Chapter 36: A Mother’s Last Wish
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I had acquired one new Privilege and one new Skill. One of them was rather nice, and the latter was unexpected.
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[Spartan Army Commander (B Rank Privilege)]
Blessed by the power of the Ancient Greek God of War, you’re like a merciless, ruthless, and powerful Spartan Army Commander, ordering your troops to take over any foe and conquer your enemy’s lands mercilessly.
Increase all Tamed Monsters, Familiars, Summons, and Underlings Loyalty by +100% and all Stats by +30% while on a Battle. If you shout some Inspiring Words in the middle of a Battle, grants the {Merciless Army} Buff to All Allies, which increases Attack and Defense by +25% and Skill Damage Dealt by +20% for as long as the Battle continues.
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Just as amazing as I thought, with this, I’ve got a permanent effect and a buff I can get at any time. It doesn’t affect me sadly, but it makes all those that serve me stronger. Violet and the Undead I raise occasionally will greatly benefit from this, though it would be better if I could get myself a second Tamed Monster. Violet’s already very useful, and Sepa’s still sleeping inside her stone after the Egyptian Dungeon due to feeling exhausted after overusing her powers.
And now, the new Skill…
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[Half-Beast Demonic Transformation (B): Lv1]
[Skill EXP]: [0/1000]
Grants the ability to transform yourself into a Half-Beast. Depending on your Constellation or Demon you Incarnate, your form and abilities will vary wildly. If you don’t have any, your form might take shape depending on your current Skills, Physique, and Soul Shape.
Additionally, while transformed, it increases All Stats by +30% and Skill Damage by +50%. However, your Mana is constantly drained. Depending on the form you take, you can obtain new temporary abilities.
Level Bonus (1): While Transformed your Health Regeneration Speed Increases by +100% and you can even regenerate fatal wounds, such as internally destroyed internal organs or broken bones.
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Ah, this is pretty good, I guess. Due to not being the Incarnation of anything, I don’t know what sort of form I’ll even take. But according to the description, it depends on my current Skills, Physique, and “Soul Shape”? I do remember that the Novel had this whole “Soul Cultivation” thing in the future where Jack would begin transforming his soul into a higher-tiered one to eventually attain the power of Constellations, but that’s way too far in the future to care now.
Nonetheless, I guess it could take a shape based on my Physique, whatever that shape could even be to begin with. Well, for now, we need to keep moving. Staying in these icy, cold areas for too long is rather bad.
“We’re done here! How is Baihe handling it?” I wondered, rushing to her side and finding her awake. She was covered in the special coat my brother gave me, so she was well protected.
“She’s stable.” Said Fenrir.
“Anna… A-Are you alright?” Baihe wondered.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It was a bit scary, but we somehow handled things well enough.” I sighed in relief. “More importantly, Fenrir, can you bring us to where the rest of the people are? We need to get them out of here ASAP.”
“Out of here? You know of another way than by defeating the Boss or something?” He wondered.
“Yeah, don’t you know about the Escape Stones? If you use one inside a Dungeon, you can create a Portal and easily let someone out.” I said. “We’ll just use that.”
“But aren’t those super expensive?! I do remember Jack having one, but he never uses it…” Sighed Fenrir.
"Yeah, they cost a few millions of dollars, but I’ve already purchased one beforehand, just in case.” I sighed, quickly showing it to Fenrir. “This is our ticket out of here- Or well, the ticket of the people. Because Dungeon Breaks make Dungeons unstable. Once someone enters the Dungeon, they can appear anywhere randomly. Because of that, even if someone came to rescue these people from outside, they wouldn’t easily know where to go next.”
“Right…” Said Fenrir. “Kid, you know your stuff.”
“Of course I do. Now let’s go!” I said, riding the fluffy black wolf while Violet turned into his small form and sat over my head.
“WOOF!”
However, while all the other Undead had disappeared, there was someone who was still sticking around with us. It was the Giant Glacial Wolf I had slain at the beginning of the dungeon, and it was also the one I raised into a temporary B-Rank Undead.
“Oh! Are you still with us? I thought you would be gone by now…”
Usually, Souls decide when they want to leave the Necromancer. Once they do me a favor, they just disappear and leave. However, this wolf seemed to have taken a liking to me, or perhaps it had one last desire it wanted me to help him or her out with.
“WOOF! Awwoo…” The wolf suddenly lowered his head.
“What’s wrong?” I wondered. “Wait…”
[The Soul of the Dead seems to have a strong, unfulfilled desire and asks for your help to accomplish it.]
[A Brand New {Quest} has been generated: [Rescue the Giant Glacial Wolf’s Mother Pup]
[Description]: [The first Giant Glacial Wolf you defeated wasn’t merely a stray; it was a mother looking for food to feed her child. Now that you’ve taken her down to defend your life and that of Dan Baihe, she requests that you at least save her pup and raise him like your own child. For the safety and health of her child, it is the only thing she asks you for.]
[Condition]: [Find the Giant Glacial Wolf Mother’s Pup and Rescue Him.]
[Rewards]: [Glacial Themed Equipment Piece Treasure Chest (C Rank)] x3, [Giant Glacial Wolf Mother’s Soul Orb (B Rank)] x1]
[Failure]: [Your Affinity with All Beast-type Monsters will drop.]
“A quest? I see… So you want me to find your pup? Geez, this is not going to be easy…” I sighed.
“WOOF!” However, she began waging her tail, pointing to the west.
“Wait, you can smell where he is?” I wondered.
“WOOF! WOOF!” She was quite happy. I’m pretty sure wolves can’t bark though, maybe as an Undead she was trying to imitate dogs to sound more friendly to me?
“Sigh… F-Fine! Alright! Let’s do this quickly, though! Fenrir, change of plans. Give a turn to the west; we need to save her pup!” I said.
“EH?! A wolf monster pup?!” He asked in shock.
“Come on, you’re a wolf too! Don’t you feel sorry?” I asked him.
“I couldn’t give a shit about her pup—ouch! Hey!”
However, the wolf's mother began biting his nose.
“Just move!” I said.
I noticed Dan Baihe was surprised by my sudden change of plans. However, she smiled lightly.
“I once had a little puppy." She sighed. “But I was unable to raise him in our small apartment, and my stepfather threw him away… I remember searching for him all over the streets until I found him dead in the streets. He was unable to survive the cold night…”
“Awww, come on! Don’t you feel moved after hearing that?!” I asked Fenrir.
Baihe and I joined together and supplicated the grumpy dog to help out.
“F-Fine! Fuck it! Let’s hurry, though! Hey, show us where it is!”
“WOOF!”
Like that, we quickly began searching for the mother’s pup. Thankfully, it seemed to not be so far from where the people were, so it wasn’t a complete detour.
I’ll find that puppy, save him, and... feel less guilty.
And of course, get myself a new tamed monster and some rewards while I am at it.
[The Cosmic Throne {Divine Judge of Flames} says that help is coming.]
Huh?
.
.
.
“Leo, are you sure it was in that restaurant?!”
“Yes, lady Henrietta! I’ll get to your apartment ASAP! Please wait a few minutes."
“No need; I’ll go flying there! Get there quickly!”
“Wait, what? Flying?!”
Henrietta Claus stood on top of her department’s terrace, her magic aura unleashing as a pair of angelic wings emerged from her back, flapping rapidly.
Her eyes began glowing brightly. After hearing that Jack and Anna were once again trapped inside a Dungeon, she was unable to sit still and wait for them to get out.
At her side, two other members of her guild happened to be visiting her house for a meeting, a highly armored man wearing a sword and a young blonde boy holding a shiny golden spear.
“{Seraphin Wings}!”
FLASH!
All three of them grew magic wings through her own magic as they flew into the skies and rushed into the Dungeon that happened in the city’s “Flea Market” streets.
“We need to hurry; my Constellation just told me that Demonic Cultists entered the Dungeon and have been hunting the people inside; we cannot allow these monsters to do more indiscriminate killing!” Henrietta roared.
In just a few seconds, they arrived at the scene of the catastrophe, finding a large, red-colored Gate and several people surrounding it. Most Hunters didn’t dare enter it and just guarded its surroundings instead.
“Ah, it’s her!”
“Henrietta Claus?!”
“She brought two other members of the Golden Shield guild!”
“Henrietta Claus, please answer a few questions for the Daily News!”
“Henrietta Claus! Is it true you have a relationship with the A-Rank Hunter Jack?!”
“Please tell us if you have any news about your investigation regarding the Demonic Human Cults!”
“Not now, everyone.” Henrietta Claus said. “Please, evacuate! Normal civilians cannot stay in these areas! We’ll be back once everything is over. Stay safe! Let’s go!”
Henrietta and her two other companions jumped into the Gate without saying another word, immediately landing in the snow-covered landscape.
“We’re here, Lady Henrietta.” The heavily armored warrior said, looking around. “It sure is cold in here!”
“Big sis are you sure about this?! Why are you going to such lengths to help out that idiot and his stupid sister?” Sighed the blonde, holding a spear.
“J-Jack is not an idiot, Kevin! And Anna is a lovely girl too!” Henrietta said angrily. “Now let’s concentrate and- Ungh?!”
RUMBLE!
However, before the three could walk any further, a gigantic, demonic presence stopped them. It wasn’t even near them, but far away, yet it unleashed such a strong Aura it made them utterly shocked, especially because Holy Light wielders were very sensitive to Demonic Energy.
“That’s not a normal Demonic Human…” The heavily armored knight said.
“T-That’s… no way, is that a Demonic Incarnation?!” Asked Henrietta’s cocky little brother.
“Could it be? This presence… Leviathan’s Incarnation is here! But… why?!” Henrietta only felt more worried. “No matter! We need to hurry before those people are caught in his claws!”
Meanwhile, at the other side of the dungeon, sitting over a pile of hundreds of high-ranking monster corpses, a muscular and bearded man with only a single blue eye looked into the distance, a smile emerging on his lips as he drank the blood straight out of the neck of a beheaded person.
"Heh, it looks like we’ve got some nice snacks coming our way... Good, I was getting bored of waiting for Ricky to finish off his prey." He said. He licked his lips as he crushed the head he was holding into pieces with his bare hands.
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