My Wife is a Dead Villainess, and I'm Her Living Weapon
Chapter 176: Axis

Chapter 176: Axis

"Stop—sss. Mercy—sss."

"Why do you betray—sss! Traitor—sss!"

"Die—sss!"

In the ruined passages of the Ysh-Natul dungeon, two armies of Nagas, half-man, half-snake monsters, clashed.

One was comprised of those who still breathed and hungered. The other was an army of metal that no longer did either.

The living Nagas had different builds and breeds and all wore poorly crafted armor and weapons. While the Weapons moved swiftly like daggers but killed with an emotionless fervor.

With inhuman brutality, the metal army slaughtered the living ones without any mercy. Their eyes all burned orange; they said nothing, never tired, and existed only for one thing—combat.

Blood spilled, and soon the once chaotic battleground turned silent. When the last breathing Naga lay dead, the army of black all turned to face behind them and bowed.

"Tyrant. The subjugation of the Viper clan is complete," reported one of them.

Two humans walked among the army of metal serpents. A handsome, muscular man in a black trench coat and a ethereal beauty with hair the color of silver.

"Sigh, Bianca, do we really have to waste time building up forces like this? Can’t we just go find the Tyrant like we did with the Ironwood Treants?" Elian complained impatiently.

"Please bear with it for now, my love,"Bianca reassured with a kiss. "Katri’s information explained the need, right? Unlike the Karnathi, Ysh-Natul does not have only one central authority. If we do not unify them, it will only lead to never-ending rebellions."

Before departing, Katri, Charlotte, and the Virexan spy Yearns pooled their intel. Cross-referencing their reports, they corrected inconsistencies and created the most accurate map of the two dungeons Elian planned to conquer.

To put it simply, for Karnathi, it functioned like a monarchy, while Ysh-Natul functioned like a country with no central government but a group of warring tribes.

This information allowed Elian and Bianca to conquer Karnathi in the most optimal manner. The Ironwood Treants respected the Tyrant and would stop all resistance once he was taken down. This meant there was no need to waste time killing everything.

Plus, the Tyrant of Karnathi, Woody was a known battle maniac; it was expected that once you gained his attention, he would come to you. This part of the info was correct, which gave the intel gathered by the Weapons faction credibility.

"Well, yeah. I know that they did a good job with Karnathi. But weren’t there issues with the information as well?" Elian countered.

While most of the information about Karnathi was correct, there was one mistake. And it was the most crucial of all, one that almost cost Elian and Bianca their lives: Woody’s size and strength.

"Oh, come now, you cannot honestly blame them, could you? The information they had was from the exploration before the Ascendancy took the dungeon. They had no way to know that in the span of 20 years, Woody would grow that much. Didn’t Silas say so?"

Elian grimaced; Silas, who was part of the Ascendancy, added that it was a common tactic. As Ascendancy Breakers were on a different level, they often powered up their monsters to increase the experience. Often lying to the other Big Three to keep it a secret.

"Tsk. I just find this all troublesome. Can’t we just get the mark and be done with it? I already have four planets for my axis: Fralhame, Averignis, Karnathi, and Virexar."

"That may be true, but once those four take the positions around us. They will each have three positions around them. Meaning to attack us, they will be besieged. I want to secure three more worlds to completely protect Fralhame," Bianca explained.

"Oh," Elian lowered his head in shame while he only cared about Earth. Bianca was already thinking a step further. Which was to protect her adopted home with three more axis worlds for Fralhame.

"I’m sorry, Bianca. I was too shortsighted."

"I don’t mind, Elian. We are all new to this. And I am just a worrywart. Even if Fralhame is attacked, you wouldn’t leave them to their own devices, right?"

Elian took Bianca’s hand and squeezed it tenderly. "No, I would protect them without fail."

His lover made a beautiful smile. "How reliable."

The Axis world mechanic would protect the main world at the center. However, it also meant painting a target on the ones around Earth. As Bianca’s unique state as a Psychomancer would soon call attention, making more preparations wouldn’t hurt.

Elian turned to look at his surroundings. The ground was colored black due to Golem Lake. With him as the center, they were like a tide that consumed everything in their path. The corpses of the Naga were already gone.

"I already have the bodies ready. Are you sure you want to bring them all back again?"

"Of course! I finally leveled up after a decade! Using soul bind is worth far more experience than just killing monsters!"

Another happy coincidence, after taking down Woody, Bianca finally reached 76. Considering she was with Elian for most of his battles, he shuddered at the amount of experience needed to rise from 75 to 76.

He fought Red Ants, Snow Wolves, Humans, Heaven’s Fist, Tide that Roars, and his invasion army, and Woody. While he also leveled up, compared to Bianca’s situation, his could be considered generous.

"Okay," nodding his head, Elian raised his hand and invoked his skill, "Enslave."

Bodies of metal with ashen blood vessels emerged from Golem Lake. The metal Nagas, already used to the scene, did not fuss and simply waited.

Unlike the shabby gear the original snake people had, Elian’s army had gear made from Living Metal. They gleamed under the sun and performed extremely well against the common Naga.

"Right, my turn!" Bianca took a moment and channeled mana into her soul body. Her hair began to rise; a powerful current rose from her feet. A galaxy of stars spread out with her at the center. Each star moved and raced toward the Psychomancer.

"By my command, come and serve me as my army! If you want power, I will give you strength! If you want battle, I will grant you a fitting stage! Head my call warriors of Ysh-Natul!"

At once, the stars gathered into Bianca’s hand like a hurricane. She then guided them skyward before shouting, "Soul Bind!"

The cyclone of stars then rose to the sky and began to separate. Like a meteor shower, they streaked down from the sky in parabolas. Each falling star entered a recreated Naga body of metal. When all the stars found their new hosts, Bianca’s mana finally dispersed.

In the next moment, the new members of the army opened their eyes. No longer confused like before, they rose from the ground and slammed their weapons into the ground. Then, they all bowed reverently.

"No matter how many times I see it, it still is an awesome sight, Bianca. You are so wonderful," Elian praised with admiration.

Feeling smug, Bianca closed her eyes and gloated, "Haha! I am great, aren’t I? Woody’s suggestion of explaining to the souls helped a lot. Who knew that the long incantation in zombie movies was meant for the souls being called rather than for flair?"

Although his fiancée acted boastful, Elian noticed her hand slightly shivering. He, who had been mapping her emotions, knew that that small detail meant Bianca was extremely nervous.

He walked behind her and embraced her by the waist. She flinched but soon relaxed and surrendered her body weight to him.

"You were so amazing, Bianca. I am so glad you are the one with me. These new members will certainly help our army."

While new Nagas would indeed help them, personally Elian found them lacking, weak even. However, diminishing the efforts of the one he loved was something he refused to ever do. Thus, no matter how weak they were, he appreciated each and every Weapon.

Bianca, who enjoyed his praise, smiled in satisfaction, "Hehe. Thank you, Elian. With this, we can conquer this place faster."

Everyone had desires; one of the simplest was gaining recognition for their efforts. As Elian knew the scars and history of his woman, he grew very lavish in his praise. Bianca enjoyed his attention and appreciation.

It created a cycle of Bianca doing more than needed all to be praised. Which further made Elian amazed and shoveled heaps of appreciation, which fueled Bianca to try even harder.

The Tyrant looked at the proud face of his wife and kissed her. There would come a time when he would need to restrain her. But for now, every time he praised her, he could feel the loneliness of her heart growing lighter.

"I am so lucky to have you," he murmured.

"And I, you."

Sharing an intimate moment, even in the middle of a dungeon, they felt their hearts connect and burst with affection.

Crack!

Only a small sound came from in front of them. A branch or something seemed to have snapped from something crushing it. In this place, that only meant one thing.

New enemies have arrived.

"Bianca? Ther—" unable to finish his sentence, Elian was pulled by his lover to share a passionate kiss. Rather than pay attention to the enemy, she wanted his gaze solely on her.

Finding her desire to monopolize him adorable, he returned her embrace. With his mind, he gave a single command to the army of metal surrounding them.

Kill them all.

And the army of Weapons moved. All to start yet another slaughter anew.