Chapter 187
Chapter 187
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 187
Chapter Title: New Holy Warrior
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Antiope had been dragged into the mass of undead, the orb, the trap—whatever you wanted to call it—and vanished from sight.
“Eup, sa, save—!”
Zuuuuk, zuuuuuk.
Every now and then, a hand would poke out from the gaps, its nails scraping at the floor.
But soon enough, other hands would grab it, pulling it back into the horde until not even the nails were visible.
Antiope had completely disappeared among the undead.
Now, not a single strand of her hair or the tip of her nail remained. All that was left was the short spear stuck viciously into the floor.
I was utterly dumbfounded by the situation. Why had the undead, who had been lined up and trembling submissively before Antiope, suddenly attacked her?
My plan had been to use the bone jar Paranoya brought out to create some goblin or whatever to deal with her.
Instead, I’d survived thanks to completely unexpected help.
Had the kindness I’d shown the undead instilled courage in them?
I racked my brain trying to think of what kindness I’d shown them. The only thing that came to mind was making them crawl between my legs.
What the hell?
Twitch. Twitch.
I narrowed my eyes at the massive rock-like mass of human forms twisted together in grotesque shapes. So what had happened to Antiope, who’d been dragged inside it?
Was she dead?
Even though she’d been hostile toward me, she was Hippolyte’s little sister. If she died like this, wouldn’t it strain my relationship with Hippolyte?
If she decided to seek revenge on me and Luna for her sister’s sake, I’d really be out of options.
As I felt a mix of relief and worry,
Paranoya, who had been clutching the bone jar and sprawled on the floor, cried out in what seemed like deep admiration.
“Th-that’s Lord Hassan’s 24th secret technique, the mighty subjugation move known as Death Jail, isn’t it! To use such a terrifying spell—truly, truly impressive…!”
Then, fearlessly, he approached the sphere of undead he’d dubbed Death Jail and patted its surface with his palm.
“This level of perfection is a first…! Serves that rotten temple knight right…! Hehe, take that…! How’s that for Lord Hassan’s power—!”
Paranoya seemed to think I’d created this round sphere, this Death Jail.
Had I really made it?
Was my necromancy skill advanced enough to command even the wandering spirits of the living realm?
Listening to Paranoya, it really seemed that way.
But damn, it was ridiculous—and a bit funny—that I was starting to buy into this delusion-filled Paranoya’s words.
To sort out the situation, I steadied my hazy consciousness and scanned the surroundings.
In any case, I’d survived, Antiope was subdued, and Luna was collapsed on the floor over there.
Swoosh.
“Paranoya, help me up.”
“I’m the best at assisting…!!”
With Paranoya’s support, I stood and slowly approached Luna, who was writhing on the ground.
“Hassan! What happened! What’s going on!”
Luna, bound and sealed by the drawn chains, was flopping around, trying to turn her face toward me.
But her body kept twisting awkwardly, as if she couldn’t see the situation.
“Luna, stay still. I’ll free you.”
They said the tattoos drawn by Antiope’s power left permanent scars once etched onto the body, impossible to erase.
But I’d once wiped away the drawings that had been on that tattoo girl’s body with my palm.
So I slowly raised my palm and stroked Luna’s belly.
“Hnngh, heehee, it tickles, tickles—!”
Swoosh, swoooosh.
As I rubbed her soft, squishy belly with my palm to undo the drawings, Luna squirmed like it was unbearably ticklish.
Snap, drop, clink—!
Finally, with the sound of the taut chains snapping, Luna couldn’t hold back her laughter and flailed her arms and legs wildly.
“Puhihi, hehe, it tickles! Tickle—! Hassan, this isn’t the time, not the time! Antiope’s after us, puhahaha—!”
Soon, clutching her belly, Luna burst into giggles.
“Oh? Wah? What? My body’s moving!”
Luna sprang up from the floor and looked down at herself in wonder.
Thanks to my palm washing away the ink, her body was now free of even the tiniest tattoo, aside from some dirt.
It was a huge relief that I’d prevented Luna from becoming a tattoo girl. And overall, that none of us had been seriously hurt.
Honestly, it wouldn’t have been strange if one of us had died in that fight.
“What about Antiope? And what’s that weird mass of undead?”
Having come to her senses, Luna dusted off the dirt on her body and finally looked around.
In her eyes, it seemed, were the undead that had scattered and fled in all directions, the ruined garden, and that bizarre Death Jail or whatever holding Antiope.
For a moment, I worried she’d caught on to my forbidden necromancy. What should I say? That I didn’t do it, Paranoya did?
As I was thinking that, Luna spoke.
“The undead helped us?”
“Uh, yeah, something like that.”
“They must’ve repaid the favor for safely sending them across the river! See, good deeds always come back around.”
From Luna’s words, it seemed she saw it not as necromancy or anything like that, but simply as the undead helping us in the fight.
Hearing her say it that way, it actually made sense.
Paranoya looked like he had something to say, fidgeting, but a poke in the side shut him up reluctantly.
“So, Antiope’s not dead, right?”
“No idea. Can’t tell what happened after she went in there.”
“Hmm—.”
After humming thoughtfully for a while, Luna removed the horned helmet from her head. Then, widening her already round eyes even further, she said,
“She’s still alive, barely!”
Come to think of it, she’d said that without the visor, she could see the undead. It looked like Luna could see Antiope trapped inside.
“Antiope’s turned completely white! It’s like all the life has been sucked out of her! If this keeps up, won’t she die?”
Luna trembled in fright. Was it because, despite the attack, she recoiled at the idea of killing someone? Just as I was touched by her kind heart,
“Killing a temple knight means huge punishment! Hurry, we have to save her!”
Turned out Luna was worrying about Antiope’s life in a purely practical, realistic sense.
Fair enough—that Antiope was one of only ten elite knights in the kingdom.
Snatching her life would turn us into irredeemable criminals, no different from heretics, just as she’d said.
But I had no idea how to deal with the undead, now fused into this solid rock. So I tapped their bodies lightly and spoke.
“All of you, stop.”
Sssslip.
Just like that, the writhing mass began to disentangle, as if it had never been moving. Ssslip, sssslip—.
Soon after, Antiope emerged from deep within.
“Hnngh, hnngh….”
She was curled up like a fetus in the womb, hugging her knees, trembling and letting out terrified whimpers.
Her mind must have taken a severe shock—her hair, which had shone like the night sky, had turned completely white.
Honestly, even I’d probably faint from fear if dragged away by ghosts. Might even have a heart attack.
“Hnngh, save me…. Sister, everyone, where are you. Don’t leave me. I’m scared….”
Seeing Antiope muttering like that, the sharp hostility from moments ago had vanished, replaced by a twinge of pity.
“Her condition…. looks pretty bad.”
I was about to extend my palm to check her pulse when,
“Hiiik, hiiiik! S-save me! Please save me…!”
She shook violently in terror and wet herself between the legs. To think she’d be that scared.
Ding-.
『Name: Antiope Grimkeeper lv. ?? ??
Status: Hydra’s Curse》 Irregular Menstruation》 Extreme Terror》』
Grabbing her wrist to check, I saw a new entry: Extreme Terror. That was probably why she was shaking like a broken person and incontinent.
“Hassan, find out anything?”
Luna peered at me and asked.
“She’s terrified pretty bad.”
Luna clicked her tongue at my brief assessment.
“She pissed off the undead. That’s why spirits and the living need to respect and coexist.”
“Luna’s absolutely right…! The Jupiter Knights see anything related to the underworld as evil, so this is what they should get…!”
Luna and Paranoya each chimed in with their thoughts. But I had no clue what to do next.
It was good that Antiope was alive, but if she opened her mouth and snitched, “That Hassan guy’s a heretic!” it’d be a huge headache.
Any good ideas?
As I pondered, my gaze fell on the drawings on Antiope’s body. Maybe that held the solution.
* * *
“Hassan, is this really okay?”
Luna eyed me anxiously. But ignoring her question, I rubbed away all the drawings on Antiope’s body with my palm.
“Haaang, aaang—!”
Squish. Squish.
“Hassan, why, why keep touching her chest! That part’s already clean!”
“No, thought a bit was left. Must’ve been my imagination. Her dark skin threw me off.”
“Liar!”
Then Luna punched me in the head.
“Gak!”
Lately, I’d noticed Luna was pretty sharp. Maybe from her higher level—her punches packed a real sting.
Also, Antiope’s chest was a tad smaller than Hippolyte’s. Even sisters differ.
Anyway, all the tattoos on Antiope’s body were gone. My hands were now covered in black ink smears.
“Th-the drawings on my body…, n-nooooo!”
Seeing her hard-earned karma or whatever from five years vanish, Antiope screamed like her mind was shattering further. She seemed on the verge of total breakdown now.
From her perspective, it must’ve been a shock big enough to make her lose her sanity.
If I accidentally wiped five years of my D-drive saves, I’d be speechless too.
Speaking of, what happened to my D-drive? Hope it’s not screwed. Damn, no idea.
Ding-.
『Name: Antiope Grimkeeper lv. ?? 27
Status: Hydra’s Curse》 Irregular Menstruation》 Extreme Terror》』
With the tattoos gone, her level had dropped to something I could handle.
But it didn’t feel enough, so I used the ink on my hand to draw a choker-like band around her neck.
“This is a shackle, Antiope. If you breathe a word of what happened here to anyone, it’ll twist your neck clean off.”
“Th-that, hnngh, hnngh….”
But Antiope didn’t seem to be coming around. The terror from being dragged by the undead must’ve been immense.
Or maybe the shock of losing all her tattoos.
I told her,
“Antiope, swear on the Styx River. Swear you won’t tell a soul about what happened with us.”
“Hnngh, n-no, I won’t beg filthy, ugly heretics for my life…! Just, just kill me! Hehe, if you kill me, my comrades will hunt you down!”
Oh.
I thought she’d totally lost it from fear, but she still had some pride left.
She didn’t seem to grasp the situation, though, so a little scare might be needed.
“This isn’t negotiation—it’s an order. Disobey, and I’ll throw you back in that Death Jail. Won’t let you out this time, so think carefully.”
“N-no, not that! Death Jail, no jail—!”
Being surrounded by undead must’ve traumatized her badly. She’d acted tough a second ago, but now she curled up trembling again.
“No jail…. Don’t wanna be a sacrifice….”
Sacrifice? Where’d that come from? Then I recalled Antiope had nearly been a human sacrifice to Pluto cultists as a child.
Had the intense experience triggered a flashback?
“If you swear on the Styx never to speak of what happened with us to anyone until you die, I won’t offer you as a sacrifice.”
“Hnngh, e-even then, I can’t kneel to heretics….”
“Hassan, no good! Just sacrifice her! We’re terrifying heretics, so if you won’t promise, we have no choice but to offer you up!”
Then Luna yelled from behind. She donned her eerie horn mask, drew her obsidian dagger, and performed a bizarre dance, waving her arms up and down.
Luna’s voodoo rituals often involved such dances, so I wasn’t fazed.
“Hiiiik!”
But Antiope freaked out like it was a real heretic human sacrifice ritual. Luna was probably playing heretic to scare her on purpose.
“I swear, I swear! I swear! Save me! Please save me…!”
It worked well—she collapsed face-down, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Save me—!”
Somehow, it made us feel like the bad guys, which was awkward.
Damn, she was the one who attacked us first, talking about jailing or killing us.
A beauty’s tears really flips guilt on its head.
“Quit crying like you did something right! Sacrifice! Stop or you’re the offering! Human sacrifice voodoo!”
But it didn’t faze Luna, being a woman herself.
Soon, Luna and Paranoya circled the curled-up Antiope, chanting noisily, “Sacrifice! Victim offering!” “We’ll sacrifice you…!”
They were probably still mad about being attacked, so they were making the most of this chance to mess with her.
“Hnngh….”
The effect was too good—Antiope fainted dead away.