Chapter 85: | Chapter 085 | Forsaken Battle Finale: Divine Execution
Imprinted on the bluish hue of the status display, the recently evolved Eclipse and the newly acquired skill glimmered, intriguing him. It hovered in a muted hum, cold and mechanical.
The unexpected elemental fusion transformed his body, making two skills somewhat innate. These two were Raptured Blink and the new skill, Cryptic Eyes of Dominion.
They turned into passive skills; abilities that don’t consume Command Seals.
An astonishing surprise from the system, but a welcome one.
Only the grueling and exhausting pain bothered him as he felt phantom aches throughout his body. It would take a long time for his mind to forget the trauma.
However, this was a step in the right direction. Damien recalled that during the evolution, the system designated Eclipse as a Special Monster.
He didn’t know what constituted a Special Monster, but perhaps it could be the extra tag alongside its name. For Eclipse, it was a Fragment. Now it has become an Idol.
It would be exciting to delve further; however, it wasn’t the best moment to start pondering about unsolved mysteries.
The unmoving Avatar finally made a single step forward. It was heavy, shaking the valley and shattering the ground of its grassland.
Damien didn’t hesitate. His Command Seals were overflowing, surpassing even their limit. He could call his monster army, but he didn’t.
What he needed was an elite, something that rivalled or surpassed Behemoth and Orochi. And he already obtained it.
A lone thought surged into his mind. Eclipse was being summoned by its master. It answered his call with a resounding monotone hum.
Behind Damien, the air fractured as a giant fissure materialized from nothing. The wind flooded inward, bellowing the arrival of the great one.
Storms took shape above the heavens, clouding the warmth of the golden sun. Lightning flashed across the blackened skies, quick and thunderous.
A shadow emerged from the fractured space, forsaking the embrace of the void. It was gargantuan, rivalling the size of the Avatar.
Damien’s eyes widened, sensing a strange familiarity. This figure... He had seen it before. It was a lot bigger, but its appearance remained the same.
"Eclipse’s true form- No, it’s false avatar." He mumbled before shaking his head in denial. The actual form of his monster loomed beyond the heavens. The earth was but a tiny pedestal to it.
An enormous lady clad in pitch-black towered over the Valley of Forsaken. Her gaze was endless and absorbing.
The Avatar senses dread from within itself. An existential one. It shouldn’t be possible for something such as itself to feel fear. Yet... It felt horror.
Its glowing eyes flickered as its jaw opened, unveling a ragged mouth crowded with piercing teeth. Energy condensed within its center, preparing to unleash a blast of energy.
Eclipse waved its hand, the air humming as a long, black sword materialized into existence. Her movements seemed to leave behind echoes of the past.
Beautiful.
It was the only thought that pervaded his mind.
The condensing ball of energy gleamed with piercing light, blinding the world for a moment as though a star had descended from the skies.
Eclipse pointed the gargantuan sword upward, the stance of an honored knight. She remained undaunted and indifferent to the blinding light.
With a bellowing roar, the Avatar discharged the condensed energy, blasting it outward towards the colossal pitch-black lady.
The beam of light scorched the air, creating whirlwinds that poured onto the valley. It was a power capable of destroying a city in a single strike.
Eclipse swung her jet-black blade downward, splitting the beam of light into two streams. These streaked across the valley, landing over the icy sea and bringing about two blinding lights.
What followed were the shockwaves of the explosions, blasting into the valley. Trees were uprooted as some mountains collapsed from the sheer force alone.
Untouched, the colossal pitch-black lady strided forward. Her steps didn’t cause the world to shake. She was gentle, finesse in the art of the spectator.
Damien watched as Behemoth and Orochi gave way to Eclipse. Avatar seemed frozen, unable to move a single muscle.
He was ignorant that no one should gaze upon the voidless eyes of Eclipse. Those who do would stand within its dominion, judged.
When the gargantuan pitch-black lady arrived in front of the Avatar. She didn’t hesitate to swing her blade, beheading the aberration that appeared to be unstoppable in the eyes of mortals.
Even though her steps wouldn’t cause the world to tremble, she commanded power to cleave her adversaries in one strike.
The execution was immediate. Mountains around them were sliced into two separate halves, one of which floated upward, undoing gravity.
Eclipse caught the head of the Avatar, grasping it with her fingers. The body of the aberration collapsed with a resounding thud. The ground shook for a moment before calming down.
The Extraterrestrial Monster glanced at her master for one last time, giving a graceful nod as she returned to the fractured rift where she came from.
Damien could only watch in silence, grateful and dumbfounded.
Eclipse took the head of the Avatar with her, bringing it into her domain where it would be devoured for eternity. A horrifying fate for the immortal.
As the fractured space closed, an eerie silence permeated the breeze. The storm clouds dispersed in seconds, unveiling the radiant sun above.
He saw Behemoth and Orochi looking at him with accusing gazes. Their master already has such a capable servant; why did the two of them have to waste time against that aberration?
Damien wryly chuckled at the sight and unsummoned them. He didn’t want to look even more foolish before his monsters.
It would be detrimental to his image.
"But damn... Such a giant body," he remarked while staring at the unmoving corpse of the Avatar. "It would be too wasteful to leave it to rot."
An idea struck him out of nowhere.
Damien summoned his second Extraterrestrial Monster: Neurophages. It was capable of assimilating other creatures, utilizing their bodies and powers.
He wondered if it was capable of doing the same with the corpse of the Avatar. After all, a dead body shouldn’t be able to resist assimilation.
A cloud of black dust emerged from the cracks of the ground, forming into a blurred silhouette of a person. It bowed with poise, waiting for the commands of its master.
"Neurophages, can you assimilate that corpse?" Damien gestured towards the gargantuan headless corpse of the aberration.
The Neurophages gazed upon the Avatar’s corpse for a couple of seconds as though analyzing its possibility or not. It didn’t take long for it to reach an optimal conclusion.
It nodded towards its master, prompting the black-suited young man to smile. Having an Avatar under his command wasn’t bad.
Even though it was headless and might not have had anything special other than its size, it was better than nothing at all. It was also a suitable vessel for Neurophages.
"Alright, assimilate it for me. You can use it as your official vessel if you want to," Damien asserted as the blurred silhouette of the monster broke apart into a cloud of dust.
The Neurophages seeped into the headless body of the gargantuan aberration, assimilating everything from its cells to the nervous system.
It was efficient in assimilating things it needed and destroying those that did not.
He nodded in satisfaction as the corpse of the aberration started twitching. It was a good sign since Neurophages was beginning to control its body.
"I guess it’s a good time to check out the changes in my status."
What better way to test his transformation than to utilize his innate skills? His lips curled upward as he closed his eyelids and blinked. He teleported a hundred meters away in an instant.
Most importantly, it didn’t consume a single Command Seal.
"Unfortunately, Intangible Fracture didn’t become an innate passive..." He sighed to himself before shaking his head. He would have become overpowered by it.
Nothing would be able to touch him except those capable of tearing space apart. It wouldn’t even consume a dime of his Command Seals.
"Perhaps the next evolution of Eclipse would provide me with the passive." One could only hope for the best.
In any case, Damien couldn’t test the Cryptic Eyes of Dominion. There were no targets left to test it on. Regardless, opportunities were ripe in the future.
Sooner or later, he would be able to test it.
Taking a deep breath, he used Empyrean Overwatch to locate the army of wolves and his partner. It didn’t take long for him to gaze upon the outskirts of the valley.
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared and teleported to the outskirts where the army of wolves temporarily camped.
His appearance attracted some attention since he stood a bit taller than before. Even his black suit felt tight for some reason.
"Chieftain..." He walked forward, but noticed the shadowed expression of the old Lycanthrope.
"The vampire... She’s-"
The elder couldn’t even speak further as Damien immediately blinked before the sleeping Hecate. Boris stood beside and explained. "She’s in deep sleep."
"No matter what we did... She wouldn’t wake up."