Chapter 97
As expected. So that was Greed.
A giant steel robot... A golem...?
I did wonder how a microorganism could take on a form like that, but...
─Kkyu!
I thought I could hear Kkyu-kkyu crying out in protest from the depths of my consciousness, so I take that back.
Right. There are even cases where slime molds gather together and create a single giant maze. Why couldn't they make a metal golem dozens of meters tall?
“Anyway, I know what it is now, but...”
The problem was, those things...
were alive.
Which meant they were no use to me, since I could only revive dead entities.
I needed to revive even a small number of them so I could figure out exactly what abilities they had and identify their weaknesses...
[There are no entities eligible for Undead Rise.]
There was nothing I could summon.
Most microorganisms had short lifespans.
Of course, they reproduced even faster than they died... but still, a giant colony should normally have been full of targets I could summon.
But those things called Greed...
“They must have incredibly long lifespans.”
How could there not be a single summonable target in a colony that huge?
Still, thanks to Mision, even if I didn't know the weaknesses of the microorganism called Greed...
I could figure out the weakness of that robot called ‘Helltaker’—or whatever that human-shaped mass of metal was.
If you compared it to a human, it was around where the heart would be.
The Greed colony was swarming there.
The members of the colony were linked to one another by strands they had extended.
And those strands didn't stop at connecting the colony to itself.
The enormous metal body...
All of it...
was being controlled by countless thin strands of nerves stretching throughout it.
... That thing was located where the heart would be, but it was actually more like...
“A brain.”
Brain cells extend threadlike nerve fibers to form neurons, which then control the entire body through a network of nerves spreading throughout it.
The reason it was located near the heart instead of the head...
was probably because it didn't have anything like a spinal cord to transmit nerve signals throughout its body—or rather, its entire frame.
Without a spine, the heart, near the center of the body, was a better place to extend the nerve fibers from than the brain would be.
“So I just have to go for the heart.”
Easier said than done.
A weakness is practically the same thing as the area someone protects most desperately.
Especially since it was resisting my Gluttony's attacks with all its might.
“Damn. I can't break through.”
The tens of trillions of Gluttony entities could disassemble well over dozens of tons of material per second.
The problem was that their disassembly rate was halved depending on how tightly bound the material was.
First of all, I didn't know what it was made of, but...
Maybe because it wasn't from Earth, it was ridiculously hard.
On top of that, it kept repairing itself by replenishing its material from the ground in real time.
Finally, the armor around its heart was far denser than anywhere else.
In those circumstances, even Gluttony couldn't break through head-on.
And the bigger problem was...
It wasn't giving me time to think.
Whoosh! I dodged the incoming punch by flying and glanced at the time remaining.
[The Gate will collapse in 42 minutes and 37 seconds.]
“Damn it.”
Time kept passing.
If I could keep dodging and disassembling it, I might eventually stop it from repairing itself by consuming all the minerals on the surface.
But the time limit prevented me from using that strategy.
Then I had to change my approach.
“... A way to stop it from absorbing minerals before time runs out.”
Was that even possible?
... Even if it wasn't, I had to try. What else could I do?
I scattered every cement-producing bacterium I had, and even had Pride mimic them and spread out.
Even so, there was no way I could cover the entire mine in cement.
I wasn't that reckless.
While continuing to attack its heart with Gluttony, I kept a close eye on it.
And that giant thing only absorbed minerals from specific spots.
“There must be places where it's easier for it to absorb them.”
In that case...
Couldn't I just concrete over all those spots?
I sent cement-producing bacteria flying toward every absorption point I'd spotted so far.
The cement formed in an instant and hardened until it was as solid as rock.
Of course, if it pushed with enough force, it could break through.
But all I needed was a little time to keep it from absorbing anything.
Gluttony's ability to disassemble material was overwhelming.
Even that brief delay would be enough for me to break through.
And then...
Gwoooaaar! The thing let out a whale-like, resonant roar, sounding flustered.
“Caught you off guard, huh?”
Crash! It tried to break through the hardened cement and reach the exposed minerals, but...
Did it think I was just going to sit there and watch?
I produced more cement at that spot and hardened it even further.
At the same time...
“Gluttony! Bite!”
If its chest was its weakness, focusing all my attacks there would make it easy to defend.
I changed direction and went for its legs in an instant.
Its right leg was severed in a flash, and the thing—robot or golem, I still couldn't tell—lost its balance and fell over.
It flailed around with one leg missing, then tried to grab the severed limb and reattach it.
While it was distracted, I sent Gluttony back toward its chest.
Unlike before, the Gluttony legion was now visibly burrowing in.
I didn't need to break through a wide area.
If they could get inside and come face-to-face with the Greed entities...
they'd wipe them out in an instant.
How could they withstand Gluttony's disassembly, which even ‘Pride’ couldn't endure?
But suddenly, Gluttony's disassembly came to a halt as it burrowed in.
I'd blocked its supply of minerals.
How?
“Ah...!”
It was pulling material from somewhere else.
That huge body was shrinking before my eyes.
But as everyone knows...
there's only one way that kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul ends.
“I broke through.”
Gluttony entities squeezed their way into the Greed colony at the center of its heart.
Just as they were about to disassemble everything...
[Greed, approximately 1.7 quadrillion entities, wishes to acknowledge you as its master and submit to you.]
[You may now use Undead Rise on the target.]
[Use Undead Rise to make them your servants.]
“... What?”
I never thought I'd live to see microorganisms surrender by suddenly changing their tune.
I was bewildered, but they seemed to have truly surrendered. They'd stopped repairing themselves and moving, so I slowly flew toward the giant golem's heart.
“Undead Rise.”
Earlier, it had said there were no targets to use it on.
[You have discovered an undead in an independent state with no master.]
[Would you like to use the Undead Rise skill?]
[Target: Approximately 1.7 quadrillion Greed strains.]
This time, the message was exactly the same as the one I'd received with Pride.
Could it be that they weren't living strains, after all?
Had they always been undead, too?
“... So you won't serve anyone who hasn't acknowledged you. Is that it?”
Still, 1.7 quadrillion...
The number of entities I could maintain right now was barely over a hundred trillion.
This was an incomprehensibly larger number.
“I can't maintain that many.”
Just as I was about to use the skill on only some of them...
A voice rang out in my mind.
─ I . a m . g r e e d
─ W e . e x i s t . o n . o u r . o w n.
Could that have been Greed speaking?
I could barely understand it, since I heard it one letter at a time, with long pauses...
“You exist on your own?”
Good grief...
Now I'd seen everything. Even microorganisms that could talk.
... I'd read somewhere that intelligence was simply the result of a neural network forming as a whole.
It was something I'd seen on YouTube, but...
... Ahem. Anyway, if they could extend their own strands of nerves, connect them to one another, and even extend those strands into inorganic matter...
“... Does that mean your colony has intelligence?”
It wouldn't be strange if they did.
Pride could display a degree of intelligence once enough entities gathered together.
Of course... not to this extent.
─ T h a t . i s . r i g h t. W e . e v e n . c o v e t . i n t e l l i g e n c e.
Why was that actually true?
Still, it was a shame.
They could only display such a high level of intelligence because there were 1.7 quadrillion entities before me right now.
With that many of them, they must have formed countless neural networks and developed intelligence.
I couldn't maintain 1.7 quadrillion entities with my ability right now, so...
Unfortunately, they probably wouldn't be intelligent if I only made some of them my servants.
Still, even if it was a consolation...
“Undead Rise. Make as many of them as I can maintain my servants.”
─ I . a c c e p t . t h e . w i l l . o f . o u r . g r e a t . m a s t e r.
[The target is an entity capable of acting independently.]
[No mana will be consumed to make the target your servant or maintain it as one.]
[You have secured control over approximately 1.7 quadrillion Greed strains.]
... What?
(2) Greed
─Number of entities: Approximately 1.7 quadrillion
─Description: An ancient being that covets everything in the world. It can extend strands of nerves into and control anything, organic or inorganic. When a certain number of entities gather, it displays a high level of intelligence.
It had happened a little unexpectedly...
All 1.7 quadrillion entities had become my servants.
A little bewildered, I asked,
“Is it all right to choose a master so easily?”
─ W e . c o v e t . s u r v i v a l . a b o v e . a l l . e l s e.
You covet survival above all else?
What did that mean...?
Ah?
“You, don't tell me...”
─ A p p e t i t e . i s . s c a r y. W e . c a n ' t . c o m m u n i c a t e.
So they surrendered because they were scared of Gluttony...
No wonder their timing was so perfect.
Not long after I made the Greed entities my servants...
[The collapse of the Gate has been halted.]
Phew, thank goodness.
Then I could clear it now...
I thought, just as...
[The environment of the Stage 69 Gate, ‘Hell Mine,’ is changing!]
[The energy of the Demon Realm seeps through the rift in Hell.]
[The Gate is being corrupted.]
[Hell Mine has transformed into the Stage 68 Gate, ‘Demon King Gremory's Domain’!]
What was that supposed to mean all of a sudden...?
“Huh.”
A gigantic castle appeared before me in what had been a barren mine.
The surroundings were still bleak, beneath a red sky.
As the gates of the castle that had appeared swung open...
A great many people began to emerge.
At the very front was a carriage pulled by three dogs, each with three heads... No, should I call it a dog-drawn carriage?
Anyway, there was a woman riding in it.
Her beauty was beyond human.
Just looking at her was enough to lift my spirits. She was that gorgeous.
A woman that beautiful looked at me.
I suddenly felt a little embarrassed...
[The Gate Boss, Demon King Gremory, is watching you.]
“What?”
That woman was the boss? And a Demon King, at that?
Man, I really should be careful around beautiful women...
Just as I prepared to unleash Gluttony...
The Demon King slowly got down from her carriage, bowed her head to me, and spoke.
“You must be the one who defeated the Hell Usurper, our savior of the 72 Demon Realms. As ruler of the 72 Demon Realms, I offer you my immeasurable gratitude.”
... Pardon?
“The 72 Demon Realms have suffered under the existence of that Hell Usurper for over a thousand years. My domain, which was originally the 52nd Demon Realm, fell in rank over that time until it became the lowest-ranked realm... As the ruler of this Demon Realm, how could I not express my gratitude to you for putting an end to it?”
At the same time, a series of messages appeared.
[A legendary achievement! You have become the Savior of the 72 Demon Realms.]
[As a reward, you have gained the title ‘Savior of the 72 Demon Realms.’]
[The title effect has increased all your stats by a small amount.]
A title, for the first time in a while.
Nice. An increase to all stats is always a good effect.
Just as I nodded, satisfied...
“Would you allow me to make one more request, despite how indebted I already am to you?”
“A request...?”
No, a Demon King...
And a boss, at that, was asking me for a favor?