<Chapter 46. Deathâs Companion â 5 [End of Volume 11]>
[This is⊠a contract. Contract mana?]
[Exactly. Itâs the most peaceful of the darkness elementâs powers.]
[These memories⊠Kuheuk!]
What Lee Shin Woo had done was simple. He had increased the darkness between himself and Seira, and had used the most fundamental feature of the darkness element, the âcontractâ.
They would be connected together, so in a lot of ways, it was a really convenient ability to use. But there was a condition automatically added to a contract: that one cannot lie during the contract process.
And he used that fact to quickly and concisely relay some truthful information to her regarding himself. Telling her who he was, why he looked like this, what he had been doing thus far, as well as what he wanted to do from now on.
And what she wanted to do.
[How did you� Why⊠Ah!]
[Thereâs no point in giving you the long story. You donât have that kind of time anyway. You know that Iâm not lying to you. Since a contract is sacred.]
Lee Shin Woo was capable of violating the contract through his Dark Shadow and Wild Card skills, but it was unnecessary to tell her that. In any case, what he was relaying to her were⊠only truthful memories of his past.
[Keuk. How did this happenâŠ!?]
[You can do stuff like this when you reach peak mastery of an element. You pretty much understand now, right?]
[I canât believe it! But still⊠Why would God!?]
[Want me to ask your older sister? Moreover, I already told you why she did it. Everyone else did fail, and Iâm close to clearing the mission. No⊠you said it yourself. That youâll leave everything to me. So donât go dying and leaving everything to me. It pisses me off.]
[Keut!]
Lee Shin Woo could feel her anguish quite clearly. If she were still alive, then she wouldâve gone completely nuts after hearing his story. Since she couldnât restrain her deep-seated hatred of the undead.
But she was dying right now; her life as a human being was already over, and she was progressively turning into an undead. Thatâs why she could assess the situation âcalmlyâ. And she realized that everything Lee Shin Woo had been saying was true.
âŠNo, she had actually realized before then.
[Perhaps⊠I had my suspicions. That you might be the Heaven Defying General himself⊠If that were true, then it would explain all of my questions and all of your secrets. But I thought it was impossible. Since there was no way I would confuse a human with an undead! Since there was no way that you, who personified a hero who only showed up in stories⊠could be an undead!]
[My acting was great, right? If I was honest and told my seniors that I was an undead, then theyâd either try to kill me or attack me, so I couldnât tell them the truth.]
[Ah, I trusted you⊠I thought a human that could completely purify the Empire had finally appeared.]
Her voice sounded lost, as if she were wandering through fog. He heard her bewilderment, and happily thought that he was indeed not normal.
However, he couldnât help being happy! It was so sweet; watching a woman whoâd held on with only her belief as that belief shattered in front of her!
[I am planning on killing them all. And it doesnât really matter whether someoneâs dead or alive.]
[How can you say that so nonchalantly? How⊠How are you unaffected by the undead curse?]
[Godâs the one who made me like this. âŠIsnât it because I have Darkness Resistance? The reason your older brotherâs relatively sane is because of the light element. On the contrary, itâs more unbelievable that you were able to wield the light element with such ease. âŠThough Iâve pretty much figured out why.]
Lee Shin Woo wasnât the only one who revealed things about himself. Seira also had to reveal her past or whatever her feelings were.
[Donât snoop around someoneâs thoughts as you please.]
[I just shared some basic information for the contract.]
[Easy for you to say! To think that you were this kind of person!]
[Iâm not a human, Iâm a skeleton.]
[Kuuuuuu! I hate you!]
She was deeply affected by the curse not only because of how long sheâd been down here, but also because she somewhat knew why the Underground Empire had turned out like this.
The Emperor and Seagald, as well as the countless citizens of the Underground Empire⊠It was because of their greed and their obsession that lead the Empire to ruin. She had hated them from the very beginning. Thus, her hatred towards the undead was greater than anyoneâs, so much so that it devolved into madness.
[But now you know. That there was an undead that stood against them from the very beginning. And that you can also become like that too.]
[I canât believe it. I canât believe itâŠ!]
[Stop throwing a tantrum. If this goes on any further, then I wonât be able to do anything for you anymore. Youâll become a part of Anti-Skull. Considering the Annihilation Flameâs effects on you and the curse, youâll become one of the top members of Anti-Skull⊠Thereâs a high chance that youâll become unconditionally loyal to General Seagald.]
Their discussion of whether she wanted to form a contract with him and become an undead, or become a part of Anti-Skull and follow Seagald, was perhaps quite laughable.
But at the very least, she shared a common goal with him, and he didnât really care what happened to her after that mutual goal was achieved.
Whereas, Lee Shin Woo didnât know what Seagaldâs goal was. He had no idea whether Seagaldâs goals differed or aligned with the Emperorâs. But he did know that Anti-Skull was filled with psychos. He thought talking to her would be a pain while she was still alive, so heâd also thought about killing her, turning her into an undead, and then talking to her!
âI shouldâve just killed her and taken her bones.â
âŠIt might not be so different. Lee Shin Woo did his best to ensure that these thoughts remained hidden from Seira. He didnât know if she knew what he was thinking, but she was still struggling to make her choice.
[So kill me before I become like thatâŠ!]
[You donât want revenge? You hated the undead so much. I can give you another chance, but youâre just going to run away?]
[But Iâll have to become an undead!]
Lee Shin Woo had been really curious about something and decided to ask. Perhaps it was more of a question to himself, who could define himself however he wished.
[If you yourself donât believe anything has changed about you, then whatâs the difference whether youâre an undead or not? Are you taking some sort of regular qualifying examination or something? If not, then is it because the undead canât kill other undead? Or is it because undead canât fight for humanity?]
[I⊠IâŠ!]
[Youâre just bias towards the undead. You donât understand even after looking at me? No, you just donât want to accept it, right? Thatâs what you call being stubborn.]
[KeukâŠ!]
He wished sheâd just agree already. Just undergoing the contract process allowed him to see about half her thoughts. Lee Shin Woo was getting frustrated and asked curtly.
[Do you want to live?]
[âŠI do! I do, butâŠ!]
[Then thereâs your answer. Contract established.]
He didnât have any more time to waste with her. He still had some precious comrades of his to save. Lee Shin Woo firmly declared.
[Then live. Think about the rest later.]
[Hey, wait. No, this⊠Geuk. Guaaaaaaaah!]
Thus far, she had only experienced superficial pain. Because her own mana had been resisting the ambient mana, she hadnât turned into an undead.
But once he finished speaking, the undead curse, the light, Annihilation Flame, and his mana equally covered her, initiating the change.
Death had given her a kiss and passed by. And the next stage had come right after.
[Youâre just going to change a little bit.]
[Guaaaaaaaah!]
Seira screamed however, at the changes her body and soul were undergoing. The white light and the jet-black darkness entwined together and began to change her body and soul.
[Giiiiiiiik!]
[Oh, sheâs changing quite a bit.]
Lee Shin Woo just watched vacantly as she let out her horrific screams, and enjoyed the fact that the mana explosion was more intense than heâd expected.
âAh, maybe itâs more intense because she could originally use light?â
The undead opposed light. Thus, Seagald Von Retadane, who possessed the light element, could act in opposition to his instincts as an undead⊠But at the same time, the process of becoming an undead mustâve been quite difficult for him.
So, Lee Shin Woo was relieved that he was supervising her undead transformation himself. He was an undead and the possessor of both the light and darkness elements, so he knew how to handle them so that they wouldnât oppose each other. He controlled the flow of mana that was changing her calmly and meticulously.
[AaahâŠ!]
[Calmly follow me. Calmly.]
[UghâŠ]
It was a mysterious experience. It felt like he was creating Seiraâs new body. And âin order to liveâ, Seira followed his instructions and moved her mana accordingly. Her human body, which had endured over several years, broke apart naturally and her mana began to construct a new body for her.
It was more powerful than her old one and ironically, possessed more life force and magic than before. Like when Jin had reached level 8, Lee Shin Woo used all of his innate abilities to create the body Seira wanted.
ââŠGood. Itâs going well. She really is beautiful.â
Fortunately, her starting point was really good, so he was able to create a new body for her without her physical appearance/features changing much. Her accumulated karma, her inventory, and her Perium mustâve had an effect on her.
[Aaaaaaaaaaah!]
The equipment sheâd been wearing broke apart. In exchange, her naked body was covered by a deep gray dress. It was far greater than any equipment sheâd worn in the past!
Lee Shin Woo felt it was actually something you would wear at a funeral, but it was indeed quite beautiful.
âAlright. Weâre all done.â
âAh. AhâŠ?â
Could he call her an undead right now⊠It was hard to answer. In terms of her dying and coming back, she was indeed an undead, but he couldnât really say what the difference between her past body and her current body was.
Her light element had remained unchanged, and was actually more powerful than before. In the process of destroying the Annihilation Flameâs mana, a part of that mana was analyzed and imbued to her. Lee Shin Woo was the same.
Whatâs worse, he had used his darkness after Seagaldâs attempt at converting her. Because Lee Shin Woo had gone after Seagaldâs clumsy attempt, Seira had become even more powerful than expected. Or, at least in terms of pure power.
[The Lv8 Undead Banshee Princess Seira has been born and has entered a subordinate contract with you.]
[You have analyzed another fusion element of light and fire. The High Rank Light element has become Lv6 and Magic has increased by 20. The High Rank Fire element has become Lv7 and Magic has increased by 20. The Beginner Shining Flame element has become Lv6 and Magic has increased by 20.]
[You have acquired a similarly leveled powerful subordinate. The High Rank Command skill has become Lv9 and all stats have increased by 5.]
After everything was over and Lee Shin Woo had checked his messages, he took a look at Seira and smiled bitterly. A banshee, huh. That was trulyâŠ
âA Banshee⊠It really does fit you.â
âAaaaaah! Aaaaaah!â
Seira had finally become a new entity, but it seemed as though she couldnât accept reality, as she continued screaming. As she cried, her eyes and her hair had, at some point, burned and turned into a dark gray, like used-up charcoal.
âI guess this is where you cry for a while. I understand. But youâll get in my way, so letâs talk later.â
âI donât understandâŠ! I donât understand anything. Why! You!â
âYeah, yeah. Youâre going through puberty. I understand.â
Lee Shin Woo thought of her as a young girl going through puberty! He waved his hand and the Heaven Doorâs Key activated and sucked her in. Where did she go? That was something only Lee Shin Woo and Seira knew.
âAlright. Now that the urgent stuff has been taken care ofâŠâ
âShin Woo!â
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âYouâre mine, level 8 Banshee!â he said, as if he were a Pokemon trainer, and then turned around. He saw Jin coming towards him. Fortunately, she was safe, but it seemed like she wouldnât be if things went on for just a little while longer.
âCome over here. At this rate, weâll all die!â
ââŠA-Alright. I got it. Sorry about that.â
âJust hurry up!â
Lee Shin Woo was, of course, not given any time to rest. He got atop Jinâs back to fight against Seagald.