by Cobyboy
But as for now, Feihren was pretty confident that he could handle a fragmented version of the Ancient Demon Lord. Besides it's not as if he was giving this conniving old being full control over this new body of his.
Handing over the [Full Body Armor] special blueprint to old man Mendi, they started the production of the armor. Within the workshop that Feihren had custom built for his use, he and the dwarven chief worked for the entire day to build this new blueprint in a hurry.
Although it was a perilous task, equipping the subclass of [Armor Specialist] had made sure that Feihren was doing the exact measurements and had properly adjusted everything to fit his 'need'.
Finishing the armor, Old man Mendi then proceeded to work with the special blueprint that Yeshua had handed to him by the request of Feihren. Within the tiny blueprint was the guideline in making a metallic pair of wings. Although this was impractical and would obviously not be of use by the ordinary people, Feihren had still specifically asked for one to be made.
Feihren handed over the [High-grade Griffon Feathers] and the [High-grade Wyvern Scales] that were going to be used as the raw materials for the pair of wings aside from the steel cables that would serve as its skeletal base. Old man Mendi was indeed a master craftsman as he had immediately got the hang of this item's creation process as he proceeded with it smoothly.
Feihren then continued to work with the armor 'sealing' as to make sure that the ominous aura of the Ancient Demon Lord would not be 'leaking' anytime soon.
'General Exp: 17,681,480'
From the last time Feihren had checked his general exp until now, he had garnered an additional 7 million general exp. It was from the black market heist on the Sechua City, the defense of the Western district, and the sneaky night raids he made before.
Green lights swirled on Feihren's hand as he individually applied 'life force' to each part; the torso, the legs, the arms, and the helm. The process didn't take long, but as for the consumption of the General exp, it was a bit excessive. But for Feihren, it was all worth it, or would be if this all turned out to be successful.
'General Exp: 2,681,480'
Two million more general exp would be gone as the wings that Old man Mendi made would be finished. It was already midnight as Feihren had taken a nap on the dirty floor of the workshop.
He was awoken by the noise of Old man Mendi celebrating the success of finally finishing the pair of wings! Feihren was ecstatic as well as both of them immediately worked on attaching the wings to the armor.
"And now, for the main course..."
Feihren did not wait till tomorrow for all this to be finished. It is possible that he had miscalculated the arrival time of the enemy and they might get here a lot sooner than he expected, so he had to treasure the time he has and not waste any of it.
Removing the seals of the Demonic Carbine caused it to return to its original [M4 Stallion Carbine] form.
4 ominous black sprites swirled in Feihren's arms as they intertwined with each other. Feihren then had brought up the 5th [Demonic Essence] from his Inventory as he added it to the mix.
One [Demonic Essence] went into one arm, one more to the other...
One [Demonic Essence] for a leg, one more to the other...
The limbs of the armor started twitching as the fragments of the Ancient Demon Lord condensed within it.
Now this was the important part of keeping the Ancient Demon Lord in line...
Feihren took Samael's gem from his belt pocket as he carefully placed it within the hollow forehead of the armor's helm. The gem glowed brightly as the red aura covered the entirety of the armor.
The gem then seemed to turn into a liquid as it ran through every nook and cranny of the armor, as if congealing an entirely new body. The armor then glowed bright red as it moved ever so slightly.
This whole armor was now a fusion of Samael and the Ancient Demon Lord...
Samael's faithful familiar mentality would weed out any bad intentions that the demon lord would plan out as they are now basically bound by the same consciousness...
And as for the 5th Demonic Essence... Feihren carefully placed it on the back of the armor. The wings on the armor then slightly twitched as the fragment started condensing.
Whoosh!
The wings flapped open as it looked mighty and awe inspiring. Colored with bright golden feathers with dark purplish scales over a skeletal frame, it was truly a sight to be in awe of. It was a dark armor with red and bright orange outlines throughout its body, and its closed mask that only glowed with two flickering red dots emitted a strong aura.
The figure of the armor moved ever so slightly as it started inspecting itself...
A gentle feminine voice could be heard from the illusory mouth of the armor. The voice sounded mysterious as one could hear a split tone, as if two people were talking simultaneously. It was utterly weird, yet was full of elegance and grace...
"Thank you, Your Highness. For granting me this new body."
"Eh?" Both the chief and Feihren listened in surprise... "A woman?"
"Did I name Samael wrong all this time? And here I thought those rocks don't have any gender..."
Chapter 68: Birth of an Overpowered Maiden
"What did you do lad...?" Old Man Mendi inquired. He was rubbing his chin while walking in a circular pattern as he inspected the dark armor that was now sentient and moving.
"This thing can move and talk on its own..." The old chief muttered in a low voice. He lightly tapped on one of the armor's shin guards and a clanking noise was heard "It's not skin but metal..."
"Ah... Don't worry old chief. This is according to what I have planned out... Well, almost." Feihren answered the old chief's query as he let out a sigh while scratching his head. "Although... I made my Sentient Ore familiar as the core. I can't believe that Samael turned out to be female? Eh, like it matters anyway. Seems like I have to call you something else rather than Samael or the Ancient Demon Lord, huh..."
Feihren was thinking about it as he inspected the now sentient dark armor, and a transparent blue character page appeared in front of him.
...
"Character Name": [???] (Sentient Demonic Ruby Ore)
"Power Level: (5-star Demigod Class)"
"Equipped Class: Alpha Demoness Knight"
"Equipped Title: Messiah's True Familiar"
"Torso HP: 100,000"
"Helm HP: 5,000"
"Left Arm HP: 40,000"
"Right Arm HP: 40,000"
"Left Leg HP: 40,000"
"Right Leg HP: 40,000"
"Wings HP: 20,000"
"Base Damage: 5,000"
...
The 'character page' that was presented was exaggeratedly long and a bit too detailed for Feihren's taste. He had to cut it short and ponder about only the upper part of it a bit before proceeding to read the rest. It was more complicated than his own character page in Gaia's Paradox.
The information was cluttered and was all over the place, but Feihren had intently read each bit of it as he took note...
'No 'character name'... So this new form of Samael could be considered a 'player'-like being'. Feihren pondered as he was thinking deeply about what to name 'her' after. 'Well, it should be, as it seems that this fusion of Samael and the Ancient Demon Lord's fragments is of a Demigod level...'
Feihren broke into a cold sweat as it seems that Samael's new form was way more powerful than he estimated. He thought that it would at most be a Mythical grade creature, but it seems that this dark armor does not follow the 'rule' of the beasts and lowly creatures. It seems that it had adopted the leveling system of 'players'.
The 'Title' was not all that shocking as it was similar to what Samael had before. As for the 'HP' section, it seems that it was divided through the different parts of the dark armor, even including the torso and helm that none of the fragments should have resided in. Yet both parts had the highest and lowest 'HP' assigned, respectively.
It might have been
the effect of Samael congealing through every part that might also have spread the strength of the Ancient Demon Lord's consciousness. The base damage was also ridiculously high, especially in comparison to what Feihren has. What made it even more ridiculous is that Feihren is technically one-tier higher than this armor.
'It seems that I have really underestimated the level of strength one can have in this world'.
Feihren then proceeded to read the rest of the 'character' page...
...
"Equipped items: [Demonic Dark Knight] (Set)"
"Equipped Weapon(s): None
"Equipped Skills:
(Empty Slot 1)
(Empty Slot 2)
(Empty Slot 3)
[The Demon Within] - "???"
"Special Skill (Netherwing Effect): Passive effect: Gains control of any winged beast/creature at or below Legendary grade."
[Seraphim's Gate]: Summon a 10-meter tall gate, allows [Teleportation] through thought.
"Special Skill (Dark Armor Effect): Wraps an Area of Effect (10 km radius) with [Impenetrable Dark Fortress], Reduce damage allies receive by 20%"
...
Old man Mendi returned to one of the furnaces within the workshop. Feihren was squatting down on the floor, reading the illusory status page, as the 'Lady Knight' was standing nearby, motionless.
"Perhaps this sentient dark armor needs some additions as to emphasize her lady-like stature... hmmm" Old man Mendi randomly thought as he started pounding and twisting a few thin strips of metal...
As for Feihren, he was still in a bit of a daze as he continued reading the character page.
'So technically, the entire body counts as a set? And it seems that Samael's new body can equip more stuff huh...' Feihren thought to himself. He thought about all the loot he got back at the black market, which he temporarily placed in the kingdom's treasure vault. It was the safest place he could think of to put things that he was not planning on placing in his inventory.
But any of the things that Feihren considered as having some value were placed inside his Inventory.
'First is... a weapon'.
Feihren carefully thought of what items that the dark armor should be equipping.
'It would highly be illogical to give her guns or ranged weapons... It would beat the purpose of her being a knight and all that, and it would not be easy handing over ammunition in the middle of a fight... Swords then?'
Scrolling past all the of the Gaia's Paradox weapons Feihren has, he arrived at a certain sword that piqued his interest. It was the sword he had bought back in the Ranustin Kingdom.
[Snow Wolf Longsword], this Legendary-grade sword doubles the user's base damage and has a 10% movement speed slow that can stack up every time one would damage the enemy.
Feihren immediately summoned the sword from his Inventory... as another item caught his attention amongst the items under the New World Items tab he made back then...
'[Colossal Aegis]? Is this one of the items I got back when I was raiding the black market?' Feihren immediately grabbed a hold of this item within his inventory and a gigantic black and gold shield appeared in front of him. It was almost as tall as he was and its thickness was akin to a wall.
The intricate golden outline brought elegance to this big piece of metal that seems to be engraved with magical runes... Feihren closely inspected the effects of the aegis.
"Blocks 100% of damage from 1 attack for every 10 hits taken... Not bad... But, this thing seems too bulky." Feihren pondered if he would actually let Samael carry this humongous object.
It was only logical back then when Samael was in his giant golem form, but now… It would be really inappropriate to let a lady carry such a huge burden.
Feihren leaned on the gigantic block of a shield as he thought about other things he could give to the new form of Samael. The aegis accidentally tipped over from Feihren's weight as it fell towards the dark armor...
Amazingly enough, 'Samael' had stopped the shield from toppling over her... with one hand. She calmly lifted it towards her side, nonchalantly equipping it on her right arm.
"Is this for me, Your Majesty?"
The gentle voice of 'Samael' made Feihren's heart skip a beat. He was definitely not used to hearing such a tender voice from... her?
"...Sure" Feihren replied as he hurriedly went back to scanning his inventory...
'It seems that she can carry it just fine...' Feihren again directed his attention towards the dark armor as he spoke up,
"Take this too. Tell me if it's of your liking."
He then handed the [Snow Wolf Longsword] to 'Samael'.
"Of course it is, master."
"..." Feihren went silent for a moment, then he said, "...Please don't call me master from now on... Just any kind of honorific besides that would do. Or please, you can just call me Feihren or Gama from now on."
'That sounded way too... awkward for me. Phew.'
Returning to the character page for Samael's new form, Feihren could not help but notice the blank description on the skill page of the supposed 'ultimate' skill of this dark armor. [The Demon Within], it seems that it has something to do with the incomplete 'form' of the Ancient Demon Lord? Feihren could only hypothesize.
'... And as for these special skills'.
Feihren could only smile in defeat as he realized that each and every one of these skills were broken and overpowered... Teleportation? Control of Legendary-grade beasts? Heck, even a huge area of effect damage mitigation spell? All of these skills were on a whole different level. Although they were a bit logical in context, Feihren could only look at this new form of Samael with admiration. [A/N: For its strength of course ;)].
Before he could ponder on which [Skill Book] he would acquire from the vaults to give to 'Samael', and even before Feihren could close the character page, Old man Mendi approached the two as he said with humor lacing his voice.
"It seems that milady would need some sort of identification from all that thick armor that is covering her."
Old man Mendi then attached and melded a bundled strand of thinly hammered gold on the back of the armor's helm to create the illusion of beautiful flowing hair. He then tightened the strands with a hair tie that was made from the excess [Griffon Feathers].
"I've always wanted a daughter that would let me tie her hair for her." Old man Mendi smiled as he finished this out-of-the-blue addition to the armor.
"Thank you, Sir Mendi" 'Samael' then bowed deeply as she returned her attention to Feihren.
"It seems that we need to get a few other things from the castle's vault before..." Feihren halted his sentence as blue light glowed within his pocket. It was the same scroll that was used to make contact with the people of the First Towers sector...
"... They've arrived earlier than I thought?"
Chapter 69: Opening the Gates of War
Feihren opened the communication scroll as it displayed the following characters.
[The Garudia Army is sighted near the First Tower Sector, 100 kilometers away.]
"Well the enemy is not that far away now, but I guess they're not too near either... Hmmm, they'll reach it in around a few hours or so? If we go now... We would have ample time to prepare." Feihren laid out his thought to Old man Mendi and 'Samael' as he continued.
Feihren's eyes were looking tired from all the sleepless nights throughout the entire month. The stress from all the problems he had faced just from the single attack of the Garudia Kingdom made him a little bit groggy as he yawned while talking.
"Don't push yourself too much lad. You should rest first. It's still dark outside and I am pretty confident that the towers can hold off a lot longer than you'd expect." Old Mendi proposed that they should take a good night's rest first before proceeding to the battlefield.
"Hmmm... a hundred kilometers would still roughly take them the entire night, or the remainder of it, to reach the first sector... But, I do not want to be reckless again and push my luck, it would still be
better if I'd go there as soon as possible." Feihren had thought about resting but had dispersed the idea the moment he remembered the risk of being 'late'.
"...If I may interrupt, Your Highness. It would be fine to settle in for tonight and travel early in the morning. It would only be a few hours from now, but a short rest is still better than nothing." The dark armored 'Samael' interjected as she continued, "And we could be there in an instant if you so wish. I can just summon the [Seraphim's Gate] for us to arrive at the first sector immediately."
"Oh right... that skill of yours... Thanks, Sama...erm" Feihren stopped mid-sentence as he continued, "It seems that it would be inappropriate to call you Samael now... you are technically not 'him' anymore... hmmm..." Feihren had pondered for a while.
