My Wife is a Dead Villainess, and I'm Her Living Weapon-Chapter 184: Ego

For the next day and a half, Elian and his escort moved without rest. Be it under the scorching sun or freezing night, they raced toward their destination.

Alpha and Epsilon butchered any that dared to bar their way. Elian didn’t even need to lift a finger. The Tyrant could have created a new form that moved faster; with both flight and the ability to create jet turbines, he certainly could.

However, somewhere along the way, he felt inclined to watch the Naga. Alpha’s centaurs, along with Epsilon’s weird harpy-like kinsmen, fought without rest. With each battle, they grew. Not just from experience, but they reshaped their bodies with each battle.

The centaurs, for example, in the beginning still had snake heads, but soon created armored cobra helms. Their hooves, originally shaped like horses, morphed into those for camels when the group came across sandy terrain.

Their weapons, originally just simple spears, evolved into halberds shaped for quick slashing attacks. Naturally, even Epsilon’s group also changed with each battle. The speed was so impressive that Elian and Bianca became immersed in watching them.

"They are like machines. At this rate, wouldn’t they grow fiercer the more they fight?"

Bianca, in a fit of mischief, flicked the tip of Elian’s nose.

"And whose fault is that? They are merely copying your fighting style to the extreme. You should learn a thing or two from them."

"Huh? My fighting style?"

The witch nodded as she took a sip from her sports bottle.

"Yes. You fight like a typical warrior, but the moment you lose, you turn deranged. From then on, you evolve your body to whatever you need to win. Isn’t your latest ’Shark’ form a product of that entire mentality? The only difference is ego."

"Ego? What do you mean, Bianca?"

"It’s like with the Beowolves. They have pride in looking like Snow Wolves. They might adapt and change, but they will always revert to that form. You are the same; you always come back to your human form despite having different faces."

Elian grinned as he replied, "Isn’t that expected? It would be hard to adore you in my Wall or Shark forms. The Tide armor was less bulky, but I already incorporated it into my Wall armor."

Bianca frowned and playfully smacked Elian in the chest.

"Stop using me as an excuse. The main point here is you only change your form until after you lose. The Naga have no such ego. Despite winning, they continuously evolve themselves to be better warriors," she explained a bit sullenly.

Bianca’s words were true. Despite the Weapons from Ysh-Natul originally being Naga, hardly any trace of their origin remained. Their adaptability was so diverse that even the tribe leaders who all joined at the same time no longer looked even remotely similar.

The mentality of the Naga was a good thing, yet for some reason, Bianca seemed to be in a gloomy mood. Rather than guess, Elian just took her hand in his and asked.

"Why do you seem troubled, darling?"

Bianca shook her head, "I am not. I just hope the Naga will inspire the Beowolves to be better. They are powerful, but their insistence on remaining what they are prevents them from growing as fast as the Slinky Corps."

She focused on Elian’s hand and began massaging it absentmindedly. "Mom, Dad, and Fluffy are exceptions as they learned from you. But the others, especially those with Dad, are a bit hard-headed."

As the couple chatted, Alpha galloped toward them, lowered his halberd, and bowed.

"Tyrant, Anchor, we have finished off the monsters in the surrounding area. We apologize for the delay; we can resume our journey."

Elian waved them off and broke into a run. "I don’t mind. We just wanted to watch you fight. How are the others?"

"Yes! Epsilon is clearing the skies; Beta, Gamma, and Zeta are still salvaging material." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

A unique ability of the Weapons of Ysh-Natul was that they all somehow could tell where each other were. It reminded Elian of hive mind races in fiction. Despite not being insects, the Naga had traces of sharing their consciousness, or at least traces of it.

"Okay, tell me the moment something big happens."

"Yes, Tyrant!" Alpha replied as he ran alongside Elian.

"Okay! I should also get some exercise." Bianca declared as she stretched her arms. The witch began equipping her weapons as she added. "Alpha, which direction did Epsilon’s harpies go?"

The centaur with a cobra’s head raised his hand and pointed to the west.

"They are in that direction, Anchor. I have informed Epsilon of your intent to join them; she is personally coming to meet you."

"Thanks," the witch then approached Elian and kissed his cheek, "I will be going for a bit, darling. Try not to cause so much trouble while I’m gone."

"Okay, please be careful."

The Anchor of Elian’s faction made a blissful smile as she departed. Elian’s gaze remained locked onto Bianca even as he ran. When he sensed that Epsilon met her, only then did he turn forward.

He found Alpha looking at him with curious eyes. Elian had no idea how he could tell, but despite having stoic faces, he knew instinctively what his "children" felt.

"You have something to ask?"

"Does falling in love make one stronger?"

Elian almost tripped from surprise. He managed to catch himself mid-stride and fix his posture. "What brought that on?"

"The Slinky Corps has been brainstorming why you are so powerful, my Tyrant. Despite being made from the same metals and using the same tactics, we still feel there is a large gap between us."

Alpha turned in the direction Bianca had gone as he continued.

"We, the Naga, had no concept of love. We mated solely for survival; we needed males and females to produce offspring. The immense affection you share with the Anchor, we cannot understand it. Epsilon believes this is what we lack."

Elian couldn’t help but turn to Alpha in wonder. It surprised him that the Naga were deeply searching even inward for a means to grow stronger. He suddenly felt ashamed of his laziness in comparison.

Bianca’s words were true. The Naga had little to no arrogance, only a hunger to improve and fight. The last time he felt similarly was during the first few months of his being reborn. As he grew in power, he slowly found himself complacent.

The Tyrant couldn’t help but look at Alpha in a different light. At the rate they were going, the Slinky Corp would out-evolve every other race inside his faction. Simply because the bastards did not think of anything else.

"It’s true. At least in my case. I find strength in just being with Bianca. Even during the times that I almost lost, I couldn’t allow myself to. Mainly because failing meant leaving Bianca alone."

Elian couldn’t help cringing at his cheesy lines. Yet he truly felt that way. It was a blessing that Bianca wasn’t present. Although even if she had been right beside him, he probably would have said the same crap; only he would have been more interested in her reaction.

Oblivious to the things he was thinking, Alpha remained stoic and only nodded. His next words, though, almost caused Elian to stumble once more.

"Epsilon is suggesting that we pair off and fall in love. Although there are three males and only two females among us. Would sharing partners reduce the power one could get from falling in love?"

"What? Of course it would! Harems are full of crap! Don’t believe what anyone else says otherwise!"

"I see. Then it cannot be helped; I would probably be excluded for now. Thank you fo—"

A sharp, piercing echo rang out in the air. It was a scream Elian was familiar with. This specific ring only happened when something heavy was racing through the air, faster than even sound could carry.

He quickly scanned the skies but could not see anything coming.

"Just where is that coming from?" Elian murmured in confusion.

Meanwhile, Alpha and his centaurs quickly formed a battle line surrounding their Tyrant. Their arms all changed and turned into large tower shields, which they stacked together to form a makeshift wall.

Mere seconds later, it came.

A gigantic metal object crashed into the Naga shield formation. Its origin? The sky. Like a raindrop, it fell straight down.

It looked more like a mace than a spear; the top part was thick and several times thicker than the rod it was connected to. But regardless of how it looked, the results of its arrival could not be described as anything but catastrophic.

At least ten of the centaurs were torn into halves, with several more limbs flying through the air. But before anyone could even scream, a powerful gust of wind slammed into everything from the center point and pushed them all outward.

BOOM!

Deafening thunder echoed immediately after. The Naga Centaurs, all of whom weighed more than the average tank, were sent flying like leaves caught in a powerful storm.

Elian wordlessly shifted to his Shark form and nailed his tentacles into the ground, keeping low. His eyes took in everything that followed, waiting for his chance to strike.

When the chaos finally ended, the "mace" projectile opened like a flower. Out of the petals came forth four beautiful women, all of whom had white hair, ashen skin, and glowing eyes. Their outfits, although all different, came in only one color—black.

The tallest of the four made an affectionate smile at Elian as her arm morphed into a gigantic war hammer.

"Welcome home, you genocidal lunatic. Let’s play!"