Death Divinity

Chapter 18: Death Divinity

I had to admit, Burrowing Devil Worms, as mythological creatures of the Cthulhu mythos, had a particular advantage when it came to slaughtering the young in the mental realm. They carried a certain degree of psychic contamination, causing ordinary people who might catch sight of them to instinctively refuse to look at them.

This made group suggestion easier. It was a combat technique Si Ming had developed during his killing spree in Mexico. He had no idea whether it would still work in more advanced battles or team fights between Reincarnators, but at least for now, it was remarkably effective.

Si Ming descended through the already excavated tunnel toward the ruins.

Along the way, he encountered several patrols of guards. But it was obvious that they all took him for an expert brought in to handle the matter.

"Sir, this way—"

Because he really was an expert.

His exploration of the ruins in Mexico had cemented the identity he had purchased and made his name known. The title "Professor Si" hadn't been one he had chosen for himself. It was a name that the archaeologists and fellow adventurers who had come after hearing the news had given him as they discussed and publicized his work.

"Thanks for your hard work. You can get back to it." He nodded to the soldiers who had shown him the way, gesturing for them to move aside. Only then did the Burrowing Devil Worm, still hidden by the suggestion, lumber after him. The tunnel's frozen earth gradually gave way to a layer of ice and soil, then to solid rock.

Hopefully, these unlucky bastards didn't make a habit of watching the cameras. Psychic contamination could still have some effect even through a camera. Once Si Ming had gone deep enough that only unexplored ruins lay before him and no other American soldiers remained nearby, he stopped paying much attention to these irrelevant personnel.

The worm stretched its limbs. Now and then, this mythological creature, brought to life, showed a hint of intelligence.

"I'll have to trouble you again, big guy." Si Ming reached out and gently patted its head twice.

The command had been given.

The worm's thick limbs moved swiftly. As its biological systems activated, specialized acid began to flow rapidly from its organs. In an instant, the unexplored frozen earth dissolved into soft mud. Si Ming followed without hesitation, heading straight down along the path the worm had opened.

Down, down. The hard frozen earth parted like modeling clay and flew behind them. With a slight adjustment, the initial borehole could be buried beneath rapidly compacting earth. Si Ming had already put on his Nanosuit. Its fully sealed mode kept his senses sharp and supplied him with oxygen. And through the reverse link between him and the Burrowing Devil Worm, the giant mythological creature projected everything it sensed of the surrounding terrain into his mind.

—I see it.

The Americans' survey map and the Burrowing Devil Worm's mental perception overlapped in Si Ming's mind, and a vast underground cavern soon came into view. A faint tremor followed, and he and the giant worm descended through the hole they had drilled.

"We're here."

His toes touched the ground. Perhaps because he had spent too long operating alone in safe areas, Si Ming wasn't surprised to find himself talking to himself again when no one was around to listen. People were social animals, after all, and Professor Si was no exception. Finding a suitable companion was becoming increasingly important. If all else failed, getting himself a highly intelligent AI assistant would be a viable solution.

A melon that quenched your thirst didn't have to be sweet. But for now, he had more suitable things to focus on.

He saw the collapsed and ruined pyramid, its overall structure still largely intact.

Just as he'd expected. Everything had gone according to his predictions.

The Yautja's wrist bomb could be set to different levels of power when activated. At its lowest, it could destroy a small spacecraft. At its highest, it could vaporize the core region of an entire civilization. In the battle at the underground ruins in the movie, the Yautja had to escape by zipline before the bomb went off. So naturally, the bomb's power had been set low enough that it couldn't kill—or even injure—the Xenomorph Queen as she fled the underground ruins.

If it couldn't kill the Queen, it certainly couldn't destroy the entire pyramid. Its outer structure had indeed collapsed in many places, but the sections forming its core had naturally remained intact.

"Convert."

The Night Battle Qi within him was entirely transformed into death energy. After refining and absorbing the ancient Mayan ruins, along with the old and fresh deaths on the Mexican battlefield, the Necrotic Aura within his body had multiplied several times over. Even while keeping the Burrowing Devil Worm active, he could still summon several skeleton soldiers. If he temporarily recalled the worm, he could summon more than ten skeleton soldiers or archers to join the fight at once.

But he wasn't summoning them here. He had another reason for converting the death energy. As the abundant energy gathered at his brow, he sensed a vague direction.

There!

Beneath the center of the pyramid!

A subtle pull came through clearly in his perception. The death-aligned power he had exchanged for was indeed being drawn toward the Death Divinity!

It really existed.

It was calling to him.

Only those who wielded the power of death could receive this response. The next moment, he stepped toward the Death Divinity—

"Vmmm—" Something inaudible to the eye rang out.

The Necrotic Aura deep within his brow was suddenly suppressed, and the Burrowing Devil Worm beside him lost its glow of animation. The thing deep within the pyramid pulsed, and in the next moment, the bodies and remains not completely obliterated by the blast began to stagger out of the ruins. They growled as they lunged toward Si Ming!

"Is this a test?"

It might also have been a natural surge of power caused by the Death Divinity awakening. Si Ming's Necrotic Aura, greatly strengthened through training, had become completely inactive. A genuine necromancer who came here would lose every means of resisting.

"To control death, you have to overcome it first?"

The divinity did not speak, but its will had already reached Si Ming clearly. The corpses awakened by its fluctuations gradually grew faster and stronger, their howls turning into fearsome roars.

Xenomorphs, members of the human research team, even Yautja who had died here. There were more than a hundred in total.

Dark energy filled their wounds and missing limbs, and their swift movements stirred up shrill winds. In just a few seconds, the one at the front—perhaps the undead of a powerful Yautja named Celtic—had already pounced close enough to touch Si Ming!

"Vmmm—" A faint hum.

Si Ming held the Fusion Gun, his most powerful weapon, and swiftly fired a bright Thermal Orb at the Yautja undead at point-blank range. It struck easily and enveloped its target. The very next instant, the entire Yautja corpse vaporized before Si Ming's eyes.

It died, then died again.

Even the Death Divinity couldn't awaken a body that had been reduced to nothing.

Being well prepared was never a bad thing. And obtaining a treasure did indeed require demonstrating strength. Si Ming advanced, and all the Necrotic Aura within him transformed into Night Battle Qi.

The twilight-colored Battle Qi blazed. It had been no more than a gauzy robe before, but now it was almost armor. Naturally, it wasn't suppressed by the Death Divinity. All that surging Battle Qi poured into strengthening his body.

Sword in hand, gun at his side, Si Ming strode forward at speed. Now he was faster than the awakened undead, and his strength was greater as well. His flaming sword swept out with effortless grace, splitting even the largest Xenomorph undead in two. His Fusion Gun rose with precise aim, easily vaporizing even the boulders hurled by giant zombies.

He pressed forward, unstoppable. Si Ming never paused. In an instant, the hundreds of undead awakened by the divinity suffered hundreds of deaths in return. Then the entire ruined pyramid began to shake violently, as if it had been enraged!

"Rumble—"

A towering, bone-white figure burst from the earth. It was a humanoid colossus formed from hundreds, even thousands, of skeletons. All the remains and resentment buried here for millennia had awakened. Yet before it could do anything meaningful, Si Ming had already reached the space directly in front of it.

"You're too slow," he said softly. He knew that all the awakened undead had been summoned to give the Bone Colossus, formed around the Death Divinity, time to take shape.

Azure spirit fire burned in its eye sockets, and a dark breath gathered in its mouth. If it managed to unleash that attack, even Si Ming, well-prepared as he was, might suffer serious injuries.

But there were no ifs.

Si Ming had already reached the right place.

The next moment, he and his Profaned Greatsword smashed through and pierced the still-incomplete Bone Colossus!

"Bang—" The pierced colossus crumbled into countless bones once more. A crystal-hued skull was now in Si Ming's hand.

The trial had ended, and the Death Divinity now belonged to him.

The clearest proof was the announcement that now rang in Si Ming's ear.

—[Additional side quest triggered. Difficulty and rewards raised to the maximum... Side quest completed: Defeat the Death Trialist. Obtained 1 B-rank side-story reward and 5,000 reward points.]

It was too slow.

The Death Trialist and the Main God's announcement were both too slow.