Chapter 56
Chapter 56
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: The Cruel Final Boss and the Wicked Hero
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A week had passed since Hilli, the Hero of the Underworld, discovered Opfir's tomb.
With no need for meals or sleep in her spirit state, she had devoted that entire week solely to Opfir's resurrection ritual.
[I'll restore only part of the soul, and I've installed plenty of safety measures in the body...]
When she found Opfir, who had mummified over a century, countless options flashed through Hilli's mind.
Should she erase his memories completely and resurrect him as an evolving monster to raise from scratch?
Should she rummage through his brain and extract only the information?
Or just take over that corpse herself?
But she rejected all those choices.
The strength of the 13 Reverse Heavenly Stars didn't rely solely on their innate bodies or mana.
Experience, strategy, wisdom, cunning.
All those elements combined to create such monsters.
In that sense, choosing any of the above would defeat the purpose of resurrection.
An Opfir revived that way would be nothing more than a pile of flesh bearing the name Opfir.
'Of course, even that would be plenty strong.'
Just the residual mana left in Opfir's corpse made her skin prickle.
(A metaphorical sensation, even in her spectral state.)
Naturally, even reviving him as a mindless Death Knight would probably tear mid-tier superhumans in half.
But producing such a crude result from prime material like this went against the pride of a Twilight Sect hero.
[I'll limit his intellect to this level.]
However, fully reviving that arrogant Opfir intact would be suicidal.
In the Empire's twilight years, Opfir was infamous among the 13 Reverse Heavenly Stars as the one whose personality was utterly shattered.
Whenever war broke out, he always sided with the disadvantaged—for the simple reason that fighting from a losing position made war fun.
And if the commander on the disadvantaged side got cocky and issued stupid orders, he'd wipe out both sides and move to another battlefield.
If arrogance ever took human form, it would be Opfir; he was a scoundrel through and through.
[His power... I'll limit it to this for now too.]
So Hilli poured her heart into devising Opfir's resurrection method and control mechanisms.
First off, the living dead form she'd used in Sneria's territory wouldn't work here.
Instead, she aimed to revive him as a boogeyman this time.
This method would allow him to retain his martial prowess and reason from life.
[For now, since I'm at tier 4, I can control him up to tier 6.]
Finally, she inscribed control spells onto Opfir's corpse.
They would gradually unlock higher tiers as her own realm advanced.
Of course, tier 6 was nowhere near enough to revive the Empire, but she wasn't impatient.
Opfir would first cripple those above her, and she'd deliver the finishing blows to claim their realms.
As her realm rose, so would the tiers she could unlock in Opfir.
'Then tier 8 will come quickly.'
Once she reached tier 8, and beyond to tier 9, no other Reverse Heavenly Star would dare challenge her.
It would be the equivalent of two tier 9s moving as one.
'Heh... 400 years should be plenty.'
Rising from tier 4 to 9 in just 400 years.
If she told anyone, they'd look at her like she was insane.
But with Opfir's corpse turned into a boogeyman, it was more than feasible.
As she indulged in such delusions, the preparations finished. All that remained was time.
When 2 a.m. arrived, Hilli finally began chanting the incantation.
"Monstrums alte sopitus, finem quietis tuae fac et exsurge: mihi fidem aeternam praesta."
⟨ Awaken, Monster ⟩
Monster.
The ultimate undead, culmination of all the knowledge I've amassed over centuries.
Open your eyes and swear eternal loyalty to me.
As she chanted, a smile never left Hilli's lips.
Forgetting the pain of her melted upper body, she let out mad laughter from her remaining left side.
[Return to this place, and once more make the world tremble in terror!]
Her voice echoed thunderously through the cave.
Tremble... tremble... tremble...
And all that returned was her echo.
[...]
She clamped her mouth shut.
What? What went wrong?
The incantation and materials were perfect.
Yet Opfir's mummy remained utterly still.
'Did I target the wrong soul?'
Could she have locked onto some other spirit in the underworld instead of Opfir's, causing the resurrection to fizzle?
A sudden unease flickered that this mummy might not even be Opfir, but she shook her head to dismiss it.
No being emanated this much mana from a mummy except Opfir.
Assuming it was her mistake, she prepared the incantation again.
That was when it happened.
Starting from the bones, the materials she'd prepared began to gather.
Blood converged into veins, flesh into tendons, and then skin and cloth draped over it all.
[Oh!]
'Yes. Of course I couldn't fail...'
Boom!
Suddenly, a storm of mana erupted centered on Opfir's corpse.
Hilli barely kept her ash body from scattering, with no chance to even glimpse the storm's heart.
As the storm died down, a human silhouette emerged at the center.
[Oh, yes! Success!]
The dust settled, revealing clothing flaps.
A red robe worn by those called Taoists in the eastern cultural sphere.
Over it, an indigo cotton armor protecting the shoulders and torso.
Recognizing the familiar yet nostalgic attire, she shouted in triumph.
[Welcome back, Opfir!]
Disheveled black hair fluttered in the storm's aftermath.
Black eyes mad as if forever seeking war, brows sharp as if despising peace.
And straight lips that seemed to look down on everyone they met.
It was the Opfir she knew.
Opfir, the serpent who devoured the Empire.
The only difference from life was his paler complexion now.
Only natural for an undead revival.
In other words, everything else matched the Opfir she remembered perfectly.
[Hahaha!]
As Hilli burst into ecstatic laughter,
Opfir, with his pallid skin, crossed his arms right after reviving and spoke.
"Sigh... ha... No smell of bloodied steel around here. Did the world turn peaceful while I was dead?"
Hilli took Opfir's words at face value and nodded.
Indeed, compared to the Empire's civil war collapse, territorial skirmishes were mere diplomatic spats.
Hilli spread her arms wide toward Opfir and cried out.
[No need to lament, Opfir. Your body is my heartfelt masterpiece. As my realm rises, you'll approach your prime. Cooperate with me. I'll prepare battlefields to satisfy you.]
She secretly hoped during her speech.
If Opfir cooperated, she wouldn't even need to activate the control devices in his body.
Then she could deploy him at full prime power immediately.
But disappointingly, Opfir was uncooperative.
"How much time has passed?"
[?]
"The world's gotten cheeky. You, of all things, ordering me around."
Opfir uncrossed his arms and drew up mana.
In that instant, Opfir's body froze solid.
A grin spread across Hilli's lips at the sight.
[Sorry, but your body's set to be unable to harm me by default. No need to make things awkward—cooperate. You might even enjoy obeying orders? I'll set up those battlefields you love so much.]
She couldn't hide her excitement while speaking.
How could she, when the reality of leashing that monster thrilled her so?
[I'll avoid orders you'd hate. Do as you please for me...]
"Every last one of you Twilight Sect fools is brain-dead."
[...What?]
Opfir glanced indifferently down at his frozen body from the neck down, then met her eyes.
"Your sect always dug the same old traps and acted so sure of victory. Even when I uprooted you, you all explained every spell one by one."
[Wait. Don't tell me...]
"What, from the mood, you didn't know when you summoned me? Hilarious if it's karma. Fine, since it's fate, I'll tell you."
Opfir flashed a sinister smile.
"I destroyed your sect with my own hands."
Hilli's mind went blank white.
In the Empire's end, the Fifteen Hero Sects mobilized every hero to stop the 13 Reverse Heavenly Stars.
But upon hearing they were coming, Hilli stole a manual and fled the sect.
With her unmatched knack for sensing doom, she never looked back.
Later news said every hero sect was annihilated without exception.
But no one knew who wiped out which sect.
'It... was Opfir?'
The one who annihilated her sect was this man?
Her spectral fingertips began to tremble.
It wasn't anger over her fellow disciples and master's deaths.
Simply, killing them all meant he still had ways to kill her even now.
'No, it can't be.'
Back then, Opfir was alive; now, he was revived by her magic.
The magical bindings were incomparable, and if he harmed her, he'd be sent back to the underworld.
If he had any reason left, he'd compromise to stay in the living world, even if it bruised his pride...
"Battlefields have meaning only when I choose them myself. Better to slit my own throat than go as a puppet."
Damn.
Opfir was a lunatic beyond reason.
She hurriedly prepared to unsummon him.
Not ready yet.
For now, she knew he was dangerous, so sever the link and...
Slash.
[Huh?]
Her vision began to spin wildly.
She belatedly realized her neck had been severed.
An ash wraith's neck, cut clean.
She struggled to comprehend the impossible, but couldn't.
Opfir sneered down at her crumbling, sandcastle head.
"Oops. Accidentally sliced your neck."
[Impossible... The binding should be working...]
"Can't harm you, huh? Know your place, brat. Do you consciously step on ants?"
At the absurd logic, she couldn't help but scoff.
But part of her accepted it as very Opfir-like.
'No, this isn't the time.'
Assessing her collapsing state, she desperately pleaded with Opfir.
[If I die, you die too! No more wars...]
"Plenty of humans would revive this body even without you."
But Opfir dismissed her lightly, turned, and headed to the stone coffin he'd lain in.
With a gesture, it reassembled into a throne.
Opfir sat on the stone throne and closed his eyes.
"Not bad to nap before some fun."
Gazing at the arrogant Opfir to the end, Hilli's head turned to a handful of ash.
Until her consciousness left this world, she couldn't let go of her obsession.
'Ah... So pointlessly... Rebuild the house...'
Thus, the witch mocked by countless deaths and shunned by every kingdom vanished lonesomely in an unknown place.