CH 124

[Comeback, Pontaro Gang! Scream, Maa-kun!]

–Four days until the final battle.

Today I was back in the ‘Underground Tomb of the Shinigami’ again after having subjugated the ‘Doom-Bringing Spider Atlach-Nacha’ yesterday.

Why? Well, that disgustingly big spider only dropped one special evolution item and I needed 12 for my boys.

So…

“Ggugaaaa…?!”

“Ahahahaha! And that’s the eleventh Atlach-Nacha today!”

The massive spider fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Standing on top of its dead body, I smiled gleefully…!

Now I’d got 12 ‘Shinigami Soul Cores’, the special evolution items!

“Alright, come out, boys!”

“““Kishashasha~~~~~~~!”””

The Shadow Weapon gang showed up with cheerful cries.

They were now separated into arrows, a bow, a sword, a scythe, a spear, and other kinds of weapons but their bond remained eternal.

They snuggled up on me and began to buzz with love.

“Okay, okay, I get you guys love me, but stop that! It’s ticklish! Let’s not dawdle and start your special evolution right away!”

“““Kishaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!””” Pontaro and the gang cried loudly at the mention of ‘evolution’!

They couldn’t hold their excitement at the chance of getting stronger. But I got it. With so many trump cards at my disposal now, I’d been using them less and less lately. But once they got stronger, they’d have more opportunities to fight by my side, so of course they’d be ecstatic.

I took out the ‘Shinigami Soul Cores’ and showed them to them.

–They looked just like blue marbles. However, they had the rarity of 13☆, the highest in the game.

If I didn’t have such high Luck, I might have had to defeat the hidden boss hundreds of times to even get one of them.

“Okay, let’s do this…!”

I held them closer to Pontaro and the gang.

Then, a message window radiating golden light popped up…! (Hey, that’s new!)

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・Congratulations on meeting all the special evolution conditions!

1: The familiar has gone through the first stage evolution or is a boss monster level 50 or higher (giant boss monsters are not included)

2: The familiar’s level of affection is S (want to mate).

3: The familiar’s race matches the special evolution item.

・All the above conditions have been met.

Would you like to use the Undead Monster Special Evolution Item ‘Shinigami Soul Core’ x11 for Undead Monsters: ‘Shadow Weapon’ number 1 to 11?

When used, you may ‘deify’ each of the ‘Shadow Weapons’ into one of two forms:

1. ‘Possession God Hastur Weapon’

A soul whose aura of darkness has reached the extreme. A form that a Shadow Weapon attained after reaping the lives of countless enemies and becoming the Wind of Death.

Retains the ability to possess weapons. All stats are greatly increased. Possessed weapon clad in wind.

The monster skill ‘Flying’ evolves into ‘Absolute Flying’, which greatly increases flight speed and enhances homing ability.

HP depends on the weapon’s durability and will die permanently if destroyed.

2. ‘Possession God Ctugha Weapon’

A soul whose aura of darkness has reached the extreme. A form that a Shadow Weapon attained after reaping the lives of countless enemies and becoming the Flame of Death.

Retains the ability to possess weapons. All stats are greatly increased. Gains fire attribute.

The monster skill ‘Dark Clone’ evolves into ‘Evil Flame Clone’, which allows it to create clones with the ability to explode temporarily.

HP depends on the weapon’s durability and will die permanently if destroyed.

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“Hmm! Seem strong!”

Both options focused on enhancing Pontaro and the gang’s special abilities.

It was simple, but incredible, nevertheless.

“Pontaro, Ponjiro, Ponsaburo, Ponshiro, Ponjuichiro! Evolve into ‘Hastur Weapon’!”

“““Kishaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”””

Pontaro, Ponjiro, Ponsaburo, Ponshiro, and Ponjuichiro were enveloped in light.

Moments later, the light dissipated, revealing a bow and arrows clad in an undulating dark aura.

“Man, you guys look strong, alright! I’m expecting you to shine as bright as you used to be, okay!”

I’d been relying a lot on Pontaro and the gang before the devs nerfed them.

The sight of them flying off my bow, drawing complicated trajectories in the sky, and piercing through the enemy’s heads had been so brilliant. And now, they could finally shine again…!

“Kishaa… Kishaaa…!”

Pontaro flew into my chest, shaking.

“Yuri-anego… It’s been so painful…! After those dev bastards destroyed our gang, we could only serve as your sub-weapons… sitting in the back watchin’ the guys from ‘Arms Barrier’ shinin’ brightly on the battlefield with you… it’s been so painful we could die…!”

–Or so he seemed trying to convey with his cry. The inside of my eyes grew hot…!

“Don’t you guys worry! You can shine again from now on! And this time, we’re going to rampage alongside each other!”

Yeah, that was why I had Ponjuichiro, who possessed my bow, evolved into ‘Hastur Weapon’.

Going forward, I planned to fight up close and personal with Special Action Arts and Maa-kun’s ‘Flickering’. Since I’d need my hands free to wield swords, Ponjuichiro would have to fly by itself. But with his speed, he might not be able to keep up with me as I rushed through the battlefield.

However, that problem was now solved with him and the rest having evolved. Ponjuichiro would shoot the arrows that were Pontaro and the rest and I would be racing alongside them across battlefields.

“Next, Pongoro, Ponrokuro, Ponshichiro, Ponhachiro, Ponkuro, and Ponjuro. Evolve into ‘Ctugha Weapon’!”

“““Kishashaaa!”””

Next it was the turn of Pongoro, Ponrokuro, Pon… and the rest to evolve.

After the light from their evolution receded, swords, spears, and other weapons appeared with a dark aura burning like hellfire.

“With the fire attribute, your killing power has increased greatly. You’d have an easier time cutting through the enemy’s armor. If you use ‘Evil Flame Clone’ when I fire you, we’d be able to recreate rains of exploding weapons too!”

Because of the devs’ second nerfing, the number of weapons I could fire with ‘Arms Barrier’ skill had dropped significantly, essentially killing my exploding weapons.

But with this, I’d be able to feel the thrill of massacring tens of thousands of enemies at the same time again!!!

“Looking back, the reason I stopped using you was that I found your ability to tear enemies from inside out with ‘Dark Clone’ lacking, so I came up with the ‘Arms Barrier’ combo to replace you. With it, I could mass slaughter my enemies, but I never even stopped and considered your feelings for a moment. I’m really sorry, you guys…”

“Kishaa! Kishashashaaa!”

I tried to apologize, but Pontaro, still in my chest, vibrated violently and stopped me.

The others also gently floated their bodies up and down as if to console me.

“It’s okay, Anego. The guys from ‘Arms Barrier’ are now oppressed by the Dev Gang, too! They share the same fate as us, which makes them our friends…! We’re going to work together to make those bastards pay for what they’ve done…!”

–Or so Pontaro and the rest tried to convey with their cry.

Their manly spirit made the inside of my eyes grow hot again.

“Thanks, guys! I’m really fortunate to be able to become friends with you!”

Alright, now that Pontaro and the gang had evolved, that left you—Maa-kun!

“Boss monsters couldn’t evolve, they say… let’s break their false belief, Maa-kun!”

I took off my boots and pushed the evolution item against them.

Then, a golden message window popped up again――

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・Congratulations on meeting all the special evolution conditions!

1: The familiar has gone through the first stage evolution or is a boss monster level 50 or higher (giant boss monsters are not included)

2: The familiar’s level of affection is S (want to mate).

3: The familiar’s race matches the special evolution item.

・All the above conditions have been met.

You may deify Undead Boss Monster: Living Armor Knight into the transformable deity, ‘Possession Goddess Queen Nitocris’.

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“Transformable deity…?!”

The words made me freeze…!