Chapter 282. Steady Progress

――At the Aurora Fortress.

“How’s it going?”

“Not bad!!”

With a swift thrust of her sword, Barbara replied.

Her movements were refined. It was a far cry from the awkward, puppet-like actions of her early days.

My blue-skinned body was adorned with white dragon scales stripped from Leila. On my head was a unicorn helmet, Barbara’s trademark and a relic of her past.

To perceive the surroundings through magic, I had discarded all human-like features such as eyeballs, nose, and lips, resulting in a durable, faceless design. Rather than a monster, I’d say I resembled a masked swordsman clad in silver-scaled armor.

Clearly, given the abundant use of Leila’s scales, this was Barbara’s provisional final form. The power, toughness, and resistance to magic reached a level sufficient for real combat, but above all—

With a mighty stomp, Barbara’s body demonstrated dimensional acceleration.

“—Nice.”

Perhaps for the first time in history, an undead capable of wielding the ultimate techniques of a Sword Saint was born.

I hadn’t done anything special in this regard. It was the result of Barbara’s diligent training, locked away in the fortress, refining her control over the body. Once her body’s performance reached a certain level, limited reproduction of those ultimate techniques became possible.

However, there was a problem with balancing magic resistance and the connection between the Barbara body. Barbara’s undead essence was embedded in the hilt of her thrusting sword, Frodiida, utilizing a magical connection to control the body remotely.

Yet, this method was extremely vulnerable to takeovers by skilled necromancers like Enma.

The solution came in the form of magical tools brought from the food fighter, Spinethia.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like I could use it to help Claire, but I figured I’d try to apply it to something else, and remarkably, it worked perfectly. By storing the undead essence, which controls the body, within an enchantment called “Hunting Territory,” and drawing physical wires mimicking a nervous system to the right hand, I achieved a dual purpose: preventing takeovers and enhancing the connection with Barbara.

“Hahaha, it feels as light as a feather!!”

Barbara dashed around freely. Not just the floor of the fortress’ basement, but walls and ceilings too, she moved with a speed that was hard to comprehend.

After all, her body was nearly all bones and muscles, designed solely with combat in mind. Instead of organs, both the stomach and head contained magical stones suitable for storing magical power. In terms of weight-to-strength ratio, her output far surpassed that of her living body…

Thus, it appeared that Barbara had achieved a perfect body as an undead Sword Saint, but there was actually one drawback. Previously, she could operate as long as the sword was near her body; now, if her right hand didn’t physically touch the sword, control would break.

“In any case, if I drop my sword on the battlefield, I’m done for.”

Yet, Barbara remained unfazed.

“As long as I can move without worrying about curses, that’s more than enough!”

It was a classic Sword Saint’s acceptance after having tasted the bitterness of lacking magic resistance. Perhaps I could order some armor for Barbara from Kusemon at some point. Currently, Barbara’s clear weaknesses were light and fire attribute magic, so I should think about some fire resistance gear.

“I can’t wait for the day I pierce through those demon pests!”

With a loud whoosh, Barbara unleashed a thrust that left a trail of steam in its wake, laughing ferociously.

Combat—when will that happen?

The undead Sword Saint boasts magic resistance on par with high-level demons—what a threat could that be? Even I, the creator, couldn’t make a prediction.

I can’t wait for that day to come.

…Well, it’s still far from the day I personally take on the demons!