Chapter 980: Devouring The World
“These…” Although Garl did not dare to deceive Lin Li, he replied with some hesitation. As the Abyssal Demons in front of him were all at the Legendary-level, they should be rather competent. However, from the perspective of Garl, who was once the Lord Devourer, the Abyssal Demons were rather insignificant. He still remembered that when they were signing the contract, Lin Li once mentioned that he would find a strong Abyssal Demon to become his host. Hence, he was naturally reluctant to settle for them.
“I need you to exhibit a certain amount of strength. Just find a random one and use it for the time being. I’ll find you a better one in the future.” Lin Li and Garl had a spiritual connection, so he knew what Garl was worried about.
“Okay, okay, I can become a parasite to any demon as long as it has a body of flesh.” Since some of the Abyssal Demons that were swarming in were Stone Demons that had granite-like bodies, while some were Fire Demons that were covered in flames, Garl asked for one with a body made of flesh.
That request of his was actually not unexpected, so when Lin Li asked Garl that question, he had already chosen a target among the bunch of Abyssal Demons. After hearing Garl’s answer, Lin Li swung his hand, and a large magic hand broke through the void and moved towards the Abyssal Demons. Soon, the target was caught.
It was a level-22 Abyssal Gryphon that was considered a superior existence among the Abyssal Demons. They were related to the Gryphons tamed by the Gryphon Riders in the Felan Kingdom by blood. However, due to the different living environment, there were considerable differences in physical appearance and the power they could display. For example, in terms of physical size, the Abyssal Gryphon was much more formidable. Its fur was black, which was a popular color in the Abyssal Demon, and its power was more inclined towards darkness and evil.
A level-22 Abyssal Gryphon was considered a powerful Abyssal Demon. In fact, it could even fight and kill two or three humans of the same level with its strength. However, despite having such strength, it could not resist Lin Li’s magic hand at all. Other than roar incessantly, it couldn’t even struggle.
Lin Li had restrained the power of the Abyssal Gryphon and threw it at Garl. He firmly said, “Just become its parasite for the time being.”
Actually, purely in terms of casting spells, Garl was probably much stronger than most human mages of the same level. However, to a Sanctuary powerhouse like Lin Li, there was no meaning in having one or two more powerhouses that were at the peak of the Legendary-level.
Lin Li had taken the trouble to take Garl under his wing because he was interested in Garl’s ability to devour everything. Otherwise, he would have long slashed Garl. Besides, in order to make Garl better exhibit his ability to devour, a powerful demon host was definitely required.
Garl could still use its devouring ability without a host, but having a proper host body would undoubtedly allow it to use that ability to a greater extent.
Actually, one would be able to imagine the devouring ability of Garl. No matter how powerful it was, how much could something with a body the size of a fist devour? The Lord Devourer had a ma.s.sive body and mouth, and thus it could even swallow several Alchemy Colossuses at once with ease. However, would Garl, who now had a tiny body, be able to do so? He probably could only devour ants.
Of course, even if he had the body of the Abyssal Gryphon, Garl would not be able to devour a large number of things like before. However, at least he would be able to make his devouring ability more useful and effective.
In fact, to Garl, the host’s body was like a decomposition domain that was filled with Laws of disintegration. Unless Garl could enter the Sanctuary-realm, he would not be able to leave such a domain if he wanted to maximize his devouring ability.
Moreover, unlike the tender Elemental Wyrm Xiao Hua which could continuously acc.u.mulate mana in its magical crystal, most of the power he devoured would not belong to him. Hence, he just needed to use the body of the host to store the mana that he had devoured before slowly absorbing it and transforming it himself.
The Abyssal Gryphon, which had its power sealed, was lying obediently in the area in the middle of the expedition team with anger and horror in its eyes. Garl was considered a fully mature body, and becoming a parasite to the Abyssal Gryphon that was only level-22 was rather easy. Although he didn’t quite fancy the Abyssal Gryphon, he did not dare to defy Lin Li’s order in the slightest. He flew towards the Abyssal Gryphon while muttering something.
Upon sight of such an ugly little thing like Garl flying close to him, the Abyssal Gryphon immediately hollered in a hostile manner, revealing a threatening look. It clearly did not know how terrifying a Devouring Demon was. Garl naturally would not miss this opportunity, and as the Abyssal Gryphon roared, he flew into the large mouth immediately.
Seeing this scene, Archbishop Martin and others who did not know what was going on were immediately frightened. Isn’t this courting death? The Abyssal Gryphon has sharp fangs that can crush hard steel, let alone the small Garl.
However, soon, the Abyssal Gryphon that Garl had flown into began to show shocking changes. Firstly, the Abyssal Gryphon’s body expanded rapidly like an inflated balloon, and its strong body that was initially filled with explosive power became extremely swollen a moment later.
The Abyssal Gryphon’s body looked like it was about to explode with a loud bang at any moment when it reached the size of three Alchemy Colossuses. However, that was not the end. Next, the Abyssal Gryphon’s mouth began to split open at both corners all of a sudden. It only stopped when it reached its bloated neck.
A snake could swallow prey many times larger than its head because it could detach the bones in its jaws, and the Abyssal Gryphon was probably doing something similar. Hence, it could open its mouth to a great extent. The huge mouth of the Abyssal Gryphon was so large that it was almost the same as its transformed body. Although it could not swallow an Alchemy Colossus in one bite, it still would not have any problem swallowing more than 10 people at once.
The black fur on the body of the Abyssal Gryphon was falling off and being replaced by a layer of translucent crystals that were neatly arranged like scales. They gradually covered its entire body. The crystalline scales looked as fragile as gla.s.s, but their actual defense was probably no less powerful than that of the scales of wyrms.
Soon, Garl completed the transformation of his host’s body, and of course, the Abyssal Gryphon’s appearance became completely different again, just as expected. Its swollen body, exaggeratedly large mouth, and crystalline scales made the originally majestic Abyssal Gryphon become an extremely hideous unknown creature.
At this moment, Archbishop Martin and the others finally knew why Lin Li had taken the trouble to accept an underling like Garl.
When they saw Lin Li dissecting the body of the Lord Devourer to force Garl out, Archbishop Martin and the others initially believed that Garl was just a parasitic creature in the body of the Lord Devourer, just like how parasites would inevitably exist in the bodies of humans or beasts. However, now that they had seen the Abyssal Gryphon being transformed into such a state that was actually somewhat similar to the previous Lord Devourer, they knew that the real Lord Devourer was not the demon that looked ma.s.sive.
Recalling the terrifying power the Lord Devourer had displayed before, Archbishop Martin and the others couldn’t help but get chills. That power was enough to contend with Sanctuary powerhouses. If the Tower of Dusk had such a combat power, there would definitely be a huge increase in their power.
Of course, despite having a new host, Garl’s current strength still could not be compared to that of the Lord Devourer. After all, back then, he had acc.u.mulated his power and strength here for thousands of years. He had devoured numerous Abyssal Demons and the treasures that were originally collected here in order to reach that height.
“Disgusting, it’s actually such a disgusting creature again. It’s so revolting that it makes me want to throw up. Is your brain full of feces?” Angelano mocked, obviously not missing the chance to ridicule Garl since they were enemies.
“Shut up, shorty!”
Garl was narrow-minded. If they were somewhere else at another time, he would definitely argue with Angelano for three days and nights, or even directly get physical. However, he knew clearly that if he were to fight with Angelano now, he would only end up provoking his master. Since Angelano was not bound by a contract, there was of course nothing for him to worry about. However, he was bound by a Soul Contract, and he would definitely be the unlucky one.
However, Garl was not showing his weakness by choosing not to argue with Angelano. Instead, he just cunningly wanted to make Lin Li detest Angelano using such a method. To put it simply, he wanted to drive him mad before peris.h.i.+ng.
“What, shorty? Get out of that disgusting thing if you have what it takes. Let’s compete and see who’s the short one!” Angelano actually wasn’t bothered by his height, because that was the truth anyway. Besides, according to the beauty standards of goblins, it was undoubtedly a perfect height. However, he could not accept hearing those words from Garl, who was the size of a fist. What right does he have to call me a shorty?!
Looking at the exasperated Angelano, Garl felt a little smug, but he did not express it. Instead, he seriously said, “Do you really think everyone is as free as you are? Look at the situation that we’re facing now!”
“Garl, are you very free? Once you’re done with the transformation, get out.” Lin Li was obviously aware of his little tricks. Besides, there was a Soul Contract between them. However, that was not a big deal, so Lin Li didn’t bother blaming him, the smart aleck.
“Yes, Master.” Upon hearing Lin Li’s reprimand, Garl immediately changed his tone and sounded deferential like he was eager to please Lin Li. He moved his bloated body towards the area outside the team. He had already resigned himself to fate completely. Since he had already signed the Soul Contract, he had to accept fate. Hence, he accepted his ident.i.ty as a servant.
Although Garl had a host now, and had also undergone some transformation, his strength was still far inferior to the Lord Devourer’s. There was only one way to increase his strength, and that was to acc.u.mulate power through constant devouring. Hence, the Abyssal Demons that were surrounding the expedition were naturally the best source of power.
Using the pa.s.sage that the expedition had cleared up, Garl writhed his large and bloated body and moved away. However, the Abyssal Demons did not fear him at all. As soon as he appeared, he was attacked by the Abyssal Demons.
The Abyssal Demons here were all at the Legendary-level and above. The magic spells they used contained the nomological power of the Legendary-realm. At this moment, they were blasting at Garl with terrifying sounds. Even peak Legendary powerhouses would not dare to confront them head-on by themselves.
However, Garl was the nemesis of such dense and intense offensive spells. He opened his large mouth, and all the incoming spells suddenly charged into his mouth. All sorts of offensive spells including Thunderbolt, Flaming Meteor, and many others formed a ma.s.sive funnel, with Garl’s mouth being the bottom of it.
Everyone finally saw the benefits of Garl transforming the body of the host. Its large mouth was as wide as its body, and its entire body seemed like a big pocket and a bottomless pit that swallowed up the incoming offensive spells. If Garl had not had a host, his small fist-sized body would not have been able to do so efficiently, since it had not reached the Sanctuary-realm yet.
The overwhelming offensive spells that swarmed towards Garl were devoured in the blink of an eye. However, that was not the end. There were still more than 10 Abyssal Demons that were made of flesh. They were burly and almost not inferior to the Rotterdam Kingdom’s Alchemy Colossuses. However, before the Abyssal Demons could even get close to Garl, they were sucked away from the surface as they surged into Garl’s b.l.o.o.d.y mouth.
Previously, looking at the scene of Garl devouring everything, Archbishop Martin and the others only felt horrified because the other party was their enemy. However, when they saw how daunting Garl was when devouring the things, and since they were in different positions, Archbishop Martin and the others were naturally in a good mood.
Although the host’s body that Garl had transformed was hideous, it could swallow everything in one gulp regardless of what offensive spells they were. It was still astonis.h.i.+ng.