041 Transformation of the Undead

Karen was a person who feared death above all else. From the very moment he arrived in this world, all his struggles and efforts had been driven by a single goal: to survive. To stay alive, he was capable of selfishness and madness alike.

Yet, it wasn’t until he was effortlessly slaughtered by a lunatic that he realized he had been mistaken about one thing. Death might be the end for others, but for him, it was merely the beginning.

As his body was torn in two and his heart ceased beating, Karen found that he did not plunge into endless darkness. He was still alive—only in another form. More importantly, at that moment, a system prompt echoed from the depths of his soul.

“Ding! Host’s physical body detected as destroyed. Host’s undead transformation function automatically activated!”

“Host undead transformation activated. You may now freely choose your undead evolution path from the following options:

The Undying: A special undead with an immortal talent, able to implant a soul seed into all subordinate undead. As long as not all subordinate undead are destroyed, the host will never truly die.

...

Base transformation cost: 10 billion domain energy.

Death God: A deity of death, wielding the power of mortality with numerous special abilities. Capable of summoning undead directly from the underworld.

...

Base transformation cost: 50 billion domain energy.

...”

Karen glanced at the initial options and nearly choked. Every undead ability was tantalizing, but the lowest cost was already in the tens of billions of domain energy, while he only had a few million at best. Conversion was out of the question; he didn’t even dare to entertain such thoughts.

In the end, Karen selected the undead type that was moderately powerful, economical, and, most importantly, had promising potential. Even choosing the cheapest path, the transformation still cost him two million domain energy.

…

While Karen underwent his undead transformation, the battle in the undead market—thought to be over—took an unexpected turn.

The person who had smashed the lunatic’s head with a single punch, after killing him, went into a frenzy. Using her hands and teeth, she tore the lunatic’s corpse to pieces bit by bit, devouring him entirely. The extremity of her madness and horror starkly contrasted with her delicate, graceful face.

Fortunately, everyone around her was undead—if a human or goblin had witnessed this, they would surely have been terrified to death.

No, the one who struck the lunatic last was not Karen; his transformation had not completed so quickly. This woman was Bailey’s wife—the woman who had been controlled by the lunatic and ‘personally’ killed by her own son.

The greatest difference between Karen’s world and this one was the genuine existence of undead here. Humans could truly become undead. Clearly, this unfortunate woman, after enduring a series of torments and dying, and finally witnessing her son’s death, had transformed into an undead.

Her undead form was vastly different from Karen’s. The key distinction was that the energy fueling her transformation was not domain energy, but rather the madness within herself combined with the frenzied aura of the undead under Karen’s command after his death.

This surge of madness elevated her directly to a fifth-tier undead, granting her the power to slay the lunatic.

With this power, she successfully killed the lunatic and devoured his body. However, just as she believed she had triumphed, a neurotic whisper sounded in her ear.

“Eat my flesh, drink my blood—do you hate me so much? Why? Is it because I killed your son? Or because I made your son kill you? Perhaps both. But truly, the one you should hate is not me. You should hate yourself. If you had been stronger, your son would not have died before your eyes. If you had been stronger, you could have truly killed me!”

As the whisper echoed, the lunatic—once devoured—reappeared before the woman.

“Die! Just die!”

At that moment, her eyes reddened again, madness surged wildly within her, and she unleashed terrifying power, tearing the lunatic to pieces once more.

Yet, despite being shredded repeatedly, the lunatic quickly reformed before her.

“You’re too weak, so weak that I don’t even have to resist for you to fail to kill me.”

“Die!”

The lunatic was torn apart again, only to reappear shortly after.

“Come on, try again. Give it another shot. Let’s see if you can really kill me!”

“Your attack strength is good, but your angle is off. Otherwise, you’d rip me apart much more easily!”

“What’s wrong? Why has your strength diminished? Didn’t you just shred me in one go? Why is it failing now?”

“That aura… so undead can despair too.”

“Right, undead are transformed humans with consciousness, so they can despair. I quite like your despair!”

…

The woman kept slaying the lunatic, but each time he rose again, without resistance, simply taunting her with words.

Under this torment, the madness radiating from her grew ever denser and more terrifying.

Finally, the thirteenth time the lunatic ‘resurrected,’ the woman ceased her assault and let out a ferocious scream.

With that maddening roar, the invisible madness she radiated was absorbed back into her, and she lost consciousness, fully succumbing to madness.

Yet, as she plunged into madness, her power surged anew.

“This aura feels akin to my origin… Is this the power of madness? Then it seems today’s game ends here. If I don’t leave now, this body of mine…”

“Pfft!”

Before she could finish, the lunatic’s words were cut off as she pounced on him, sinking her teeth into his neck.

A wave of madness surged through her, and the lunatic was torn to bits once again.

Although this attack greatly troubled the lunatic, and a portion of his despair dissipated, it did not truly kill him. He, of course, dared not linger any longer.

“This won’t do. Her power can harm me—I must leave!”

“Leave? How could I possibly let you leave! Green, block him for a few minutes!”

At Karen’s cold voice, a terrifying aura erupted from his dismembered form.

As it spread, the once frenzied undead army under Karen’s command fell completely silent, kneeling quietly in reverence, awaiting the return of their king.