“By the way, Amisa-senpai…what rank are you now?”
Holly asked with some curiosity.
“Hmm? Me…? I’m Fifth Rank now~ The great being who granted me a blessing is the [Shadow-Crawling Chaos]…”
Amisa didn’t seem to care much about such things, but when she mentioned the title of that higher existence, she spoke with a bit more solemnity.
Fifth Rank…is that already close to the human limit?
As expected…as expected of Mother’s former personal maid~
Ileya thought to herself. But now that she thought about it…since Amisa started following her, had she ever even used her full strength?
Fifth Rank. Amisa’s abilities might not seem destructive, but to living beings, she’s absolutely as deadly as the most poisonous rattlesnake…
“Um…” Holly took a step forward, looking up at the maid with the crystal glasses before her.
“Amisa-senpai…can…you teach me how to train?”
Hmm?
The maid blinked, didn’t agree immediately, and instead turned her head to look at her young lady.
Ileya merely raised an eyebrow at such a request…but did not stop her and nodded slightly.
“My training methods are a bit tough…can you handle it?” After receiving her lady’s approval, Amisa finally looked down at Holly.
“I can handle it! As long as I can get stronger…I’m willing to do anything!”
Seeing the determination in Holly’s eyes, Amisa slowly nodded in response.
To become strong, the first step is willpower. Only after having this resolve can one persist.
“In that case…from here on, you won’t be riding in the carriage. Start by building up your endurance…run alongside us.”
“Eh? Ah…yes, senpai!”
While Amisa was assigning Holly her new task, Ileya had already collected all the wolf corpses scattered across the ground and stored them inside her Kingdom of the Dead.
Those things were precious resources to her now—the more, the better~
But…she glanced down at the last corpse beneath her feet, that of the Abnormal Wolf King.
An infected follower like this should be able to revive as a powerful Zombie. She hoped she’d encounter more such attacks in the future~
After gathering up the spoils of battle, the carriage got moving again.
This time, however…everyone sat inside the carriage, except for one girl who needed to train her endurance, eyes full of determination…running steadily alongside the carriage…
The sky gradually brightened from dusk to dawn. By noon the next day, they finally reached the second human settlement along their route.
Because the stone produced here had a high copper content, the place was called Huangshi Village.
It wasn’t far from the Crystal Capital, so the villagers here weren’t particularly xenophobic.
In fact, they were very warm toward the two visiting carriages.
This allowed everyone to rest properly at this stopover.
But…when it was time to eat, there was suddenly one more “Veil” at the table.
Her whirlwind eating style was so fierce that even the true foodie Goddess felt threatened!
Clearly, after running alongside the carriage the entire way, Holly wasn’t just exhausted and soaked through with sweat, her eyes bloodshot…she had burned through too much energy.
In fact…as she bit into her fifth piece of bread, she actually fell asleep at the table, still holding it in her mouth.
As for Amisa, the master, she was just as dependable. After carrying Holly to bed to rest, she went out into the village to get a few sets of training clothes for her.
After all, she couldn’t let Holly keep…training in a maid outfit, right?
Holly slept from noon all the way to dusk, and when she woke up…her training continued.
While Holly’s legs rested, Amisa had her train her arm strength.
The method was simple: wrap bandages around her fists and keep punching a tree.
First, complete 1,500 punches, have dinner, then start practicing balance on a single-plank bridge…
Inside the room, the young lady sat in a rocking chair, sipping tea, watching Holly sway back and forth on a wooden post…and couldn’t help but feel a faint tinge of guilt.
Should she be training herself too?
With that thought, the young lady glanced to her side, where Veil was munching on sweet rice cakes.
Sensing danger, the Goddess’s single hair atop her head instantly stood up, and she raised her head warily to look at the…very bad, very bad girl in front of her.
To that questioning gaze, Ileya offered no response…she simply gave a meaningful smile.
Forget it. Always relying on the power of this fellow, it still feels like her foundation is too shallow.
Like a skyscraper with an unstable foundation—reinforcing it later is a huge pain.
Now that her Kingdom of the Dead could already generate some Death Energy, it would be better to go there and meditate~
With that thought, the young lady slowly leaned back into her rocking chair.
With a thought, she entered the Kingdom of the Dead.
At this moment…the bodies of those forest wolves had already turned into Zombies under the catalysis of Death Energy.
Compared to human Zombies, these rotting beasts appeared far more agile…they even retained their former pack instincts—group activity.
Right now, the Wolf Pack was actually hunting.
Their prey, of course, was the only other physical “resident” here aside from themselves.
That was the Abnormal Old Apothecary who had been cut down at an angle.
“Rooaaar…” He had already been brought down by the Zombie Wolves, his body torn to pieces.
Normally, the pack would kill their prey, and the Wolf King would eat first…
But now…their intelligence had clearly dropped a lot.
Seeing the fallen prey, they all pounced without hesitation, biting and tearing nonstop!
Whoosh!!
But in the next instant, the mutated follower Wolf King’s rotten black tentacle whipped out, flinging the others aside!
“Rooaaar…” From its hollow eye sockets, a ghostly blue flame flickered, and the pitch-black, decaying tentacle wrapped tightly around a Zombie Wolf…
It lifted it up, then slammed it hard into the ground!
Bang!!
“Owooo…” The other Zombie Wolves whimpered in fear, retreating in a panic.
And the Wolf King, just like in life, began to feast on the prey.
Only, what it wanted wasn’t flesh and blood.
Splurt! The black tentacle slammed down, smashing the Old Apothecary’s skull and exposing the ghostly blue Soul-fire within…then swallowed it whole without hesitation!
That was the core of a deathly creature—the best nourishment for other deathly beings.
Watching from the sky above, Ileya…rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
This world, too, is ruled by the law of the jungle~
But the number of deathly creatures here…was far too small.
Looking at the barren ground, Ileya hesitated for a moment.
She considered whether she should take the Souls she’d collected back in the Thirteenth Mine…and release them into the Kingdom of the Dead.
If she kept those Souls, not only could she create over ten more Zombies at the level of Insmaus Tela.
She could also use them to strengthen herself…enough to rise from novice to Fourth Rank Necromancer at least.
But if she used them here…
She had always thought that the near-thousand Souls she’d collected—including those of the Cave-Dwellers—would be a mere drop in the bucket for this world.
But now, it seemed…with herself in control, this world’s range was only a hundred li or so.
With such a small area, wasn’t it even easier to trigger a transformation?
So perhaps…she could use those Souls as fertilizer, sowing them into this world?
In the end, Ileya nodded, brought that scroll into the Kingdom of the Dead, and crushed all the unconscious Souls within!
She scattered them over this realm…
Azure specks of light, like drops of glowing rain, fell onto the bleak, barren earth, making the six remaining wolves and the one ghost all look up instinctively.
If so, then…
Whoosh…just as Ileya was thinking this, she suddenly felt—
A chill wind seemed to appear out of nowhere, blowing down over her head!
As if high above, in the mists, a merciful and supreme Goddess…was sighing softly.