Chapter 48: Teleportation
The Valley Base.
A low, rhythmic thrumming vibrated through the air as Mana coursed through the ground. Kaito stood at the precipice of a gargantuan magic array.
"One final check."
At his word, the Skeleton Mages sprang into action. Their bony digits traced along the glowing lines of the circuit, confirming that the flow of Od was unobstructed at every node.
Skele-Lust withdrew her gaze from the workers and turned toward Kaito. "My Lord, everything is within parameters."
Kaito nodded, his eyes fixed on the center of the array. "We need a test subject. Any volunteers?"
Silence.
Every skeleton present stood perfectly upright, their Soul Fires suddenly fixed on the sky as if they were performing an intensive study on the migratory patterns of clouds.
Kaito pointed randomly at the crowd. "You. You're up."
the chosen Tier 3 Skeleton Mage stiffened. Every skeleton standing next to it took a synchronized step sideways, leaving the poor soul standing in a lonely patch of empty space.
The unfortunate mage walked toward the center of the array, step by mechanical step, and stood still. It remained motionless, projecting an aura of stoic professionalism.
"Commence," Lust commanded.
Dozens of staffs were raised in unison. Pure Mana surged from their frames like tributaries feeding a Great River, pouring into the energy nodes along the runic grooves. A ghostly blue radiance ignited along the lines of the array.
This time, the light remained stable, showing no sign of shifting into a volatile red. The energy converged at the center and erupted upward, forming a pillar of pure light that swallowed the lone Skeleton Mage.
The mage's silhouette began to stutter, looking like a low-resolution projection with a bad signal. Pieces of it vanished and reappeared. Seconds later, its entire form disintegrated within the pillar of light, vanishing completely.
The radiance of the array dimmed and eventually sputtered out. The valley returned to a heavy silence.
Kaito closed his eyes, accessing the Soul Link to see through the perspective of the teleported subject.
Pitch black. Absolute, void-like darkness with no frame of reference.
Did it fail?
Suddenly, a chaotic background noise—sharp and abrasive—erupted into the link.
"Clang! Crash! BANG!!"
Then, a high-pitched scream filled with raw fury and terror tore through the connection.
"AUUGH! HOLY SH*T! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT THE HELL JUST CRAWLED INTO MY PANTS?!"
The perspective in the link shook violently, finally settling on a face twisted with pure horror.
It was Paul.
Iron Fortress, Forging District.
Paul was currently in the middle of a spit-flying lecture, standing over a brand-new armor production line.
"I told you! The polishing phase has to be uniform! Do you want our soldiers marching onto the battlefield wearing mirrors? The glare will give their positions away in a heartbeat!"
"And you! The leather strap holes! They're crooked! Do you want the breastplate to look like a side-slung handbag?!"
Paul stood with his hands on his hips, feeling the absolute sense of security provided by his invention—the Iron Briefs—and prepared to launch into a fresh round of cursing.
Suddenly, he felt something... extra inside his pants. Something hard. Cold. And very much moving.
Paul's next insult died in his throat. His entire body turned to stone. The roar of a hundred discordant noises in the foundry seemed to fade into a distant hum. Slowly, inch by inch, he lowered his head.
A round, bald, smooth skeletal skull was peeking out from beneath the bottom opening of his custom-forged iron undergarments.
The Soul Fire in the skull's eye sockets flickered, seemingly just as confused by the current situation as Paul was. The head turned slightly, locking eyes with Paul's mask of terror.
Then, it opened its jaw, as if it wanted to say something polite.
"AAAAAUUGHHHHH!!!"
A scream that didn't sound human pierced through the entire factory. Paul scrambled frantically with both hands, trying to evict the head from his trousers.
The surrounding skeletons immediately swarmed him, trying to "help" in their own chaotic way. One skeleton tried to strip the Iron Briefs off him by force. Another, assuming Paul was playing a delightful game with the head, tried to shove its own skull in there to join the fun.
The scene was pure, unadulterated chaos.
Eventually, Paul managed to unlatch the lock on his briefs while stumbling backward. The skeletal head popped out like a cork, rolling across the floor. Paul retreated eight steps and collapsed onto his backside, gasping for air like a landed fish.
The skull rolled twice and stopped, its Soul Fire staring blankly at the surroundings. Then, it spotted a headless skeletal body standing next to Paul. The body was clumsily patting its own neck, seemingly searching for a missing part.
Head and body stared at each other across the gap.
The Valley Base.
Kaito opened his eyes.
Lust asked from the side, "Status, My Lord?"
Kaito's expression was... complicated. "Success. Mostly."
Lust tilted her head. "Mostly?"
Kaito realized his answer was a bit vague. "The target destination was Iron Fortress. It arrived in the Forging District with pinpoint accuracy. It's just that the landing coordinates were a bit... personal."
Lust didn't press for details; if the Master said it was personal, it was personal. "This proves the feasibility. We simply need to calibrate."
For the next few hours, the Valley Base entered an intense and bizarre phase of experimentation.
"Second test initiated! Target: The open clearing of Iron Fortress!"
The array lit up. Another mage vanished. Kaito watched via the Soul Link.
This time, the skeleton successfully appeared in the Agricultural Zone. However, half of its body was inside a stone wall, and the other half was outside. It was clipped into the terrain. It waved its exposed limbs frantically, trying to pull itself out.
The farming skeletons gathered around curiously, some even beginning to poke the wall to study the new "bone-and-stone" composite structure.
Kaito ordered immediately: "Pull it back!"
The array reversed, exerting a massive gravitational tug. With a loud pop, the skeleton was yanked out of the wall and snapped back to the Valley Base, leaving a perfect, man-shaped hole in the wall of the Forging District.
"Coordinate precision is improving," Kaito evaluated, nodding. "But we need to account for material density at the target site. Third test! Target: The Re-education Demonstration Zone!"
The array flashed. This time, the teleportation was perfect.
The test subject appeared precisely in the center of the zone. It landed right on its backside. Beneath it was another skeleton—one of the "radishes" with only its head sticking out of the ground.
The "seat" skeleton's Soul Fire didn't even ripple as it continued to stare at the sky. The newcomer looked around blankly, realized what it was sitting on, and gave the head beneath it a friendly, apologetic pat.
"Precision landing confirmed. Commence non-living transport testing."
"Fourth test! Object: One standard-issue iron sword. Target: The largest anvil in the center of the Forging District."
The array activated. The sword vanished.
A second later, in the Forging District, Paul—who was busy hammering away—heard a sharp ting!
He lifted his hammer to find a brand-new iron sword standing perfectly upright on his anvil, the tip still vibrating slightly.
Paul froze. He looked around; every skeleton was buried in its work. He scratched his head and looked at the sword. "Who the f*ck keeps throwing things?!"
The testing was a complete success.
Kaito walked to the edge of the array, kneeling to touch the runes that still hummed with residual Mana. "The key is the Soul Link."
Lust, lacking the authority to enter the link directly, asked curiously, "What happens if there is no link?"
"Without a link, the subject would be sent to a random coordinate or lost in the dimensional turbulence of the void."
This was technology exclusive to the Undead Empire.
Kaito returned to his wooden cabin and lay in his coffin. He thought about the report Greed had sent yesterday. Count Barton of Jade Territory had refused to cooperate.
Kaito prepared to send Skele-Wrath and the Fearless Vanguard to "reclaim" Jade Territory. The Vanguard now numbered four thousand, all Tier 3, and all equipped with iron plate armor. Failure was a statistical impossibility.
Kaito issued the order for Wrath to prepare for war. However, he added a specific condition: Wrath himself was forbidden from participating in the combat personally.
Then, Kaito dispatched a Tier 3 Skeleton Assassin from the Shadow Guards. Its mission was simple: infiltrate the gates of Jade Territory and just... stay there. Do nothing.
It would become a coordinate.
A beacon.
A lighthouse to guide the descent of the Undead Scourge.
Kaito was going to use this new Teleportation Array to give the human natives of this world a little taste of Necromantic Shock.
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