Chapter 445: Correcting the... well... the truth is, that was never a mistake.
The blue undead entered the throne room - a gallant massive space made exactly for a single purpose - to intimidate the visitor.
Everything seemed out of proportion, giant paintings, enormous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling high as a cathedral, and the giant throne sitting on top of the grand pedestal so that the monarch on top of it would always look down upon the subjects and foreign ambassadors beneath.
And from that very pompous, over-glorified chair, the queen of the Fruit Salad was looking down on him, Zombie.
|Any advice for dealing with her?|
The blue undead asked without much hope for a magical answer that would let him get away from that horrible situation where he couldn't really try to kill the queen because it wasn't the right time, not to mention that the future looked considerably bleak for him since he obviously plotted against her - and there was no doubt in Zombie's mind that the queen had already got the version of the truth that he fed to Xavi from Xavi herself.
|Your mindbreak skill - do not use it against her. In fact, do not fight her at all.|
|...? Why not...?|
Though the answer that he got wasn't the one he was prepared to hear.
He expected a solemn denial or some concerned words of advice - not an unusual instruction.
|Using tier 2 sin-based skills on high-level avatars of sin is just asking for trouble - in the end, it all comes to the level difference - sorry to break it to you but this woman is strong. Actually strong, not like you in the first playthrough, but still.|
Patience sounded as if she shook her head, breathing out with concern.
|You should know exactly what I'm talking about since you experienced the same thing but from the other side.|
She added.
|You're talking about the penalty that others receive trying to use control-type skills on me.|
Zombie realized while walking through the throne room as slowly as it was possible without annoying the waiting queen - though, she certainly looked as if she enjoyed watching him take each step with such hesitation as it created the impression that he was intimidated, which was the sole point of the room.
|Not just any control-type skills, all sin-based skills of lower tiers and levels.|
Patience cleared out the misconception that the blue undead had about the properties of the overpowered abilities.
|The problem is that such properties aren't exclusive to the pride-based skill like your superbia. queen's avaritia is the same, and since avaritia is easier o level up than superbia and she had it for a longer time than you did... Do I really need to say exactly how many levels she is above you at the moment?|
The sealed overseer sounded as if she smirked with no positive emotion behind her eyes and shrugged her shoulders.
|Then if I'll try using either mindbreak or overpower then I will receive the same penalty as the ones who attacked me in the past?|
The blue undead asked, seeking confirmation.
|You represent pride - the penalty your opponents receive is its manifestation - you remain the same while your opponent can't do a thing against your power, the penalty multiplies if they foolishly try to continue the attack - making the difference that much more obvious. As for the queen and greed - the mechanic is the same, the penalty is based on the sin - it doesn't affect status points, but it takes away the skill of the attacker, permanently.|
|!!!!!!|
Hearing that explanation made Zombie tense up as if the rigor mortis had finally kicked in for him.
|So if you don't want to lose either mindbreak or overpower, you better not try anything stupid. Alright?|
Patience asked, this time sounding almost lightheartedly as if she accepted whatever fate will bring them.
|How can you be so calm about it...?!|
...and that certainly didn't sit well with the blue undead.
|We can't run away, we can't hide, we can't lie our way out of this, we can't kill her! How are we supposed to deal with this situation?! She's the very same person who betrayed me and my Cranberry in the first playthrough! Why aren't you acting more concerned?! You were the one to tell me that I am the only one who can save the current Cranberry during the night of the hungry wolves and put the story on the secret ending pa....!|
|Ha? Oh, that one. What you heard then was a lie - well, a half-truth if you prefer.|
|H-huh...?!|
The completely unaffected sealed being sounded as if she shrugged her shoulders, causing the blue undead to almost trip and fall on the marble floor of the throne room face-first.
|You have only the memories about the events in the normal route - our secret good ending follows the slightly altered scenario - in which the path of the proudest corpse capture target is altered the most. It should be obvious that the actual story that needs to be followed will be different than what you have in mind. Happens.|
She answered very slowly, sounding as if she was looking away from the blue undead while saying it.
|So you lied to m- oh, who am I kidding, of course, you've lied to me...|
Zombie almost got worked up - almost.
It all ended both thanks to the machine mind skill effect as well as one very simple reason.
Zombie already knew that Patience was hiding things from him, lying about something to keep him away from the truth wasn't out of his expectations.
|Ha? Don't give me that! It's your fault for not realizing things sooner!|
|What was I supposed to pull the answer from if you were LYING TO ME THE ENTIRE TIME! You said that I will need to complete the specific quests to get the ending I want! It is impossible to make the correct assumption if every info at your disposal is false, wouldn't you say?!|
While inside Zombie's head he was having a shouting contest with the sealed overseer, on the outside he was only a few steps away from the pedestal that the throne placed upon.
|I remember it being said that the specific quests will have to be completed to get the ending that you want, not that you will have to complete all of them, so don't shout at me or I will get sad and cry, and you know how ugly I get when I'm crying. Anyway - you don't have to worry - you have indeed splendidly set up the things that needed to happen for the story to follow the right track. So everything should go smoothly... without your input, that is.|
Patience pointed out sounding as if she was nodding her head with approval.
"..."
Which made Zombie look down at himself, glancing at both the empty spot where the expensive scabbard should be as well as his wrist on which there was no trace of a bushy green bracelet.
Kopia stayed behind in the elven village together with Monty, Baron, and Cranberry.
As for George, the half-plant centipede was stealthily sent back to warn Olive that in the end, he should not boast about knowing Zombie, or preferably not even mention him at all - such an order was given because Patience casually advised master and his subject that it was the right thing to do, and only now the blue undead truly understood why she did that - neither he nor Patience were supposed to come back from the royal castle.
The sealed overseer was preparing for a different story than what Zombie had the knowledge of.
For just a split second he wanted to summon his sword and all three subjects to simply blast everything away and escape - but he gave up that idea basically instantly - although the extent of Greeds power might have been another lie served him by the sealed overseer, the risk and reward ratio was far too little to be worth it no matter the outcome.
...but when it came to the world outside his the blue undead's mind...
"Oh? I did not expect such humility coming from you, young undead."
...and it just so happened that Zombie lowering his head in regret looked just as if he was bowing his head in a humble greeting towards the queen.
"Though, that also means that Banana did not find the way to lie to me - I guess that I will let her live for now."
The cold-hearted woman nodded with a venomous smile and glared down at the blue undead in front of her.
"But as for you..."
She furrowed her brows seeing no reaction from the blue undead - and she decided that she really will not kill Banana - before squinting her eyes.
"...I detest wasting a good resource before it is completely depleted... I guess I will simply stash you away for when the time comes~"
The queen hummed and her entire body shone with blinding yellow, almost golden light...
|Now the two of us will be sealed off for a while. I'll try to give you small updates from time to time, but I advise you to just relax and enjoy the rest before the real story kicks in... Hey, let's move your conscience to the sin of origin nucleus - we can cuddle as those cute orbs of light there~|