My Wife is a Dead Villainess, and I'm Her Living Weapon-Chapter 79: Burny

"Can you two please go and flirt somewhere else? I do not think anyone would appreciate hearing their entire race being offered as a gift even if it is for a romantic gesture."

The obnoxious comment made Elian and Bianca flinch. Both looked down and saw that the sleepy voice came from the delirious Burny. Elian frowned and imagined barbecuing him.

I wonder if you can still make such remarks when you are twirling hogtied in a grill?

Bianca then burst out in a fit of laughter. She tried to cover her mouth but couldn’t stop. Seeing her reaction, Elian understood what happened and chuckled as well.

[Talent: Adamant – deactivated.]

[Talent: Driven – deactivated.]

With laughter fading, Elian stalked forward. He then grabbed Burny by the neck.

"Is the reason your race cannot fight because of the Curse of Compromise?"

Dazed and looking into empty space, Burny nodded, "Yes, it hits us pretty bad. Now that the cage broke, we won’t be able to think straight."

Annoyed Elian shook him, "Then why did you want us to set you free?"

Burny took a moment before replying, "Does any living being have a reason for wanting to be free? It’s in our nature. We fly because we have wings. It’s ugh—"

Your nature, huh?

Elian turned to his partner who recovered, "Bianca, any ideas on how to free them of the curse?"

She placed her finger to her chin as she contemplated, "None that we can do immediately. The Curse of Compromise must be being shared across this place by an artifact. If it was me, I would put the thing right beside the Tyrant."

"Makes sense. Where do these artifacts come from? Sera’s party believed me when we called my armor one."

"It’s a blanket term for objects that come from the dungeons. Given what we know, they’re likely remnants of otherworld technology. It is commonly something humans cannot replicate. So, we just use or sell them as is."

"Then why haven’t we found one?" Elian asked in confusion. freewebnσvel.cøm

"It’s a hit or miss. You have been hitting low technology dungeons. It’s the down side of hitting dungeons that do not have the concept of tools. Humanoid monsters often have artifacts. But they also are harder to deal with."

"I see. Then that is fine. Let’s focus on the things we can control."

The main issue right now is that these birds are all high. How do I make them sober? A shock to the brain might work... but their skulls would turn to paste.

"Hahahaha!" once again Bianca laughed uncontrollably.

As much as Elian wanted to tell Bianca she was being rude, he let it pass. He had much more pressing matters. Forged didn’t grant him mana, so he had to solve problems the old-fashioned way. Trial and error.

"Ah, right. I have Dominator now."

Elian removed his armor and stored it into his magic bag. Seeing his ashen skin, he thought he could almost pass for a normal human. A freaky, bald, weirdly colored, genderless mannequin-like human but a human, nonetheless.

Not that I cared.

"System, can I use Enslave on the Flame Swallows?"

[Affirmative. It is possible and has a high chance of success. However, please note that they will be little more than puppets afterwards. Furthermore, due to your limited INT stat, you can only control one at a time.]

"Hmm. Guess that would have make it too easy. Can I reduce the effects of Enslave then? Rather than control their brains I just want to restrict part of it."

[Affirmative. Enslave uses the same principle. Neutralizing the Amygdala, hypothalamus, prefrontal cortex in humans, turns them into puppets. For the Flame Swallows it is the Arcopallium and nidopallium.]

"Got it. Last question, Can I use a partial Enslave to protect the swallows from the Curse of Compromise?"

Elian felt conflicted. How ironic was it that he first use of Enslave would be to free the wills of an entire race.

[Affirmative.]

"Great, then create a skill for it."

[Understood. What should the skill be called?]

"Call it Override."

[Accepted. Skill creation in progress.]

At the system words parts of Elian’s skin peeled off and flowed up his arm. Pale strands of metal slipped through the Flame Swallow’s eyes, threading into its brain like wire. The Flame Swallow writhed as the gray liquid invaded his body.

After a few seconds, Burny’s body slacked and lose strength. Elian could trace the Dominator variant’s presence like heat, coiled behind the eyes.

Doesn’t that mean that I can make it harden and kill Burny immediately?

"It does. A skill worthy of a Tyrant, I might say. It should serve you well, Elian. Considering our goals, adhering to morals is like fighting with one arm tied behind your back. What matters are the results," Bianca reassured.

"Results, huh?"

[Override completed. Skill created.]

At the System’s words Burny woke up. He quickly got up but staggered. Then blinked. Then laughed. And began to inspect his body.

"Wow. I feel great! What did you do?"

"I freed your mind and took over the Curse of Compromise." Elian remarked.

Burny then spread his wings and bowed low.

"Thank you for your kindness, Tyrant. I, Rise of Ashes, shall never forget."

"Wrong." Elian’s voice was flat. "Your name is not Rise of Ashes. It’s Burny."

"Huh?"

"And I am not your master. She is." Elian declared as he pointed to Bianca.

Bianca picked up Burny and began to stroke his plumage. "Greetings, Burny. This is Elian, my Tyrant. He is the best, no? You get to live, and I get a pet."

Burny’s brow twitched, but when it saw Bianca’s breathtaking smile, it stopped resisting. Rather than argue it simply bowed to Bianca and replied respectfully, "The Fire must have rewarded my efforts. How wonderful it is to serve such a beautiful master."

Pleased with his praise, Bianca stroked Burny’s head, "You seem smart. I must warn you, my pet. Care not to make my Tyrant jealous. Or your life will be cut short."

The Flame Swallow quickly turned to Elian with a look of fear.

Elian, unamused at his antics retrieved Pile Revolver and began to polish the pointy end.

Blood drained from Burny’s face. He nodded franticly and stretched his neck to be as far from Bianca as possible. When he saw Elian put away the giant nail, the swallow breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ehem, of course Master. Who else but our glorious Tyrant could stand beside our queen? I merely expressed my admiration as your servant. Greetings everyone, my name is Burny."

Bianca, still smiling, continued to stroke Burny’s blue plumage. Elian on the other hand entered the cage and marked all the other Flame Swallows inside the cage.

Raising his right arm, Elian made it stretch upward like a pole. From all along his arm came small tubes like blow darts, each aimed at a Flame Swallow. Elian then made a turbine on his back and sucked up air.

In the next instant, he blasted the compressed air into his blowdart array, launching hundreds of needles into the bodies of the Flame Swallows. The darts then melted into fluids and entered through their eyes.

"Override."

[Override 511 Flame Swallows?]

"Yes."

At Elian’s commands each Flame Swallow violently thrashed for a few seconds before calming down. When they did, their minds cleared, and they all began to excitedly chatter.

"No way! The curse is gone!"

"I don’t feel so tired anymore!"

"Hell yeah! Time to light up!"

"BURN! BURN IT ALL! FOR THE FIRE!"

Elian then slammed his foot down which caused the entire cage to shake. The sudden chaos made the Swallows quiet down.

Bianca took that moment to enter into the cage, she had Burny on her arm. He acted smugly puffing up his chest as if he was someone important.

Elian hardly batted an eye and spoke coldly and directly, "You all now answer to me. Your master is this woman, my Anchor, Bianca Valestra. You will do everything she tells you and die for her if she asks. The day you resist will be the day you die. Understand?"

No one spoke; they all just nodded. Instinctively, they knew not to agitate the ashen Tyrant.

"Master, Sir Elian is quite uhm... intense? Isn’t he?"

"Fufu, he is, isn’t he? I adore him very much. Isn’t it cute how he tries his best?"

Burny’s eyebrows twitched. It took a few moments to think before replying in a soft tone.

"Haha. Indeed. He is quite...gulp...cute. I pray that he remains happy all the time."

Bianca giggled at his reply and tickled Burny’s chin, "You have a way with words, I think I like you."

The Flame Swallow began to sweat profusely as he swallowed nervously. "Please don’t, I doubt anyone has enough lives to endure your affection, Master."

"Oh? Such a shame," Bianca smirked.

She then looked towards the others and declared with a smile, "And what of the rest of you? Will you follow me?"

"Hurray for the master!"

"Master is the best!"

"Master is the greatest!"

At her question, the bird cage exploded with cheers. They did so knowing full well what would happen should they resist. For every single Flame Swallow kept one eye on the ashen demon standing in the corner.