Chapter 26: Shadow Temple p5
Standing above the city walls, Shiro narrowed her eyes as she was looking through the shadow bird's vision.
The thunder king's army of 500 thousand men stomped in sync as it created quite an intimidating scene.
'If that bomb is activated through shock, you all will dead by now. But I don't want everyone to be dead, only 250 thousand.' She thought as the bird started to morph.
Seeing a clone of Shiro land in front of him, the thunder king stopped the march.
He was a muscular man standing at almost 7ft tall, hulking physic, yellow hair and yellow eyes. He looked to be around his 30's.
"Have you come to beg?" He sneered, looking at her with disdain.
"Not as much beg, but rather a warning. Turn back now and your men may not die a hopeless death." Shiro smiled.
"HAHAHAHA! Even if you mustered up something with the fabricator, what can you possibly create?" The thunder king grinned as he jumped off his mount and landed in front of Shiro.
Due to the high difference, Shiro had to crane her head all the way back as it wasn't comfortable for her at all.
Looking at Shiro closely, the thunder king started to realise her beauty as he paused.
He was about to grab her chin and get a closer look when she disappeared.
"Don't fucking touch me." Shiro warned with a cold glare as she was behind his head with a blade to his throat.
"Kuhuhuhu, join me as my concubine. I'll let your kingdom live as dowry." The thunder king said.
Shiro narrowed her eyes as she stood up and stepped on his head.
Jumped off, she landed safely and started to walk away.
"I take this as you agree?" The thunder king grinned.
"Hm? Sure whatever." Shiro said not even looking back.
"I didn't think you were such a coward. But this king likes the woman being submissive like they should be." The thunder king grinned.
If Shiro was still a Snow Girl, the entire battlefield would have been encased in ice from the murderous intent raging inside of her.
'I'll agree to sign your death contract.' Shiro thought as she had already activated the remote.
The bomb should be ticking down now.
"Why don't you-"
*BBBBBOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
###
The fire empress had increased her pace for the last day as she wanted to see the so-called weapon of mass destruction. Resting on the top of the mountain with her troops, she had her army survey the surroundings for any enemies.
"Hehehe, the little dumpling is brave. She doesn't have a single soldier out." The fire queen muttered seeing the empty battlefield for which the thunder king arrived at.
"My Empress, do you really believe the young queen of the Yin Kingdom having a powerful weapon?"
"Half and half. Honestly, it's a gamble. For her to have that much confidence that she sees me as a bonus, must either mean overconfidence. Or that she was telling the truth. For a person to become the ruler, they wouldn't make threats without some back up in place."
"What if the young queen was really lying this entire time?"
"She wouldn't have told me to watch the destructions then." The fire queen smiled.
Soon, she saw Shiro and the thunder king face against each other as she grinned.
"Kuhahaha, just look at that ridiculous height difference." She said in humour.
Standing up, she walked to the edge of the hill they were on and watched in interest.
She saw the thunder king try to grab Shiro's chin but missed and Shiro was behind his head.
"Seems like it may just have been a false alarm." The fire queen said seeing no resemblance of a weapon.
"In that case… READY UP TROOPS! WE'RE GOING TO END THE YIN KINGDOM!" The fire queen shouted.
"URAHH!!!!!-!
*BBBBBOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Light flashed as the queen and her army were blown backwards with a tremendous shockwave hitting their bodies.
"Blerg!!!" The fire queen spat out blood as she was knocked back the furthest.
"Urg what the hell!" She called out as she struggled to her feet.
Looking to her right, her pupils shrank in fear.
What was half of a hill was reduced to ashes as there was a giant crater between her and the thunder king's army.
It was as if God decided to punch the very earth itself. Nothing was spared.
"T-t-this was her w-weapon?!" The fire queen muttered in shock.
"Hahaha…HaHaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! NO WONDER! WHY WOULD SHE EVEN CARE ABOUT ME IF SHE HAD THIS!!!" The fire queen shouted out in insanity and fear. A quarter of her army was eradicated as they were, unfortunately, a little too close.
"My Empress, are you alright?" A servant asked limping over.
"Alright? Yeah… Why wouldn't I be alright? We're going to kill the thunder king. Hahaha, what is a king to a god? We at least have hope of killing the king hahahahaha….." The fire queen rambled almost as if she was crazy.
The power Shiro outputted with the bomb was more than anything a mage could do in the world. They just didn't have that kind of power. And yet, she wanted to fight against that.
###
"Heh, that should convince the fire queen." Shiro muttered as she looked at everything from her shadow birds.
The mana nuke could be controlled as she could choose the shape of the blast. She made sure to increase the intensity near the back of the thunder king's army and the fire queen's army.
Creating a shadow horse, Shiro dashed towards the remnants of the thunder king's army.
"Well. I did warn you did I not?" Shiro said as she saw the thunder king struggling to stand up. He had bloodshot eyes as his demeanour was like that of a mad beast.
Infusing mana to her voice, Shiro made sure the entire army could hear her.
"LISTEN UP!! I did not want this war as it was your tyrant of a king. Should you help me end his reign, I can assure you that I will never turn the weapon against my own subjects. Did you not see my earlier display? I tried to be peaceful but your king does not appreciate the matter. Now that he had forced my hand, unnecessary casualties have been created. Choose wisely and end this farce!"
Hearing Shiro, the army stood up slowly as the thunder king became enraged.
"ALL OF YOU! I AM YOUR KING! DID YOU FORGET WHO'S COUNTRY YOUR FAMILIES ARE IN!" He shouted as it worked to a certain degree.
"Screw you! I have no family!" A soldier shouted back.
*BLERGH!
Whether it was from the comment or the blast, the thunder king threw up a little mouthful of blood.
Shiro held back a laugh as she saw the king's threat fall short.
"If you choose to surrender and help me end this king! I can guarantee your families safety!"
"FIRE QUEEN HAS COME TO ASSIST THE YIN KINGDOM!" A voice called out as Shiro grinned.
Everything was in place and the king had fallen.
"You! ALL OF YOU! DIE FOR ME!" The thunder king shouted but Shiro cut him off. Clutching her hand, a shadow blade appeared as it cut right through his neck when he least expected.
She was about to speak again to the army when she paused. Looking around, Shiro found herself in a dark space.
[Scenario Complete. Unorthodox method of completion. Calculating results….
Thunder king's army would become yours; the fire empress comes under you as a servant. The beast kingdom ran and the ocean kingdom gave up.
Evaluation: Though Unorthodox, it was a perfect solution. Out of 4 kingdoms, 2 now serve you and the other 2 are destroyed. All whilst no casualties on your side.
Final rank: S rank completion due to the use of pure force.
Rewards: 3 levels, 1 treasure, Shadow Empress Title and 200 free attribute points.]
[Shadow Empress:
+ 25% of all stats.
+ 25% stealth
When attacking without the enemy locking onto you (Stealth Attack, Sneak Attack) +50% Critical chance and +%20 Critical damage.]
"Wow~" Shiro muttered seeing the rewards. Though she understands why it was so rewarding.
If it wasn't due to her treasury of blueprints and knowledge, she would have been hard-pressed to do anything. Facing off against a 500 thousand strong army with just 100 thousand strong wasn't an easy task. Not to mention, the fabricator couldn't record the blueprint of an incomplete item. You had to visualise the ins and outs.
An easy task for her, yes. Others? Not so sure.
If one were to try form diplomatic relations, it would be hard to gather the support of the other kingdoms due to the sheer power of the thunder king's army.
However, despite all of that, she completed it with a single mana nuke and a small number of mind games.
Distributing her attributes, Shiro couldn't but grin.
[Name: Shiro (Weakened 5 days, 15hrs)
Race: Snow Girl (Evolution Criteria yet to be met)
Title: Shadow Empress
Level: 28
Class: Snow Girl★, Nanomancer
HP: 5700/5700 (True Value 15,500)
MP: 22,900/22,900
STR: 70 -> 120(+45)
VIT: 100 -> 180 (+70)
INT: 190 -> 250 (+140)
AGI: 140 -> 200 (+55)
DEX: 130 -> 150(+40)
DEF: 40 (+105)
= Title Bonus
Unassigned Points: 0
Balance: 500,800 USD
Equipment (Tap to Display)
Skills –
Snow Girl ★:
Tier 2 Ice magic, Passive Regeneration, Blessed by Ice, Snow Magic, Faded Snow Movement, Cold Aura.
Nanomancer:
Dagger Creation, Nano Tech Engineering Tier 1, Sword Creation.
Other:
Mini-map, Inspection, Disguise, Harden (Equipment), Lesser Fear (Equipment), Sensory (Equipment), Mana Barrier.]
With her MP tipping pass the 20k mark, her HP was following up closely. It was just a shame that her weaken state remained unchanged.
The good news, however, would be that the days she spent in the other quest world took off a little of the timer. Thus leaving her with less than 6 days to wait.
As for her final prize, it was the treasure. Her heart pounded in anticipation as she tapped the icon.
"…"
'An egg? Shiro thought.
The egg was black in colour, roughly the size of a school bag and had purple smoke patterns.
[Shadow Egg]
"Shadow Egg?" Shiro muttered.
[Sign Life Blood Contract?]
Seeing an unfamiliar term, Shiro paused and frowned.
Tapping the writing for the term, she saw the description.
[Life Blood Contract: Forming a contract with your heart blood, you and the beast are connected deeply. A portion of the beast's skills and power will be shared with you upon maturity. When you die, the beast dies. When the beast dies, you are fine.]
"Well isn't that a little unfair." Shiro muttered. However, it wasn't her concern. As harsh as it was, she didn't want to die because the beast was road killed.
Pressing yes, Shiro's pupil shrank as she felt like a dagger stabbed into her heart.
Wincing slightly, she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
'M******!!!!' Shiro cursed in her mind as the blood splattered over the egg.
Absorbing the blood greedily, a dark mist started to flood out as Shiro could see the egg crack little by little.
*Crrrrrr
The crack expanded as Shiro saw the contents.
It was a bird with black and dark purple feathers. A narrow head, purple eyes, sleek body and long feathered tail.
[Shadow ??? LVL 1]
HP: 2,400/2,400
MP: 5,000/5,000
Seeing the name, Shiro was surprised. When something shows as a question mark, it's either she was too low level to know it. Or that she wasn't supposed to know at the moment.
The little bird flapped its wings and landed on Shiro's left shoulder. Rubbing its head against her's with affection, it chirped lightly.
"…."
'Cute…' She thought seeing the little bird's actions.
"Hey, little bird. Are you male or female? I would check but you birds only have an opening for the sexual organ." Shiro asked in humour.
Hearing the question, the bird only tilted its head before flapping its wings.
"Then I'm just going to call you Yin. It sounds like a unisex name." Shiro shrugged but flinched.
"Oh right. My arm." She muttered. In the time she did the quest, her arm was fixed. Now that it was back to the way it was, Shiro would need to get used to it again.
"Little Yin, are you able to hide your title ah? It will bring this miss much trouble." Shiro said giving the birds head a little rub.
[Yin LVL 1]
HP: 2,400/2,400
MP: 5,000/5,000
"… well that works."
Giving the bird one more playful tap to the beak, Shiro smiled as she looked for an exit.
[Would you like to leave the resting zone?]
Tapping yes, Shiro felt her vision shift as she was back in the main hall. She saw that Lyrica and the rest of the party were still doing the last test so she made an ice chair and sat down.
Crossing her legs, she tapped her thigh as the bird hopped over.
Shiro couldn't hold the smile back on her face as she played around with the bird.