Chapter 45: The Might Of A Demigod [2]
< Flashback >
Noah pierced Shalia's heart and let her cold corpse hit the ground.
{Art thou confident about fighting Odysseus? If that little girl wasn't lying, Odysseus' strength has surpassed Paris and reached the level of a True Demigod.}
Noah didn't answer Hepius. He opened his palm above Shalia's corpse. "Undeath."
[ Activating skill 'Undeath', Skill Effect 2 'Rebirth'. Soul selected 'Shalia'(Human) ]
[ Time until rebirth: 10 minutes ]
A black cocoon of shadows covered Shalia's corpse. The limits of Undeath skill had been lifted by Hades. It made the process of resurrection faster.
—
Undeath
Skill Effect 1: "Undeath" – Can fuse two souls killed by you. The child soul will gain a portion of parent souls' abilities. (Remaining Uses: 2/3)
Skill Effect 2: "Rebirth" – Can revive a dead soul and evolve them. The soul will retain their memories, personality, level and majority of skills. (Remaining Uses: 5/6)
Skill Effect 3: "Rise, my legion" – Can revive dead souls killed by you as Skeleton Soldiers/ Skeleton Archers/ Skeleton Mages. The revived souls will retain their original level. However, they won't retain their skills, memories, or personality. (Cooldown: 30 days)
—
Noah spent everything he had.
"Use all Skill Points to upgrade Gravity Manipulation."
"Distribute AP between Divine Aura and Endurance."
[ Spend 250 Skill Points for Gravity Manipulation (Tier 1, Lv.8) → Gravity Manipulation (Tier 2, Lv.0) ? ]
[ 250 Skill Points Consumed ]
[ Gravity Manipulation: You can exert (15 metric ton gravitational force) → (200 metric ton gravitational force) in a (7-meter radius spherical domain) → (25-meter radius spherical domain). ]
[ Divine Aura: 67 → 112 ]
[ Endurance: 47 → 500 ]
[ Congratulations! You have reached 500 stats in Endurance. You have gained skill 'Matchless Vigor'(Passive) ]
[ Effect: +15% Stamina, +10% Defense ]
By the time Noah distributed his AP, Hepius shouted, {Why did you waste your AP!? Endurance increases Stamina and Defense. You have the skill given by Cecilia to sustain your stamina. And Odysseus has Ki Core, so your Defense might as well not exist for Odysseus! You should've increased Divine Aura or Vitality!}
Noah stayed silent.
According to Shalia, Odysseus created a Ki core after years of research looking into Achilles' weakness. Ki had the ability to ignore defenses and resistances, and could harm Achilles.
In a way, Hepius' claims of Noah wasting the AP were true. Endurance was the least useless stat in a direct battle against Odysseus.
[ Time until rebirth: 3 minutes remaining ]
Noah suddenly spoke. "Hepius, do you prefer calling me master?"
{...Of course not.}
Noah nodded, "Since I'm a generous person, I'll let you off the hook. All you need to do is explain Odysseus' abilities and call me 'master' respectfully until we can defeat Odysseus."
Hepius was a veteran in combat with years of experience backing him.
Even if Shalia told Noah about Odysseus' abilities, she didn't know the principle behind them nor a method of counterattacks.
But it should be easy for the saint who was given the title of 'Sage' — the one who possesses incomparable knowledge.
{...Deal?}
"Deal."
At the same time, the black cocoon split.
[ Time until rebirth: 0 seconds remaining ]
[ Shalia Lv.60 (High Human, Elite rating) ]
"It… worked?" Shalia stood still while staring at her palms in daze. It was Noah's demand that he use 'Undeath' on her if she wanted Noah to believe her words.
Shalia thought it was Noah's excuse to kill her. She never expected him to possess a skill of such caliber.
Noah interrupted Shalia's reverie, "Now all we need is to enrage Odysseus and a method to defeat him."
***
< Back to Present >
"Bone Magic: 11th War God"
The skeletons buried in the sea, forest and land crawled out. Thousands of undeads fused together and formed a 100-meter skeleton giant. It rose from the sea and moved towards Nelio. The land shook with its each step and craters were formed.
The civilians and remaining soldiers in the port fell to their knees, clasping their hands and praying to the Gods.
"A… a walking calamity."
"We have angered the gods! This is our Doom!"
"O' Ruler of Divine Thunder, Zeus! We beg for mercy! Save us!"
Odysseus saw the helpless masses and laughed aloud.
"Can you see them, Noah? The wars began when the Age of Gods ended. The Olympian Gods are long dead, yet we pray to them!"
A bone platform in the shape of arms elevated Odysseus. Noah hid behind the wreckage while the undead soldiers fought.
"Even if the Gods are alive, they won't forgive us for our sin of mutiny!" Odysseus laughed maniacally, "I will cleanse this godless world! No matter the sins I must bear!"
Suddenly, the skeleton giant's speed increased. It would reach Nelio in 30 seconds. If that giant reached Nelio, Noah would have to fight it while fending off Odysseus.
{He is losing control.} Hepius muttered.
"What do you mean?"
Noah was running from one place to another while maintaining his cover. He needed to be careful, or a single attack from Odysseus' Ancient Rune would end him.
{He is using Kraken's core to strengthen himself. That power isn't something a human can handle. If you don't stop him soon, he'll become insane and lay waste to everything as a true monster.}
While the two were talking, the rune barriers of Nelio were activated. Outside the city, Helen was using the Rune Pagoda inside Noah's training chamber to activate the barrier.
Odysseus ignored the rune barrier and roared, "Come out, Noah. The barrier can't protect you!"
[ Odysseus has activated skill 'Multi Sea Cannon' ]
A water sphere appeared above Odysseus' head. It shot highly compressed water jets in all directions and sliced dozens of Odysseus' and Noah's undeads with a single attack.
The Skeleton Giant finally reached Nelio. Winds whistled as it punched at Noah's approximate location while standing outside the incomplete rune barrier.
"Not on my watch!" Ignis shouted.
[ Ignis has activated skill 'Child of Stars' ]
Ignis ran over the rune barrier and climbed towards the Skeleton Giant. Just as the Giant's fist landed, Ignis also punched.
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!
Blue flames exploded followed by the rush of gales.
The Skeleton Giant's arm fell to the ground. Ignis shouted as he stood atop of the completed Rune Barrier.
"Noah, this doesn't mean I'm helping you! It's just a compatibility issue. I can't win against Odysseus. So, I'll make sure no one interferes until you defeat Odysseus!
Ignis bellowed, "You have defeated me 'The Strongest Warrior', don't you dare lose to anyone else!"
The skeleton giant stood again, however, Ignis faced him.
Noah was surprised. He had noticed Ignis' reluctance over being called 'The Strongest Warrior' and didn't think Ignis would use the title himself.
"Sigh, why are you erecting a barrier? You are only cutting off your escape routes."
[ Odysseus is activating skill 'Domain: Sea Origin' ]
Tremors appeared. Unlike earlier, the shaking was barely noticeable.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Noah noticed the damp ground. Suddenly, massive water pillars shot up from the ground like fountains. The same phenomena occurred in many locations inside the rune barrier.
"Ahahaha… don't tell me." Noah smiled grimly.
The water grew at an alarming pace. It crushed everything in its path, including the undeads and the wreckage.
The rune barrier acted as the stoppage, and Nelio was being filled with seawater.
Soon, the only ones above the sea were Odysseus and Noah.
Noah scanned the surroundings. He no longer had a place to hide. Now, Odysseus could attack Noah and Noah wouldn't be able to dodge his attack.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone