Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Pindenai
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In necromancy, the most difficult part was none other than communing with spirits.
Unless they were vengeful spirits with incredibly strong wills and deep grudges, ordinary people couldn't even see them.
Even necromancers could only perceive a tiny fraction of them, or so the books said.
This was the realm of talent, not mana.
But I was different.
I could see even the most insignificant spirits, which tormented me terribly, but conversely.
It also meant I could use them.
Do spirits contain mana?
"No, they're just clumps of mana with consciousness."
They were nothing more than talking blobs of mana, and I converted their mana into spells.
[Kihyahahaha!]
[My body's burning! It's burning!]
[Die! You're all gonna die too!]
This gave birth to a spell with the will to cling to enemies and burn until all its own mana was consumed.
'Even a mere fireball spell has this much effect?'
A spell acting with its own will was undoubtedly a tremendous advantage.
Even apprentice mages could easily cast and shoot fireballs, yet they were throwing the Resistance into chaos and picking them off.
'But.'
That wasn't the problem.
If it were just the Resistance rabble, the northern giant, Darius, would have handled them on his own.
They wouldn't have even dreamed of crossing the mountains.
The white wolf that had bitten at the giant's ankle.
Pindenai's footsteps were charging violently toward me.
Her speed was so incredible it was like she had engines strapped to her feet. I clicked my tongue.
"Monsters are monsters, alright."
The woman who served as the boss of an entire chapter. The good news was that she wasn't properly equipped with weapons or gear yet.
'No Half-Dried Axe dropped for her. No Landing Machine or Hand of Blood either.'
As expected, she was a far cry from the boss version of Pindenai I remembered.
Her gear was downright shabby.
I'd planned to exploit that, but watching her charge, I changed my mind.
"Not yet."
At my current level, I was still far too lacking.
Darius choosing a one-on-one duel with that monster felt utterly foolish.
I pulled another spirit from my hand and converted the mana within it into a spell.
I hurled the one that instantly became an ice spear.
Kwaduduk!
Pindenai shattered the ice without the slightest hesitation, not slowing down a bit.
On top of that, she snatched the shattered fragments to prevent them from easily reforming and ground them into powder.
[Kieeek!]
The anguished scream of the evil spirit echoed. Becoming a spell was, in a way, the same as taking physical form.
Pain was naturally part of it for them.
"You're playing around quite cheerfully, Necromancer."
Pindenai leaped high. Amid the flurry of snow, she tried to smash down on me headfirst.
Ppeok!
But a sudden white blur charged in, sending Pindenai's body tumbling through the air several times before crashing to the ground.
"Krk, keruk!"
Pindenai spat blood and groaned. The Mountain Lord who downed her in one blow now stood blankly by my side.
[Our spirit beasts must not take lives recklessly.]
"I know. Leave the finishing to me."
With that, I glanced toward the Scrap Merchants who had adapted to my spells.
"Behr! Keep slashing them! Eventually, their mana runs out and they vanish!"
[You sons of bitches!]
[Don't kill us! Don't kill!]
[Do I have to die again? No! I hate it!]
"Ignore their bullshit! They're just spells anyway!"
"Don't talk like people, you fireballs!"
[No! I'm alive!]
"Fuckers! You gonna burn out Mactery's whole mouth? How's he supposed to kiss his wife then?"
The Scrap Merchants had quickly adapted to the fact that slashing the fire pits consumed their mana and made them disappear, but they were furious over their comrades who'd died in the initial panic.
If the Mountain Lord hadn't appeared, that is.
Kuwoong!
Like a sports car blasting past, they couldn't even properly spot his form before their bodies flew up and slammed into the ground.
"Kuh, euk!"
"Krack!"
Unable to even scream properly, they rolled in the snow with dazed voices from the sudden agony and broken bones.
'So that's why he's so confident.'
I could feel with my own skin that the Mountain Lord's claim of easily killing ten thousand alone was no bluff.
The enemies that had given Darius and Northwedden's soldiers such trouble were cleaned up in the blink of an eye.
No exaggeration—it really was in the blink of an eye.
The Mountain Lord strode imposingly through their midst. His deep blue eyes pressed down on me once more.
[Don't forget our pact.]
"Of course not. From now on, the North Wedden Mountains will permit no humans. I'll make it so."
[Krung.]
With a single throat rumble, the Mountain Lord turned into a white crystal and vanished. His gradual ascent into the sky contrasted strikingly with the falling snowflakes.
"Kuuk!"
"Impressive stamina, as expected."
Pindenai writhed desperately, trying to rise right in front of me. Even after taking the Mountain Lord's blow, she still had the will to fight. Truly remarkable.
As expected of a tricky boss mob that grew stronger in crises.
I used one of the ghosts I carried to create a seat. I'd intended a simple ice stump-like chair.
[Art. Though I have no hands or feet, I am an artist.]
The spirit I chose was a peculiar one, adding its own design to create a rather luxurious ice chair.
Not bad.
I sat, crossing my legs, and spoke to Pindenai.
"Clock Republic Resistance. Scrap Merchants leader Pindenai and her comrades, right?"
"……!"
Pindenai's neck stiffened instantly, her blood-red eyes trembling in confusion.
"H-How do you……!"
"Do I really need to explain?"
"……."
She probably hadn't even grasped what happened, but she knew the result was her defeat.
Still, Pindenai clenched her fists white-knuckled and struggled to rise on shaking arms.
But she slipped on the piled snow and fell again and again.
"Deus Verdi. Second son of the Count of Northwedden family. Darius's younger brother, whom you smashed mercilessly."
"Deus… Verdi."
"Not well-known. Darius's fame overshadowed him."
Even in this situation, Pindenai mulled over my name repeatedly, infusing it with the conviction that she'd kill me someday.
That's why I clicked my tongue.
Pindenai had beastly traits and ranked among the continent's top fighters in raw power, but she lacked cool judgment.
"Why do you think I'm letting you live right now?"
"……What?"
"Answer. If you can't even manage that, no point wasting more time."
If Pindenai failed my expectations for rational thinking, I'd kill her without hesitation.
But she bit her lip and answered.
"You… want something from us."
"Not great, but I'll pass you."
I rested my chin on the armrest the chair spirit had crafted. More useful than expected.
"I've heard the Clock Republic's crackdown on the Resistance has intensified. Thanks to those specialist Extermination Squads."
Extermination Squad.
The Clock Republic's unit formed to wipe out the Scrap Merchants and other Resistance groups.
Before fighting Pindenai in the game, you could briefly recruit one as a comrade—they were quite strong.
"Extermination Squad? Just bug exterminators, aren't they?"
The name implied executing Resistance and saving citizens.
No different from pest control.
Except the pests were the Resistance.
A sneer tugged at my lips.
I could indirectly sense how they'd been treated.
"If you die here crushed like bugs, it'd be exactly the end the Republic wants for you."
"You bastard……!"
After repeated attempts, Pindenai finally managed to lean against a tree.
Her trembling legs showed no sign of recovery yet.
"But if that were my plan, I'd have crushed you already."
"What's that… supposed to mean?"
"Two things."
I raised my right hand's index and middle fingers.
"Two choices. One: get buried in the snow and crushed by me. Like bugs."
Pindenai had her own backstory and striking good looks, making her a popular character design-wise.
But I didn't care. Utterly useless garbage I could crumple and toss.
What mattered to me was.
The strength that had stumped countless players, forced endless retries, and demanded grinding for levels.
Pindenai's power.
"The other: become mine."
I needed her strength.
"W-What?"
Before she could fully react, I slowly rose from the chair.
"Obey my commands, and I'll give you everything you sought from the kingdom."
Pindenai had fled the Republic over the mountains to the Griffin Kingdom for several reasons.
The Extermination Squads hounding them relentlessly sparked the escape.
Short on supplies, manpower, and any base to start with.
So she planned to cross into the more spacious kingdom, build a base, grow the Resistance with kingdom support, and return to topple the Republic.
In the game, she never made it back, but she did succeed in bulking up.
"I'll provide supplies, a place to stay, and jobs for funds."
"W-What are you saying?"
No reason she couldn't understand.
Even a child could.
I'm scouting you.
"The Republic won't dare touch a kingdom noble like us Border Counts recklessly."
"……."
"The others are extras. Just you. Only you under me."
I knelt on one knee before the tree-leaning Pindenai.
Our eyes met level.
To her startled, flustered face, I gently extended a hand.
"I'll be the shield protecting you."
Younger brother of the Northwedden Border Count.
Second son of the Verdi family.
Dismissed academy professor.
A middling position of no real note.
But for a wolf that's lived as a slave, fought as a revolutionary, and needed a brief respite.
It was plenty to serve as a windbreak.
"Five years. Then you're free. Go back to the Republic for revolution or settle down—won't care."
By then, whether this world's end was a happy or shitty bad end would be decided.
So.
"Become mine, Pindenai."