The dragonkin could freely manipulate and assemble the bone dragon in all sorts of ways using magic.
He could make it bipedal, or in proper dragon form. He could even pull out a few ribs from the dragon shape, place them on its shoulders, and use them like claws or fangs.
All sorts of variations.
To be precise, even a knowledgeable dragonkin lacked the orthopedic expertise to properly assemble a dragon’s skeleton.
Truthfully, such knowledge and skill weren’t necessary in the first place.
All you have to do is force the connection with magic.
Dragon remains were supposed to be collected and respectfully handled by the dragon itself or its offspring. Dragons called themselves immortals, lived incredibly long lives, numbered few, and rarely died accidentally.
There was no one who specialized in things like assembling or repurposing dragon corpses.
Humans, who might have desperately wanted to use those remains, could have figured something out—but humans had gone extinct.
That was why the dragonkin, rather than meticulously piecing together the ancient dragon’s bones, decided to get creative. He planned various combat modes—bipedal walking dragon, winged terror dragon, and more—then bound them together with magic and sent the whole thing to this world.
But…
“Kkh?!”
Black blood poured from the dragonkin’s nose and mouth.
A backlash slammed into him from the bone dragon.
“W-what is this?”
The bone dragon rejected the dragonkin’s black magic control and blocked all magical interference. It had been fully obedient before—revived as an undead, freely manipulated and assembled by the black magic that dominated it.
Now, that was no longer the case.
The ancient dragon refused the dragonkin’s dark dominion and began radiating its own power.
“Great ancient dragon, why do you turn against me, the one who awakened you…!”
The dragonkin clutched his chest in agony and collapsed.
And then, in this otherworld room, the bone dragon’s true voice rang out.
[Young dragon, I never asked you to wake me.]
“Then why didn’t you resist sooner?”
With this much power, there had been no need to wait until crossing worlds. He could have resisted right there, when the black magic first tried to seize the bones.
[I was simply bored. I wanted to see what you would do with me.]
“Cool, right?”
The bones gathered, transforming as if blooming into a skeletal flower.
“Showing off your salamander magic bone craft?”
Maybe bone art really exists.
And then—
Crash.
Everything collapsed again. The skull rolled away once more.
If I kicked that skull, it probably wouldn’t find its head again.
It would probably flail around with those frail-looking arms, searching in panic. That would be hilarious, but it didn’t happen.
Instead, black energy gathered around the bones once more. This time, only the neck vertebrae stretched absurdly long, turning it into something giraffe-like.
Dragons do have somewhat long necks, but not like that—and definitely not like the dragon girl.
Of course, with no legs, it couldn’t move at all.
“…I’ve never seen such a pathetic monster in my life.”
Curiosity about what shape it would take next overtook me. Instead of preparing for battle, I pulled out my smartphone.
“I’ll watch this whenever I’m feeling down.”
No way I’m not recording this.
“I’ll probably be the first and last person to see such a beautiful monster, right?”
Well, that’s not wrong.
“Feeling less depressed now?”
At my joke, the Fairy Princess glanced at the Nightmare Queen and spoke up.
What was that?
I thought they avoided each other like oil and water.
“Ah, a little better. Thank you, Princess.”
At the same moment, everyone in the room—who had been on guard—relaxed, except for the dragon girl. They all cracked jokes at the bone dragon’s pathetic display.
The Nightmare Queen clutched a blade of grass the Fairy Princess had pulled from her pot, looking like she’d just been handed ten thousand won.
[It seems to have dropped to about a wail!]
“Can you stop with that siren noise? If you scream for real later, it’ll be a problem.”
[Couldn’t it serve as an air-raid siren to warn everyone in advance?]
“What air raid?”
[The missile and biochemical/nuclear weapon strikes from the puppet regime that illegally occupies northern Korea, claims self-defensive nuclear capability, violates UN sanctions, and threatens world peace under the Kim dynasty’s Juche ideology! To protect our citizens from this threat…]
This guy’s flipped way too fast. It’s actually more suspicious now.
Sure, I did give him patriotic education, but this conversion is too sudden and intense.
“Hm. You never know.”
A thought crossed my mind.
Pretend to assemble the bone dragon for an attack, lull us into complacency…
Then mobilize those sharp bones with magic—float blades in the air or something.
Even if it looks like that, maybe it’s hiding something dangerous.
The dragon bones used to make it are high-efficiency synthesis items. If processed into daggers, they’d slice through things easily.
Clang.
The joints gathered, turning into a long Eastern-style serpentine dragon—then the head fell off again and separated.
Still, black energy pulled the bones back into snake form. This time, a dark orb began forming in the previously immobile head.
“B-Breath?! Everyone, take cover in the corner!”
The Nightmare Queen stepped forward as the black sphere gathered in the skeletal reptile’s maw.
But the neck vertebrae hadn’t assembled properly. With a snap, it bent, and the dark orb vanished pathetically.
For the next ten minutes or so, nothing happened.
“Haaah!”
CatMan always hisses, but that yawn is contagious. I feel like yawning too.
Just as the tension drained away—
[You there, friend.]
Whose voice is that?
We already have two telepaths, but this doesn’t sound like the pretentious tone of CatMan (age 2), who thinks he’s teaching humans.
This one’s much more refined.
Wait…
“Did you possess someone else besides Lee Soo-chan?”
[No!]
[Could you pick up my head for me?]
RiceCookerMan doesn’t have a head, and the only skull rolling around is the bone dragon’s.
“Uh… is this you, bone dragon?”
[I’d prefer if you called me the ancient dragon, human friend.]
Such a gentle, leisurely way of speaking.
Is this really an invader?
“Why’s an invader acting all friendly?”
[Invader…? I’ve likely lived far, far longer than you. Even your grandfather would be younger than me.]
“…Why are you like this?”
Koreans really can’t ignore age, huh.
The moment age came up, he switched to honorifics.
[This otherworld… it certainly feels different from where I was. But strangely, I sense the aura of my old friend, the Queen of Fairies from the World Tree.]
At those words, both I and the Nightmare Queen turned to the Fairy Princess.
Feeling our stares, she shyly lifted her pot to hide her face and shook her head.
“I don’t know anything!”
At that moment, the black light lingering around the bone dragon suddenly shot upward and vanished.
Then, above the bone dragon’s head, a level appeared.
<Bone Dragon LV None>
Remains of an ultra-ancient dragon.
Level does not exist.
It possesses a technique that fundamentally blocks information detectable by Insight, making it impossible to view by any means.
The bone dragon is likewise a being without level.
Beings without levels include the woman in 202, the humans here, and things created or controlled by magic.
Even fish don’t have levels.
[First, could you find my head?]
“Ah, this one?”
I politely handed it over with both hands.
[Good, thank you.]
The skull was huge and quite heavy.
Once I passed it over, tiny arms sprouted from the current snake-like body and lifted the head—but stayed like that for a while.
[How did it go on again?]
“Excuse me?”
I’ve really seen all kinds now.
“Sigh. Hold on.”
I wasn’t sure if it counted as human or just bones, but I attached it anyway.
Then it spun its skeletal head full circle like neck exercises. I’ve lost all words.
That’s when the Nightmare Queen began her interrogation.
“Who are you? Why did you invade?”
[I am a dragon from ancient times. Back then, I argued with that chicken-headed… no, the phoenix…]
“Oh my? Are you the dragon from that dragon myth?”
[Myth…? No, that’s not it.]
“I heard you fought the phoenix, created land with volcanoes, and oceans with water.”
[Rumors grow, so I wouldn’t know. I merely had a war of words with the phoenix, got angry, and made a bet.]
“What kind of bet?”
[We wagered on who could endure longer without reviving while sleeping.]
Listening from the side, I couldn’t help but think—what nonsense.
·Isn’t that a game the phoenix automatically loses? It revives on its own.
[The old bird couldn’t revive because too much of its flesh was torn away. And some of its bones are mixed in with mine.]
“Then why isn’t the phoenix’s spirit here? There are phoenix bones too, right?”
[How would I know? That hot-tempered thing might have dissipated long ago, or the one who revived me had no intention of reviving the phoenix. Hm. Anyway, I revived first, so it lost.]
“Why make that bet in the first place?”
[Because we wouldn’t die.]
“Why do you need to die?”
[Because there’s nothing to do. Mortals wouldn’t understand the feeling.]
Ah, yes.
Is doing everything out of boredom a trait of old folks in that neighborhood?
If I had eternal life, I’d want to live thousands, tens of thousands of years. Why act like that?
There are a few chunks of phoenix meat, plus a rebirth skill, so it probably lives longer than normal people.
“So your goal isn’t invasion—it’s suicide?”
[Calling it suicide feels off. I’d prefer rest. If you’re going to revive someone, do it properly. What’s this? The bones don’t fit, so moving is hard.]
“Ah, it does look that way.”
Honestly, the skull looked ready to roll off again, so I was holding it steady.
[I don’t want to make sounds like kko, kio. To restore me like this… Heh heh, even with almost no emotions left, I’m angry. The restoration is this bad, and they planned to use me as a slave.]
“So like… waking someone from sleep and forcing them into labor? While pulling off their arms and legs?”
[Something like that. I’m angry, but I still want to sleep.]
This shows why undead monsters shouldn’t have wills.
“Wow, how did they send this much volume—and packed with so much magic…”
The Nightmare Queen’s expression turned grave as she looked at the bones.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“I’ve invaded this place before, remember.”
“Right.”
“To send an artifact containing this much magic, you’d need at least 100,000 mana. That salamander-looking dragonkin…”
[It’s a dragon. He uses corrupted magic. The young one only learned bad arrogance.]
“As I thought, something’s off. There’s no one that strong in the maritime clan. I could’ve subdued Shark King with one kick. Looks like a dragon—one using black magic—is attacking.”
The monster I’d glimpsed indirectly through Insight was indeed a bipedal salamander.
“Super strong, then? But wouldn’t you and that dragon’s mom be a match for it?”
“None of the items that kid’s mom gave had even this much magic. Just letters or trinkets. Dragon heart? Did that woman send this?”
“Uh, she gave it directly. But don’t call her ‘that woman’ in front of the kid.”
“She could only use power after coming here. But that salamander? Its projected power is definitely different.”
How amazing is this fossil for her to say that?
They estimate that salamander’s level at around 200,000.
Then—
“We don’t know its exact position, but it seems cornered too. In cases like mine, it might invade directly…”
“If it comes directly, we’re all dead?”
“It’s no small matter. Crossing over isn’t easy, but if it does…”
“Temptation?”
“I’d surpass its charm, as long as it’s male.”
The dragon bone fishing rod does have dragon effectiveness, after all.
Then the bone dragon, its neck vertebrae still dangling, spoke.
[Do I need to become stronger?]
“Right?”
[Then completely end me and boil my bones to consume them. It will help quite a bit.]
Dragon bone broth—now that’s precious.
But it stank when I refueled with these bones.
How could broth from this taste good?
“If I boil and eat it, will illnesses heal and the blind see?”
[There was a human filial son who did that for his parents. He tried to take my bones without permission, so I meant to scold him—but his devotion was admirable, so I let it go.]
Seeing respect for filial piety, maybe the people there weren’t complete barbarians.
Of course, they’re all dead now.
“Ah, really? What happened to that filial son?”
[He was executed for poisoning his parents.]
Why that ending?
…Wait, poisoning?
[How could an elixir boiled from my bones help parents already sick and weak? They couldn’t withstand the powerful energy. It was unfortunate.]
“That’s saying it’s bad.”
It’s a bit insensitive to think this after hearing someone else’s tragedy.
But it’s useful information.
I’ll keep it in mind when giving phoenix meat to my parents later.
I can’t become a fire-attribute unfilial son just to play filial once.
Come to think of it, maybe giving Elder Kim Chang-hwan such a strong item wasn’t wise either.
He was lucky.
[Someone strong like you should be able to digest it. Now, end me.]
The invaders so far had fish-level intelligence or whatever—none normal. This one doesn’t seem normal either.
“But if I kill you, what do I get? Levels? You don’t even have a level.”
[Treasure and wealth… I died before understanding that environment well, so it holds no meaning. I can’t give riches. But if studied properly, you could acquire an ancient dragon’s wisdom.]
“Can’t study it.”
[Then I’ll give you my breath and remains.]
“Breath?”
“Huh? The breath?!”
The Nightmare Queen looked more shocked.
“What’s that—some ultimate technique?”
She nodded vigorously.
I’d seen dragons indirectly through media too. I figured it was something incredibly powerful.
“Yes, yes! It’s what that kid’s house mom spewed when raging at my palace.”
“Kyuu?”
“It’s a concentration of dragon magic that works regardless of defenses or level. That’s why dragons still exist even when gods intervene—to pacify them.”
“Super strong!”
Even the Fairy Princess chimed in.
All the otherworlders were excited.
“Meow. Haaaah.”
Only CatMan lay on his side like a person, head on forepaw, yawning at the TV.
Zero empathy, that guy.
The dragon girl just whimpered from behind CatMan’s tail, scared.
“So I can shoot that breath? Don’t you need, like, dragon organs for that? Our mouths and noses are different—big ones can’t even imitate speech.”
[I sense the energy of a dragon heart in you. Half mortal, half immortal, perhaps. And…]
Thud.
This guy’s jaw moves to talk, and the head falls off.
He’s telepathic—why move the jaw at all?
[Could you reattach it?]
“Yes.”
I supported the jaw with my hand so it wouldn’t fall.
[Thank you. …Where was I?]
Dragons get dementia too?
“…You said I’m half mortal, half immortal.”
[Yes. Fundamentally, humans can emit something similar from excretory organs, so learning it should be possible.]
“That… I don’t want to shoot breath from my asshole?”
It would mean the anus needs to be incredibly healthy.
[The strongest expulsion comes from there, so it was just an example—not necessarily so.]
He explained that with training, it could come from urine beams, vomiting, intense glares, or even fingers.
[Untrained ones sometimes shot breath backward in war, or accidentally in their nests while watching day-to-day life.]
Dragons have it rough too.
“If it’s breath, couldn’t you just stay here a few days and teach it properly, along with magic?”
I still have about 170 skill slots left.
They’re scaring me with a possible hundreds-of-thousands-level invader—I need more skills.
Above all, I need to learn it properly. I don’t want to accidentally fire breath in the studio bathroom and kill the downstairs neighbor.
[An interesting friend. It’s certainly possible. But…]
Crash.
Damn it, I was holding the jaw. The neck collapsed from there.
[I have no will to live. Would you want to live like this?]
Well… fair enough.
He just doesn’t know about 3D printers.