming."

"Yeah, like a skeleton model from a science classroom."

Though the logic was unclear, the limbs connected, and a headless skeleton, towering at least 24 meters, stood up.

Then, at its feet, the final piece—a skull clattering its teeth—emerged. From the dark, empty eye sockets, they felt an unmistakable gaze, as if it were watching them.

The giant skeleton picked up the skull and fitted it onto the body like a puzzle piece, completing a nearly 30-meter-tall skeleton monster.

"OOOOOOOOO—"

"Talk about your classic undead, huh? Looks pretty tough."

"Leah, what are its skills?"

"Um—Tatsuro, reinforce the barrier!"

Though Leah intended to use All-Seeing Eye to analyze the opponent's skill composition before acting, the giant skeleton suddenly wielded a massive club made of bone with a rounded tip. It swung it back like a golf swing.

At the same time, a dark, malevolent aura erupted from the bone club, and it swung with tremendous force.

The rounded tip of the club struck the Dragon Barrier, effortlessly shattering the first layer.

But, as per Leah's warning, Tsukuyomi layered multiple Dragon Barriers, and Tatsuro inserted earth and darkness magic-crafted walls with a low-rebound texture between them to dampen the force.

Thanks to this, they successfully stopped the terrifyingly powerful strike.

However, the skeleton assumed the same stance again.

"Here it comes again! Cardina, prepare Dispel Magic the moment you sense any magical aura. Everyone else, scatter and act on your own judgment!"

Tatsuro imbued twelve spheres with the magical power of twelve attributes, each hosting a spirit, and asked them to assist Cardina, enabling her to counter any attribute magic when using Dispel Magic.

Then, while staying alert for magical signs with Spirit Eye, Tatsuro used Tsukuyomi to carry Ai and escape into the sky.

The other members scattered based on their own judgment, leaving the bone club to swing through an empty space.

As the wind pressure alone toppled forest trees, Tatsuro, still holding Ai, flew directly above the skull, cautiously approaching in an instant to unleash Level Eater's black sphere.

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Level: 74

Skills: [Partial Division], [Bone Army], [Bone King Club Summoning]

[Hardened Body Lv. 10], [Bone King Evil Aura Lv. 6], [Bone Absorption Lv. 3]

[Monstrous Strength Lv. 5], [Staff Arts Lv. 5], [Evil Crushing Strike Lv. 10]

[Holy Power Resistance Lv. 2]

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(What's with this thing!? It wouldn't be out of place in the middle floors of a level 10 dungeon. Just how exceptional was the tamer it used to be!?)

"What's wrong?"

"Just shocked at how high its abilities are."

"That impressive, huh?"

"Yeah. But this means a huge SP haul. It's like a jackpot since the dungeon."

"Alright! Suck it all up!"

"You got it. I'm on it!"

While Tatsuro and Ai were having this exchange, the other members were fighting their own battles.

When Tatsuro and the others ascended, the giant skeleton activated Bone Army, causing countless 1.5-meter-tall skeletons to fall from its body—excluding the skull—like shedding dust, forming an army in moments.

They instantly organized, wielding bone swords and shields from who-knows-where, lining up around the giant skeleton's feet.

Despite being in a position where the giant skeleton's steps could crush them, they moved with disciplined precision, clearing space for its footing without issue.

Facing this swarm of ant-like undead monsters, Jeanne charged in, swinging her Dragon Holy Sword.

"Neigh!"

"OOO—"

The effect against undead was devastating. The mere touch of the Dragon Holy Sword's radiance caused them to crumble into dust and ash before contact.

Jeanne plowed through the army, charging toward the main body, and thrust her Dragon Holy Sword into the bone equivalent of a thigh.

"OOOOOOOO—!"

As expected of the leader, the sword pierced and penetrated, but it remained fixed, unable to move further or make the skeleton disappear like the smaller ones.

Instead, it raised a club imbued with a sinister aura in both hands, swinging down to crush Jeanne's head.

As a Holy Dragon, Jeanne had high offensive power against evil but was vulnerable to its attacks.

Given the matchup, Jeanne deemed a direct hit too dangerous and used Spirit Division: Giant Arm Shockwave, equipping it with a massive Halberd from her Item Box. She maximized the power of Waves and struck the descending club's tip.

GAAAANG!!! A tremendous clash resounded as the club and the Halberd held by Spirit Division: Giant Arm Shockwave collided, evenly matched.

The club's massive strike, powered by Monstrous Strength Lv. 5, Staff Arts Lv. 5, and Evil Crushing Strike Lv. 10, clashed with Spirit Division: Giant Arm Shockwave's Axe Arts Lv. 10. Despite Jeanne's positional disadvantage, it was a draw.

Moreover, the Waves' impact left cracks in the club, meaning one more strike could destroy it, effectively giving Jeanne the edge.

However, the giant skeleton absorbed the cracked club, which visibly shrank.

Once fully absorbed, it repaired the hole in its right thigh made by Jeanne's Dragon Holy Sword, then summoned two new clubs, one in each hand, and swung both down.

"Don't forget about me!"

"Me neither!"

The two evil-aura-wrapped clubs descending simultaneously were handled by Nana and Athena, who had been watching to avoid interfering with Jeanne.

Nana enveloped her legs with wolf-shaped Beast Spirit Technique, maximally enhanced her strength with Curse Magic, then kicked off the ground with her left foot, delivering a flying kick with her right to the giant skeleton's right wrist.

Though it only cracked the surface without breaking, it diverted the club's trajectory significantly away from Jeanne.

At nearly the same time, Athena used five instances of Spirit Division: Magnetic Mirror Mimicry, leveraging magnetic repulsion for a jump to reach the left wrist. Switching her Dragon Armor’s right arm to earth attribute, she compressed Dragon Force smoke, then switched to wind attribute, letting a gust propel her fist to strike the left wrist, altering its path.

"It's crazy tough!"

"But if we get serious, it's not indestructible."

With an already high base durability bolstered by Hardened Body and an overall stat boost from Bone King Evil Aura, the skeleton's body was unnaturally resilient.

However, since they were holding back to avoid destroying it before Tatsuro finished using Level Eater, Nana and Athena judged that with full effort, it could be broken.

Meanwhile, Cardina peppered the giant skeleton with True Dragon Wing Blade and Magic Bullet barrages, inflicting wounds while vigilantly preparing for destruction.

Leah created a Barrier to keep the smaller skeletons—still as tall as a petite woman—from escaping outside, reducing their numbers and holding a defensive line alone.

Thanks to everyone's efforts in stalling, Tatsuro successfully drained all the skill levels.

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Level: 74

Skills: [Partial Division], [Bone Army], [Bone King Club Summoning]

[Hardened Body Lv. 0], [Bone King Evil Aura Lv. 0], [Bone Absorption Lv. 0]

[Monstrous Strength Lv. 0], [Staff Arts Lv. 0], [Evil Crushing Strike Lv. 0]

[Holy Power Resistance Lv. 0]

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(Total SP: 170… Here we go!)

Suppressing his excitement, Tatsuro shouted to everyone that he had finished using Level Eater.

"I'm done here! Now let's destroy this thing!!"

"Got it!"

Ai leaped from Tatsuro's arms, striking the neck bone with a fist wrapped in black-and-white Dragon Force.

Though its durability had decreased significantly without skills, the bone was still tough, yet it shattered instantly, sending the skull falling.

“Peewee!”

Cardina, who had been chipping away with cracks, unleashed a barrage of True Dragon Wing Blade Magic Bullets at several points per second.

The weakened structure caused small holes to spread to other minor wounds, and combined with its heavy self-weight, the skeleton's shoulders, ribs, and spine collapsed all at once, except for the arms.

"Time to go all out!"

"Let's do this!!"

The giant skeleton's arms, still functional despite being detached, stubbornly tried to crush Nana and Athena with the right and left arms, respectively.

Nana dodged by ascending with Dragon Flight, then pulled out her tuned-up Kachikachi-kun Staff, manifesting Ice Magic.

She created a diamond-hard ice block as large as the skeleton's arm, using her abundant Dragon Force. With both legs wrapped in Beast Spirit Technique and manipulating an enlarged Kachikachi-kun at the staff's tip, she struck the giant right arm below.

The massive, ultra-hard ice block collided with the right arm at incredible speed, shattering it into pieces and crushing it into the ground.

Athena, wary of breaking her beloved scythe with full force, transformed her Dragon Armor's arm sections into giant scythes.

Surprisingly, applying Beast Spirit Technique added Crimson Teeth of a red crocodile to both scythes.

Confident this would work, she further enhanced them with Brilliant Lightning's golden Lightning Magic, slashing horizontally like scissors at the approaching left palm.

The left arm bone was sliced like tofu, then further diced into tiny fragments with dancing scythe swings, rendering it immobile.

"Neigh!"

As the upper body collapsed, Jeanne, positioned before the lower half, assigned Spirit Division: Giant Arm Shockwave with a giant Halberd to attack the left leg, while she targeted the right.

Spirit Division: Giant Arm Shockwave, fully utilizing Waves, swung the Halberd horizontally like a lumberjack, cutting the leg short.

Jeanne, enhancing her strength with Tree Magic-wrapped plants, wielded a giant Hatchet imbued with Dragon Holy Sword, easily slicing the right leg short with holy dragon power.

Both legs, still connected to the pelvis, were reduced to joints and stopped moving.

For the finishing blow, Jeanne and Spirit Division: Giant Arm Shockwave gripped the Halberd with four hands, slamming the Wave-infused blade into the pelvis.

The remaining pelvis didn't just crack—it scattered into pieces.

"Now that they can't summon more small fry, let's finish them off."

Leah, having prepared by scattering Forge Flame Material everywhere while waiting for the main body's destruction and the halt of additional small skeletons, was ready.

Even with only the head remaining, the subordinate skeletons remained active, but they were mere small fry.

Leah turned the paw pads of her tiger-shaped machine red-brown with Smithing Skills, stamping the ground.

This caused the terrain around densely packed skeletons to sink into a conical depression with a 50-degree slope, making them roll toward the center, unable to adapt.

In an instant, she gathered the skeletons in one spot, then unleashed flamethrowers from the machine’s mouth and grenades from barrels on its back, engulfing them in explosions and flames.

The giant skeleton might have withstood this, but the regular skeletons were pulverized and burned to destruction.

"Just cleaning up the leftovers now."

Leah charged at the few skeletons that escaped the terrain change with her tiger-shaped machine, destroying them all.

"All that's left is the head. I left its level intact, so Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, finish it off. It'll probably level you up too."

As Tatsuro, still in the sky, spoke, the two cores on his staff and coat blinked, with Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi forming a single spell.

While the skull tried to wriggle, the sisters fixed it in place with magic.

Grateful for this, Amaterasu wove Wind Magic, and Tsukuyomi blended Ice Magic, creating a giant ice blade shaped like crossed axes. They propelled it with compressed Wind Magic, sending it crashing down.

It struck the immobilized skull's crown, cleanly splitting it into four pieces, completely defeating the giant skeleton.

| You have leveled up to Level: 6|