Experimental Log of the Crazy Lich - Chapter 50
Chapter 50: The Marauder
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
To a Necromancer, recalling the dead souls to summon their own Skeleton Warriors was indubitably their 1st lesson. As for the 2nd lesson, naturally it was to finely control the undead beings.
If you allowed the unintelligent low-tier undead to move instinctively, the efficiency and effectiveness was unreliable. He might just trip on his right leg, fall on the ground and disassembles. For a Skeleton Soldier which only comprised of bones, there was not a single thing cute about it. Furthermore, if you were expecting it to save you and it disassembled its body while moving towards you, it would really make one want to cry.
Thus, placing one’s consciousness into one’s own undead creation, align and resonate along with it and using one’s will to direct the movement of the undead creation, this had become a necessary lesson for every Necromancers.
And I, at the very least as Lord Yongye, had been a qualified Necromancer.
When I realized that the control system that I had designed last-minute out of interest was laggy and that orders weren’t conveyed properly, going right when you pointed left, I naturally gave up on it. Instead, I had used the most basic undead control technique — Convergence of Consciousness.
“Hah, eat my Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palm! Although there aren’t any dragons.”
With a steady horse stance, Ah Dang stepped forcefully on the ground and his whole body shot out. The next moment, the claws were at Crimspur’s head. His deformed upper arms acted like the barrel of a cannon and the powerful strength of metal bursts.
“Break!”
A low howl and the Dragon Head, kacha, was reduced to just fragments which were blasted all around.
“Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww” “Impossible!!”
Crimspur’s remaining two heads exclaimed in shock. He had crossed blows with Ah Dang before and back then, he hadn’t been powerful enough to destroy his head in the first encounter.
As a talented Swordsman of the past, I had seen innumerable martial arts and the techniques hidden in secret manuals from foreign worlds were totally different from the mainstream martial arts of Eich continent. What martial arts in Eich continent aimed for was to improve oneself from within and transcend the limits of a mortal. It didn’t focus much on the little technical details. In contrast, the martial arts from foreign world aimed to dig out every inch of potential of the physical body, exchanging 1 point of strength turning it into 3 points of power. It was similar to the techniques Battle Monks used in exerting their strength, but it was much more exquisite and refined.
The only downside was that their foreign martial art lacked the reinforcement of mana and instead, required a special kind of mana to support the skill (Ki and internal energy), so it had only served as decorations for my home. However thanks to Ah Dang’s perfect physique, the lack of mana could be made up for with his strength.
Right now, Ah Dang, who was in sync with me, was using such a perfect strength exertion technique for the first time. Looking at its own tremendous might, he was also quite surprised.
But this wasn’t the time to be surprised.
“Next!”
Ah Dang placed his 4 limbs on the floor and started sprinting like an enraged ape. Every jump of his brought a great shock that the earth couldn’t bear. His entire body was like an unstoppable rolling snowball, getting faster and faster.
“Dodge!!” Crimspur could no longer underestimate my attacks. However, it was impossible for the much larger and slower Lamost to dodge my attacks.
Ah Dang’s speed burst out and when he reached the side of Lamost’s body, he suddenly stood up and, treating his whole body as a cannon tower, he rammed into him unreasonably like a raging bull.
“Metal Mountain Crush1! Although there aren’t any metal mountain!”
“Boom!”
The massive six-legged giant ant couldn’t even make a single noise as it was sent flying. His six legs danced wildly as he flew backwards, destroying everything in his path.
His trait of Gluttony had allowed Ah Dang’s physical body to evolve to the point of perfection while the martial arts of foreign worlds allowed one to maximize the potential of one’s body to the maximum. Combining the both together, the fighting prowess of Ah Dang shot up rapidly.
When the giant ape beast sets its sight on the final Undead Senator, Lich Penny immediately created a Dimensional Gate and escaped immediately without leaving behind a single word.
They were only working together because of the alignment of their interests. Furthermore, the Eternal Night Scepter wasn’t in their hands yet, so the 3 Senators didn’t have the intention to go all out from the start. When Gria appeared and expressed her intent to help our side, in consideration of their relationship1 with their colleague, they started to secretly go easy on us.
Right now, looking at the rampaging Ah Dang who couldn’t be stopped, he had obviously entered into a frenzy from fighting. If this silly fellow really were to ignore their previous ties and knocked them to death, then wouldn’t they become the laughingstock of the people, dying for nothing?
Powerful races like Undead Lords and the Dragon Tribe depends heavily on their talents. Little Red was only in the rookie stage of a Myth-rank, one tier below SemiGod, but if complemented with the talents of the Dragon Tribe as a Golden Race, even Adam might not be able to deal with her easily if they start fighting seriously.
Initially, Little Red would have been sufficient to deal with two Senators by herself (A large of portion of the Senators were only Saint-rank, but due to their race talents and their army of undead, they were able to stand on equal footing with Myths). Now that the opposing side had the support of another two Senators, furthermore their rankings were above theirs, they were obviously at the losing side.
A good man didn’t suffer the losses in front of him, for an Undead Lord to be able to survive for such a long period of time, just having strength wasn’t sufficient.
Thus, noticing the raging Ah Dang and the departure of Penny, the long-lived Crimspur decisively carried Lamost away. There were still a few days before the auction, the main show had yet to start and I still needed them to play their part. Thus, I had no intention on chasing them.
“Lo…” Gria’s expression was agitated and she tried to say something, but I stopped her with my Telepathic Voice. “We’ll talk later.”
When Ah Dang released his transformation and turned into a lively small Dwarf, I habitually took out a small manual from my back and passed it over to him.
“Lad, I see that you have a unique bone structure, you have the potential for martial arts that can only be found in one out of ten thousand people! The mission for protecting the world depends on you now! I have her a secret manual ‘Buddha’s Palm’. Seeing how we were fated to meet, I shall lower the price and sell it to you at a price of $10.1” 2
“Ka cha.” The hungry Ah Dang swallowed the manual in one mouthful, almost biting off my hand in the process. Then, he stared at me with expectant eyes, hoping that his Ah Pa would continue feeding him.
“…Eaten?… WAIT, SPIT IT OUT! I was just joking, I haven’t even made a copy yet! I also haven’t successfully learnt it yet. This toy is the real thing, even if I ca’tt practice it, I can at least treat it as a family heirloom to trick others!”
Ah Dang looked very wronged at the old thing who was digging something out from the mouth of a small Dwarf. If other people had tried to play this trick on him, he would have long swallowed them. But seeing that it was his Ah Pa, he could only allow him to act as he pleased. He stared very pitifully at his Big Sister Gria, hoping to be saved.
However, Gria, who had transformed back into a human, couldn’t care less about saving her younger brother at this moment. Her pair of beautiful eyes was locked onto her Emperor. The disguise was meaningless in front of her. Everything in her surroundings had been neglected, her eyes of passion was sufficient to burn down everything.
“Emp…Lord, long time no see.” Remembering that her Emperor was currently in disguise, seemingly trying to conceal his identity, Gria changed her words.
Like a young girl that had a crush, Gria with embarrassment blatantly on her face pulled on the sleeves of the Emperor, playing with her own fingers while tip-toeing about.
What ‘question why the Emperor abandoned everything to fake his death’, what ‘fulfilling the mission that Lionheart had entrusted her with’, it had all been thrown to one corner. Right now, the agitated cold-faced Queen couldn’t even speak properly, tinges of red actually appeared on her pale face. Her inverted black-white eyes didn’t have usual deepness and intrigue. She stared intensely on the heartless person in front of her, afraid that he would suddenly disappear.
Of course I would recognize that passionate gaze, but was am unable to reply and could only secretly cry in agony. I might be dead, but I was not a necrophile, thus I didn’t have any feelings towards a dead human, no, a dead dragon… 1
“Lord?”
Just when I was trying to squeeze out my brain juice to come up with some nonsense to say, I suddenly sensed danger and lowered my head instinctively.
At the same time, the person who was immersed in the joy of being reunited with her Emperor suddenly felt a gush of cold air from her back, jolting her awake. She spread her bone wings and flew away.
On her previous spot, there were traces of cuts from an Ice Blade.
“Elisa, you don’t have to…” My shock lingered in the air as I noticed something very wrong with Elisa.
Her eyes were bloodshot and even slightly yellow. Her pupils narrowed like a wild beast, her emotionless face that she normally portrayed had disappeared completely. Scales appeared on her face as she panted heavily while staring deeply at Gria.
Her right arm had already completely transmogrified into a Demon’s hands with reddish-orange scales. The horns behind her ear were growing thicker at a pace visible to the eyes. The tail behind her was also gradually distorting and changing shapes.
“High Demonification!! How could this be?!?!”
I immediately took out the Devil Contract and didn’t find anything wrong with it. However, without a doubt, Elisa had broken the seals of the contract and underwent High Demonification.
“AHHHHHHH, DIE! DIE!! DIE!!!”
The frenzied Elisa jumped into midair and spread open her reddish-orange wings of flesh. Then, with a bend of the wings, she actually rushed downwards to deal a deadly assault towards Gria.
To a normal person, just the wind pressure from the demonified metal fists would be sufficient to claim their life. Looking at this stranger which suddenly charged at her, Gria frowned, feeling frustrated for being disrupted during the reunion with her Emperor.
Her opponent wasn’t weak, but she was still lacking compared to her.
“Finger of Death…”
“Gray Sin! What are you doing!”
The furious howling of her Emperor made Gria, who did’t fear anything, shiver. She scattered the magic which she was casting and obediently bent down hugging her head, not even bothered by her silky silver hair getting dirty. That turtle-like defence could be said to be perfect, the wires and sharp claws couldn’t even scratch her.
“Incantation of Law: Obligatory Enforcement!” I shouted while lifting the Devil Contract up in the air. Under the help of my Soul Imprint Mark of Justice, a 7-circle spell instant-cast.
In midair, a silver gavel knocked down and two silver lights encircled me and Elisa. The scale representing fairness appeared, the contractual relationship between me and Elisa was being examined.
Following which, as Elisa had broken the contract, the scale lost its balance and a large amount of Power of Order shrouded around Elisa’s body, restricting her and started to enforce the terms of the contract to undo the Demonification.
However, the Chaos Abyss and Origin of Order were equal powers. In the end, the rampaging Power of Order couldn’t do anything and the effects of the spell scattered. It could only restrict Elisa’s movement, but the Demonified portions were like spilled water, unable to be undone.
Even when she couldn’t move, Elisa furiously stared at Gria, her beast-like eyes full of killing intent. That was a heavy grudge that made one want to grind the other party’s bone even after killing her.
“Pah.” Little Red knocked on Elisa’s head, leaving her unconscious. Then, she carefully carried her.
“Roland, it’s all my mistake. I forgot to remind you not to bring Elisa her. Back then, it was Gria who killed Lisa. Looks like when she saw the person who killed her in her previous life, the resentment in her soul was incited, allowing her to break the shackles of the contract and to lose her rationality.”
I took my maid from Little Red and shook my head, sighing.
“No, it wasn’t your fault. It’s all my fault, all my fault…”
———————————-
The deeply asleep Elisa seemed to be floating within the comfortable sea and countless powerful existences accompanied her. As long as she was willing to take it, the secrets of the Abyss, limitless power and the seat of the Demon’s nobility, it was all within her grasp.
“No!” Instinctively sensing that there were more important things to do, Elisa rejected the temptation from the Abyss.
Then, she went from one dream into another. In the dream, she was a small Thief whose goal was to become the richest person in the world. Following her Big Brother Holy Knight, Big Sister Mage and that fool Adam on an adventure, the small team of adventurers traveled across the world. Be it the Underground World, the deserts or the glacial tundra, they left their traces around the world. Gradually, these rookies started to mature, becoming the legends and inspiration for the new rookies…
Life was an adventure and adventure was living, all emotions were mixed within the journey…
There were happy things and depressing things. During the journey, her goal had unknowingly changed. Seeking treasures had somehow turned into a hobby and becoming the richest person in the world had become just a phrase that she used.
The one most important to her was the one who was always walking around with a cheerful smile and yet, his own heart was full of sorrow and pain. The one who kept giving discreetly, the silly Big Brother who protected her and her other companions…
“…Elisa, Elisa, can you hear me?”
A familiar voice rung by her ear. Elisa knew that her dream was about to come to an end. In her confusion, that hand of withered bones overlapped with the pair of big and warm hands.
“…Is it you Big Brother Rolo?” In the gap between reality and dream, Big Brother Rolo’s refined face was stunned before turning into an expression of loss of whether to cry or laugh.
This was the expression he showed whenever he cleared up the mess for her and that fool-dam1. Back then, when she hadn’t matured yet, she loved looking at the helpless and over-spilling loving look of her Big Brother Rolo. For that, she even caused trouble around, causing her Big Brother Rolo to have to drag her from house to house to apologize.
But the next moment, the illusion scattered and the warm smile of Big Brother Rolo turned into the skeleton head that made one grind their teeth. Maybe, the only thing that didn’t change was that helpless expression and the over-spilling love and happiness that came from within.
“…Oh, so it was the bastard Master.” 1
“It’s good that you’re okay, it’s good that you’re okay. You’ve been unconscious for 3 days, so it’s normal for you to feel weak. Rest some more.”
When her master left, Elisa struggled to get up. Looking around, she realized that it was her own room. On the tea table beside the bed, there was plain water and porridge prepared for patients. There were even a few plum candies.
Porridge was the only food that her Big Brother Rolo and her equally clumsy master could make. Looking at the traces of yellow within the white, it seemed that it was the best among several failures. As for the candies… 1
“Heh, how many years has it been? Bastard master, you still think that I’m that little girl, who in the midst of a fever, will drink my porridge obediently when offered candy?”
Even though she complained, but Elisa still slowly removed the wrapper and threw the candy into her mouth. She closed her eyes to savor the taste, it was still the familiar taste of her memory, sour yet sweet.
The gallery of memories was still playing within her mind. Bits and pieces of events that happened in the past flashed past the window in her mind. The happenings of her previous life and her current life all became real memories for her. The weak lady struggled by the bed side and struggled to stand up.
“What have I become, to be unable to even face the real me? No wonder Master said that I was unqualified to enter the realm of Legends. Hasn’t the goal of my life already been decided? I am not the over-rational Margaret, nor am I the weak Lisa. I am Elisa, the one and only Elisa. I won’t be like those two silly ladies, waiting until the end of time. What I want, I will take! I will take it with my own strength!”
Following Elisa’s declaration, boundless fire pillars and a sea of ice drowned the entire room. Unexpectedly, there wasn’t a hint of warmth or cold.
“Your Soul Imprint, is to chase your desires and obtain the item of your dreams.” 1
Deep within Elisa’s soul, a bleeding Dragon Head was biting another Black Beast. Both of them were frantically attacking one another to slaughter the other. At the final moment of the slaughter, it turned into an Imprint of two beasts biting at each other.
This Soul Imprint of fangs sinking into one another represented the unstoppable offense of its owner and in this instant, Elisa stepped into the realm of Legends.
“Marauder, that is your name.”
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS
StarveCleric StarveCleric
Reedited by Devils_Advocate