NOVGO.NET Chapter 476: Minute of Silence!
Chapter 476: Minute of Silence!
The world trembled…
Shake! Shake! Shake! Shake!
The many lizards suddenly felt tiny, as if the world was about to end. And they weren’t wrong either, for everything turned mad.
In the distance, a Harbinger of death appeared…
[Successfully Raised Lizard Skeleton!]
[Successfully Raised Lizard Zombie!]
[Successfully Raised Lizard Ghoul!]
….
As Jack kept raising undead, he felt free.
He had always had restrictions on his necromancy, whether the skill directly or the Mana needed to cast it, but now it felt like he had activated cheat codes.
In the remnants of the Lizardgeddon, he felt like a god.
Infinite Mana, no pesky spectators watching, and nowhere to run either— at least not right this instant. And he knew this was the only opportunity he’d get.
Jack rose undead after undead, and then he marched…
His troops shook the earth, but they shook hearts even more. And as row and row of undead appeared at the horizon, every living lizard shat themselves.
Even the 12th Legion couldn’t help but gasp…
“Am I dreaming? Is this really our leader?”
“Why are all the fallen lizards moving?!”
“Is this Scaly’s blessing too?”
It felt so wrong, and yet there wasn’t any other explanation. After all, how else could he use such sacrilegious magic in what was essentially Scaly’s domain?!
And as Jack walked forward, he seemed to glow.
“Now, remind me again how many Legion there are? I kinda lost count a little while ago?” he gently asked, and yet his voice echoed like thunder.
None wanted to answer, and yet, as he pointed at one, the latter had to. He struggled to open his mouth, finding words difficult. Then, still shaking all over, he went…
“F-Five… oh, great one?” Those words took all he still had left.
Now what? Would the white lizard kill him, or would he be satisfied? He waited in apprehension, the white lizard shaking his head as he approached and—
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
His claw streaked dangerously close, the poor lizard’s brain working overtime. That answer obviously wasn’t the right one. And this was the last mercy he would receive!
Jack kept staring, his gaze as if a predator….
“Ah?! There’s only one! Only one true Legion, the 12th Legion. All other “Legions” are merely frauds that don’t deserve to exist. They’re not even lizards; they’re worms!”
Then, seeing the approving glint in Jack’s eyes, he finished:
“Actually, I surrender. Please accept my loyalty!”
The lizard threw himself at Jack’s feet, making sure he didn’t touch him. And with this, Jack nodded, pleased. Then, as if nothing big, he offhandedly remarked.
“Great. You… I won’t kill!”
It was a very simple sentence, but it changed everything.
Whoosh! As if responding to his words, a golden light engulfed them both, Jack’s promise taking effect. From now on, he’d incredibly suffer if he broke his word.
“Gasp!? Thank you, oh great one! Thank you so much!” To the lizard, it was the same as being reborn. There was no point fighting him when he could join him!
Yes, he sure was a smart lizard!
That was also all it took to start a domino effect. Before Jack, ALL the surviving warriors prostrated themselves on the ground, offering themselves, an offer which he accepted.
And before long…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Survivor Count Ranking!]
[12th Legion — 1364]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Just like that, order returned to chaos, an army of undead clapping for their god in the background, making them look frighteningly silly. Then Jack raised a hand toward the sky.
“From now on, there are no Legions, only lizardmen…”
Through terror, he had brought peace and unity, not that he was done. A second later, he took out a certain Altar from his Inventory.
[Summoned Scaly’s Stolen Altar!]
[Ding! Make a Sacrifice? Y/N?]
[Successfully Selected YES!]
He smiled. The lizards did too. To them, their new leader had just created a miracle. In fact, they were way too impressed to see anything wrong with the picture as they gasped.
“Whoa, it came out of nowhere, amazing!”
“Don’t tell me, he’ll give us memories?!”
“He’s really chosen by Scaly!”
They cheered in expectation. They cheered as he opened his own veins, the blue of life falling unto the altar. They especially cheered as the Mana in him made him regenerate.
Or rather, it was mostly Lizzy’s blood. He was her “protegée” after all. In his body, there was a tiny portion of her own blood, one mostly inactive, but that was now flaring up.
And just like that, endless blood gushed out…
[A New Landmark Has Appeared!]
[The Bleeding Lizard God!]
[The Name Doesn’t Fit!]
The system was right, it was missing handsome. And with that silly thought, Jack gestured them to come as if a shepherd leading his flock to an oasis in the desert.
The flock went ravenous, throwing themselves on the Altar and drinking as much as possible! They weren’t about to miss a single drop of it! They drank it ALL!
But the more they drank, the more certain lizards shook.
Holy Hell, did they have a death wish?! In fact, many were already collapsing on the ground, seemingly in trances, the 12th Legion shaking all the more.
After all, they still vividly remembered themselves writhing in agony, inches away from death. Or was this time different? They sought council.
Jack simply shook his head. NOPE.
Gasping once more, they couldn’t help but shake. Did this mean that all those were gonna die?! They weren’t sure how they felt about that.
They deserved death for going against them.
They deserved death for killing so many
They deserved far worse possibly…
But that didn’t change the fact that they were still Lizardmen. If they couldn’t even save their own people, then what was the point of it all?! They felt their heart aching.
Yet even that wouldn’t alter their loyalty.
They had been through FAR too much in this war to abandon Jack. As they glanced at him, there was doubt in that specific course of action, but none in him.
They’d follow him, even if it killed them.
They’d follow him till the very end.
They’d follow him till—
“Pffft— So serious!” Jack’s laughter interrupted their thoughts like a crystalline bell. How could his laughter be so pure? He sounded free and even relieved.
“Don’t worry, they’ll mostly be fine. I tweaked it.”
This blend of blood was different from the last, more and less potent at the same time. This time it contained more of Infinite and less of himself.
This time he wouldn’t be shaping brethren, but pure followers. Well, they’d either become followers or turn insane, but at this point, he really didn’t give a shit.
They could flail like carps out of the water for all he cared. Instead, he turned toward his loyal troops. Seeing only 30 of them was as lonely as before.
“I have something for your eyes only…”
That’s when he activated his powers once more, grabbing the statue he had made earlier, the one from the dead 12th member who had resisted torture.
“Come. All the stray souls. Come and answer your god’s call!”
He powerfully chanted, the world once again rumbling, except this time it wasn’t the ground but the air. The very fabric of the realm seemingly shook.
Even then, Jack wasn’t sure if it would work. Since this test realm was sealed, then it was possible to retrieve their souls in theory, but practice could be different.
’Please. Please. Please. Please.’
At that moment, he found himself wishing.
Not just for their sake, but for his too. And for once he begged for divine intervention. “Thanatos, even now I’m sure you can hear me. Do your thing, please. I’ll owe you one.”
What kind of dumbass asked for a favor from a god like that?! This wasn’t as easy as writing an IOU and calling it a day! Magic, especially soul magic, was far more complex!
It required countless sacrifices, and then—
[A Certain Goddess is Pleased!]
[Wish Successfully Granted!]
[Take Care of Them!]
And that’s when it began.
A strange black wind suddenly rose as countless souls started flying all over, all toward their leader, their ghostly faces becoming more and more defined the closer they got.
A lizard who kept joking when no one was looking.
A lizard who dreamed of red AND green apples.
A lizard who wanted to build a fortress.
They all flew to him, their aspirations breathing life into the surroundings, which was very ironic given they were all dead. And yet, the place really felt lively.
The battlefield with lizards convulsing in the background turned into a wholesome plane of dreams for the 12th Legion. And it kept going all until the very last one.
“My God! I knew you’d succeed!”
The one who believed the most, a three-eyed lizard. He who had mastered Astral Projection somehow managed to project his voice through the afterlife?!
But then, a second later, the remnant collapsed on itself, already gone like a mirage, the most beautiful of mirages, with Jack murmuring.
“We’ll bring you with us. Now, rest well.”
That’s when he took it all, their hopes, their dreams, their loyalty, and he spammed necromancy on it, using the temporary power he had gained perfectly.
[Ding! Created a Masterpiece!]
[Macabre Hope of Lizards!]
[Class Unlocked: Soul S—]
Jack closed it all.
They deserved a minute of silence.
For a brief instant, all sounds in the world stopped. It was as if the universe itself was agreeing with him. Jack actually felt at peace. Just a tiny lizard finally at peace.
He left the feeling to suffuse inside his being, his mind seemingly floating away. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened. A certain tattoo on his chest had reappeared.
Except this time, it glowed like the sun…