Death Divinity

Chapter 18: Death Divinity

One must admit that a Cthulhu-mythos creature like the Burrowing Devil Worm possesses a distinct advantage in the field of mental slaughter. Because they carry a specific grade of mental pollution, any ordinary person who might witness their existence instinctively refuses to cast their gaze upon them.

Group suggestion thus becomes easy. This is the combat technique Si Ming summarized while on his killing spree in Mexico. Although it is unclear whether such a technique would remain effective in higher-end battles or team fights between reincarnators, at the very least, it is working perfectly right now.

Si Ming has already descended along the pre-excavated tunnel toward the location of the ruins.

Along the way, he encountered several groups of patrolling and guarding soldiers. But obviously, they all mistook him for an expert arriving to handle related matters.

"Sir, this way--"

Because he is, indeed, an expert.

His exploration of the ruins in Mexico has already solidified the identity he purchased and made his name known. The title "Professor Si" was not one he chose himself, but rather a moniker bestowed upon him by the archaeologists and fellow explorers who arrived upon hearing the news and began discussing and promoting him.

"Hard work, go back to your duties." He nodded to the soldiers pointing the way and signaled for them to clear a path. The Burrowing Devil Worm, maintaining its state of suggestive concealment, followed sluggishly behind until the ice-soil composite area of the tunnel gradually transitioned into a heavy rock structure.

He hoped these poor souls did not have the habit of watching surveillance monitors; mental pollution of this kind can have a partial effect even through a camera lens. Once Si Ming had traveled deep enough, with only unexcavated ruins ahead and no other American soldiers remaining nearby, he stopped paying much attention to these inconsequential personnel.

The Devil Worm stretched its limbs. Once activated, this mythological creature sometimes reveals a glimmer of intelligence.

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

The order was given.

The thick, muscular limbs of the Devil Worm immediately began to move rapidly. With the activation of its biological structure, specialized strong acid was quickly secreted and flowed through the operation of its organs. In an instant, the unexcavated permafrost dissolved into soft mud. Si Ming followed without hesitation, moving straight downward along the path carved out by the worm.

Down, and down. The hard permafrost parted like modeling clay and was cast backward. With only a small adjustment, the initial drilling hole could be buried under rapidly solidifying sand—Si Ming had already donned his Nanosuit, the fully sealed mode ensuring keen senses and internal oxygen supply. The reverse connection with the Burrowing Devil Worm allowed this massive mythological creature to project all the surrounding terrain it perceived onto Si Ming's cognition.

--I see it.

The Americans' detection map and the mental perception of the Burrowing Devil Worm overlapped in Si Ming's eyes, and a vast underground cavity soon entered his observation. With a subtle tremor, he and the giant worm descended from the drilled hole.

"We've arrived."

His toes touched the ground. Perhaps it was because he had been operating alone in safe zones for too long, but Si Ming was not surprised that he had picked up the habit of talking to himself when no one was listening. Humans are social animals after all, and he, Professor Si, had not transcended the category of humanity. The importance of finding a suitable partner was gradually increasing; even if that failed, getting himself a high-intelligence auxiliary AI would be an effective solution.

A melon that can quench thirst is fine even if it isn't sweet. However, for now, he needed to focus his attention elsewhere.

He saw the ruined, collapsed, yet largely structurally intact pyramid of the ruins.

Just as expected. Everything was indeed as he had anticipated.

The Yautja's terminal bomb can adjust its power upon activation. At the low end, it can merely shatter a small spaceship. At the high end, it can vaporize the entire core area of a civilization on the spot. During the battle in the underground ruins, the Yautja from the movie needed to escape the ruin area via a zipline before the bomb detonated, so naturally, the power of that bomb was adjusted to a yield that could not even kill or injure the Xenomorph Queen escaping from the underground.

If it couldn't even kill the Queen, it was even less likely to completely destroy the pyramid. While its outer profile had suffered large-scale collapse, the parts serving as the core area naturally remained intact.

"Convert."

The Night Battle Qi within his body was entirely converted into death energy. Through refining and absorbing the ancient Mayan ruins and the ancient and fresh deaths from the Mexican battlefield, the Necrotic Aura within his shell had increased several times over. Even while maintaining the operation of the Burrowing Devil Worm, he could still summon several skeleton soldiers, and if he were to temporarily recall the worm, he could drive more than ten skeleton soldiers and archers into the battlefield at once.

But he was not here to summon them—his purpose for converting the death energy lay elsewhere. And when that sufficiently abundant death energy converged and gathered at the center of his brow, he vaguely sensed a blurred direction!

There!

Below the center of the pyramid!

A subtle attraction was clearly presented in his perception; the death-type power he had exchanged for would indeed be summoned by the Death Divinity at this moment!

It truly existed.

It was truly calling to him.

This was a response that could only be obtained by an individual who had touched the power of death. The next moment, he stepped toward the location of the Death Divinity--

Hum-- Something invisible resonated.

The Necrotic Aura deep within his brow was suddenly suppressed, and the Burrowing Devil Worm at his side shed its activated glow. The thing originating from the depths of the pyramid suddenly surged, and the next moment, those corpse remains that had not been completely turned to ash by the impact of the terminal explosion crawled shakily out of the ruins, snarling as they lunged toward Si Ming's direction!

"Is this a test?"

It could also be a natural power surge phenomenon generated when the Death Divinity is activated. His Necrotic Aura, which had surged in scale after training, was completely deactivated at this moment. If a true necromancer had come here, they would have lost all bargaining chips for resistance at this instant.

"To dominate death, must one first transcend death?"

The divinity did not speak, but its will had already been accurately conveyed to Si Ming. Those corpses awakened under the fluctuation of the divinity gradually gained speed and strength; their roars thus carried a daunting ferocity.

Xenomorphs, members of the human expedition team, and even the Yautja who died here. The total was over one hundred.

Their wounds and severed limbs were filled with dark energy, and their swift forms even brought forth shrill whistles of wind. In just a few seconds, the one charging at the very front—perhaps the strong Yautja undead known as Celtic—had already lunged to a point where it could touch Si Ming!

Hum-- A light sound.

The high-powered Fusion Gun was held in Si Ming's hand, and a bright-colored thermal sphere was swiftly released toward the Yautja undead at close range. It hit easily and then engulfed the opponent. In the next instant, the entire Yautja undead was vaporized before Si Ming's eyes.

It died, dead again.

Even the Death Divinity could not reanimate a shell that had been reduced to ash.

Being well-prepared is certainly not a bad thing, and obtaining a secret treasure does indeed require demonstrating power. Si Ming moved forward immediately, and all the Necrotic Aura in his body was converted into Night Battle Qi at this moment!

The twilight-colored Battle Qi ignited; previously it was just a veil, but now it was almost transforming into armor. It naturally received no suppression from the Death Divinity, and all this tide of Battle Qi was poured into physical enhancement at this moment.

His sword was gripped tight, his gun in hand. Si Ming took swift steps forward. His speed at this moment was actually faster than those awakened undead, and his strength was naturally even greater. The flaming sword swung lightly, and even the largest Xenomorph undead was split in two; the Fusion Gun was raised precisely, and even the boulders thrown by giant zombies could be easily vaporized.

Pressing forward, unstoppable. Si Ming's footsteps did not falter. The hundreds of awakened undead met their equal, second death in an instant. And the next moment, the entire ruin of the pyramid began to shake violently, as if it had been enraged!

Boom--

A ghastly, gargantuan figure erupted from the earth, revealed to be a humanoid colossus formed from the aggregation of hundreds, if not thousands, of skeletons. Every corpse buried here over the millennia, along with all the lingering resentment, had been stirred back to life. Yet, before it could take any meaningful action, Si Ming had already arrived directly before it.

"You are too slow." He said softly. He knew that all the necromantic energy had been summoned solely to ensure this Bone Colossus, anchored by the Death Divinity, could be constructed in time.

Pale blue soul-fire ignited within the eye sockets of its skull, and a dark, baleful breath was already gathering in its maw. Had it been allowed to fully unleash that strike, even a well-prepared Si Ming would have suffered grievous injury.

But there were no "ifs."

Si Ming had already reached the precise spot.

The next moment, he and his Profaned Greatsword smashed through and pierced the heart of the Bone Colossus before it had even fully formed!

Boom— The impaled colossus disintegrated once more into a myriad of scattered bones. A skull, shimmering with a crystalline luster, was already clutched in Si Ming's hand.

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

The most definitive sign of this was a proclamation that now rang out beside Si Ming's ear.

--[Extra side quest triggered, difficulty and rewards elevated to the maximum... Side quest completed: Defeat the Death Trialist. Obtained 1 B-rank side plot, 5000 reward points.]

It was too slow.

Whether it was this Death Trialist or the proclamation of the Main God, it was all the same.