CHAPTER 157: ICE RADAR

I quickly finish the patrol and head back to base, I need to see what that damn girl is doing, I hope she hasn’t tricked Bella.

As soon as I get there, I find the two of them. I thought Bella was going to the lab, I wonder why she’s not there. I approach as Bella gives me a smile and waves.

"Shizune, glad you’re back," Bella says with a huge smile as I approach, while Estella maintains that fake look and smile.

"Bella, why are you out of the lab?" I question, wondering if Estella has something to do with it.

"I was there, but some of my undead disappeared, so I decided I’m going to a second base it’s not too far from here and I’ll come back to this one," Bella says.

"I understand, I’ll get ready to go and get the..."

"You’re not going," Bella interrupts me as I was about to say I’d go get what was valuable at this base.

"...B-Bella, what?" Has she lost her mind? Going alone without me? Is she even listening to herself? What a stupid idea when she doesn’t even know if she’ll encounter a church member.

"Bella, maybe..."

"No need to say anything else! I’ve decided! I’ll be back in a few months at most, the base isn’t far and there are some strong undead there that I’d like to recover, plus it’s a very hidden part so I’ll be safe."

"But since I plan to come back here, I can’t leave this place unprotected and I don’t trust that Estella can protect it alone, so you two will stay here! No more discussion."

Bella speaks seriously, silencing me.

"As you wish...master," I say irritatedly. This was the last straw in my patience with Bella’s stupid actions. At least Estella will stay here and won’t be able to manipulate the idiot Bella.

’Taking care of a child would be easier than taking care of Bella.’

"I’m leaving now, I’m already taking food, water, and high-powered weapons. And as I said, it’s not far. Shizune, you’ll be responsible for securing the base, wait here until I get back," Bella says seriously, walking past me and heading for the door.

I see a backpack on the ground that she picks up as if everything is already ready. The forest seems empty, with nothing but plants, so Bella will really be safe.

But the problem is that without Bella here, Estella has the freedom to use her necromancy to try to take control of my body.

I just look at the door where Bella stupidly walks away, leaving me here. She is truly "unique" in the worst sense.

"Well, it’s just the two of us now, huh?" Estella says without her usual pretense. I remain silent, staring at Estella while counting the time in my head.

We stay like this for a few minutes, and Estella gets bored, starting to move around and organize some areas.

And when exactly two hours have passed, I decide to act. It’s far enough away now, I no longer feel Bella’s absolute control, which means she’s too far away to notice if I still maintain control over me.

In this state, I would act like a machine, following Bella’s order to defend this place. In other words, I can’t leave here unless Bella returns or another necromancer takes control of me.

I create an ice sword and advance towards Estella, making a large vertical cut that she barely dodges, looking at me without understanding.

"W-What the hell are you doing?" She asks.

"Bella said she’ll be gone for a while, and she only told me to protect this place, so I’ve decided that right here and now, you’re a threat to this place and need to be eliminated before you can take control of my body."

I advance towards her, using fencing techniques I have in my memories. She can barely dodge, but I feel a slight "shock" showing that she’s started.

’I need to kill her before I lose control.’ I advance, forming several ice spears and throwing them at her, as she just runs, dodging and knocking over furniture to hinder me.

Some undead emerge from openings, but I easily cut them all to pieces. She’s trying to delay me, so I spread a mist of ice to try to catch her, but the very confined area hinders the ice’s expansion.

’Damn, the place doesn’t favor me, and I barely know it.’ Estella disappears around a corner, and when I reach the corner, I don’t see her. She must have entered a secret passage.

I try to find her, but I didn’t spread ice in here, so the detection magic I have isn’t active. I try to search for the place where she’s hidden.

"..." I still feel that discomfort, so she’s obviously trying to control me. I don’t know how many minutes I have left.

’How can I find her...’ I think about my animal biology knowledge, and remember that snakes can detect heat using thermal vision for hunting.

I decide to adapt this, creating an ice-based thermal vision. I start spreading the cold through the area, so I’ll detect any temperature variation. A body emits heat, so if the cold temperature changes briefly, I’ll know something is there.

I start running through the corridors, spreading the cold. If she passes through this area, the ice will change temperature due to her body, and I’ll know where she is.

I also do something similar to ants and spiders, which can feel vibrations in the ground. I spread an extremely thin layer of ice on the walls and floor.

This way, the ice will detect vibrations, like secret passages moving behind the walls or her stepping on the ground, although this has more limited functionality.

I also think of another possibility, and end up arriving at echolocation. My senses are well above human, so with two fingers I create ice, generating micro-cracks and crystallization sounds to use the sound and detect where it hits and continues, and where it hits and bounces back.

I run silently with my eyes closed, listening to the ice cracks going and coming back. I never thought I’d use my memory about the functioning of animal abilities in this way.

In a nearby area, the sound hits and continues, making me stop because it’s a wall. It hits and bounces back a lot, but the sound changes, indicating a false bottom. I open the passage in the wall with a punch, breaking it and finding a corridor.

I continue making the sound that goes and comes back, finding a complex system of tunnels that I enter. Estella must be using them to hide from me until she can control me.

’My head hurts...tsk.’ I don’t know how much longer it will take. I need to be quick. I start running, cracking the ice in rhythm and following the sound of crystallization.

Fortunately, the silent environment makes it easy to follow the sound of the ice and find closed paths and open paths, while spreading the cold and thin layers of ice, until behind me, 100 meters away, I feel a vibration and the sound hits and bounces back in a way that indicates something that is not a wall.

I turn back, quickly returning and finding Estella, who tries to run when she notices my approach. I throw my sword with all my strength, but she dodges, turning a corner in the corridors.

I continue running and using the sound of the ice to detect her position and changes in the environment, but soon this is messed up when several forms reach me.

’She’s spreading undead...’ I stop making the crystallization sound with my fingers. Now it’s useless if there are so many forms in different places moving quickly.

But the undead are cold, and I’ve already spread a good amount of cold, so Estella is the only one emitting heat. I find her as she came out into the corridor, the ice has an obvious thermal variation on the outside.

Chasing her through the corridors, I break through a wall with a kick, hitting Estella and throwing her against the other wall. I quickly try to strike her, but then I fall to my knees just as I was about to hit her.

"..."

"Damn it..." I can only murmur that, I’ve lost control of my body. My sword stopped just inches from Estella’s head before I dropped it to the floor.

"Hahaha, I apparently won this one, not bad at all, those abilities you showed are really crazy," Estella says arrogantly as she gets up.

"Not so powerful now, are you?" She speaks while I look at her aura and find something strange.

’It’s the color of a Yandere...but why is it outside the body?’ Estella has a dark blood-red aura, but strangely different from the Yanderes so far, whose aura covered their bodies. Estella’s aura is a little outside her body.

"I am at your service...master..." I say, even though I don’t want to speak, it’s the standard and now she is my master. The whole chase lasted about 10 minutes. If Bella had been here competing, this wouldn’t have happened.

"Now I think it’s time to punish you for trying to kill your new mistress, don’t you agree? And this time, Bella won’t be here to defend you," she says as I just remain silent, unable to move even as I try.

’I was so close...’ She didn’t even bother fighting, she preferred to flee to use all her concentration to steal my control.

’If I had just 1 more second...’ My sword almost entered her head, it was just a few more centimeters and I would have won.

I just look at Estella, giving up as she approaches with a smile that strangely reminds me of Bella.

I hope she acts so I can see what she’ll do to me. I just hope it’s not too bad.