Volume 8, Chapter 76 – The Undead’s Change of Heart

Completing the teleportation in an instant, Fia and the others had already arrived at the kingdom of the dead.

Same as always, the kingdom of the dead was filled with chilling death energy. The sky, as usual, was covered in stars and brilliant auroras, like a city from a fantasy.

The only difference was that now the kingdom of the dead was exceptionally flat. There were no towering retro clock towers, no rivers flowing through the city, no stone-paved streets. With the gray hall as its center, only a few scattered larger buildings stood. Surrounding them were small, tent-like temporary shelters. Large numbers of undead could be seen hammering and building on the dirt roads, while undead transporting stones lined up all the way to the horizon, the long queue reminiscent of army ants.

Beyond this, the most striking feature was the lava fountain several kilometers away, bringing light to the world of the dead. Normally, once lava erupts, it becomes unstoppable, forming billowing volcanic ash and altering the surrounding terrain. But under the effects of the semi-permanent magic circles [Perpetual Stabilization] and [Perpetual Purification], as long as people continuously used magic to clear cooled magma around the fountain’s mouth, the flat kingdom of the dead wouldn’t slowly accumulate into a hill.

These were, of course, Fia’s achievements. [Blessing of the Mother Goddess] could only fill the massive crater; it couldn’t restore the city to its original state for the undead. Thus, the undead had to rebuild the city themselves.

Worth mentioning was that the undead didn’t complain. Undead had neither need for sleep nor sensory organs. Even if they grew weary of existence and fell into slumber, they could simply find a place to lie down or dig a hole to bury themselves. Building houses was purely a hobby to pass the time. The undead had endless time. If the city was destroyed, they could just build another one.

Moreover, according to the Thirteen Attendants, they had grown tired of the unchanging city layout after so many years. Tearing it down and rebuilding in the elf style—with nature as the main theme, featuring a Holy Tree and elf towers—would also bring novelty.

As for keeping the lava fountain, on one hand, the undead wanted it as a memorial witnessing the god-slaying strike. On the other hand, the undead’s world had no naturally occurring lava. Though undead couldn’t feel heat, they could see firelight and smoke, bringing some change to their monotonous lives. It sounded unbelievable, but for undead bored enough to count how many grains of sand made up a single brick, it was quite reasonable.

In fact, aside from the architects concentrating on rebuilding the city, more idle undead gathered near the fountain square. The sea of people, all zombies and skeletons, gave Fia the feeling of attending a necromancer’s gathering.

Stepping on the newly laid solid stone bricks, Fia walked past the busy undead on the roadside. Since most undead had witnessed that world-destroying strike, when Fia’s gaze fell on these low-tier undead, they all erupted with boundless energy, working desperately. But rather than “The hero is watching, better work harder,” Fia felt it was more like the fearful “I’m working hard, don’t stare at me!” Fortunately, some noble undead stopped, removed their hats, and bowed to Fia in respect. Otherwise, Fia might have considered whether she should reduce public appearances in the kingdom of the dead.

“Everyone’s so motivated. Are you sure you don’t need my help? [Blessing of the Mother Goddess] can create not only soil and earth but also rocky ground. If I made a stone mountain, you wouldn’t have to transport stones from a hundred kilometers away for rebuilding.”

“It’s fine. The trouble is actually good for us. Fia hasn’t lived here long-term, so you don’t know how boring it usually is. I dare say the changes these days have brought exceed those of the past five thousand years combined. The undead living in this era are the luckiest batch—myself included.”

Walking alongside Fia, Lucitine wore a helpless expression, waving her hand wrapped in a black silk glove.

“Though they can move stones around anytime, moving stones aimlessly versus moving stones with a clear goal feels completely different. We undead don’t tire. As long as we gain spiritual satisfaction, physical labor means nothing. Assigning them the task of rebuilding the city—they’ll treat it as entertainment.”

“Then if the undead later go to Silvar to help build the wind towers leading underground, won’t they be even happier?”

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“Ah…”

Fia’s words caught Lucitine off guard. Not only Lucitine, but also the Thirteen Attendants behind her were equally stunned. When they’d discussed helping at the meeting, they’d thought of it as something very distant, existing only on paper. Now, with Fia’s reminder, those distant matters suddenly appeared before their eyes. Their souls nearly immediately surged with excitement and anticipation. Especially the Thirteen Attendants—they disliked the living, but that didn’t mean they disliked change. The dull and tasteless undead world was common knowledge. Now, being able to walk openly in the colorful world of the living naturally delighted them.

The Thirteen Attendants immediately looked at each other, their eye sockets burning with soul flames, filled with excitement.

“R-right, Lady Fia is correct! Your Majesty, I believe we should establish a reward and punishment system. Let the outstanding undead go outside first. This will motivate everyone to diligently improve their magical abilities, preparing for future battles with Chaos.”

“It’s best to ask Lady Fia’s Chaos subordinates to cooperate with our training, letting us better understand Chaos’s weaknesses.”

“If some reckless skeleton wanders into vibrant areas, that would be trouble. We need to conduct educational work beforehand. Also, some undead reject demi-human races; those should be screened out in advance to avoid causing problems for the future alliance.”

With her back to the Thirteen Attendants, Lucitine didn’t notice them craning their necks, staring at her with expectation-filled eyes. She pinched her chin thoughtfully, nodding.

“…Makes sense. Handle this part yourselves. Fia and I are going to the Immortal Sanctuary to see the first me. You can return to the hall and discuss plans first.”

“Yes!”

Not wanting to linger a moment longer, the Thirteen Attendants immediately flew toward the magically reconstructed gray hall. Fia and Lucitine were now alone, with only the hammering sounds from undead repairing the streets nearby.

“Hmm…”

Making an incomprehensible murmur, Lucitine, seeing no one watching, secretly reached her hand toward Fia while gazing at her profile, trying to hold Fia’s hand. She loved the feeling of holding hands with Fia, so when the teleportation magic ended and Fia released her, she felt a sense of loss.

Actually, Lucitine hadn’t mentioned one thing. When she’d been defeated in her decisive battle with the original Venex and Fia appeared, yanking the original Venex away, she’d nearly lost control of her tears. Joyful tears were about to overflow from her chest. And Fia’s merciless, resolute expression toward the enemy at that moment made her admiration for Fia reach new heights.

Clearly, Fia had chosen her—the weak existence named Lucitine—over the more powerful original Venex. This feeling of “Hmph, I win!” made Lucitine curl her lips whenever she thought of it. She was the protagonist; the original Venex was merely a despicable latecomer.

Though being rescued as the Queen of Death made her seem useless, from the perspective of the rescued damsel, Fia’s coolness was unprecedented. Even if she clasped her hands over her chest like a lovestruck girl and sighed “Lady Fia~” with a dreamy look, she’d have no psychological burden. Fia was a savior from heroic epics. Loving someone so decisive toward enemies and gentle toward allies was only natural.

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Closer, just a little closer.

Worried about being noticed by nearby undead, Lucitine’s heart was tense to the extreme, to the point her death energy-wrapped hand slightly sweated. She held her breath, eventually not even daring to look at Fia’s profile. Abruptly closing her eyes, she gathered her courage. When her right hand was just centimeters from Fia’s left, close enough to feel the warmth of Fia’s palm, she forcefully surged forward.

—And grasped nothing but air.

At the last moment, Fia had quickened her pace. The two had unknowingly arrived before the Immortal Sanctuary’s door.

“Uh…”

Staring at Fia, who was now earnestly examining the door, Lucitine’s throat emitted a regretful groan. But as Fia turned back, Lucitine had to quickly hide her distressed expression.

“Is something wrong, Lucitine?”

“No, nothing.”

“Is that so… If you’re afraid to see the original Venex, I can see her alone. Though the incident is over, I’m still curious why she loathed Chaos.”

Fia pressed her palm against the dark crimson metal door before her, pushing it open forcefully.

After the undead city had been cratered, only the Immortal Sanctuary’s door remained intact. Thanks to this, both Fia and Lucitine learned for the first time that behind the Immortal Sanctuary’s door was nothing at all. If one cleared away the surroundings, they’d find this door could float independently without any support. Only by pushing it open could one enter the hidden Immortal Sanctuary beyond.

Familiar white light flooded their vision, followed immediately by countless pink Venexes swarming up like locusts. Nearly every Venex called Fia’s name, their passion resembling newlywed wives greeting their returning husbands—when Lucitine fought the original Venex, she’d shared her memories with the Venexes a second time. Combined with the Venexes witnessing Fia sternly dragging away the original Venex, all Venexes now felt the same feelings for Fia as Lucitine did, even matching her progress.

The Venexes not only tried to hold Fia’s hands but also stood behind her, wrapping their arms around her neck, pushing her forward with their plump chests. The rest was identical to the original Venex—declarations that they were better than Lucitine. Their chattering seductive tones made it impossible for Fia to understand what they were saying.

“All of you, restrain yourselves! I am the real Lucitine!”

“Once we find suitable souls, Fia can make bodies for us too. Then you, junior Lucitine, will have to wait your turn.”

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“There are over a hundred of us here. Lucitine should be Consort number one hundred or later. Even one per day, you’d only get three turns a year. Maybe not even three. I’ll definitely make Fia obsessed with me.”

“Exactly, exactly. Where would you find a woman as unaffected as Lucitine? If it were me, we’d have been in bed several times by now.”

The first part was tolerable, but where were they going with this now?

Fia’s head began to ache. She used spatial hands to gently push away the surrounding Venexes, rubbing her forehead in exasperation.

“What are you all saying? Don’t corrupt Lucitine.”

“Hmm? Not teaching Lucitine more knowledge, so Fia can trick her into your arms more easily? A queen this naive is a first in ten thousand years.”

“What do you mean ‘corrupt’? I’m not a child. Fia, don’t be misled by them.”

Lucitine argued, her face flushed red. To avoid further teasing, she angrily pulled Fia straight toward the depths of the Immortal Sanctuary. Unfortunately, the Venexes didn’t let her off, clinging like ghosts, following closely. If she didn’t think losing her temper would only invite more teasing, Lucitine would have gladly used magic to bind the Venexes and toss them one by one into corners.

Finally, Fia couldn’t take it anymore. She sighed deeply, pointing at the original Venex in the distance, still frozen by [Spatial Confinement] as a precaution.

“Quiet down first. We can talk after we finish our business. Aren’t you curious why the original Venex hated Chaos, and how she could cooperate with it while loathing it?”

“That woman…”

Hearing the original Venex’s name, the Venexes calmed down. They curled their lips, dissatisfaction evident.

“Honestly, don’t call her ‘original Venex’ anymore. She’s not one of us.”

“That arrogant personality is too different from us. If you’re not going to kill her, use a different name.”

“Extract her memories and train her into our dog.”

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“Agreed.”

“You don’t need to go that far…”

Considering the original Venex possessed Tenth-Rank magic power and [Spatial Confinement] had a time limit, Fia had released her during this week to prevent the spell from expiring on its own. She’d also wanted to see if the original Venex showed any remorse. Unfortunately, the original Venex had no repentance whatsoever, so Fia froze her again.

From Fia’s perspective, from the moment the original Venex used the Ninth-Rank spell [Wand of Destruction] on the elf royal city, she had become her enemy. However, upon noticing that the original Venex showed no resistance toward her, even begging for more of her attention no matter how she was handled, Fia couldn’t help but feel compassion.

She knew the original Venex’s feelings for her were fake emotions. She had told her this truth. Yet no matter what Fia said, the original Venex didn’t change her mind. Fia began to wonder if the original Venex might be like Tilulu—lacking love and affection. Thus, upon receiving memories of someone caring for her, she developed a strong possessiveness toward that person.

Still, forgiving the original Venex’s crimes solely for this reason would be far too merciful toward an enemy. Fia now found herself in a contradictory state: knowing she should kill the original Venex, yet somewhat unable to bring herself to do it.

Since this was Lucitine’s family matter, it was best left to Lucitine to handle.

Thinking this, Fia approached the frozen space. Looking at the pure white fairy frozen motionless within, desperately trying to say something to her, she quietly removed [Spatial Confinement].

Then, immediately activated [Bee Shield Forcefield].

“Fia, why can’t you accept me!”

As expected, the pure white fairy immediately charged out, slamming into [Bee Shield Forcefield] with a dull “thud.” Yet she showed no pain. On the contrary, she noticed the distant Venexes and Lucitine. Especially upon seeing Lucitine standing beside Fia, her previously pleading gaze instantly sharpened.

Fia knew she was about to say unpleasant things. Intercepting before the original Venex could speak, Fia began.

“I’m not here to fight. If you hate me being here, I’ll leave. But before that, you need to honestly answer a few of my questions.”