All extraordinary beings—whether human, beastman, or otherwise—are fundamentally composed of three parts: the soul, the body, and the elemental core.
Undead are no exception.
This means that as long as these three conditions are met—even if the components come from different individuals—they can still be combined to create a new undead.
Hel could easily generate souls using the Philosopher's Stone, and she had no shortage of elemental crystals.
The only challenge left was the body.
Could she simply create one that met her needs using the Bio-Editing Device?
The answer was yes.
In fact, she didn't even need that device—she could use Word Tag Alchemy to transmute ordinary bones into Auric Gold material.
With that, she had all three parts—soul, body, and elemental core—and successfully created a brand-new skeleton warrior.
It was a gleaming, golden skeleton with a strength roughly at the sixth tier.
But… there was still a problem.
Hajikyo and the others could wear armor because they weren't just bare skeletons. The higher the tier of a skeleton, the denser and thicker its bone plating became.
At fourth tier and above, their entire bodies were wrapped in a layer of heavy bone armor—only then could they wear actual metal armor comfortably.
But the new golden skeleton was nothing like that.
Once Hel put armor on it, the thing rattled inside like loose parts in a tin can, every movement clanging and wobbling awkwardly.
So, Hel decided to make it a new, more suitable body.
At that moment, Niv, who had been watching, tilted her head and asked curiously,
"Master, are you trying to make a puppet? But a structure like that won't be very strong in combat."
"A puppet?"
Hel froze for a moment—then her mind flashed back to the automaton constructs she'd found in the goblin ruins.
Now that she thought about it, those constructs shared a lot in common with undead. In fact, they could practically be classified as undead themselves.
Perhaps she really could create something like that.
However, the undead she had sent toward the Kingdom of Glory were nearly at their destination. If she wanted to interfere with the beastmen's plans, now wasn't the time to leave Heim Territory.
But Niv could.
Hel turned toward her and said,
"Niv, how about this—you help me make a sixth-tier puppet. Just use ordinary materials for now.
Bring me the parts afterward, and I'll upgrade them into higher-grade components."
"Alright," Niv nodded, then asked,
"Does Master have any specific requirements for its performance?"
Hel thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"I'm not too familiar with puppet design. But—make sure its appearance doesn't resemble anything from the goblins. Keep the style simple and unrecognizable."
"Got it! Leave it to me!"
Niv's eyes lit up with excitement. She clapped her hands and chirped,
"Then I'll head to C56 Light Industry City today and fetch the machine tools from there!"
Before Hel could even reply, Niv darted off like a gust of wind.
Hel couldn't help but chuckle, shaking her head.
Who would've thought Niv would get this excited just from hearing about puppets?
But it was fine—after all, this was her area of expertise. Hel could safely leave it to her and relax.
She looked down at the golden skeleton tangled in its armor, sighed, and disassembled it back into parts.
Now, all that was left was to wait for Niv's updates.
"Alright—work's done for the day."
Hel clapped her hands.
At once, Lily and the others cheered joyfully, rushing to clock out from the Undead Space one after another.
But Hel noticed Anna, walking at the back with a strange gait, and frowned slightly.
"Anna, what's wrong with your leg?"
"Huh? What?"
Anna froze mid-step, her face instantly flushing red. She gave Hel a shy, flustered look—then turned and fled in embarrassment.
Hel was left baffled, staring blankly after her.
What was that about?
Then Lily came striding back, wearing a mischievous grin.
"Oh, that? Well, isn't it obvious? Young Master made poor Anna's belly big."
"What? Me? That's impossible!"
Hel was dumbfounded. She didn't even have the anatomy for that!
"You forgot?" Lily teased. "Remember that elemental crystal you gave her before?"
"What about it? I gave each of you one, didn't I?"
Hel was completely lost.
Lily smirked, slinging an arm around Hel's shoulders and whispering playfully into her ear, her breath warm.
"Well… Anna's mouth wasn't exactly big enough to swallow it, so…"
Hel blinked, a bad feeling creeping up.
"Don't tell me—"
"That's right~ I helped her put it inside myself."
Hel stared at Lily, utterly speechless, face frozen between disbelief and horror.
What kind of twisted creature was this woman?!
She instinctively took a step back, her expression pale.
Poor Anna… may the gods bless her soul.
Meanwhile, Anna herself sneezed somewhere, rubbing her nose.
She had indeed been acting strange lately—but how could she possibly tell her Master that she'd started having a menstrual cycle?
That would be way too embarrassing!
She had no idea the real issue wasn't that she was menstruating—
but rather, that she was an undead, and undead aren't supposed to have biological cycles at all.
This was something unheard of in the entire history of necromancy.
At the same time, back in Snowveil City, the black-robed leader returned to the castle hall.
Looking upon the nearly completed formation, a faint smile appeared on his aged face.
"Our Holy Church's millennium-long wish… will finally be fulfilled today."
He clapped his hands and gave a solemn command:
"Bring forth the Saintess for Ascension."
Moments later, a group of robed followers entered, escorting seven young girls.
They represented various races—beastmen, humans, and even an elf.
Each bore an expression mixed with hope and fear.
These girls were the Witch Candidates, raised from childhood by the Cult of the God of Descent, brainwashed for this very day—to serve as vessels for a fallen divinity.
The seven girls walked to the center of the ritual circle from seven directions, allowing slick, writhing tentacles to coil around their ankles.
"The Saintess Ascends—initiate the ceremony!"
The black-robed leader raised his voice.
Everyone else followed, chanting fervently:
"Our God shall descend.
The world shall fall.
All creation shall return to corruption.
Before the end arrives—let us indulge in our deepest desires!"
The ground beneath them ignited with a blinding crimson-violet glow.
The surrounding elements trembled violently, twisting and warping until they degraded—corrupted—becoming purest demonic essence.
The circle drank in that power, swelling brighter and brighter—
Until finally, when the corruption reached its peak,
a massive crimson-violet pillar of light surged skyward, piercing the clouds above.