Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World as a Skeleton

Chapter 271: Half and Half

Grey Mana surged violently in the center of the array. The silhouette of the

solitary portal had fully solidified, and within the warped light-curtain, the

landscape of a distant Tier 5 world flickered like a mirage.

Thanatos stood at the core, his violet-gold soulfire pulsing with a terminal

weakness.

Ten seconds. He only needed ten more seconds to escape this logic-defying cage

and begin a new existence in a world he could actually understand.

Nine. Eight. Seven.

Just then.

BOOM!!!

The ossified walls of the palace detonated inward. A beam of sapphire Draconic

Fire tore through the central hall, incinerating the reinforced bone-walls and

turning the royal chamber into a wind-swept ruin.

Thanatos spun around, his joints clicking in alarm. Through the gargantuan

breach, he saw a sight that shattered his remaining sanity.

In the grey sky above his palace, hundreds of Bone Dragons—each exceeding a

hundred meters in length—were descending in a silent, predatory formation. They

were Tier 6 monstrosities, wreathed in dark ribbons of Od.

It was the Calamity Knights of the Silent Extinction Legion. One of the

Sovereign's Seven Armies.

On the back of each dragon stood a cohort of Skeleton Kings in heavy obsidian

plate armor, led by a Bone Wither whose bow was already drawn. At the absolute

front of the formation, standing atop the skull of the leading dragon, was a

silhouette that would haunt Thanatos into the Void.

The Sovereign of Evernight.

The creature that had triggered a total system override in his soul by just

standing there.

"Impossible..." Thanatos vibrated, his gauntlets shaking. "How are you here? How

did you bridge the gap to the Necrotic Realm so quickly?"

He had fled. He had burned his reserves to anchor his extraction. How had this

monster tracked a temporal shadow across the dimensions?

The Bone Dragon settled onto the palace floor, its massive weight causing the

stone to spiderweb. Kaito stepped off the dragon's skull, his boots clicking

softly against the obsidian. Clinging to his shoulder was a small, translucent

blue blob.

Bochi wobbled, its gelatinous face twisting into a mask of pure distaste as it

scanned the grey wasteland.

"Guchi! This place smells like a dead rat's laundry basket!"

Kaito reached up and gave the slime's head a firm, distracting pat. "You're the

one who insisted on the excursion. Suffer in silence; this will be concluded

shortly."

He tilted his skull toward Thanatos, his voice carrying the calm, flat

indifference of a man discussing the weather.

"I departed for your home the moment the Decoration Ceremony concluded," Kaito

said. "You should feel a measure of honor. I didn't even take off my formal

robes."

Thanatos stood frozen. Honor? The word held zero mockery. Kaito spoke as if he

were stating a statistical fact. It was infuriating.

Thanatos looked at the Imperial legions pouring into his palace—thousands of

Tier 6 powerhouses swarming his private sanctum. His Od was a vacuum. He had

drained his soul-core to survive the transit. In his current state, even a

Tier 5 Necromancer could likely process him for scrap.

But his pride refused to go quietly. He let out a desperate, echoing roar.

"WE ARE BOTH UNDEAD!"

"MUST YOU PURSUE THIS ANNIHILATION TO THE END?!"

His voice bounced off the shattered walls, a cocktail of despair and raw

confusion. "ARE YOU NOT ONE OF US?! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!"

"DO YOU NOT SEE HOW THE LIVING LOOK AT US? HOW THE ARROGANT RACES OF THE

MULTIVERSE VIEW OUR EXISTENCE?!"

"THEY SHUN US! THEY MARGINALIZE US! THE MOMENT A VESTIGE OF OUR POTENTIAL

MANIFESTS, THEY MOBILIZE TO CRUSH US!"

"THEY FEAR US. THEY ABHOR US. THEY SEE US AS SYMBOLS OF CALAMITY! NO MATTER OUR

ACTIONS, NO MATTER OUR LOYALTY, IN THEIR EYES, 'UNDEAD' IS BUT A SYNONYM FOR

EVIL!"

Thanatos took a heavy, clanking step toward Kaito, extending a hand in a

desperate appeal for alignment.

"JOIN ME!"

"WE CAN INVERT THE LOGIC OF THE UNIVERSE! WE CAN FORCE EVERY RACE TO GROVEL AT

THE FEET OF THE DEAD!"

"WE CAN PROVE THAT WE ARE THE SUPREME EVOLUTION! YOU POSSESS POWER THAT DEFIES

PLANAR LAW—WHY WASTE IT ON A SINGULAR WORLD?!"

"THE MULTIVERSE IS VAST! WE CAN HARVEST EVERY PLANE! WE CAN BECOME THE NEW

GODS!"

Thanatos halted ten meters from Kaito—a respectful distance for a peer. His

soulfire burned with a manic, pleading light, waiting for the recognition of a

brother.

Kaito was silent for several heartbeats, seemingly processing the proposal.

"Perhaps," Kaito murmured.

Thanatos's eyes flared with hope. He understands. He finally understands the

burden.

"If that is the case—"

"But it is irrelevant," Kaito interrupted, his voice cutting through Thanatos's

momentum like a blade.

"I am their King."

"That is the only data point that matters."

The simple sentence hit Thanatos like a physical blow. He let out an

incredulous, high-pitched screech. "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?! YOU ARE A SKELETON!

HOW CAN YOU BE A KING TO MEAT-BAGS?!"

Kaito's tone remained flat, each syllable clinical and absolute.

"I am their King. Humans. Elves. Orcs. Succubi."

"They are my subjects."

"I do not concern myself with how other worlds perceive the Undead. I do not

care for our standing in the Multiverse."

"I care only for the safety and prosperity of my citizens." Kaito's soulfire

watched Thanatos with a terrifying stillness. "The rest is... a statistical

noise."

Thanatos felt his reality fracture. In that moment, he realized the gulf between

them wasn't just power—it was logic.

Thanatos conquered worlds to gain "Acceptance." He hungered for Godhood so he

would no longer be hated. Everything he did was a reaction to the rejection of

the living.

But the Sovereign of Evernight?

He didn't care. He didn't need proof. He didn't need a pedestal. He simply...

existed as he chose.

"You... you fool..." Thanatos waved his arms, grasping at the last shreds of his

philosophy. "You will be targeted by the powerhouses of the Multiverse! You

think you are invincible? There are races with abilities you cannot comprehend!

There are GODS!"

"WITHOUT MY INTEL! WITHOUT MY GUIDANCE! YOU WON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO RESPOND WHEN

THE DIVINE LOOKS AT YOU!"

"YOU WILL DIE! YOUR EMPIRE WILL BE REDUCED TO ASH!"

Kaito's silhouette flickered.

In the next micro-second, he was standing directly in front of Thanatos.

A hand of bare, white bone reached out, gently cupping Thanatos's skull.

Thanatos's soulfire contracted. He tried to lunge, to bite, to retreat—but his

frame refused to move. The weight of the Sovereign's hand made his very soul

vibrate with the frequency of annihilation.

"Gods?" Kaito whispered into the silence of the palace.

"I do not subscribe to that theology. But since you mentioned them... I suppose

I shall go and look for them myself."

"If they are truly as formidable as you claim... I shall simply recruit them

into the Empire."

Thanatos's soulfire pulsed with a frantic, broken rhythm. Recruit? He's insane.

He's truly lost his logic.

"And if they prove to be... insufficient? Then I suppose it shall be a 'Twilight

of the Gods'."

CRACK.

The bony hand tightened. Thanatos felt his skull beginning to spiderweb. He

ceased his struggle, looking up into Kaito's hollow eye sockets one last time.

"What... what are you?" he rasped. "Are you even... one of us?"

Kaito didn't hesitate. He closed his fist, pulverizing the King's skull into

dust.

CRUNCH.

The violet-gold soulfire drifted into the air like glowing ash before winking

out into the grey. Thanatos, the Skeleton King of the Necrotic Realm, was

liquidated.

Kaito looked down at the pile of shattered remains and spoke to the empty air.

"Half and half, I suppose."

☆☆☆

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