Anastasia looked at the rubble before her, gritting her teeth. They had been decimated. The hobgoblin corpses around her numbered in the thousands and the goblin corpses in the tens of thousands. She had only survived because her hobgoblin guards had forced her to escape just in time, dragging her along on their shoulders. She had kicked and screamed, fighting against their hold, but it was of no use.

She was just too weak.

She looked at the mangled, black corpse in front of her. This was her father, Maglubiyet. The glorious figure he once drew was no more, with only the remnants of his strength displayed in the cadaverous shell. Anastasia kicked a rock. The plop that it made in a nearby puddle served as a small respite in her anguish. Then, the pain came back. Her mind threatened to collapse in on itself.

No, that won't do. She has to remain strong. Strong enough to rouse the troops and bring them back together.

The goblinkin must rise and dominate the lands; that was what her father demanded. She must honor his dying wish and become the powerful leader that he had always hoped that she would grow to become.

Maglubiyet wasn't her biological father.

It was a sunny day in the kingdom of Gris when he found her. Her home had been destroyed by a human-elf coalition, and she was one of the few survivors. She remembered how even then, he was a creature that frightened those around him, a hobgoblin who was tall enough to touch the heavens.

"Are you alright?" Maglubiyet had asked, leaning down and extending a massive hand.

She quivered and accepted his invitation, pulling herself up and off the dirty ground that had caked her knees. She was still trembling and was scared of this black-skinned hobgoblin with bulging muscles and fearsome eyes. But he was the only adult hobgoblin still alive in her vicinity. The other hobgoblins who had tried to defend the village were brutally killed, some torn apart by horses and others left to hang on nooses or set on stakes.

The hobgoblin with the charred skin in front of her wiped the drool from her mouth with a cloth. Then, he wordlessly set off to find the other survivors of the village.

There were not very many of them, and they were mostly comprised of children who had been spared in the slaughter.

"You all will join my army from now on, and follow me, Maglubiyet the Mighty One!" he roared. There were some cheers, but most of them didn't know what to do and stood in place awkwardly. Maglubiyet looked around with a face that almost bordered on embarrassment. "Anyway," he said. "Follow my lead, and make sure to not get lost in the forest."

The twelve or so goblinoids followed him into the forest. After a while, they emerged on the other side. Only five made it through.

Anastasia looked around, worried. What had happened to the other children?

Later on, she would discover that this was Maglubiyet's method of testing them.

After a series of "trials," she and another boy were the only ones remaining.

The black-skinned hobgoblin standing in front of them grunted. He then continued walking, leading them through what looked like a purple vortex lined with jet-black jewels. The boy next to Anastasia seemed dim-witted and obviously didn't see the worth of something so valuable. This was a portal! She couldn't help herself but get giddy. This was the stuff of legends, magical items that had been described to her in stories told by her parents.

Thinking about her parents, she got gloomy. She hadn't seen them die in front of her, but their corpses still haunted her imagination.

The three of them walked through the portal, and on the other side was a glorious army. Hundreds of hobgoblins were riding on warhorses, and thousands of goblins stood behind them. The majority of them were clad in shining armor, with only a few wearing nothing. At the sight of Maglubiyet, someone shouted a succinct message to the troops, and the chatter stopped.

Anastasia was in awe. Was this the power their savior held? Would she be able to fight by his side someday?

He kneeled in front of the two children. "From now on, you two will be my progeny. Think of me as your father from now on." The goblinoids watched with rapt attention and then cheered. It was a magnificent sight to see and hear so many hands moving in unison, clapping as one whole, as a body.

"General Anastasia!" a goblin broke her out of her thoughts, returning her to the present. "Commander Raiden has begun the destruction of Yurip's city."

"Good," Anastasia replied. "Thank you for informing me."

Aurelius walked over with Thomas and Edward, looking down at the guards that had been killed by Raiden. It was time.

Throughout his runs, he had worked out that the alchemist opened up his shop only once to the skeleton, and all the other times, he would obstinately deny entrance to him. This made him realize that he had to save up money by mining in the mana stone cave and go to him once the deadline of the attack was near.

He gave a potion to Thomas and Edward each. The three of them quickly swallowed the potions they carried, turning completely transparent.

"Let's go," Aurelius said.

The doors were already slightly ajar, and all they had to do was open it without alerting Raiden.

Shing!

A throwing knife flew past Aurelius as he tried to open the door. Seems he was more vigilant than they expected. Cold sweat appeared on the transmigrator's skull.

"Where are you?" Raiden's voice boomed in the throne room. "Come out."

They walked closer, and Raiden started to wildly swing, covering his entire body in a tornado of blades. They had gotten there late, and Yurip had already died, his body lying cold on the throne, as if in mockery of his kingly status. Aurelius couldn't say he felt very sorry for the sadistic hobgoblin.

They couldn't get closer to Raiden, but this was to be expected. Aurelius inserted two bony fingers into his mouth and whistled. A roar could be heard coming from outside the walls, and a creature with the head of a lion, the wings of a dragon, and the tail of a scorpion burst through.

It had taken a few tries to learn how to befriend the manticore, but he had found out that feeding it food rich in nutrients was the surefire method of getting the manticore to trust him. His previous owner had not been so kind to him. Unfortunately, this also meant that he had to borrow money from Rumi, which had also taken a great deal of coaxing.

Raiden was surprised at the new arrival and stopped just long enough for Aurelius to stick a makeshift dagger into his abdomen. This just made him angrier, and he knocked an invisible Aurelius aside with one slap of a hand. This startled the transmigrator as much as it shocked Raiden. There really was an intruder!

He shot a mana ball at the manticore, which was enough to scare it off. Manticores were inherently wild beasts and wouldn't stay loyal to a mere skeleton for very long. Aurelius was more dazed than injured, but he couldn't feel any strength in his legs. He looked up and saw a very visible skeleton duo charging at Raiden.

The invisibility potion had worn off.

"Edward! Thomas! He can see you!" Aurelius screamed.

"Don't worry about us," Edward said.

"We can handle this fockin' shite," Thomas affirmed.

They bobbed and weaved together, dodging Raiden's attacks gracefully. Aurelius had given them some pointers on the hobgoblin's movement patterns beforehand, but he didn't realize they would get it down so well.

One skeleton stabbed Raiden in the chest with a swift move, and the other skeleton thrust into his throat. It was an upset victory. If they had been off for a single moment, then they would have died. They were also lucky that Yurip was a strong fighter and had exhausted Raiden, but it was through their abnormal understanding of Raiden's abilities that had granted them the win.

"Do ya like that?" Thomas asked Aurelius.

"How...?" Aurelius was confused. Raiden was far too powerful to die just like that. Throughout all the previous iterations, the three skeletons had been defeated. They were unnaturally lucky this time around, but it was still odd.

"It sort of feels like we've done this before, doesn't it?" Edward wondered. "It's like I could predict his moves before I saw them."

Aurelius pondered on this. Were his regression abilities growing weaker? Then why didn't Raiden see the same benefits that his two companions did? Was this a perk of his skill?

He shook his head. He shouldn't think too much about things that he didn't fully understand.

Screaming could still be heard from the outside world, though it seemed like the dragons had left for some reason. Were they needed somewhere else? Either way, the elves and goblinoids were still killing each other out of their lack of trust in each other.

"Carry me up," the transmigrator requested the two skeletons at his side. They promptly did so and brought him to the balcony overlooking the city.

The streets were filled with the crimson liquid of the fallen. Rivers of blood ran through the city like veins in the human body. Aurelius cursed. If he had made it a little bit earlier, they would've been able to salvage Yurip's life. Though he didn't like it, Yurip definitely would've been able to calm this madness.

"Whaddya wanna do, Aurelius?" Thomas asked. He was clearly intimidated by the mass of people fighting in the streets, and his bones shivered.

"We wait for them to calm down," Aurelius replied.

"We aren't trying to stop them?" Edward asked. Aurelius shook his head. It was a futile endeavor. He had attempted to stop the fighting before in a previous loop, and he realized that he didn't have the presence, charisma, or reputation for demanding respect from the bloody crowds.

They watched together in silence, partially because of a morbid curiosity to see when it would stop. Not long after, the fighting calmed down.

The goblinoids had won.

A hobgoblin rushed into the room and noticed the three skeletons. Before he could attack them, Edward raised his hands.

"Before you make a rash decision, consider the fact that we slew the hobgoblin attempting to kill your king." Aurelius noticed that Edward had a presence to him that people paid attention to and was shocked that the hobgoblin in front of them actually seemed to believe the skeleton.

The chubby hobgoblin in front of them hesitated before withdrawing his weapon. He kept an eye on the skeletons while searching through Raiden's body. Finally, he found what he was looking for, which was some sort of medal.

"What is it?" Aurelius asked.

The chubby hobgoblin seemed reluctant to answer but sighed and gave in. "It's a sign that he belonged to the Mighty One's army. He was probably sent to exterminate us after finding out that we had been associating with elves." He cursed. "Damn... if only I could turn back time. The elves wouldn't have had to die such pointless deaths if we were aware beforehand of this hobgoblin's plot."

"Seems a bit hypocritical, doesn't it?" Edward nodded to the blood splattered on the chubby hobgoblin's outfit.

"I only killed those who attacked me first," he responded, a stern gaze appearing on his face. "I value my life above all."

"Hmm," Edward mused.

"I can respect that," Thomas chimed in. "I would do the same for Aurelius."

The chubby hobgoblin looked surprised. "Is he your master?"

Thomas nodded. "Master and friend, to be exact." Aurelius couldn't help but feel flattered.

"I've never heard of a skeleton serving another skeleton. My name's Turban, by the way. Call me Turb," the hobgoblin responded.

"Alright, Turb," Edward said. "We need some compensation for killing the muscular hobgoblin down there." Aurelius was startled by his quick maneuvers.

Turban looked compliant. "Do you want gold?"

Edward waved his bony hand. "Just get us out of here safely, and we'll be happy." The skeleton looked at the transmigrator as if asking for permission. Aurelius nodded.

Anastasia had called back the dragons so that they could help collect the dead bodies and scare off any humans who thought their troops were easy prey. She figured that Raiden didn't need them anyway, as he was already plenty powerful.

She started to reminisce.

Clang!

The banging of two swords echoed in her ears. She had been training with Dergon, her new brother, and she had also brutally lost in their sparring match. She was now sitting on her new father's lap and listening to the waves of the ocean. It was all so novel and strange, now that she had a fresh start with a new family.

"Don't worry too much about your loss," Maglubiyet said. "Use it as a source of strength. Move forward with greater fervor than before."

She nodded. She would get stronger for her father. Always.

Years passed, and Dergon had died from an ambush from the humans. Maglubiyet grew distanced after his passing and went to war far more than usual. Anastasia had thought about talking to him, but she didn't want to disappoint him with any signs of weakness.

She had cried for days on end after her brother died, and it seemed to make people pity her. She didn't want to be weak, but she showed her weakness to the world. This angered her. She wouldn't allow anyone to pity her. No one would be allowed to look down on her. She curled her fist into a ball.

"Report!" a goblin entered her tent and broke her out of her thoughts. Coincidentally, it was the same goblin who had distracted her earlier that day. "Raiden has failed."

"What?" she thought she misheard the message.

"To be clear, Raiden succeeded in the mission but failed to return. He died fighting three skeletons."

Anastasia considered this. Dying to three pitiful skeletons? That was just shameful. "Alright," she waved him away. "You may leave." She was disappointed that she had lost a strong soldier, but it wasn't anything she needed to worry too much about. A more pressing matter was how she could consolidate her troops and bolster them further.

Do you want to grow stronger? An angelic voice rang out in her head.

Yes, I do. Was this a sign from the gods?

An image of a skull appeared in her mind.

Hunt down this skeleton.

Aurelius and his two skeletal companions left to the East, to the kingdom of Uru, home to the elves. In tow were several goblins who swore to serve Aurelius till their dying breaths. This was the reward Turban thought would befit the skeleton the best.

Aurelius sighed. He hoped nothing too stimulating would happen anytime soon.

A chortle rang out in the heavens. "This is all too exciting."

The man drew a curtain of shimmering light and transformed into a boy with deep, black abysses for pupils and a toga for his small body. He wore sandals on his feet and a wreath on his head.

"This body is alright. Tiny and weak, but light and graceful." his voice was still resoundingly deep, though he took the form of a young boy.

"Heehee!" a ball of light said. "I hope you have the strength to watch this spectacle."

"I might run out soon, my friend," the boy said. A melancholic smile flashed across his face for a second, then he returned to his cheerful demeanor.