Chapter 909
Chapter 909
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 909
Chapter Title: God's Atlantis
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Rooooaaar!
The Frost Giant Wraith shook the ground as it approached. There's a reason they say class is unbeatable. Ordinary wraiths turned to mush and vanished under a single stomp from a Frost Giant Wraith.
"Still, no one stands against a gang-up! Frost Giant Wraiths! You lot take the lead and swarm it all at once!"
I bellowed at the top of my lungs.
The wraiths, dominated by Tutankhamun's golden mask, moved at my command. Actually, I didn't even need to speak. They followed my mental orders as if they could read my mind. Because I controlled them.
'I'd love to dominate that new Frost Giant too... but my mana is too low.'
Even maintaining control over these wraiths drained mana continuously. I couldn't just indiscriminately add more. And the stronger the wraith, the more mana it cost.
'But forming a group of weaklings wouldn't help at all.'
I'd thought at first that anything would do, but raising wraiths required strategy and focus.
"What... are you? Why have you suddenly attacked us?"
A wandering Frost Giant Wraith we'd assaulted collapsed to the ground and asked me. Wraiths above a certain strength retained enough ego to speak like this.
"Don't bother begging for your life. If that's what you wanted, you should've knelt the moment we met."
"I have no such intent... We're already dead... We merely wander in silence."
"Just hand over your nails and vanish."
"Nails... I see... Hel's doing, is it... Heh."
The Frost Giant Wraith laughed. The sound grated on me, so I ordered my wraiths to devour it.
Elena clicked her tongue. Just two index fingernails. For something that strong, it had fewer nails than regular wraiths. Why only two index nails?
"There are signs they were deliberately pulled out. It probably kept those two as a last resort. Puzzling as it is now, why is this goddess Hel collecting wraith nails anyway?"
"For the final war, obviously."
I said gravely.
"...The final war?"
Elena's face grew serious too.
"Weaving them into a ship to sail to the surface. Load it with wraiths and... well, that's the old myth. Probably doesn't mean much in Atlantis."
The reason for collecting them? They held power. Mere nails, yet at least D-rank. This one's C-rank because it was stronger than average Frost Giant Wraiths.
"Yu-jin. This goddess Hel... doesn't she give you the creeps a bit?"
"Nah. Not really."
"Just a feeling, then."
"Yeah, just a feeling."
I said firmly. In the original story, Hel neither opposed nor favored anyone. She was completely neutral.
After recovering the Frost Giant's nail, Elena and I climbed aboard the carriage. The interior was spacious enough to pass for a noble's chamber.
The wraiths pulled the carriage across the snowfields.
"Elena. We've got nothing to do... wanna go a round?"
I sidled up to her slyly. She furrowed her brow slightly and pushed my face away with her palm.
"Don't act like such a beast. Right now... I have things to think about."
"Things to think about?"
"When we return to the Yustria Empire, I need to decide my course of action in advance."
"Can't you just do what you did before?"
"Like before? I've already made an enemy of the Yustria imperial family. Acting the same way isn't possible. They'll start seriously checking me now that I've returned from hell alive. The Angelus Legion won't stay quiet either... No matter how I look at it, the situation isn't great."
Tap, tap, tap. Elena drummed on the carriage window, lost in thought.
I knew from experience. Best not to bother her when she was like this. Interrupt her, and I'd get an earful.
Bored, I activated Heavenly Eye to scout for wandering wraiths.
???
'That wraith...!'
A wraith leaning against a massive boulder caught my eye. Tattered armor, two swords gripped in its hands. A knight, plain and simple.
Of course, an ordinary knight wraith wouldn't have drawn my attention. What did was one thing.
Female.
Shoulder and chest flesh torn away, thighs, neck, and eye sockets rotted through. But from the facial structure and body contours, I could tell she'd been a rare beauty in life.
'Not exactly my type...'
I checked my dominated wraiths. All of them were hideous.
'Efficiency-wise, Frost Giants are better... but I can't pass up something like that. Might as well raise her.'
To do so, I'd need to release one of my current ones. I culled the most useless and took in the wild female wraith.
"Keeeh... "
The newly dominated female wraith approached me.
Up close, she wasn't much. Nose smashed, mouth torn wide to expose bone. Her armor had cracks revealing rotten guts. Her long, disheveled hair was ghostly pale.
'Weak.'
The weakest among my dominated wraiths.
I glanced over.
Elena was still deep in thought.
'Perfect. Here's some food—eat those two.'
I pointed at a couple of underperforming wraiths. The female lunged at them. Instinctively swinging her rusted sword, she hacked and devoured them.
The more wraiths she ate, the stronger she grew in real time.
'The ones eaten were ones I'd leveled up a bit. One alone would strengthen her plenty, but three? She should be useful now.'
"Kia, kiii..."
The female wraith laughed in satisfaction. Strength brought a sliver of intelligence—from bug to wild beast level.
Her body regenerated somewhat too.
Her torn chest had reformed! E-cup size! The pale white skin made her crimson nipples stand out. Red tattoos marked her back and thighs. Unfamiliar ones—I had no idea what they meant.
'This won't do. Elena might say something if she sees.'
I equipped her with the silver full plate armor I'd commissioned from the Ironroot Clan long ago. I glimpsed her privates in the process, but I won't mention it. Her lower body was in worse shape than the upper.
'Pointless for me with Stormbreaker anyway.'
Its human-friendly design fit her perfectly.
With the helmet and faceguard on, she looked neither distinctly male nor female from the outside.
I gave her a sword too while at it. A bastard sword, not a longsword, but she wielded it effortlessly one-handed, her strength impressive.
Ermita's Sword was mass-produced compared to the armor, but far better than her rusted junk.
I'd found it while digging for Ermita's Sword. The female-only restriction meant I couldn't use it.
'She's undead—can she even use it?'
I tested it on her.
She could. Flight for aerial attacks was a huge boon, especially against giants.
I grinned in satisfaction.
"Do well from now on."
"Kiii..."
The female wraith replied. I couldn't understand her, but she seemed to know I was treating her well.
I felt eyes on me. The other wraiths stared enviously at the favored newbie. I raised my fist, and they looked away.
"I'll overlook it once. Don't try climbing over each other."
The briefly halted carriage resumed racing across the snow.
???
Training the wild female wraith I'd lucked into was surprisingly fun. As time passed and she devoured wraiths to grow stronger, she regained her beauty.
I invested over half my captured wraiths in her, plus their spare nails.
"Chew them thoroughly."
"Kiii..."
Crunch, crunch.
She ate well. I groped her breasts. Big, but undead-cold and firm. Still enjoyable to squeeze.
'Face regenerated too... quite the beauty.'
Sharp eyes and blank expression gave her a cold, stoic vibe.
Her regenerated body brought back the red tattoos too. Odd, but oddly alluring.
Boom. Thud.
A Frost Giant Wraith appeared. Its dumb face marked it as not particularly strong.
"Perfect timing. Let's test how strong you've gotten. Go fight."
The female wraith charged sword-first without hesitation. The giant swung a massive fist. She activated the Banshee Queen's Bracelet, soaring skyward to dodge. With budding intelligence, her moves were as fluid as a master knight's.
She hurled her sword. It embedded in the giant's head. But as a wraith, it wouldn't stop there.
Click!
Blades sprang from her gauntlets—an Ermita feature. The twin blades danced, toying with the giant.
"An exceptional knight. I wondered why you favored that wraith so much, but she has that kind of potential. Sorry, Yu-jin. I wrongly assumed you kept her out of lust for her."
Elena sidled up, arms crossed.
"H-ha. As if I'd lust after a wraith."
I broke into a cold sweat.
Elena had known she was a beauty ages ago, it seemed.
'...Mind's Eye. One of Elena's innate abilities. My Deception (SS) can't fool her—armor or no.'
I'd been the fool.
"Kyeeeeek!"
She felled the Frost Giant in five minutes. Victorious, she raised her arms atop its corpse. Red sword aura flickered on the blades. She diced it up to eat.
Then she discarded her helmet and began devouring. I ordered her to strip and wash. Undead felt no shame or cold anyway.
"...Indeed. From Skadir, then. Explains the combat prowess."
"Skadir? What's that?"
"You took her without knowing? Skadir's a mercenary clan. As renowned as they are, they're expensive and fierce. Red tattoos covering her body like that... means she was one of their top warriors. They make great warriors chiefs, so... maybe a Skadir chief from centuries ago."
I watched the female wraith wash in cold water. Her body had regenerated perfectly, lifelike. No one would guess undead at a glance. Full breasts, slim waist, thick white pubic hair. Especially those tattoos drew my eye.
"Hah. Never thought I'd see my man get aroused by an undead."
Elena saw right through me.
"N-no... It's just... unavoidable..."
"Come with me. I'll prove I'm superior to any undead."
Grabbed by the scruff by a slightly annoyed Elena, I was dragged into the carriage. Just before entering, our eyes met the female wraith's—or so it felt. Probably just my imagination.