Chapter 494: Where Did the Fingernail Go? |
If it's an intelligent lifeform, when subjected to the corruption of the void, it will experience immense pain and torment.
This pain and torment aren't limited to just the physical aspect but also affect the soul.
Within that continuous and seemingly endless suffering, various bizarre illusions are intertwined. These illusions constantly change based on the infected individual's deepest desires. They can bring you to the depths of despair when you are most joyful and happy, and then suddenly fill you with ecstasy when you are in despair. In short, it continually manipulates the thoughts of intelligent beings and strikes at their willpower until it completely breaks them, allowing the void's power to take hold.
In the past, in the Heroes of Might and Magic world, the Chaos Dragon, Urgash, was driven insane by such torment. During its slumber to heal, it was infected by the void's power. Although Urgash resisted, over the long ages, it eventually succumbed. By the time Roy and others left, Urgash had become a complete void creature. Not only did it consume the Ashan World, but it also devoured the moon within that universe, which was the resting place of the primordial dragon, Asha.
In the many realms now, the existence of the Ashan World may never be found again. The coordinates of that world's location have likely turned into nothingness, leaving only the Void Lord Urgash lurking there...
The situation Roy faces now is quite similar to what Urgash experienced. Both his body and soul suffer maddening pain and torment. Perhaps he can withstand it for a short while, but if it continues for too long, Roy will probably follow the same path as Urgash.
Physical pain and torment can be endured with sheer willpower, but the pain and torment on the soul can only be resisted with the power of his divine nature.
In the depths of Roy's soul, he can even see the constantly rotating divine nature—a pair of endless serpents chasing each other, with each rotation emitting a halo that drives away some of the madness and darkness surging from within his soul. These two forces compete and contend with each other endlessly.
Now, Roy is immensely grateful that he fused with the divine nature and ascended to the Demon King level before directly encountering the power of the void. This has given him the confidence to resist the void's corruption on a soul level. Perhaps this is also why Urgash could endure for so long. Roy once doubted whether, without this divine nature, he would have declared resistance failed at the very moment he touched the void's power, leading to a complete defeat.
In the short term, Roy can still hold on, but if it takes any longer, it becomes uncertain. So, Roy can only try to focus his attention on the changes within his body, hoping that his magic circuits can complete the transformation before he collapses entirely. Otherwise, everything will be lost.
One day passed quickly, then two days, three days, and a whole week. Roy remained there, blocking the void rift and fighting against the void corruption.
During these seven days, the area around Roy turned into a restricted zone. Julia, Bayonetta, Sareth, Sparda, Dante, Vergil, and Jeanne were all vigilantly watching from a distance. They drove away all the angels and demons that were still present in this space, not allowing any living beings to approach.
In fact, they didn't need to actively drive anyone away. Anyone with a bit of intelligence could sense the terrifying aura emanating from this area. Even if curiosity arose within them, the overwhelming feeling of dread and despair suppressed any such curiosity entirely...
"It's been a week... Can Osiris succeed?" Sparda gazed anxiously at the dark spot in the center of the area from afar.
But no one could answer his question. Only Dante embraced his shoulder and said, "Come on, old man, there's nothing more we can do. If Osiris really fails, it would mean nothing but the destruction of the world, and we won't be able to escape that fate. So why not eat, drink, and relax while waiting for the outcome?"
Sparda knew Dante was right. There was indeed nothing else they could do, so he sighed and said, "Yeah, that's why I've always believed that the appearance of such extraordinary beings in the world is never a good sign. Once they encounter something or take action, we won't even have the ability to stop them..."
However, before Sparda could finish his words, something suddenly changed in the center of the area!
The massive black sphere that had been covering the crack's location, slowly expanding outward, now abruptly started retracting. The pervasive black electric radiance began to diminish rapidly.
The group of people noticed this scene, and their hearts trembled. They immediately flew towards the front.
When they arrived at a distance of just over a kilometer from the crack's location, they stopped. Their vision became clear, and they were astonished to see that the invading void power was indeed retracting. However, in its place, something indescribable appeared at the crack's location!
It was a... or rather, a grey mist with a vague human-like shape. Around the outline of this human figure, endless twisted mist constantly emanated and dissipated. This mist did not feel light; it had substance, like a kind of fluid.
The facial features on the misty human figure had disappeared, making it impossible for them to determine if it was Roy. There were no noses or mouths; only three golden-red dots remained in the position where the head should be, resembling eyes. These three eye-like shapes somewhat matched Roy's appearance, but the problem was that behind the humanoid mist, they could only see a pair of massive mist wings, instead of the three pairs that Roy had originally.
Even Julia and Benia were at a loss. Previously, only Roy was in the center of the crack, but the appearance of this humanoid mist made it impossible for them to associate it with Roy's previous form...
"What exactly happened!?" Sareth exclaimed in surprise. "Is that my foster father? It doesn't seem right!"
"Did he succeed or fail?" Dante's hand instinctively reached for the two guns at his back.
Vergil did the same, subconsciously gripping the hilt of his sword, then he asked following Dante's words, "Is this the so-called void creature you mentioned?"
"I don't know, it doesn't seem quite like it..." Julia and Benia looked puzzled.
"Let's get closer and take a look, but be cautious!" suggested Beonita.
Carefully, the group flew forward again. The closer they got, the more they realized the enormous size of this humanoid mist. It could easily be over forty meters tall just by a rough estimate; one could even call it a titan's stature.
Just as the group hesitated whether to inquire about it, Fat-Tiger, carrying Sareth, suddenly raised its three heads and sniffed the air. It then let out three cries of excitement – "Ao," "Woof," and "Wang," before rushing forward.
Sareth immediately understood what was going on and excitedly said, "It's my foster father! It's definitely him! Fat-Tiger smelled his soul's aura; it can't be wrong!"
Upon hearing this, Julia and Benia both breathed a sigh of relief. They knew that Fat-Tiger had always been Roy's companion, spiritually connected to him. Others might make mistakes, but Fat-Tiger definitely wouldn't.
As expected, when the group approached a bit closer, the humanoid mist also noticed them. Its towering figure lowered its head, and its three golden-red eyes glanced at them before the entire misty body began to writhe and churn. It underwent visible changes and slowly started to shrink.
This humanoid mist was indeed Roy, no doubt about it. After spending so much time, Roy had finally witnessed the complete transformation of his magic circuit. However, what he didn't anticipate was that after the change in the magic circuit, his body also underwent massive alterations.
His once solid muscles and bones turned into mist, even his blood was nowhere to be seen. His entire physical body became this mist-like form, and even the three pairs of demon wings on his back fused into one enormous pair of misty wings.
At that moment, Roy was stunned. He went from his previous realistic style to this Cthulhu-style appearance. Moreover, the mist permeating around his body gave off an ink painting vibe. Such a massive transformation occurred in an incredibly short amount of time, catching even demons off guard.
Demons were creatures that would constantly evolve with the increase of their power; this was normal. However, nobody ever told Roy that demons could evolve into this kind of form...
Could this be what they call the "Chaos Demon"? It didn't quite match his imagination...
Right, the panel! Checking the panel should clear things up!
Roy quickly snapped out of it and immediately accessed the system interface. Fortunately, even with his massive change, the system was still there and readily appeared at his call.
However, as soon as he saw the beginning of the panel attributes, Roy was completely stunned.
【Name】: Roy
【Race】: Demon
【Bloodline】: Quantum Demon...
What the heck!?? Wasn't it supposed to be Chaos Demon!? Why did the system suddenly change his bloodline to Quantum Demon!?
What in the world is a Quantum Demon!? Does the Abyss World even have such demons!?
Roy was baffled and couldn't come to terms with this bloodline designation, as it was completely beyond his expectations.
When he sensed someone approaching and saw that it was Julia and the others, Roy temporarily snapped out of his confusion. This misty form was just too large, making normal communication impossible. So he began to attempt to condense his body.
Luckily, these mists, although eerie in appearance, were indeed a part of his body. With Roy's intent, they easily obeyed his control and started to gather towards the center. Following Roy's memory, he returned to his previous height of about four meters.
However, while his height returned, Roy's appearance did not. Only his original two demonic eyes and the God's Eye remained on his face, while the rest were all mist-like. Among the mists, the three eyes shone brightly, and whenever his head moved, three streaks of light moved with it.
In the eyes of the others, Roy's current appearance was simply breathtaking. He exuded an aura of endless mystery and eeriness, and even his presence felt more suffocating than when he had the body of a Demon King.
Only Roy himself was feeling extremely uncomfortable. He stretched out his hands and looked at the mist flowing from his fingertips, unable to help but exclaim, "Where did my nails go!?"
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