Saint Maria and the Swamp Monster -6-
-Kuuuung!! The massive lake split in two like the miracle of Moses, its bottom exposed under overwhelming force.
"Kieeeek!!"
The disaster beast Elkuero, lurking in the depths, suffered damage as part of its body exploded. Unlike that nameless Four Heavenly King who was a mage type with weak physical durability, this beast boasted exceptional bodily resilience. Above all—
-Kriduk kriduk!!
'Regeneration?'
New flesh rapidly sprouted from the ragged edges of its burst body, swiftly replacing the lost mass. And at a pretty impressive speed, too. If left alone, it would undoubtedly recover to its original state in no time.
"Well, if it ended that pathetically from the get-go, where's the fun in that?"
It had the title of disaster beast, after all. In my previous life, I was called a disaster on the battlefield myself, so as a fellow bearer of the moniker, it'd be way too lame if it croaked from a single hand chop.
-Shuuuk!!
With that thought, I leaped down to the cracked lake bed where Elkuero was still writhing.
-Chulbuk chulbuk. The squishy bottom, made of peat unique to ancient wetlands, dirtied my shoes.
"Kiiiiieeee!!"
The moment I landed on the lake bed, it sensed me. Elkuero, having partially regenerated, let out a terrified screech—far from its previous majestic, savage roar.
-Dlulululu. Its insect-like elongated eyes all fixed on me at once, trembling in evident horror. The unmistakable terror of facing a vastly superior being gleamed in them.
And then, "Kieee!!"
-Kururung!!
The massive body lurched into motion, desperate to flee from me.
-Kuuuung!!
-Shwaaaa!!
Elkuero headed toward the lake waters rushing in like a tidal wave to refill the split gap as the shockwave subsided. It was trying to escape back to its advantageous aquatic domain.
"Where's the rush?"
-Wuuung!!
-Hwaruruk!!
Remote Vision
My magic eye activated alongside the Remote Vision spell. Flames ignited across the entire forward area, fueled by my will and an immense surge of mana. The eye began its function.
-Hwaruruk!!!
-Kwaaaaang!!!
Like black paint smeared over the canvas of the world, inextinguishable black flames—hot enough to vaporize steel in seconds—engulfed the incoming tsunami of lake water through the rift.
-Chiiik!!
-Kuwaaaang!!!
-Chiiik!!
The liquid flash-boiled into gas, generating massive hot steam. The sudden pressure spike triggered a steam explosion.
-Kwaaaang!!
"Kieeeek!!"
The blast hurled Elkuero—who was trying to dive back into the water—and scorched its body.
"Now that's refreshing."
-Hwaruruk!!
The black flames didn't just hold the rift; they evaporated the entire lake with ferocious momentum. In moments, a vast plain devoid of water formed around me, as if a hole had punched through the lake itself.
"Kieee..."
-Kriduk!!
Despite the steam explosion's blow, Elkuero groaned and began regenerating again. Pretty damn useful regeneration. But it was time to wrap this up.
"Phantom Heart Sword."
-Wuuung!!
Phantom Heart Sword
A sword that shouldn't exist in reality materialized from my mind into my hand. Killing a regenerator like this was simple; plenty of ways. Overwhelm its regen with sheer firepower, use Regeneration Suppression magic to block it, or...
'Regeneration doesn't mean instant-death resistance.'
And the heart sword born from my imagery of death carried the power to instantly slay the living.
Phantom Heart Sword - Black Death Slash
-Seogeok!!
"!!!!!!"
I swung through empty air, carving a black, pale sword trail into Elkuero's body.
-Seogeok!!
-Pasuk!!
In an instant, its colossal body cleaved in two along the mark. From the severed sections, it blackened like the bubonic plague and began rotting away.
-Kuuuuwung!!
The bisected remains crashed onto the now-dry lake bed, indistinguishable from ordinary land. For a so-called disaster beast, it was a pitiful end.
-Ding ding. The level-up chime rang out simultaneously. But something more important came first; I'd deal with that later.
-Kriduk. And just like that, Elkuero's massive corpse got sucked into my Corpse Repository and vanished in a flash.
"Sealed disaster beast and the saint who sealed it." A perfect combo. This Elkuero was locked in as material for my next Living Death servant.
-Piiit!!
With the fight wrapped up, I cast Blink—a short-range teleport spell—to escape the lake bed.
The moment I emerged—
-Hwaruruk… The black flames blocking the lake water finally extinguished.
-Kururung!!
-Shuuuung!!
The halted waters surged back like a tsunami, instantly filling the void. But even filled, the lake wasn't the same. Its level was less than half of before.
And proving where all that water went—
-Fududududu!!
The evaporated moisture gathered into thunderclouds, unleashing a downpour from the sky.
To dodge the rain, I headed for the half-collapsed Luminus temple.
-Au!!
-Uue!!
-Hua~
-Dau!!
-Nyanyong~
At the same time, my Living Death servants reported their victories through our mental link. A total victory with zero casualties.
"Good work, everyone. I'm off to make a new comrade, so handle cleanup with the standby crew."
Cleanup meant collecting undead materials and other usable corpses scattered around. My servants promptly signaled their compliance.
By the time I finished chatting with them—
-Chulbuk chulbuk. I reached the prayer room in the temple where I'd been before entering the lake bed.
The room was half-destroyed like the rest, but sufficient shelter from the rain. Plus, the temple's collapse had vaporized the gathered holy power, and my lingering death aura had corrupted the place—making it even better for me now.
"Come forth."
-Seureuk.
I casually tidied up with magic, then pulled Saint Maria's remains from the floor.
She wore the black veil and form-fitting nun's habit typical of what one imagines for a sister. No sex appeal whatsoever.
But "Hoo..."
Even that full-coverage outfit couldn't hide her beauty entirely. Soft pink hair like cherry blossoms, sharp features—befitting a saint, she had a compassionate, gentle impression that radiated benevolence. And above all, those overwhelming breasts that strained even the thick habit drew the eye.
'Biggest tits among my Living Death servants. Second only to Friss among all my undead.'
Truly, breasts massive enough to prove her faith in life—a holy pouch of faith.
'Friss was a Luminus nun too, right? Do Luminus nuns all have huge racks?'
They sure did. In this world, priests were determined by the goddess's job system, so maybe there really was some correlation.
'Whatever. Good is good.'
With that, I extended my hand toward the saint's corpse.
I invoked Living Death and Masterpiece Undead.
The resulting undead would be the pinnacle of faith-based undead, prophet to all undead: Necro Messiah.
Simultaneously, Elkuero's corpse from the repository served as reinforcement material via Corpse Sculpting, fixing its grotesque form to the saint's original appearance.
Unlike other undead, for faith-types, I set the object of worship to myself. Thus, the new servant could wield degraded versions of my powers.
"Hey."
And finally, "Get horny."
The being called Saint Maria Raphael possessed devout faith in the goddess, boundless compassion for all, and selfless devotion to justice—a picture-perfect saint straight out of a fairy tale.
Aside from time spent praying, sleeping, and eating, she dedicated herself to healing the masses with her miracles. In her era, the Loropa region was free of the sick and afflicted—a testament to her efforts.
But even her noble, sacred deeds met their end.
A powerful magical beast, created and used in the ancient gods' war—or War in Heaven—had broken its seal, unleashing disaster upon the world.
The compassionate, noble Maria couldn't stand by as it ravaged people. The goddess commanded its subjugation, and after days of battle with heavy sacrifices from high paladins and priests, they sealed it away.
And she, squeezing out her last strength, annihilated her own soul to make her body the seal's cornerstone.
Unlike other corpses for Living Death, Maria's held nothing. No soul remnants, death throes, or lingering thoughts to shape the new personality. Her soul had cleanly departed; she harbored no regrets or attachments to leave any. And any that existed would've been purified by holy power from the divine realm via the goddess.
The holy power was gone, but truly, nothing remained in her remains. A blank white canvas.
-Kkururuk..
And onto that canvas, something was painted.
Priests in this world fundamentally channeled divine power to perform miracles. Devoid of goddess connection or holy power, she absorbed the new god Seokgil's might like a sponge.
Simultaneously, her empty dead mindscape filled with something new.
If made without extras, the standard Necro Messiah personality would color the void: Despite the messiah name, not humanity's savior but prophet for the cursed dead—especially Seokgil's undead. Boundless compassion and devotion toward them; belief that life is suffering and undeath via Seokgil is true salvation. An utterly twisted, abnormal faith. Blind fanaticism, worship, and obedience to her god.
In short: fanaticism.
The warped creed eroded the empty mind. All that remained was infinite, abnormal love, awe, and faith for her creator god.
The white canvas turned pitch black in an instant.
And what awoke was—
"Ahh... Ahhh... My... Lord..."
A monster forged in the name of fanaticism.
"Hauuu~"
"Perfect."
———
Saint
Nobility Compassion
Necro Messiah (Death Prophet)
Vulgarity Horny
And the chart I made once? Whatever.