Chương 227: Shot Through The Heart And You're To Blame

I always found it to be a slight bit of a shame that I wasn't using all of my forms as much as I would like to–Not to mention, that they would often be used in alternative manners… My knightly form was excellent and had great growth potential built directly into its ability set, but I tended to use it as a way to conceal myself under the guise of a female knight instead of actually fighting while transformed.

The 'Plush Form' itself hadn't seen proper use in a while, and the recently acquired 'Nightmare Form' had unfortunately not yet been put to proper use–An absolute shame. The plan I concocted would remedy some of these things… But first, I needed to get away from the necromancer to set some things up. This was easier said than done.

The fucker was tracking my every move with his damned mana senses–Mages are most certainly the most despicable kind of adversaries, and it didn't help that this one wasn't just a mage, but a freaking corpse-freak with a small army to stop people from getting physically close to him, all the while he was flying around on his ridiculous shield-platform. I bet he keeps a barrier around him as well. He does keep a barrier up around him This motherfucker… I need an upgrade to help me punch right through spells.

That would be a great addition to my skill set… Or… I could get myself a little sister who does magic. Mmh… This sounds like a nice idea! I dodged another blade–Not of literal death, but pretty close, as I thought about what this theoretical cutie would look like, as I imagined that I would be bringing her into existence via the equipment inside the Mindscape… Would it be better for her to be a little sister of mine, or a sister to Xlown?

I guess I'll need to see how this new darling would turn out before making the decision. My thoughts were occupied by various appearances for this little mage, which made dodging the endless barrage and running from the zombies far more enjoyable. One of the shambling corpses tried cutting me off in my path, I merely backhanded the rotten mess in the chest, and the entirety of the ugly bastard basically blew up into a shower of decaying bile and sludge-like blood. Disgusting. I wonder how they taste, though…

The necromancer cursed at me, apparently not too happy that the undead had proven useless in even slowing me down–What did he expect, though? That his pitifully weak cadavers could get in the way of my heavy metallic frame? The zombies themselves aren't a threat. They are just an obstacle between him and me. They threaten to bog me down if I try to rush through their ranks, nothing more. I believe I heard the mage click his tongue right before the barrage of spells slowed down by a significant margin.

He appears wary of running out of mana… He is already using a steady amount to keep his shield-looking platform airborne and moving, and also to maintain a barrier of good strength around him at all times. Casting spell after spell is only putting further strain, and it appears that he isn't capable of maintaining such an output Ah… I assume that when it comes to his platform, making it speed up is intensive in mana consumption, yes? It appears to be the case, yes Perfect.

I activated 'Overcharge', but instead of forcefully keeping the excessive amount of lightning in place before conducting it through my wires, I used it like it was actually intended to, and let it flow throughout my body. The electrifying zone around me was useless at the moment, but the power boost was very much welcome.

I focused, trying to make it so the power boost focused on enhancing speed in particular–It seemed to work as I wanted it to, as I began rapidly making distance between me and my pursuer, beginning to run on all fours like a beast of steel.

"What the…?! Do you really think you can run away from me?!" He cried out to me, attempting to fire a barrage of spells–The strain on his mana reserves showed as he didn't use his death element at all, and instead fell back on the classics of classics, basic mana bullets. I weaved in between pillars with agility I hadn't realised I was ever capable of…

'Overcharge' is definitely much better than its description would imply. The necromancer kept up with me for a while, but quickly stopped. I guess the cost of mana wasn't worth it anymore, and he could only watch me speed off into the distance as I went deeper and deeper into what seemed to be an endless stony dungeon. … This fucker's great-grandfather had definitely been much more of a genius than the current generation. This item had manifested a huge alternate space.

This gave the feeling that it wasn't intended to be used as a trap for enemies. My assumptions were proven true as I reached the end of the large rooms and found a passage whose entrance was merely a slight bit bigger than the average doorway. Inside, I found a series of hallways and cramped rooms filled with old items. Someone used to live there. Huh… Does this idiot not realise that this item is a ticket to a safe living space?

He doesn't seem like the brightest, so it wouldn't be surprising if he completely misunderstood the point of this whole thing. Well, let's get started. My plan was simple, but destructive. I couldn't keep the container full of goods inside my chest if I were to go through with it. So I took off my clothes, wrapped the box inside of them, and carefully slid them underneath an old bed that hadn't seen use in what looked to be decades.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. I then shifted into my 'Plush Form'. It was by far the stealthiest option available to me. The necromancer should no longer be able to detect me via his mana sense, and seeing how silly a fellow he seemed to be, he probably wouldn't suspect that I could get close to him without being detected. Concealing one's mana signature was one thing, but doing so perfectly even near a mage was another.

He probably wouldn't assume I could do something like this either. I more so looked like a brute than anything else, and he should have noticed that my mana was undeveloped. I doubted that he was one to be able to decipher negative energy either, so he should be under the impression that, in the realm of energy manipulation, I was unknowing and incompetent–He wouldn't be wrong either way. With my little, soft feet, I began trodding my way back to where I had come from.

Being so small and squishy definitely made what I had run previously into a trek. I carefully moved from pillar to pillar, and eventually, I spotted the idiot and his army of corpses. He wasn't floating on his platform at the moment. He had dropped down to recover some mana, having instead ordered his undeads to tighten up their formations around him. He was sitting on the ground with a somewhat pensive expression.

The plan was very simple: I sneak close to him and transform into the 'Molten Steel Form' point-blank, all the while using a decent amount of my stocked steel to enlarge it and ensure that the fool drowns in liquid steel before he can even blink. By this point, I have been in my 'Plush Form' for a while, so the cooldown between changing form was long over. Closing the distance was all that I needed to do. First, I tested if the zombies actually reacted to me.

I didn't know much about necromancy, but I at least knew that undeads raised by necromancers could differ quite wildly in many aspects. Some couldn't be given orders that weren't a simple, one-word command. While some could act a bit on their own if need be. … And some weren't under control. They listened to commands from their creator, but would just wander around and do whatever if not told to do otherwise. A zombie looked directly at me and acted like I was just a rock.

He didn't react and didn't seem to even realise that I was a living being. Regardless of whether I was moving or not, the cadavers were simply not showing any reactions whatsoever. I guess they can't actually do anything if not directly ordered. So right now, they were just standing still, serving as meatshields for their master. I would almost say that it was tragic, but those were nothing more than empty husks. Remains that had probably been dug out of cemeteries. Do they even have souls that I could claim?

I didn't pay attention when I blasted that other one earlier. They don't have much in the way of souls and other non-physical attributes. But you did receive something earlier–It isn't really relevant to the situation at hand, though. Please stay focused and careful, Big Sis! Right… I began slowly making my way past the legs of the corpses, getting closer and closer to Kyrtian. I peeked past the ankles of an undead and spotted the necromancer sitting on the ground with his back turned to me.

He seemed to have done something while I was getting through his thralls, as an undead was currently massaging his shoulders. Mmh… Unsurprising. Everyone knows that necromancers are freaks and that their girlfriends are all dead. What kind of nonchalantness is this, though? I shook my head. Nara, do you detect any spells he might have set up around him as defence? I can only detect a barrier directly around him, but do remember that my mana senses, while good, still depend on yours as a base.

So a well-hidden spell could slip through my detection I know. It isn't like I am not close enough already. As long as I pumped enough steel into it, he was going to be caught in it. Just as I was about to go for it, the ground around the mage shimmered slightly, and before I knew what happened, I was flung back through the undeads, slamming into them before slamming into a pillar. My squishy body made it so that this dealt no damage whatsoever, but I hadn't expected this to happen.

I didn't move forward at all, why did this thing activate?

"What the hell is this?" Naturally, Kyrtian had no idea that the little plush and the steel abomination he had been chasing were the same entity, the plush looked like my knightly form as well, so for someone who didn't even know that I could change form, it would be weird for them to realise my identity with just a glance. Considering the situation though, he correctly guessed that I was an enemy regardless, and launched several spells that were certain to tear my poor self asunder.

I considering using the 'Molten Steel Form' right there and then, but the necromancer had thrown me far, and had immediately gotten onto his floating shield to make further distance, I wasn't so certain that I could catch him in the 'blast' of my transformation anymore, and if he saw me transform, he would absolutely run away as fast as he possibly could. So I instead assumed my 'Base Form' again, raising my arms in defence as I tried stepping to the side whilst activating 'Overcharge' for a boost…

A bolt-like spell of death mana hit me in the chest, damaging my 'Faraday Box' and completely destroying the 'Music Box'. My idea was to keep on moving, but my body froze as the lightning produced by 'Overcharge' went out of control due to the damage the source of all my lightning came from. The zombies trying to charge me were shocked hard–Harder than they should have been.

The purple glow of my eyes flickered, brightening and dimming uncontrollably as all of my parts began going haywire, but the sheer quantity of lightning being produced seemed to electrify everything around me without distincting–Including ambient energies, to the point that the necromancer's spells were losing large portions of their strength of momentum when they got close.

"This won't protect you for long" For some reason, this fool didn't see the writing on the wall. Congrats on acquiring a new upgrade! You've acquired: 'Overvoltage' Congratulations! You've fulfilled the requirements to unlock a new form The 'Wire Mess Form' is now available I didn't even need to will for it, the transformation happened on its own.