Gacha Addict in a Matriarchal World-Chapter 192: The 4th Floor (2)
“Tch! Useless.”
Most were 1-star, and the undead platypus with only the Soft Beak being 2-star was instantly shattered.
However, through the connected Power, I instinctively knew this wasn’t its end.
If I infused it with magic or divine power, I could repair the broken platypus.
But even then, it would only be trampled again. The 1st Floor… At best, it’s usable on the 2nd Floor.
Still, since it came from the draw, I should at least fix its broken bones. I won’t raise it again, though.
Glaring at the skeletons swarming from all directions, I used Basilieus.
The Crown of Thorns on my head. With cognition activated to the extreme, a momentary thrill surged through my senses reaching far beyond.
“Whew.”
I lightly scratched a skeleton that had approached right in front of me with a dagger.
-Tadak! Tak!
The creature hesitated, recoiling in pain at the slightest touch. Taking advantage of that moment, I grabbed a handful of seeds from the subspace pouch with my other hand and scattered them everywhere. And then…
“Grow.”
In an instant, the vines grew rapidly, entwining around the skeletons charging at me.
The ones leading the charge were buried in the vines, unable to move, while those following behind were in disarray as the ones ahead became a wall.
If there were trees around, I could control the roots to smash them… Unfortunately, there are no living trees on the 4th Floor.
So, I’m using these vines that can grow immediately, though they’re not very strong.
Of course, being they’re just vines, they can’t completely stop the skeletons, which are bona fide 4th Floor monsters.
Well, as long as they can hold them off for a moment, that’s enough.
With a smirk, I took out Holy Water from the subspace pouch borrowed from Benny and poured it generously onto the vines.
The vines absorbed the Holy Water in an instant. Manipulating it with Basilieus, I ensured it spread evenly throughout the vines.
It’s merely mid-grade and low-grade Holy Water, and I didn’t pour a large amount, so it won’t defeat the skeletons… But it should weaken them for a bit.
In fact, the movements of the skeletons that touched the vines soaked in Holy Water noticeably slowed.
“Shall we?”
I plunged the Unicorn Dagger into the struggling skeleton’s head.
The dagger easily pierced through, as if slicing a cake. Simultaneously, with a flash of light, half of the skull flew off. Naturally, the skeleton, having lost its head, crumbled helplessly.
After dealing with all the skeletons surrounding me in the same manner, I manipulated the vines again to bind the skeletons in the rear.
How many times had I repeated the process of incapacitating the skeletons and smashing their skulls?
Only when the Holy Water infused with vines was about to lose its power could I finally defeat all the surrounding skeletons.
Benny, who had come out of the Safe Zone and was idly watching, spoke toward her shadow.
“Shadow. Don’t touch the loot here. Especially, do not extract the Magic Stones. Got it?”
-Grr.
A response came from within Shadow, indicating understanding.
With a light thumbs-up, I placed the restored platypus bone set back into the subspace and then reviewed the recent battle.
“It’s a bit slow.”
“No, from what I see, it’s incredibly fast. How can someone who just reached the 4th Floor take down monsters so quickly? And it looked extremely safe, too.”
“Considering my equipment and power, it’s only natural. However, this much won’t be enough to win the bet with Ellie.”
“Hiss. That’s true.”
Benny scratched her head awkwardly. Smiling slyly at her, I continued.
“Of course, the real start is from now. There was a slight cost, but I’ve really prepared properly this time, so you can look forward to it.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, recalling the connection that felt vivid until just a moment ago.
The sensation as if a part of my soul was residing in a dead body. However, this doesn’t mean that I directly control it.
What I do is merely become the power source and issue simple action guidelines. Everything else follows the memories imprinted on the body.
Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.
No, to begin with, these are not just simple memories.
The traces of life etched in their lifetime, remnants that can infer the form of the soul.
Death merely signifies that their souls have departed, not that it signifies an end.
A thousand years have passed, and though they are taxidermied in a maze of scrambled time and space, they are still themselves.
This is merely calling upon the dead. Telling them it’s time to rise. To move for me.
The Power that I grasped after using it once. As I began to use the Call of the Dead with full force, I felt a slight burning sensation near my neck.
Perhaps it’s because it’s a Power. I could instinctively understand.
The burning sensation now etched on my neck is due to the temporary inscription of the language of the deceased.
“Jonah. Your neck now….”
Suddenly, in the middle of talking, Benny closed her eyes, surprised at the strange pattern forming on my neck, blinking in confusion.
I quietly waved my hand toward her. Initially, the Call of the Dead has the side effect of rendering speech impossible, so it’s only natural.
Sensing something unusual, Benny swallowed hard and took half a step back.
After expressing gratitude to her with a smile, I focused my mind even deeper.
I split a part of my soul to use as fuel to move the cold corpse, and simultaneously, I issue my command through this fragment as a medium.
The Call of the Dead is a power solely to aid this.
As long as my mental strength, cognitive ability, and the caliber of my soul allow, the ownerless corpse will rise again at my call and fight for me.
Ttadak. Ttadadak.
The skeletons, which had gradually crumbled with the sound of bones clashing, began to reassemble and rise again.
I intentionally asked Shadow to stop auto-farming for this purpose.
I don’t know how many will stand up, but if I can get three or four to act as a shield, I can move more boldly.
If I can land a solid hit, the unique characteristic of the Unicorn Dagger, which allows it to deliver a fatal blow, makes this directly tied to efficiency.
Tttadadak. Ttak.
“…?”
But something was strange.
The sound of bones assembling didn’t stop.
Wondering what it could be, I opened my eyes slightly, and there was the sight of all the skeletons I had just knocked down slowly getting back up.
“…???”
Oh my, what on earth is this?
I couldn’t speak, just blinking my eyes, but I was so surprised I almost forgot to breathe for a moment.
Except for feeling a bit dizzy due to the many entities connected, I was perfectly fine.
There is some mental pressure, but it’s not severe, and there’s no noticeable difference on the soul side.
It’s essentially just a cognitive issue…
I reactivated Basilieus, which I had deactivated after the battle.
Wooong.
There was a feeling of something trembling deep in my heart and a Crown of Thorns being placed on my head. At the same time, the dizziness I felt until just moments ago disappeared.
“……”
Seriously, what is this.
As a result of gauging the connection through the connected senses, no less than 34 skeletons are linked.
It’s a bit disconcerting that there’s no particular burden despite that.
Of course, I can roughly guess the reason.
The potential of the 4-star Power. This is aided by the newly drawn Beloved of the Dead, and the forcibly cultivated mental strength backed by the engraved skill.
The forced spec-up from gaining skills as a bonus, and the developed senses and cognitive abilities that grew along with the dungeon rewards.
When laid out like this, it seems plausible…but I didn’t expect it to be this much.
Both Benny and I were momentarily taken aback, looking around wildly. Before we knew it, complete skeletons filled the surroundings, their pale pink eyes flickering as they stared at me.
As if urging me to give them orders.
“Jo, Jonah? Could it be that you’re causing this? The eye color is different, and the aura feels strange… We don’t have to take them down, right?”
Benny, tilting her head and clenching and unclenching her fist with magic concentrated in her hand.
I grabbed her shoulder and shook my head.
“You can just tell me with words, why…”
I opened Benny’s palm and wrote on it with my index finger, as she looked puzzled.
-I can’t speak while maintaining this.
“Hut?! Hmmm…”
“…?”
Benny, wriggling in ticklishness instead of understanding the letters. I had no choice but to break a withering vine and write again on the dirt floor.
“Aha? So that’s why you’ve been keeping quiet?”
Nod, nod.
“Anyway, these skeletons seem to be under your control, Jonah…”
Nod, nod.
“Jonah. With this, are you really a saint?”
“…?”
“Or are you actually a crazy guy who thinks he’s a saint?”
“……”
As soon as Benny realized I couldn’t talk, she started scratching happily.
Watching her innocent demeanor, I let out a small, hollow laugh. Then I wrote on the ground again.
-Now let me show you the reason.
There is no need to tamper with purely passive Powers. Abilities like Basilieus’s accelerated growth or the health recovery buff of the Seed of the Mountain Range, for instance.
However, in the case of active Powers that require direct will to activate, it’s like adjusting the strength of a punch to hit softly or strongly.
By consuming additional divine power, I can somewhat enhance the potency.
And if the undead, containing the soul fragment of none other than the Goddess-chosen Saint Jonny Boy, is further enhanced by the divine power of the Goddess of Love…
A divine attribute undead is created.
“What? Oh, oh?! This is an undead! It’s a skeleton!”
Benny screams, as if unable to accept it. Of course, maintaining this continuously is almost the same as throwing away divine power.
Therefore, I minimized the effort to maintain it only to the extent that it had resistance to divine power.
Even with all this reduction, I feel like I can only maintain it for 30 minutes…
But that’s enough.
I sprinkled the remaining Holy Water on the skeletons’ weapons and gave the command.
-March straight to the center!
I need to make the most of the next 30 minutes.
