Chapter 17: Divine Dilemma and Undead Evolution

Eve sat by the bed, glancing at the person soundly asleep. For some reason, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu, like a post-coital cigarette. Though she had only helped wipe Alice’s body several times, she had seen everything there was to see, both appropriate and inappropriate.

It had to be said, Alice’s figure was truly flawless.

However, one particular detail bothered Eve immensely.

“Damn it… how can someone actually be *that* big…”

Eve cast a frustrated glance down at her own unremarkable chest, lamenting its inadequacy.

It seemed that ever since she had become an undead, her body’s development had ceased, leaving no hope for future growth.

Naturally, as a ‘tough guy’, envy was out of the question. She would never feel envy, not in this lifetime.

With a long sigh, Eve shook her head, casting all unnecessary thoughts aside. Then, she opened her system interface.

Earlier, while bathing, the system had displayed a notification. However, Alice, who had been eyeing her body, was still awake at the time. Moreover, Eve had been preoccupied with helping Alice bathe alongside her, leaving no opportunity to check it.

Now that Alice had finally settled down, Eve at last had time to see what the system had been prompting.

[Due to your Undead race, your body was eroded by Holy power upon consuming Holy Water. You now have two distinct choices to determine your fate. (Note: Once selected, each choice is irreversible. Furthermore, any choice you make may lead to a series of uncontrollable changes in your future. Please choose with utmost care.)]

[Choice One: Accept the erosion of Holy power, come under the gaze of the Goddess of Light, and unlock a special class advancement quest.]

[Choice Two: Forcibly repel the Holy power within your body, come under the gaze of the Goddess of Finality, and unlock a special class advancement quest.]

After reading, Eve blinked her eyes blankly.

‘Erosion by Holy power?’

‘Hadn’t Alice said that Holy Water was an alchemical creation, harmless to her?’

‘Besides, before this, the system hadn’t given any other notifications, apart from warning her that the Holy Water would only have half its usual effect.’

‘Wait… thinking back carefully, the system notification had only popped up just as the Holy Water’s effects wore off, and the holy light on her body faded.’

“I recall Alice saying that the Holy Light Blessing generated a shield, didn’t she?”

Eve furrowed her brow.

‘Could it be that the erosion from the Holy power had been fended off by the Holy Light Blessing at the time?’

‘So, it wasn’t the Holy Water itself that was the problem?’

Eve meticulously reread the system prompt once more. She realized that, when read carefully, there was actually another interpretation.

Namely, the Holy Water itself wasn’t the issue. The problem was that, while drinking it, she had coincidentally been exposed to Holy power originating from *outside* the Holy Water, which then caused the erosion.

Despite this conclusion being a wild guess, entirely conjured by her own imagination, Eve surprisingly found it quite logical and well-reasoned.

Regardless of the actual circumstances, Eve felt it didn’t matter. She was perfectly fine now, and she even had additional class advancement options. In a sense, she had profited from the situation.

Now, it was time to make a choice.

The two choices seemed more like a demand for her to clearly define her faction allegiance.

Opting for the first choice would effectively mean defecting and aligning herself with Alice’s righteous faction.

Choosing the second would mean remaining her original, humble undead self—a glorious future cannon fodder for the Demon Lord’s army.

Between the two, one offered a bright future simply by freeloading off a certain Holy Maiden. The other entailed upholding her principles, toiling for a lifetime to bolster the Demon Lord’s army, only to ultimately fall on the front lines as cannon fodder.

The superiority of one choice was immediately obvious.

‘Was there even a need to choose?’

Eve directly addressed the system in her mind: “Choose the first option! Accept the erosion of Holy power!”

[Choice One confirmed successfully.]

[Commencing initial adaptation to Holy power erosion. All Attributes -5.]

“Cough…”

Eve’s face paled, her eyes wide as she hastily clamped a hand over her mouth.

The drastic reduction in all her attributes felt as if a part of her flesh and bones had been ripped from her body. Her mind felt like it had been kicked repeatedly by a donkey, and heavy shackles now weighed her down.

It plunged her directly back into a state of profound weakness.

It took nearly all her remaining strength for Eve to utter a single curse.

“What… the hell…”

Her voice was soft and feeble, and her entire body uncontrollably toppled backward.

Fortunately, Eve had been sitting right on the edge of the bed, so she simply collapsed onto the soft mattress.

In her mind, however, Eve was already cordially ‘greeting’ the system.

“Why would accepting Holy power *deduct* my attributes? System, you *little darling*, you’d better explain yourself!”

Originally, Eve had merely intended to vent the physical pain she was experiencing onto the seemingly uncommunicative system, using it as a punching bag.

Who would have thought the system would actually respond: [Your race is Undead, which is antithetical to Holy attributes. Adaptation will inevitably lead to a strong rejection reaction in your body.]

“So, you *can* communicate, System?! I always thought you were just an artificial idiot…”

System: …

Seeing the system offer no reply, Eve realized she had spoken too hastily and awkwardly cleared her throat.

“Ahem… right, System, if I had chosen the second option, would my attributes not have been deducted?”

[No, they would still be deducted.]

[Given the high tier of the Holy power causing the erosion, choosing the second option to forcibly repel it would also result in a rejection reaction, leading to All Attributes -5.]

Staring at the system’s pop-up reply, Eve felt her vision dim.

‘So, no matter which option she chose, her attributes were going to be deducted anyway, huh!’

No sooner had she finished reading that system prompt than Eve’s screen was flooded.

[You have come under the gaze of the Goddess of Light.]

[Goddess of Light is perplexed.]

[Goddess of Light is perplexed.]

[Goddess of Light is perplexed.]

[Goddess of Light grows curious.]

[Goddess of Light gradually understands everything.]

[Goddess of Light bestows a blessing upon you.]

[You have received “Divine Grace Blessing” from the Goddess of Light.]

[Divine Grace Blessing: Luck +1. You can now learn Holy-type magic; learning speed is slightly increased. When casting Holy-type magic, power is slightly increased. When attacked by Holy-type magic, damage taken is slightly reduced.]

A cascade of notifications, scrolling from top to bottom, completely filled Eve’s vision.

Fortunately, they were all brief, and Eve finished reading them in an instant.

In essence, the Goddess of Light had discovered a new undead follower under her purview, which had utterly baffled her.

Eve, with a hint of schadenfreude, teased the system: “Tsk, tsk, System, look at the mess you’ve made. You’ve practically fried the Goddess’s CPU.”

System: …

Evidently, the system had no intention of indulging Eve’s mockery. It haughtily displayed the subsequent notifications right in front of her.

[Special Class Advancement Unlocked.]

[Holy Spirit Martyr: Physique++, Spirit++, Agility++, New Class Talents:]

[Heavenly Harmony (Ignores negative effects from sunlight during the day; immune to Holy Light, Burn, Poison, Decay, and other continuous damage-over-time negative effects)]

[Earthly Harmony (Gains temporary bonus attribute enhancements at night, increasing Physique, Spirit, and Agility; damage taken is slightly reduced during this period)]

[Valiant Spirit Sanctuary (Each Undead creature purified has a chance to be converted into a Holy Spirit and housed in the Valiant Spirit Sanctuary; Holy Spirits can be summoned to fight alongside you.)]