Chapter 1144: Devouring |
As soon as the silver-black, three-tiered jewelry box inlaid with various gemstones was taken out and placed on the coffee table, Franca felt an inexplicable chill. It was as if the environment around her had undergone a strange transformation.
Ever since becoming a Demoness of Catastrophe, her spiritual intuition had grown much sharper.
The head on Lumian's left shoulder turned, and the face of Alista Tudor now faced forward, gazing at the Box of the Great Old Ones.
The intricate jewelry box let out a sudden creaking sound, as if the materials comprising it were buckling under some invisible pressure, on the verge of shattering.
All the anomalies Franca had sensed disappeared simultaneously.
"Box of the Great Old Ones?" Franca asked Lumian curiously.
Although she hadn't participated in the Major Arcana gatherings or the distribution of Grade 0 Sealed Artifacts, she had been briefed in advance about which items to avoid should a skirmish occur. This box was one of them.
Lumian nodded slightly and placed his right hand atop the Box of the Great Old Ones, gently tapping it.
"I felt it was fated with Ludwig, so I borrowed it for a while."
Members of the Curly-Haired Baboons Research Society had unconsciously spread new terms, and Lumian believed that visitors from Penglai, like Harrison, were also introducing similar ideas.
Fated with Ludwig? Franca instinctively turned her head to glance at Ludwig, who was dressed in formal children's attire.
The boy, steak clamped between his teeth, stared blankly at the Box of the Great Old Ones, as though lost in a dream.
Lumian slid his hand to the third layer of the silver- black jewelry box and smiled as he asked Ludwig, "Can you sense what's hidden inside?"
Ludwig, as if sleepwalking, extended his hand to the opposite side of the third layer of the box.
Almost instantly, Franca's ears filled with bizarre sounds of chewing, swallowing, and digesting. It was as though something was gnawing on her flesh and bones from within.
The sound originated from the depths of the third layer of the Box of the Great Old Ones and resonated from the depths of her psyche.
"It's... it's..." Ludwig stammered, the piece of steak dropping to the ground.
The boy's face, like a sheet covering a bed, was propped up into "tents" by unseen limbs.
With a mix of desire, reverence, fear, and trembling, he said, "It's… the power of Primordial Hunger!"
Primordial Hunger... One of the Great Old Dominators… Franca felt the surrounding environment suddenly grow dark and layered, as though some malevolent gaze had isolated them.
Looking around, she quickly realized they had been transported to Lumian's divine kingdom. This move was to prevent Primordial Hunger from leveraging the mystical connections formed during their discussion to destabilize the protected zone.
The middle head on Lumian's shoulders retained its earlier smile as he continued to ask Ludwig, "What would happen if I opened this layer?"
Ludwig jerked back as if electrocuted, stammering in fear, "It might-it might immediately devour everything around us. Or it might start by consuming-consuming our subconscious and the deepest parts of our islands of consciousness. It would eat emotions, memories, spirit, and consciousness, then flesh and blood, then night, day, good, evil, order, and disaster. It would continue until it consumed parts of the world's fundamental rules, destabilizing reality and dissolving the barriers at their foundation."
"As expected, your pathway eventually leads to devouring rules, concepts, authorities, and even symbols, Lumian remarked with satisfaction, the middle head nodding slightly.
Looking at Ludwig with an ambiguous smile, he asked in a Demoness-like whisper, "Can you devour the danger hidden in the box?"
Cheek's face turned forward, showing keen interest in Ludwig's response.
Visibly terrified, Ludwig blurted, "How could I?"
His words seemed to imply not that it was impossible but that it shouldn't be done-such an act would be rebellion, blasphemy!
Lumian offered no reply, his smile unchanging as he continued to gaze at Ludwig.
Ludwig fell silent, his expressions shifting from cowardice to resistance, to temptation, to hesitation and fear.
His face had never been so expressive.
Franca adopted a spectator's stance, waiting for Lumian to offer some dark persuasion and Ludwig to respond with his own struggles.
After a few seconds, Lumian spoke in a measured tone.
"The core of your pathway is 'devouring' and 'digesting'. Devouring the external world is not the end goal. Even consuming rules, concepts, authorities, and symbols is not the end. Devouring yourself, devouring your father, devouring the god you worship-that is your ultimate fate, the pinnacle of hunger.
"Perhaps that's the very reason He created all of you."
"Isn't that a bit... too extreme?" Ludwig asked with a clarity that suggested he had received some moral education.
Good kid, showing some humanity... Franca thought, nodding in approval.
She figured that if she chose the Spectator pathway, she could act out the role just as well.
Lumian glanced at Jenna's face on the head over his right shoulder and said to Ludwig with a smile, "It is indeed extreme. I wouldn't want you to be controlled by your godhood and instincts to do something so drastic.
"So I'm only asking if you can devour the danger hidden in the box-not if you can devour Primordial Hunger. In the current circumstances, strengthening yourself as much as possible is the best choice."
Ludwig opened his mouth as if to speak but closed it again, his expression shifting. Moments later, the sound of him swallowing saliva echoed audibly.
Oh Lord, you taste so good? Franca mentally captioned Ludwig's reaction.
After some time, Ludwig finally spoke.
"Not yet, I'd need to recover to my original level and receive help from another great existence."
With a nod, Lumian said, "So even just devouring it temporarily, storing it without digesting or absorbing it, requires the help of a Great Old Dominator?"
"Yes," Ludwig affirmed with a heavy nod.
Lumian pondered briefly before smiling again. "Then we'll wait."
He extended one of the arms holding the Red Priest Uniqueness, along with one of the new beautiful hands that had grown on his right side, toward Ludwig. In the current situation, although the Red Priest Uniqueness still retained the form of a charred flag, it wouldn't cause those who witnessed it to lose control and go crazy. This was because it was a part of Lumian and was under control. Lumian could let it display the influence of godhood as and when he wanted it to.
"You can pick which one to devour," Lumian said with a smile.
Ludwig froze. "Can I really eat this?"
Franca blinked, finally understanding Lumian's intent.
He was letting Ludwig devour a part of his own body to allow Ludwig to gain the separated Sequence 2 Beyonder characteristic and thus recover his original level, freeing him from the seal of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.
Lumian currently had three extra Sequence 2 Beyonder characteristics: one Weather Warlock and two Demoness of Catastrophe.
"Of course. I'm your godfather," Lumian said with a smile.
Ludwig swallowed hard, looked left and right for a few seconds, and hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "That one."
He pointed to Lumian's left arm, which carried the Weather Warlock Beyonder characteristic derived from Tudor's Conqueror Beyonder characteristics.
"Very well." Lumian raised the corresponding arm.
Ludwig leaned in and bit down on the hand.
As deep red blood burned like flames and flowed, the sounds of gnawing and chewing filled the room, making Franca shudder.
Franca gasped in shock, thinking that Lumian was being a bit too extreme. Wouldn't it be better to separate the Beyonder characteristic first before feeding it to Ludwig?
It's not like it couldn't be done.
She glanced at the Tudor face on Lumian's left shoulder and noticed an expression of faint pain, a primal discomfort.
The corresponding Weather Warlock Beyonder characteristic belonged to Alista Tudor. Letting Ludwig directly devour it-was this a form of revenge? But you're hurting yourself too... Franca suddenly had a guess and sighed deeply.
Soon, Ludwig finished gnawing off Lumian's hand, leaving only the exposed, bare, iron-colored wrist bone, dripping with burning crimson blood.
Ludwig leaned back, licking the blood off the corners of his mouth, looking like he wanted more.
The skin on his face and body was on the verge of tearing apart, as though something massive inside him was about to burst forth.
The seal of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom could no longer hold him back.
At that moment, Ludwig took control of himself, refraining from breaking the sealing layer, maintaining the appearance of a little boy.
Lumian smiled and turned to Franca, saying, "I'll separate the remaining two Demoness of Catastrophe Beyonder characteristics later to balance my body better. Heh, the Sick Church will also need a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. Oh, and the name 'Sick Church' will gradually have to change."
"Good, good, good!" Franca replied quickly, as though afraid Lumian might change his mind.
Although she knew Lumian was primarily planning for his own future, the fact that he was willing to consider the future at all was a good sign.
Lumian studied Ludwig for a few seconds before smiling and asking. "What's your plan going forward?"
Ludwig was silent for a moment before replying, "If I don't get devoured during the apocalypse, I want to remain a child first, grow up normally, grow old, and fully experience the life of a human. Then, I'll make comparisons."
Lumian hummed in acknowledgment and asked casually, "You've returned to the angel level now, haven't you? What's the name of your Sequence?"
As he spoke, blood and flames intertwined at his severed wrist, regenerating a new hand.
Ludwig thought for a few seconds and then said, "In your language, it's called the Angel of Devouring."
***
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