My Catastrophic-Level Summon Devours Gates
Even without a status window, I could tell something had gone wrong.
“Ingrid.”
【Leave it to me.】
Unique Skill — Solar Eclipse
Barrier X 10
Modified — Defense
Barrier X 10
Modified — Defense
The barrier expanded like it was wrapping around the Elikro Warrior corpse.
People are creatures that learn.
Did I already forget that the armed zombie warrior nearly blew up last time?
I’m glad I had Ingrid prepare the defensive magic.
The corpse exploded a split second late.
- Barrier weakened
Barrier X 10 woven together to create a reinforced barrier
◈ Barrier reinforced with Solar Eclipse
◈ Defense activation delayed explosion
There was a sharp crack in the barrier.
“If I’d just taken the hit, it would’ve been a disaster.”
Barrier is a hemispherical defensive magic that spreads wide.
It has less defense than a shield that only blocks one direction, but overlapping it with Solar Eclipse cancels that weakness.
【I thought it was overkill, but it almost went wrong.】
【He’s a tough guy. This lady has brains.】
【Lady? No nonsense, mage!】
【Hehe. Master, give me praise.】
“Good work.”
I gave Ingrid a thumbs-up.
Isra’s strength is real.
But.
The skill’s activation range is limited to close combat.
Ingrid’s unique skill made it far more versatile.
Each has their own strengths.
【This is a bit short of Fireball’s power.】
“Damn, it’s strong.”
With power infused into the corpse, it exploded.
Bones, blood, flesh—everything was threatening.
Without Ingrid, we would’ve been wrecked.
Hmm.
There might be a way to use it after all…
【Are you all right, my lord?】
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
【It’s not about the body.】
A worry from Isra’s soul touched me.
【One defeat is called a soldier’s honor. Don’t worry too much.】
Aha.
She was comforting me?
“I still don’t understand.”
I smirked.
One defeat?
Don’t joke.
Five years of E-rank life was pure failure.
Even though it’s a growth-type skill, the grade limit stopped [Corpse Processing] and [Corpse Creation].
I researched everything to unleash the power beyond the limit.
Most of it failed.
“The good results are recent ones.”
Armed Zombie Warrior modifications weren’t reckless either.
Countless experiences became the foundation.
The ‘sense’ that came when creating undead was because five years of failure were the fertilizer others dismissed as nonsense.
【It’s fortunate. I don’t have much experience with failure.】
【I, the witch of Solar Eclipse, absorbed all knowledge.】
Whoa.
The world really is cruel.
Anyway.
“When are we getting rid of this?”
The explosion was blocked.
Still.
The fragments of the Elikro Warrior corpse turned into ketchup didn’t disappear.
When the barrier is lifted, who knows what unspeakable matter will spill out?
“Isra.”
【Tell me.】
“You’re my faithful knight who protects my command. Right?”
【As long as it doesn’t go against knightly conduct, I’ll do it with joy.】
Good.
I brought cleaning tools and handed them to Isra.
【？】
“What are you doing? Stop it.”
It would be weird if the lord in the sky cleans up.
【Y-You want me to clean?】
“It’s not like I’m ordering you to cut down a good person.”
It’s not against knightly conduct.
It’s a noble task to ease the lord’s burden.
Isra’s blue eyes trembled like cypress.
***
After cleaning the explosion site.
We started the second job.
【Please let this one succeed!】
She cleaned once and got all excited.
The surprise was that Isra’s cleaning skill was actually decent.
She said she cleaned insanely back in her youth.
【Surprisingly clean. Tough guy.】
Ingrid acknowledged Isra’s cleaning ability too.
Half of it was teasing.
【Go!】
“From now on, concentrate quietly.”
The second Elikro Warrior corpse was just as ragged.
After quickly stitching it with needles and thread.
Accelerated maturation and transplant process.
“Open your eyes.”
I used Corpse Creation for the second time.
With power infused, the Elikro Warrior corpse twitched.
Poof!
It exploded again.
- Barrier weakened
Barrier expanded just before explosion
The barrier shook dangerously.
【Hmph. Second failure too.】
【Tough guy. Master didn’t just fail.】
【It exploded, didn’t it?】
【Total failure. The explosion power is stronger.】
The crack in the reinforced barrier was bigger than the first explosion.
Just barely stopped by a hair’s width.
Yes.
As Ingrid said, the second explosion was a total failure.
As I thought.
【You deliberately induced failure?】
“Not deliberately, but the result was like that.”
I strengthened the connection between parts infused with dragon essence.
Output increased over the first attempt.
“As you see, the corpse just pops.”
【The problem is stabilizing the output.】
“Nah. It wasn’t because it was lacking.”
If the dragon essence was lacking and the corpse collapsed, with the materials I have now, I couldn’t make any new undead.
“The extracted dragon essence is sufficient.”
【Just focus on stabilizing!】
【Hmph. Right.】
Isra had nothing to say and just nodded.
For the third, I paid a lot of attention when opening the energy circuit.
Ziiing—
I didn’t open the circuit as one whole thing.
I spread it out in pieces so the power would diffuse everywhere.
The experience from modifying Isra was a huge help.
Poom!
【The explosion power weakened!】
【As expected, Master. You caught it right away.】
“No.”
It was a bit stronger than expected.
If I cut the output here, the body might not hold.
If I cut too little, it would explode.
Without hitting that sweet spot, the result would be the same.
“Let’s try.”
Failure doesn’t scare me.
I’ve done it many times already.
If one fails, do it dozens of times.
Since money is no issue, I can buy Elikro Warrior corpses from anywhere.
I just need to hunt a bit harder at the gates?
The last one was a relatively intact Elikro Warrior corpse I hunted directly from the gate.
Unlike the three I used before, it kept a decent appearance.
“Feels good.”
Fewer things to fix was the first advantage.
Because it had been aging in the death space, I could preserve the magic stone too.
Let’s start.
[Energy Circuit Opening]
[Corpse Processing]
Last chance.
I wonder when I can get more dragon essence-infused corpse parts.
Special option impossible to spot with online shopping.
I have to go in person, and I can’t visit the hunter market every day.
Be careful.
I worked one by one with full focus.
“Ingrid.”
【Preparation is complete.】
【It would be great if I didn’t need to expand the barrier.】
I agree.
Long sigh.
“Open your eyes.”
I infused power.
[Corpse Creation]
[Creating a Ghoul.]
[Recognizing special wavelengths from the target corpse.]
[New form not recorded in the system.]
[Dragon essence resonates.]
[Energy circuit stabilizes.]
After countless attempts, the stabilized power.
Thud— thudud—
The scales on the skin darkened like chasing clouds.
The entire body expanded and contracted repeatedly, changing to match the activated dragon essence.
“Hoo.”
I just watched the result.
After waiting about ten seconds.
The twitching Elikro Warrior corpse calmed down.
【There’s quite a change in appearance.】
The Elikro Warrior had a crocodile-like upright gait.
The body grew bigger and the eyes sharper.
Runes were carved all over the scales.
Small wings even appeared on the back.
[Creating Temporary Modified Ghoul.]
***
Delicate wings.
Smoke rose from around the tightly closed mouth.
Getting closer, it was warm.
If that mouth opened, it could turn the battlefield into a sauna.
【It looks like a Dragonian.】
“Dragonian?”
【It’s a dragon race.】
Now that I think about it, I heard it before.
S-rank monster.
【The appearance is like that, but the actual ability is no match for it, right?】
Probably.
[Ghoul — Modified (Temporary)]
⌎You can give the undead a name.⌋
*Species: Undead
*Classification: Ghoul
*Grade: B
Strength: 781
Agility: 526
Stamina: 749
Defense: 814
Power: 675
*Skills
―Fire Breath [B]
―Dragon Scales [B]
―Wild Boxing [C]
―Immortal Army [C]
―Weak Intelligence [D]
It fell short of B-grade.
Did I see wrong? I rubbed my eyes a few times.
It was correct.
[Created an undead beyond Corpse Creation grade.]
[All specs lowered by 60% to match user’s capability.]
60%?
Still, the total stats are close to 1500.
Normal C-rank maxed hunter’s total stats are around that.
Just looking at pure specs, even the recent Isra is higher.
Amazing, but.
[Undead not recorded in Akashic Records.]
[New undead created, penalty halved for this undead.]
“Huh.”
30% reduction?
No.
The title born from creating Armed Zombie Warrior.
[Undead Maker]
Performance increases by 20% permanently when creating undead.
Same effect for modified undead.
This achievement is additionally summed into the final stats.
With this guy, the actual stat reduction is 10%.
【With this, I think it’s fine to say no penalty?】
“Probably.”
I was stunned.
An E-rank hunter commanding B-rank undead.
Summoners, spirit mages, or tamer-class jobs don’t get this treatment.
Sometimes big guilds have hunters taming monsters beyond their capability.
Even if it’s taming, the penalty from specs drops the actual combat power by 0.5 to 1 grade.
Can I command a 2-grade lower subordinate with just a hammer penalty?
If this fact spreads in the hunter world, a truck full of people would get shocked.
【Hehe. You can’t compare a young lady’s master to commoners.】
【Exactly. I, Isra, have sworn loyalty to a master who is not ordinary at all.】
Sir.
You once said you were watching my progress and sincerely giving loyalty.
Recently you use the word ‘master’ a lot?
“Krrrlrllr.”
The Ghoul that changed with dragon essence roared lowly.
Wait.
“Don’t open your mouth.”
“Krrrlrkrk.”
Fire Breath skill.
The flickering heat at the mouth was from that skill.
Just opening the mouth a bit won’t turn the surroundings into a furnace.
Still.
It’s fine to be careful.
【Do you have a name you thought of, my lord?】
“Yeah. I need to give it a name.”
I didn’t think of anything.
I wasn’t even sure I’d succeed in creating a new undead today.
But.
Since I managed it, let’s give it a cool name.
“Let’s call it Draco.”
Name that came to mind from the shape resembling the dragon race.
I took the back part from Dragonian and changed the remaining letters a bit.
It became a decent name.
[The formal name of this undead is Draco.]
[Recorded in the Akashic Records.]