Chapter 908
Chapter 908
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 908
Chapter Title: God's Atlantis
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"Little one, you're having irreverent thoughts, aren't you?"
Hel gazed at me with a chilling laugh.
The bone-chilling cold from the floor crept up my legs and spine, cooling my head. I hurriedly shook my head in denial.
"N-no, I wouldn't dare!"
"Humans who see me fall into two categories. Those who fear me, or those who despise me. You're the latter."
"Absolutely not!"
"Enough. No excuses. It doesn't matter to me either way."
"......"
She told me not to make excuses, so I didn't.
Hel's eyebrow twitched. Soon, her laughter echoed through the palace.
"You're an amusing human. You truly don't fear me."
"No, I do. I'd lose if we fought."
"You don't seem eager to fight. What brings you here?"
"We want to leave the Hell sector."
"You wish to use the gates of Niflheim. Fortunately, you qualify."
I knew what that qualification was.
One was being a living being, not one of the dead.
The other was to be a noble of Hell.
As a Hell noble, I could make a legitimate request of her. That's why I was speaking to Hel in front of Elena.
"Since you came knowing all this, I won't belabor the point. What will you offer as payment?"
"I'll pay in AP."
Atlantis Points.
To the Thrones, they were influence and power itself.
"I have no need. I already have plenty of AP."
"......We only thought of AP as payment. If you don't need it, I'm at a loss. What do you want as payment?"
"Originally, I don't rule all of Niflheim."
"Yes. I know you rule Helheim within Niflheim."
"But for this Atlantis, I've been put in charge of all Niflheim. It's vast. So vast it's giving me a headache."
"......"
"So I want you to handle administrator duties."
"We want to leave the Hell sector."
"Finish the administrator work, and I'll let you out right away."
"......What kind of work?"
I didn't like it, but I had no choice but to do what Hel wanted. She held the position of power right now.
"Niflheim is so vast that my power doesn't reach everywhere. Clever wraiths and dead frost giants hide there to evade me. Go there, clean up the wraiths, pull out their nails and claws, and bring them to me. Ten thousand of them. For the giants' nails and claws, at least three thousand."
It was a quest that took my breath away.
This was Niflheim. The longer we stayed, the faster time passed outside.
"Ten thousand is... too many. Please reduce it a bit."
"No. If you don't like it, forget it. I don't mind if you stay here for a thousand or ten thousand years. Oh, do you know that Niflheim's chill can freeze time itself?"
"...I know."
"Good. Now off to work. Don't be too late."
We were dismissed.
Before Elena or I could move, we were outside Hel's palace. She'd used her authority to eject us.
"Feels like we've become slaves. Wouldn't it be worth fighting that goddess instead?"
Elena said as she stood, but it wasn't sincere. Just a lament.
"Even with your Complete Recovery, we couldn't win. We'd have to fight somewhere else at least."
"Do you know a place her power doesn't reach?"
"Obvious. You saw it on the way here too."
"I did...? Ah, right. That place."
On our way to Hel's palace, we'd seen various sights. And noticed something odd. Some areas had blizzards, others felt the cold but no snow.
"No snow falls in the goddess's domain."
"Exactly. And we didn't get attacked by wraiths or snow even once on the way here, right? Places without snow are under Hel's perfect control."
"Goal set. Time to move. No time to waste—I'll use spatial transfer."
"You can?"
"Not confident in non-illusion magic, but my illusions are mostly omnipotent."
Elena snapped her fingers.
Ten blue butterflies appeared. They fluttered around Elena and me. Space warped around them.
I blinked, and the space changed. Gale winds and blizzards assailed us. The ground was buried in snow.
"You okay? I can give you the Hecate Cape if you want."
"No need. I already gave it to you. And I have something else."
I summoned a red cloak from my inventory.
It was something I'd asked ironroot dwarves to make in the past.
I draped the cloak over my shoulders, and the skin-cutting cold vanished. My body stopped shivering.
"Just finding and killing wraiths left. Nails and claws: ten thousand. Hm. Yu-jin, how many days do you think?"
"Hard to say. If we're lucky, maybe a month. Humans have twenty nails total."
Two thousand from a hundred wraiths. Five hundred wraiths and we'd have ten thousand easily.
"The hassle is gathering three thousand from dead frost giants."
"Wraith."
Elena pointed ahead. No need to delay. I summoned Stormbreaker in longsword form, gripped it, and charged the wraith.
The wraith was a walking corpse. Skin and flesh peeled away, parts reduced to bone. Yet it moved. It raised its nails at me and lunged.
'Thunderbolt.'
Lightning and sword aura crackled along the blade as I slashed the wraith's torso.
"Kieeeek!"
The wraith let out an ear-grating shriek. Like needles stabbing my brain.
"Kieee! Kieeek! Kiiee!"
"Too noisy for a lowly wraith. Die already."
I severed its neck. The shrieks continued. Only after smashing the skull and dismembering the body did it go silent.
"Yu-jin. We need to collect the nails."
"I know. Hate touching corpses with my hands, but... no choice. ...Damn it."
"What's wrong?"
"This bastard only has three nails."
"Corpse is mangled, so no intact ones. This'll take longer than expected."
I clicked my tongue and collected the nails.
We roamed hunting wraiths. Along the way, we encountered dead frost giants. They averaged over 10m tall. Their size made them far stronger than regular wraiths. Taking one down one-on-one took at least three minutes. With Elena's help, faster, but she focused on spotting wraiths.
"This won't work."
"Giving up? Keep moving instead of complaining."
"Not like this. Takes too long. Efficiency sucks."
"I agree, but no other way. This Niflheim resists my illusions too."
"Fifty nails a day? Ridiculous. By the time we get out, it'll be at least three years outside."
"......No ideas coming. Just work diligently."
"Wait a sec."
Best to check my inventory in times like this. Maybe an item with a helpful effect.
'Lure Hook... useless on wraiths.... Found it! This'll do...!'
I pulled out the golden mask.
Wraiths were undead. Walking corpses, no different from zombies or ghouls. Niflheim's influence made them stronger than typical zombies, though.
"Another weird item."
"Wraiths are nothing now!"
I donned the majestic Tutankhamen's golden mask. Mana surged +50, power flooding my body.
My aura extended in all directions.
Wraiths buried in snow, shambling aimlessly, frost giant wraiths quietly sharpening weapons.
I sensed them. Instinctively knew: I could command these wraiths.
'Not enough. Need to extend my aura further.... Ah, yes!'
I activated Heavenly Eye.
Sensory range doubled or more. Even blizzard winds couldn't block my sight.
"Wraiths! Come here!"
I commanded the wraiths I'd sensed. Regular ones obeyed without question. Dead frost giants resisted but fell under my control.
Thirty-four total. Four frost giants among them.
"Ho. Efficiency just skyrocketed."
"Kekeke. You stupid wraiths. Rip out your nails and claws and offer them to me!"
Uwoooo....
The wraiths couldn't defy. They pulled their own nails and claws, presenting them politely.
"Three hundred thirty-seven total. Frost giant ones under fifty. Yu-jin, dispose of the wraiths now."
"No. Too wasteful to discard these useful ones."
"Be honest. You're enjoying this, right?"
"That too."
Snap!
I pointed forward. The wraiths marched ahead.
"You slowpokes, move faster! You there, gap-toothed one! You're too slow. What are you doing? Wraiths, devour that gap-toothed wraith!"
"Kieee!"
"Uwoooo...."
My wraiths pounced on the indicated one. Tearing arms, neck, shoulders. Cannibalism! More cheap B-movie than scary.
'As expected. Wraiths grow stronger eating wraiths. This is fun. Kekeke.'
Reminded me of idle games. Simple but insanely addictive.
"Wraith pack wandering over there. Kill them. Bring nails to me, eat their bodies."
My controlled wraiths clashed with the stray pack. Elena and I watched from afar. The wraith battle was decently entertaining.
My side won. We had the numbers from the start.
Probably from wearing Tutankhamen's mask—a Throne watching me. Nothing else, so I ignored it. Plenty of other Thrones watching too, minus Black Pharaoh.
Elena narrowed her eyes, baffled.
"Still seems pointless no matter how I think. Focus on gathering nails...... Hm!"
Complaining mid-sentence, Elena's eyes widened.
"I get it. For handling strong frost giant wraiths. They're rare, so stronger ones will appear over time."
Wraiths grow by eating wraiths.
Not just limited to mine.
"...Yeah, exactly. Frost giant wraiths are scarce, so lots of strong ones. To counter, we need to boost our forces. Just you and me has limits."
"You had a plan. Impressive."
Elena smiled, stroking my arm proudly. She'd realized my genius. I wrapped an arm around her.
"Elena. Use your illusion for a warm carriage. Have wraiths pull it... and we'll just eat rice cakes."
"Not bad. Got it. But do you have to wear that mask? Unsettling to look at."
"Need it on to control wraiths. Take it off, and they'll try to kill us."
"No helping it, then."