Chapter 39: A Giant Skeleton

Saiba quickly shouts,

"Duck!"

The two children get down as Saiba flies over them and uses his sword block the skeleton's strike. Saiba shouts again saying,

"Run!"

The two children now struggle to their feet and run to the opposite direction of the skeleton. Lily signals towards her and says,

"Stay behind me, you two!"

The kids run behind her and hide. Saiba pushes the skeletal arm away, runs and strikes at the monster's ankle bones. It creates two large gashes that makes the skeleton collapse.

It falls on its back and begins to struggle back up. Saiba jumps onto it and walks on the monster's rib cage, towards the skull. Once they see eye to eye, he asks,

"Are you the Skeleton King?"

The giant skeleton just makes screeching noises. Saiba thinks,

"The Skeleton King could actually talk, right? This guy's just making noises again. I guess he's not the Skeleton King..."

Saiba disappointedly hops off and walks back to where Lily and the kids are standing. As he approaches, the kids leave their hiding spots and bow down while saying,

"Thank you for saving us, mister!"

Blushing a little, Saiba replies,

"Don't worry about it! It's just a hero's job!"

He adds,

"What were some kids like you doing in a place like this anyways?"

The boy replies,

"We were just playing around and we kinda got stuck here..."

Saiba shouts,

"Playing!? In a graveyard!? You're gonna wake the dead bodies!"

The boy just chuckles awkwardly. Lily starts interrogating the children by asking,

"Can I get some names? Ages? Where are you from?"

The boy explains,

"I'm Marco Rosso, 12-years-old, from Cambross Town!"

He adds while pointing to the girl,

"This is Belliel Rosso, 9-years-old, also from Cambross Town, ma'am!"

Saiba tells Lily,

"You don't have to be that serious... They're just children after all..."

He introduces himself,

"I'm Saiba Okumura, the Legendary Hero of Estrelia!"

Lily follows and says,

"My name is Lily."

Saiba says,

"Anyways, you two should probably get out of here. I can get the big guy to escort you out of here, if you want."

Marco refuses and shouts,

"No! We still need to do something!"

He changes his tone and says,

"I mean, we're too scared to go on our own... I think it would be better if we stayed with you guys..."

Saiba replies,

"Uh... Sure, I guess... I don't have any problems with it. Do you, Lily?"

Lily answers,

"If you're okay with it, then I'm okay with it too."

Marco jumps up and cheers while mumbling,

"Adventure! Adventure!"

Saiba and Lily start walking back to Uma and the wagon as the kids follow. They arrive as Marco notices the skeleton that's been navigating their path. He shouts,

"Watch out, mister! There's a skeleton over there!"

Completely calm, Saiba walks to the skeleton and rubs the top of its skull while saying,

"You mean this guy? Don't worry, he's friendly! He's just leading us to the Skeleton King!"

Marco has a creeped out expression. Saiba says,

"You guys can ride in the wagon."

Belliel gets excited as she waddles over to the wagon and hops inside. Her brother, Marco, follows her. Saiba and Lily retake their spots as Saiba shouts,

"Lead the way, skeleton friend!"

The skeleton starts marching through the dungeon once again and the group follows.

Finally, they arrive at a large, dome-shaped room. The room is completely empty as the skeleton quickly gets on its knees and bows down. The booming voice returns and announces,

"Foolish adventurers, it seems as though you have managed to make your way to my home! How foolish you are!"

Saiba makes fun of the Skeleton King and shouts,

"Hurry up and come out! Fight me like a real man!"

The Skeleton King replies,

"You are quite the energetic one, aren't you, foolish adventurer?"

Saiba shouts back,

"Stop calling me foolish! Just come out already!"

Getting a little annoyed, the Skeleton King announces,

"There is a time and place for everything, foolish adventurer. We do not have to rush things."

Saiba just replies,

"You're the foolish one for hiding like a little coward!"

Finally snapping, a hooded being stomps out from a tunnel and shouts,

"Fine! I'm here now! What do you want!?"

Satisfied, Saiba answers,

"Let's fight!"

Confused, the Skeleton King replies,

"Huh!? You think you can fight me, Razier the Skeleton King!?"

Saiba nods excitedly. Out of nowhere, Belliel softly shouts,

"Please come home already! Big-brother Razier!"