Chapter 911: “Netherknight.”
Elaine didn’t even hesitate for a fraction of a second to answer the question of whom she cared about more, but she clamped her hand over her mouth midway, eyes widening.
There was a part of her that could see the logic in Berlal’s words and even agree with them, but if she admitted that aloud, how would all her protests about turning Knight into a sacrificial lamb appear in his eyes?
Just as she fell silent, Knight opened his mouth, forcing his damaged vocal cords to function.
[E..lai..ne...]
"!"
Elaine snapped her gaze toward him when she heard her name, and he shook his head slightly, conveying his intent through the connection they shared.
Understanding that he was telling her not to argue, she wanted to refute him, but she couldn’t find the words.
As a result, she could only bite her lip and lower her gaze.
Seeing this, Berlal spoke. "It seems a decision has been made."
As those words left her mouth, she snapped her fingers, and the ambient energy of the Law of Death bent to her will.
The dark energy mixed with cosmic energy and poured into Knight’s body, transforming the 6-foot-tall undead devil dragon into a superior creature of undeath.
His broken armour was completely restored, repaired from the soles of his boots up to the crown of his helmet. Its obsidian-black colour matched Elaine’s hair, and from the visor, two white inferno sights were visible, the same shade as the white lines that traced along the edges of the armour plates.
The armour had been adjusted to accommodate his wings, which had changed as well. They kept the same shape as before, but were now entirely black and faintly translucent.
His sword flew out from within the administrative building where it had been kept, streaking straight toward his hand while transforming in mid-flight.
The longsword’s black blade now carried a white line running along its centre and edges, with crisscrossing white bands wrapped around its hilt.
Elaine clutched her chest lightly as she felt a massive portion of her energy drained from her body, to the point that she felt light-headed and almost fell.
Berlal had already expected this, so she stopped the girl from collapsing and then reinforced the link between the two, making sure to edit Knight’s existence and add the ’Sacrificial Lamb’ ability.
"I suppose this is the most that can be done considering the level of the vessel," she said, raising her hand and hijacking the Valmone Universe’s System to generate a custom description of Knight’s skills.
|Netherknight Skills:
Loyalty– Temporarily boosts the user’s stats by an amount proportional to the loyalty of their heart toward their current master.
Sword Mastery– Enhances proficiency with swords, improving attack potency and efficiency.
Danger Detection– Warns the user of incoming danger via a bell or alarm inside their head; provides directional cues indicating the source of the threat.
Mind’s Eye– When activated, it enhances situational awareness and reflexes.
Armoured Skin– Greatly boosts the toughness of the user’s skin.
Fortitude– Increases the user’s maximum Vitality.
Herculean Strength– Increases the user’s Strength stat.
Iron Wall– Increases the user’s Durability stat.
The Devil’s Sword— Infuses the weapon with infernal magic, increasing its attack power and leaving behind lingering energy that corrodes targets after the strike.
Sacrificial Lamb— Perishes in place of its master, taking their death upon themselves. Current ’Master’: Elaine.|
"Netherknight? Not a bad name. Some of his original skills have also been lost or replaced, but I suppose that was inevitable."
Lowering her gaze to the dizzy Elaine leaning on her, Berlal extracted a copy of her status from the system.
|Name- Elaine
Race- Ancient-Breed godslayer
Gender- Female
Age- 17
Level- 850
Existence Level- Sovereign (Intermediate)
Titles- Death’s ’Chosen’, Loved by Mana, Loved by Death, Master of Requiem [...]
Class- Necroshader
Health– X2+
Energy– X2+
Strength– X2
Agility– X2
Durability– X2
Intelligence– X2
Condition– Energy Deficient.
Magic Tiers– Death Tier 5, Darkness Tier 4, Life Tier 4, Wind Tier 2.
Skills– Life and Death Manipulation, Energy Construct Creation, Energy Blast, Polearm Mastery (E), Weapon Summoning & Control, Attribute Infusion, Death’s Touch, Vital Enhancement, Life Ripple, Death Ripple, Necrotic Blast, Memento Mortis.
Unique Skills– Mortal Coil, Reaper’s Embrace, Netherknight Summon, ■■■■■■■. |
There were a few additions from her new title, but Berlal focused on her skills.
’Weapon Control’ had become ’Weapon Summoning & Control’, and Berlal attributed it to the existence of the scythe on the floor not too far from them.
As for Memento Mortis...
|Memento Mortis (Soul Echo)- The lingering impressions of a soul left behind on a body allow her to perceive the last moments and experiences of the deceased.|
"Oh? What a useful ability," Berlal muttered.
Elaine had experienced Knight’s last 24 hours in a flash, and the reason was this ability, which she’d awakened because of the circumstances and her desires at the time.
’She’s gained two new ’Unique Skills’, but something’s still being hidden?’
Berlal briefly considered forcibly removing the concealment, but quickly decided against it, knowing the damage it would cause to Elaine’s soul core.
She chose instead to focus on those present, refining the Skill Descriptions to eliminate all neutral phrases and unnecessary elements.
|Reaper’s Embrace:
Elaine can absorb the souls of targets she personally kills, using their energy to fuel Death Attribute attacks, heal herself, or store for later use.
*Soul Storage & Management: Absorbed souls reside in a subspace—Soul Reservoir—within her heart. Stored souls can be consumed to replenish Death Energy, heal wounds, or negate incoming damage proportional to the consumed souls’ energy.
The potency of absorbed souls’ energy scales with the target’s life force at death.
*Corpse Manipulation: Elaine can raise corpses she has slain as extensions of her will. With growth, she can raise others’ corpses and absorb unclaimed souls before they are claimed by the Universal Law of Death.|
"And she finally has the standard abilities of a death manipulator," Berlal remarked, before moving on to the next skill.
|Netherknight Summon:
Summons Elaine’s Netherknight and simultaneously creates a small Pseudo-Bounded Field, Netherland, which applies a death debuff to all enemies, reducing their Durability by up to 15%.
Abilities:
*Deathburst: Consumes Elaine’s magic power to unleash energy from the Netherknight’s chest. Can fire as a focused single beam or as a scattershot to strike multiple targets.
*Soul Consumption: Can consume souls to amplify damage output.
*Self-Destruct: The Netherknight’s body can be sacrificed in an explosion. It can be recreated using organic matter as long as its soul remains intact.
*Wraithfly Mode: When not in combat, the Netherknight transforms into a small, sprite-like form that Elaine can carry.|
There wasn’t a trace of surprise in Berlal’s expression at the details displayed; after all, she had been the one to create the ’Deathburst,’ ’Self-Destruct,’ and ’Wraithfly Mode’ abilities when she had turned ’Knight’ into ’Netherknight.’
The Soul Consumption was the only element that wasn’t her doing, but clearly, that was an effect of Elaine’s ’Reaper’s Embrace,’ which allowed Elaine to consume souls herself.
Just as she finished her analysis, Elaine regained enough strength to stand on her own, and Berlal immediately began instructing her.
"You can feed him souls, and..." Berlal paused, glancing at Elaine before adjusting the last word she intended to say.
"Divine Sparks. Souls and Divine Sparks can strengthen him so he does not fall behind as you grow stronger."
Elaine barely registered the words as she hurried toward Netherknight to check on him, but Berlal paid it no mind, instead shifting her gaze to the scythe lying on the ground.
Both ends of its long, black shaft were spear-tipped, and just beneath the longer spear-tip, a curved jet-black blade jutted outward.
Just as she moved to touch it, Celestia, who had been watching everything silently, finally spoke.
[Don’t do that.]
Berlal froze, turning to Celestia, who sat at the edge of what remained of the elevated platform, her gaze fixed on the direction of the energy lake where Arthur was.
"Why?" Berlal asked, and Celestia responded in her usual calm tone.
[Only Arthur and Elaine can touch that weapon without being repelled. It’s a rather unique one, after all.]
As she spoke, Elaine turned toward them, her eyes widening when she saw the scythe lying on the floor.
"Ah! Requiem!"
Immediately, the scythe morphed into a streak of dark light and shot toward her hands, and at this, Berlal turned to her, narrowing her eyes.
Faced with Berlal’s gaze, Elaine flinched, remembering that the dragon had been against her using a scythe.
She stepped back, a hint of fear in her expression, and as if responding to her emotion, the scythe’s blade retracted into the shaft, turning it into a double-edged spear.
"??"
Elaine blinked in confusion, surprised by this transformation as well. She tilted her head and thought about the scythe’s blade, and following her will, the blade extended from the shaft, turning the double-edged spear into a scythe once more.
"C-coool!
Her eyes sparkled with excitement, but she quickly recalled Berlal was still watching and hurriedly returned it to spear form.
Berlal, however, paid no attention to Elaine’s actions, focusing on something else instead.
"You just said ’Requiem,’ didn’t you? Is that the name of the weapon?"
"Huh? Ah, yes," Elaine replied, nodding repeatedly.
"Why did you choose that name?"
Elaine tilted her head in confusion. "Obviously because it’s Requiem?"
Her answer made no sense to Berlal, but Elaine didn’t seem to notice. To her, the weapon was Requiem, and that was all there was to it.
Berlal fell silent for a moment, then glanced at Celestia, who had warned her against touching it earlier.
’There’s more to this child than I first assumed,’ she thought.
She turned away afterwards, teleporting everyone back to the lake where Arthur and Rishia were, before speaking.
"They’ll be here for a while, but I’m sure you already know that," she said, glancing at the two Ego Weapons.
"I’ll be returning to my siblings. You’re coming with me to test your new abilities," Berlal continued, addressing Elaine.
Without waiting for a response, she used shadow teleportation, warping herself and Elaine out of the Valmone Universe.
