novelraw Chapter 256 256: The The Seat of Devouring Hunger's End
Chapter 256 256: The The Seat of Devouring Hunger's End
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Louis groaned in disbelief and agonizing, horrifying pain. Half of his existence had vanished in an instant.
"ONCE YOUR SOUL IS EATEN BY ME, YOU WILL NOT REVIVE ANYMORE! PERISH, YOU RECKLESS BEAST!"
Another bite came down, crushing the remaining part of him.
CRUNCH!
And Louis...
Was gone.
"Haaa... Haaa... Haaa... Haaaa... Aaack…!"
The Venerable gasped, coughing blood and groaning in agony. His entire Cosmic Avatar had been damaged severely, bleeding profusely from countless wounds.
Even though it was a purely conceptual being, an embodiment of his Authority, Louis had somehow managed to inflict real damage on it despite the vast difference in power.
"That spear...! Was it that?"
He stared at the spear in disbelief. It still floated there. A grin spread across his many faces as he used his Attraction Force to pull the weapon into his claws.
"I won... He is vanquished, completely dead. The Heart of Time is also being digested. Once I cleanse it, I shall offer it back to my master... This... this is finally over. What that monster left behind, the curse is finally gone..." he celebrated. "To think Lord Oblivion would face such a tremendous challenge back then... That monster...! Who would have thought such a powerful being could be born? But... he is dead, and so is that entire universe. He stole master's heart, but now it is mine! And once more, as Oblivion's mouth, I shall—"
"You truly live up to your name as his mouth. You never stop talking."
"...?!"
The Seat of Devouring Hunger, the Abyss-Devouring Gluttonous Tyrant, felt fear for the first time.
In that moment, the voice of the one he thought completely dead, the one whose presence he still felt writhing inside his stomach...
Was heard once more.
"Why?"
He looked at the spear before him. From within it, Louis's soul was reborn anew.
"How...?!"
His countless eyes bulged as his body grew even more monstrous, sprouting countless heads and arms.
"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE, REMNANT?!"
"..."
Louis only smiled.
The strategy had relied, naturally, on his abilities.
Death Sense continued working even after he was completely eaten. For it to revive him, however, Louis had to plant a "seed" of himself beforehand.
A core.
He had chosen Gungnir's own Divine Spirit Core as that anchor, much like how Liches use phylacteries to return even when their bodies are destroyed.
This worked in perfect harmony with Gungnir's second ability, "Soul Anchor," allowing Louis to tether his very soul inside her and be carried by her.
Thus, through the combination of Death Sense, Phylactery Formation, and Soul Anchor, he had revived.
Of course, only as long as Death Sense could still be used.
Recovering in this way had cost him ten minutes of the ability's duration.
He now had to either escape or... attempt to hurt this bastard as much as possible.
After all this time, the creature would only continue to pester him.
So...
"I am going to kill you."
Louis had made his decision.
Oberon had done it by sacrificing himself. Louis would do it by channeling the power he had inherited from him.
"Gungnir!"
He gripped Gungnir tightly and thrust her toward the Venerable.
"INSOLENT...! MAGGOT!!!"
The Venerable screamed, roaring as he realized the Heart of Time had vanished from his stomach along with all the soul essence he had devoured from Louis.
He was already incredibly weakened. His ethereal body lay in shambles.
Yet he fought back with monstrous fury.
Stars exploded. Planets were consumed.
Cosmic energy bloomed into endless grotesque flowers, a garden of pure destruction and death.
The Seat of Devouring Hunger, the Abyss-Devouring Gluttonous Tyrant...
He was a being designed and created for the sole purpose of devouring the universe and then recreating it in Oblivion's image.
And he was also the one who protected Lisette and Minato, his Apostles.
Louis knew...
If he could kill this monster, those two would no longer remain as strong as they were.
He also knew that Venerables were different from them. They were ethereal and conceptual existences. Their true bodies remained elsewhere most of the time, safe inside dimensions of their own creation.
This allowed them to expand their soul and consciousness across the cosmos, controlling everything, and in the case of the Seat of Devouring Hunger, devouring it.
Because Louis's assault had been so sudden, the Seat had been unable to prepare for such a fierce battle and began gathering all its scattered "parts" across the universe far too late.
In the time granted by Death Sense, Louis was determined to do everything in his power to kill him.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
The Venerable roared and screamed simultaneously as his entire body exploded. Louis's soul began to shapeshift wildly as he realized it did not need to remain in a fixed form.
He had learned the power of Soul Shapeshifting by fusing Soul Sealing and Soul Liberation together through the max-leveled Inverse Pandora Skill.
Soul Shapeshifting allowed him not only to reshape his soul but also to absorb more souls and soul essence, expanding his soul's existence to its limits.
Even as giant bites tore into his soul, Louis kept regenerating at a ridiculous pace, drawing on the billions of souls he had collected and sealed over time.
"I WILL KILL YOU NO MATTER WHAT, YOU FILTH!"
"THAT'S MY LINE."
Louis was devoured endlessly yet regenerated without pause. His punches pierced the very concepts that formed the Seat. Dragon Claw and Void Maw activated constantly, unleashing dozens of jaws at once while hundreds of fists pummeled the Venerable across dozens of planetoids and stars throughout the vast Fantasy Sea.
"YOU WILL NEED MORE THAN THAT TO DEFEAT ME, REMNANT."
The Venerable constantly pretended to be fine, feigning confidence, but it was all fake. Louis knew this. His fusion with Gungnir allowed him to grow even stronger.
He channeled Absolute Pierce into his claws and sharp fangs. By growing over seventy heads and one hundred arms armed with razor-sharp dragon claws...
He was simply unstoppable.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
Not only his claws and fangs struck true. Eclipsing Breath rays constantly bombarded his foe, weakening him severely.
"D-DAMN IT...! MY REGENERATION...! IT CANNOT KEEP UP ANYMORE! WHY?! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!"
Deep down, the Venerable was panicking. In his long existence, he had never faced such an erratic and bizarre living being as Louis.
Someone so stubborn that he simply would not die, no matter what.
"This is the Original's Curse! This is what he did... Even when he was killed by master...! His curse remains, tormenting us! Trying to stop our great mission, trying to ruin our plans!!!"
"What are you even talking about, shithead?!"
Louis kicked the bastard down, sending him crashing into a giant star. Plasma burned the Venerable as Louis's spear descended, roaring as dozens of dragons and Echoes surged and merged together.
"YOU'RE NOT THE ORIGINAL! YOU NEVER WERE!!! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A FRAGMENT...! DON'T YOU GET IT?! THE ORIGINAL TIMELINE IS LONG GONE! THE GREAT WAR WAS ALREADY FOUGHT! YOU LOST! YOU LOST, DRAKEHEART! YOU LOST, LOUIS DRAKEHEART!!! UNDERSTAND YOUR PATHETIC EXISTENCE... AND PERISH ALREADY!!!"
Growing completely mad, the Venerable showed countless cracks across his ethereal body and fused his monstrous, conceptual form into a giant, aberrant garden of fleshy tendrils and jaws.
"COSMIC DOMAIN – ABERRANT VISCERAL GARDEN OF ALL-DEVOURING MALEVOLENCE!"
In front of Louis, a garden of twisted flesh and mouths emerged. Space distorted as he was trapped inside an aberrant dimension.
Every second he spent there, he was being devoured.
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH!
He smiled defiantly. The power of Death Sense flared with everything he had left in the final five minutes. Louis started walking toward the Venerable as his body was constantly devoured and torn apart.
"HOW CAN YOU REMAIN ALIVE...! DIE...! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE, YOU ERROR!"
The power of Death Sense seemed incredible. Coupled with Narrative Defiance, it rendered even the greatest powers of Venerables, their overwhelming authority over fate, completely useless.
By now, Louis understood.
Whoever this "Original" was must have designed the Hollow Spiral of the Ashen Wyrm not just to kill stronger foes.
It was a Spiral specifically made to kill them.
And now...
"I shall now see who you truly are! Reveal to me everything about you!" Louis roared as a mask appeared over his face. "Morpheus' Mask!"
"NNGGHHH?!"
The Venerable screamed as he felt his very dreams being poked and violated. His eyes widened as he desperately tried to kill Louis.
But he could not yet!
Meanwhile, Louis dove deep into his memories, witnessing a flood of immense information, far too much to fully comprehend.
So he filtered it, rapidly absorbing knowledge as his eyes widened.
Among the many visions, he saw one in particular.
He saw someone, or something, being cut apart by a radiant golden sword, divided into pieces and crying.
Each part became the Seats, spreading through the universe to expand his influence.
And... those eyes, staring at him!
As if even in this dream, he was watching...
"..."
Louis returned to the real world and found the Venerable falling into pieces, as if he had become brittle glass.
"Y-You bastard... I... Ueh… How…!"
He was covered with dozens of Heavenly Light Swords and Eclipsing Spears, conjured by combining his Magic with his Skills. Most of these weapons were made using techniques no one would normally attempt.
Gungnir hovered above the Venerable, overflowing with absorbed power.
"....?!"
It turned out that every time the spear pierced the monstrous ethereal form, Gungnir devoured a portion of its attack power, growing stronger over time.
Holding Gungnir with his Soul Hands, Louis thrust her downward.
"You are nothing but his creation, a machine that runs automatically. And like any machine, I shall dismantle you."
"D-DON'T YOU DARE— AAAAHH! STOP!!!"
The monstrous Venerable screamed as he was pierced by dozens of attacks channeling Louis's skills. His existence was reduced to atoms as a massive explosion consumed the star where both stood.
BOOOMMM!!!
Louis raised Gungnir amidst the explosion. The spear began to siphon the fragments of the Venerable—his flesh, blood, and more.
He channeled Gungnir's third Skill, [Devourer of Prey], allowing Gungnir—and by extension him and all his Familiars connected to her soul—to grow stronger by absorbing the flesh, blood, soul, and essence of the prey they slew with the spear.
In an instant, the Venerable's corpse was completely consumed. The Seat of Devouring Hunger, the Abyss-Devouring Gluttonous Tyrant, was gone.
Of course, he was not truly dead yet.
Like the previous Venerable, his "true body" still existed somewhere... somewhere not that far from here, actually.
Louis could feel it quite close. He wanted to hunt it down immediately. However, he still needed to consolidate his internal energies and everything he had just gained.
Louis was still not complete within the Realm of Galaxy Monarchs. His Inner Fantasy Sea was swirling, creating Stars of Fantasy and weaving them together into his Inner Macrocosm.
He had required more essence, and now that he had devoured the Venerable's "outer shell," he repurposed that power to push his growth and cultivation even higher.
But that was not all. From slaying this foe, he had gained more than enough EXP, helping him level up three more times and reach the maximum level of 400.
And finally... he became capable of evolving again as he gained several new Skills at once, all tied to his current dragon form.
For some reason, they were only unlockable once he reached max level, perhaps because his previous power level or stats would have made it impossible for him to wield such powerful abilities without dying or severely damaging his own soul.
Ding!
[Congratulations, you have successfully slain [The Seat of Devouring Hunger, the Abyss-Devouring Gluttonous Tyrant (Level 10 Beyonder Grievance)]]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Congratulations, your Level has increased to Level 400/400! You have reached Max Level and can now choose to Evolve.]
[The Skill: [Dust of Purification: Level 9] has Leveled Up to Level 10!]
[The Skill: [Eye of the White Void: Level 9] has Leveled Up to Level 10!]
[The Skill: [Soul Wyrm Division: Level 9] has Leveled Up to Level 10!]
[The Skill: [Inverse Pandora: Level 9] has Leveled Up to Level 10!]
[The Skill: [Celestial Box: Level 7] has Leveled Up to Level 10!]
[The Skill: [Soul Sealing: Level 7] has Leveled Up to Level 10!]
[The Skill: [Seven Great Evils: Level 5] has Leveled Up to Level 8!]
[The Skill: [Ashen Soul Body Transformation: Level 4] has Leveled Up to Level 7!]
[The Skill: [Celestial Light Wielder: Level 3] has Leveled Up to Level 6!]
[The Skill: [Shattered Hope: Level 3] has Leveled Up to Level 6!]
[The Skill: [Wanderer of Limbo: Level 3] has Leveled Up to Level 6!]
[The Skill: [Curse Devourer: Level 3] has Leveled Up to Level 6!]
[The Skill: [Devourer of Time: Level 3] has Leveled Up to Level 6!]
[The Skill: [The Fallen One: Level 3] has Leveled Up to Level 6!]
[The Skill: [Heart of Time: Level 2] has Leveled Up to Level 5!]
[Several Skills have been unlocked after you accomplished all necessary requirements. Their power is immense and complementary with your Spiral Abilities and other Skills. Use with caution.]
[You have learned the Skill: [Parallel Limbo: Level 1] ...]
[You have learned the Skill: [Body Between Heaven and Purgatory: Level 1] ...]
[You have learned the Skill: [Defier of Fate: Level 1] ...]
[You have learned the Skill: [Eternal White Void Eyes: Level 1] ...]
[You have learned the Skill: [Return to Ashes: Level 1] ...]
[You have learned the Skill: [Soul Extraction: Level 1] ...]
[You have learned the Skill: [Celestial Judgement: Level 1] ...]
[Several new Skills have leveled up to Level 3.]
[Your Spiral resonates with your growth. The Hollow Spiral of the Ashen Wyrm devours a part of the Venerable's corpse, growing more powerful.]
[Your Spiral Rank has increased to Tier 3 – Soul Molt.]
[You have automatically learned your Spiral of Madness Ability: [Mask of the Forgotten (Tier 3)]!]
[You have automatically learned your Spiral of Hope Ability: [Mask of the Remembered (Tier 3)]!]
[Both abilities have merged automatically to create the Spiral of Fate Ability: [Mask of Inevitability (Tier 3)]!]
Louis was stunned as he read through all the new notifications. He had gained several incredibly powerful new Skills, finally unlocking the true potential of the Celestial Ashen Limbo Dragon. He had even ascended to Tier 3, unlocking the ultimate Spiral of Fate Ability: "Mask of Inevitability."
"What does this mask do?" he wondered. While the other skills provided short explanations, the Mask remained a mystery.
Then the system provided the information.
[Mask of Inevitability (Tier 3)]
A Mask born from the Inevitability of your own existence.
You can create Masks based on those you've lost, those you've mourned, and those that have taken your life.
These Masks possess the power to grant you up to 30% of their original Memories, Skills, Voice, and Appearance, effectively transforming you into them.
You can only wear one Mask at a time, and switching expends large quantities of Fantasium.
"You are who you remember, shaped by everyone that has ever interacted with you and influenced you, be they friends, family, or enemies. Those that have touched 'Death' alongside you remain by your side, forever."
Available Masks: [Benladra] [Gustaf] [Mirai] [Zorba] [Timothy] [Agustina] [Anastasia] [Selene] [Melisa] [Soma] [The One-Hundred Limbed Fallen Abyssal Mother] [The Seat of Observation and Judgement] [The Seat of Devouring Hunger] [Lisette, Dragon Empress of the Bloodfrost Empire] [Minato, Endless Wanderer of the Nightmarish Chaos] [...]
"Incredible... By making these masks, I can obtain thirty percent of everything they are?!"
To some, thirty percent might seem small, but many of these beings were vastly stronger than Louis, hundreds of times more powerful.
If he could copy thirty percent of his mother's memories or abilities, how strong could he become? Or even the Abyssal Mother, or the two Seats he had slain, or even... his pursuers, the monsters that had been killing him and Mirai this entire time?
Some masks, like those of his friends, might seem less useful, but the others could grant him immense strength. Although it consumed Fantasium constantly, he now had plenty of it.
Moreover, it granted not only their voices and appearances but even their memories, allowing Louis to fully play the role of these characters, these people...
It seemed this ability was born from his own life, always wearing masks, pretending to be someone he was not, never being honest with himself... until now.
"This is incredible... I will make good use of it."
After that, while his own Soul continued evolving through Cultivation, beginning to transform and exude Cosmic Energy—an evolved, even stronger and denser energy than Divinity—Louis checked each of his new Skills.
He started with Parallel Limbo, testing it by extending his hands and activating the Skill.
"Parallel Limbo."
TRUUUM!
Suddenly, he could see large pocket dimensions before him. He stepped into them and found himself in twisted Limbos between the Planes of Heaven and Purgatory and other Dimensions.
Inside, he felt he could do anything. The time dilation was around three times his previous maximum output. A day here would equal three years inside.
He also felt he could hide extremely well. Tests with Niflheim, Gungnir, and the rest of his familiars confirmed that even for them, it was extremely difficult to find his energy signature, let alone pierce through the hidden dimension.
He was also able to pull them inside at will, trapping them in these spaces. At Level 3, it could suppress their stats and powers by as much as thirty percent.
"Not bad at all... I feel like this is the ability those Venerables use, don't you think?" he wondered.
"It does seem quite similar, yes, master," Gungnir nodded, looking around the Limbo. "There is one skill that has me interested. Why don't you use it?"
"Oh yeah, the Body Between Heaven and Purgatory!" the Gardener's Memento said, nodding. "Master, I strongly suggest you use it! It could allow you to manifest a body even in Limbo. You could travel between timelines while keeping your physical form as well!"
"You talk a lot like Zorba," Louis commented. "And you still haven't apologized for eating souls without my permission."
"...I thought it would make you stronger. It was so long ago... I apologize," the flower-headed familiar said.
"It is fine..." Louis shrugged. "Well, you are right. This skill seems the most interesting. Let us experiment."
Louis quickly activated the Skill and felt something within him suddenly awaken.
"Body Between Heaven and Purgatory!"
Suddenly, Draconic Energy flowed out of his Soul and rapidly transformed into a physical body. Particle after particle assembled and layered, creating a body of light and darkness that then solidified with flesh, bones, blood, organs, and everything else.
He felt the energies of the world drawing into his body. The Limbo fed him with the Essence of Heaven and Purgatory that would kill anyone else, allowing him to regenerate Draconic Energy and Fantasium even faster with his new form.
He had manifested a powerful yet strange body. Not strange in appearance, but in what it truly was. It felt liminal, existing between the layers of space and time itself.
Louis tested it, transforming into ashes, light, ice, fire, and shadows at will. He could switch between these five forms freely, making him incredibly stronger.
As the skill described, his regeneration increased massively whenever he switched between elemental forms. He tested it by having his familiars attack him, inflicting heavy damage only for him to switch to his light form. The wounds regenerated ten times faster.
"If I can keep consistently switching forms, it is almost like a lite version of Death-Sense...!" Louis was excited.
"It is indeed an incredible skill, master." Niflheim nodded.
Yes, she could nod now. She had manifested in her true form, which was not the sexy lady some might expect, but a giant ice dragon with shimmering, crystalline sword-shaped scales, tail, wings, claws, fangs, and horns. She had two gleaming golden eyes and exuded the divinity of Louis's grandfather, as she had been crafted using his Primordial Ice originally.
Thus, her non-sword body looked like this. As a spirit, she was no longer tied to her sword form and had likely already grown stronger than the original Niflheim currently in Tisha's hands.
"Defier of Fate is mostly passive..." Louis said. "So I cannot test it completely right now, and it only has one use per day. Better save that for later."
"Eternal White Void Eyes... it is also a passive skill that was already active. Indeed, I can see everything here, even other dimensions, albeit faintly. Other timelines are not possible yet... I may need a higher skill level for that. My powers have been boosted though, and... I can pinpoint more accurately where to go if we wanted to take another path... such as Heaven or Purgatory."
Later, Louis tested Return to Ashes, and it proved as amazing as the description suggested. It allowed him to explode into ashes and disappear, only to reappear one kilometer away at fifty percent health. By switching elemental forms, the missing health regenerated quickly as well.
He also left behind a wide ashen zone that damaged and slowed enemies, making it incredibly useful.
This would allow him to avoid certain death by escaping far away, and he could do it consecutively. It also felt like another pseudo Death-Sense, further increasing Louis's survival chances.
Next, he tested Soul Extraction against the Rank 10 monsters spawning inside his fused Dungeons, such as the Volcanic Tyrants, the Giant Living Buddha Statues, or the Ultimate Superheroes, all challenging foes for his Undead.
He fought them simultaneously, tapping them and using Soul Extraction. It proved incredibly effective, stealing fragments of their souls which he consumed, fueling his Draconic Energy and Fantasium while enhancing his soul further and granting temporary stat boosts.
There was no upper limit on how much he could use the technique, though stronger foes were clearly far more resistant.
He also used it to create Undead, extracting the souls of these Rank 10 monsters and summoning stronger Undead forms that were at least three times as powerful as those from his Lich Incarnation.
Lastly, Celestial Judgement was straightforward. It unleashed a massive beam or aura from his entire body, resembling a supernova-like flash of bright, burning light. A simple yet devastating magic attack that left any survivors with severe debuffs capable of temporarily canceling abilities and reducing regeneration.
"I am done testing and... this is almost finished too...! There."
BOOOM!
Within Louis's soul, a massive explosion occurred as his Fantasy Sea evolved even further. It mixed with all the Realms he had devoured and everything else inside his soul, swirling together as thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, and then billions of Fantasy Stars—each carrying a Fantasy Concept—merged beautifully, forming a Galaxy inside his soul, a true Macrocosm.
FLAAASH!
The moment this happened, Louis gained a cape made of starlight and a large, sharp crown made of stars and constellations shimmering above his head.
Aside from that, Cosmic Energy flowed through his body for the first time, growing stronger with each passing second.
Slowly, these cosmic energies became beautiful threads, creating armor and clothes around his soul. Through Soul Shapeshifting, this helped Louis take the form of his human self, which was better suited for wearing clothes and armor.
Ding!
[Congratulations, you have successfully ascended your Qi Cultivation from Rank 7, Star Weaver, to Rank 8, Galaxy Monarch!]
[You have successfully forged your Inner Macrocosm and your Fantasy Galaxy Dantian!]
[You have awakened Cosmic Qi, a new and powerful energy capable of manipulating Space, Gravity, Stars, and Fate to an extent.]
[Like every Galaxy Monarch, you have gained your Galaxy Monarch Robes, Armor Equipment that become stronger the more Cosmic Energy you assimilate, refine, and cultivate.]
[Galaxy Monarch Robes will unlock new abilities as your Cultivation progresses.]
[To continue your Cultivation as a Galaxy Monarch, you require a Cultivation method!]
[Do you wish to combine the knowledge of all mastered Cultivation Methods and your own to create a new Cultivation Method?]
[Yes] [No]
"The System has become much more responsible and helpful... It is even willing to create Cultivation Methods for me, saving me time... but no need. I have already spent five hundred years dying and reviving. I have created and conceptualized many!"
Louis looked at his Cultivation Methods list. With his accumulated knowledge, he quickly gathered his ideas and enlightenment gained through nearly five hundred years of training and cultivation.
Indeed, five hundred years, as he had spent a year or sometimes a year and a half inside his own Realm whenever he landed in Limbo, right before the Venerable arrived!
Now, looking at his list...
He had designed three different Cultivation methods while also using the knowledge and Methods he stole from the Seat of Hunger, absorbing its essence and assimilating it into his newly forged Body.
FLASH!
The first method rapidly manifested as Louis consolidated his power and compressed it into billions of runes across his physical body. He fused it with his Five Elemental Roots, elevating them to a divine then cosmic level, and merged them with the rest of his body even further than before.
Red eyes appeared across his bare white skin as black and red flame-like tattoos spread everywhere, melding with a new tone of skin that was emerging—blue.
"Hm?!"
Louis was shocked as something new awakened within him. After having almost fully awakened as a dragon, a new bloodline that had remained dormant this entire time surfaced as he forged his new Physique.
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