Chapter 211: Monster Soul
If humans are stripped of their morality, etiquette, their obligation to the rules, conscience, and socialization, we are no different than monsters. Under the human mask and the human skin, there is always a dark creature waiting for the day it can be free.
True, you have a human body. However, what about your soul? Is it a human"s, or a monster"s?
Sila believed he had his Dark Self under control in the Valley of Immortals. However, the fact was he had only managed to temporarily subdue it. His Dark Self was his other half. As he became stronger, it did the same.
It had been patiently and calmly waiting... waiting for the moment when Sila"s negativity reached its peak.
And finally, thanks to what Sila experienced, its waiting was not in vain.
Mora had taught Sila how martial arts must consist of both profound ethics and martial skill, and that they should receive equal attention. Despite this, in recent months, Sila had solely focused on training his martial skill whilst neglecting training his mind. He let his emotions get the better of himself and acted on a whim.
His condition was even worse than Montra. At least Montra had grown up in a brutal world since his childhood, so his mind was stronger than Sila"s. On the other hand, Sila wasn"t prepared for how brutal the world was, resulting in him easily being swallowed by the darkness.
Situations that people could brush off would instead deeply affect Sila"s mind.
If this place was the real world, he would only feel a turbulence in his mind, nothing more. However, this place was Monster Soul, the place where abstract concepts became substantial matters. Who Sila was at the moment was the reflection of what his mind really was.
While Sila was pleasantly watching the killing insects performing their works, a st.u.r.dy barrier took shape around him without him showing any resistance whatsoever. Ramiel focused his power into one point, creating a single barrier. He was confident that it couldn"t be easily destroyed anymore.
He couldn"t be more wrong.
Sila lectured his other self, who couldn"t do anything but silently watch from the inside.
"Look. This is how you correctly use Way of Slime. Do you really think that the S-grade ultimate skill given to the strongest player of the slime race is just a simple transformation skill? You couldn"t exert even ten percent of its full ability. Just watch and learn from me."
Sila opened his right palm, and his Crystal Divine Sword protruded from it. The almighty sword shattered and broke. Sila"s body absorbed the fragments of the sword within, and the tips of his fingers transformed into crystal shards.
"Slimes are creatures with no fixed form. We change according to our surroundings and our enemy. Formless Soldier, Orbiting Cosmos, and Moon Reflecting Mirror; these three skills are the hint to the answer of the last, ultimate skill. Way of Slime is a skill that allows us to change everything we have to become advantageous in each battle.
"Look at what I did. Having another arm is great, but it isn"t as convenient as our own arms. Illuminus can absorb any kind of attack but can"t inflict damage, while the Crystal Divine Sword can gather the power of nature but can"t be wielded by a single ent.i.ty. If we just combine these two items together with our hands, there will be nothing that both our hands can"t break... even the entire world of Monster Soul."
One couldn"t wield the Crystal Divine Sword alone. That meant one had to borrow power from nature in order to wield it. However, Dark Self overcame the item"s limitation by fusing it directly with a part of his body.
Sila"s claws tore apart the barrier as easily as tearing a piece of paper. He opened his palm again. This time, six suntetsu were revealed, they lingered in the air with his psychic power.
"The Mechanical Evil G.o.d"s Protection has a similar ability. With the Eternal Onyx, we can always evolve. Be sure to use it to overwhelm our opponents. The armor that Mamon altered for us isn"t suitable for our fighting style. Such a complex armor requires us to spend time learning all the Hidden Gifts and we also can"t choose them according to our will. It will take us a year before we can make practical use of it.
"Worry not. I already evolved it to suit us best. Simple yet powerful. We can now use the power of those sealed within the armor like they are ours... no, with Monster Heir, we"ll use the skills even better than the actual owners.
"And this is Lookhin"s Oceanic Mind. Imagine yourself as the center of the ocean, being able to control everything like it is all just parts that make up our body."
The six black suntetsu were rotating around Sila at high speed. The simplest form of Oceanic Mind was the ability to control objects with absolute precision. Presently, Sila could even lift up an entire building, five hundred meters away from him, without moving a finger.
"It"s time for us to attack. With only five insects, they can at most cause a small confusion. We must redirect everyone"s attention to us in order to give the insects a chance to grow and multiply."
Although that was what Sila said to himself, he had actually been the center of attention for a while.
It was like he just said, the killing insects were just born so they were relatively weak. The reason they could kill people in the early moments was only thanks to their fearful appearance.
When everyone had calmed down, they could easily oppose the early-stage insects. In fact, it was Entomomageia"s biggest weakness that Mamon discovered. As for how Dark Self knew the weakness, that was thanks to Asmodeus" Hidden Gift that allowed her to comprehend any and all skills, which Mamon had stolen at some point.
Sila pointed his finger at the Heavenly Dragon Guild"s army, and the six suntetsu heavily quaked and glowed with powerful bright lights, a different color for each.
"With Orbiting Cosmos" restriction, we can"t use any other magic-type skills, including Entomomageia to summon more insects. I can only alter the insects which Lookhin already summoned before. Nevertheless, our magic is far from weak if we use it right. We just need physical mediums to unleash its power."
The six suntetsu enlarged and became six giant pillars, each the size of a Roman column. They consisted of a fire pillar, a stone pillar, a water pillar, a lightning pillar, a wind pillar, and an ice pillar.
Sila pushed them toward the center of the Heavenly Dragon Guild"s army with Oceanic Mind and commanded them to explode. Unfortunately, Ramiel summoned barriers to block the explosions.
Sila frowned with displeasure. "That angel is annoying. If we could just use Omniscient Evil G.o.d Qi, the battle would have already ended. By the way, don"t underestimate Montra. Although it"s true that he didn"t hold back against us, he should still have a few trump cards left. Do not forget that he still has eight Gems of Catastrophe on him."
Sila suddenly descended. With Great Sparrowhawk Qi, he could travel in the sky at fantastic speed. Naturally, it was difficult for the Heavenly Dragon Guild"s members to cope with an opponent who could move freely in the sky.
Sila flew at a low alt.i.tude while waving his hands, creating qi waves to cut unfortunate people into seven or eight pieces. His attacks were a combination of Cruise Breeze and Ray a.s.semble; their sharpness and speed were dominant, especially when projected through Great Sparrowhawk Qi which made them delicate and thin. The attacks were so subtle that some of the players didn"t notice the damage until they tried to move.
Sila"s aerial movement was swift and agile. In front of his eyes were electronic screens showing the map of Grea City, including the positions of all people in the city. Thus, he could fly to the places where defense was lacking and a.s.sa.s.sinated opponents at high speed. He started off by killing the weak ones in order to demoralize the opponent"s group and reduce the number of enemies. In the meantime, he was gradually narrowing the distance between him and Ramiel.
As Sila grew closer to Ramiel, the area became narrower and his onyx wings hindered his mobility. In just a split second, Sila transformed the pair of wings into a scarf. The reason he could fly was thanks to qi, not the wings, so the shape didn"t matter anyway.
The tail of the onyx-color scarf was blown around by the wind. Everywhere Sila flew past would become b.l.o.o.d.y scenes filled with corpses and the remnants of weapons and armor. He was like an ominous comet who brought misfortune wherever he went. Soon, Grea City began to smell like death.
The sound of blood splashing, soulless bodies falling onto the street, weapons breaking in half, and people screaming in pain harmonized with each other like an orchestra from abyss.
Finally, Sila arrived at the center of the army. He waved his hands, releasing a wave of qi outward. The combination of Cruise Breeze and Galaxy Eclipse sent at least thirty players to their deaths without them knowing what happened. It was a way to die that was as light as a feather yet as grim as the darkness of a moonless night.
Montra, Ramiel, and the four Warlords prepared for the incoming attack. Ramiel trapped Sila within a barrier, though he could instantly rip it apart.
Sila emitted black fog, no, a group of dots as small as dust from his body. This was the skill that Dark Self was best at using since it was his own skill.
Dark Psychic Corrosion.
The fine specks of dust broke down whatever they touched as they sc.r.a.ped against each other. The size of the black fog expanded as they continued to corrode everything around them. It chipped away and dug into human"s flesh just by flying past. All attacks aiming at Sila were erased by the fog.
Nonetheless, it seemed Montra"s Dragon Domain held greater power. If the targets of the attack didn"t die on the spot, the wounds would be healed, preventing them from dying. Eventually, six powerhouses managed to surround Sila.
"The essence of psychic power is creativity. The same power can be used in a different way to get a different result. Since the scattered version doesn"t work, let"s try a.s.sembling it into a single strike," Sila said to himself.
Lost Ghost noticed Sila"s fog wasn"t capable of harming them and the user was busy talking to himself like a crazy person, so he thought it was a chance. He relied on the fact that he was in Sila"s blind spot to raise his ma.s.sive axe and then swing it down toward Sila from behind.
"Don"t!!" Trick Master, Cheris, and Shuran shouted almost simultaneously. As they weren"t behind Sila, they could see his face.
The face wearing a dreadful grin.
Dark Psychic Corrosion — Crystallization.
Sila crystallized a sword from Dark Psychic Corrosion and stabbed it backward through the gap under his armpit. The blade precisely pierced through Lost Ghost"s abdomen.
Rather than a sword, it looked more like a five-meter-long semi-transparent black crystal stick. Sila slid the stick sideways, creating a long incision along Lost Ghost"s stomach.
Lost Ghost collapsed on the street, his hands pressed to his wound while writhing in agony.
"Arghhh!! Why?! Why isn"t the wound being healed?!!" Lost Ghost let out a roar of pain. Montra frowned and cast a healing spell on him, though it didn"t work.
The thing was, Sila crystallized Dark Psychic Corrosion into a temporary weapon, which left a corrosive effect in any wounds inflicted. For the record, the scattered version worked better on weak opponents; just a small wound would spread quickly and become lethal. However, the crystallized version worked better on strong opponents or those who healed quickly. This kind of psychic power wouldn"t spread out but focused on devouring a single point, preventing the wound from being healed.
"One down. Although the effect doesn"t spread, it can"t be healed either. Leave him alone and he will eventually die."
The dark sword disappeared from Sila"s hand, though everyone got the feeling that he could easily summon it again whenever he wanted. n.o.body could ever believe that the sword with such a fraudulent ability was purely made from psychic power. Even some grade swords weren"t half as good as the sword Sila created.
More importantly, qi was Sila"s main energy type, not psychic power.
"We are withdrawing. Why are you holding us up?" Trick Master asked. He prepared two spells in his hands while delaying five more spells in his mind, preparing for the inevitable battle.
Sila leisurely replied, "Do you think you"re in an amus.e.m.e.nt park? That you can come and go as you please? Have you heard the phrase, "You can come, but you shall never return"?"
Montra found the way Sila talked rather strange. He had investigated Sila for a while and felt that the man in front of him was someone completely different.
"Are you really Sila?" asked Montra.
"We are Sila... and all of you must die!!"
Sila emitted Mental Oppression with a hint of corrosion. The extremely small black dots flared up and stabbed everyone. Sila leaped at Ramiel, who was his main target.
Montra sent the signal for everyone to pour their attacks on Sila while Ramiel created a three-layered barrier to obstruct Sila"s path. At the same time, Ramiel"s body was shrouded by white light.
It was one of Montra"s trump cards that enabled him to collect five of the Seven Deadly Sins effortlessly.
The genuine form of Ramiel, the Angel of Truth.
There appeared an angel in elegant golden armor. A pair of beautiful white wings wiped away the darkness. Above each of his palms floated a small white halo. Ramiel"s entire body was enveloped by a white aura as if he was an angel descended from the Heaven.
The devil named Sila ripped the barrier apart with his silver claws. With his psychic power, Sila slammed Cheris into a building behind her, which caused her to cough up blood.
Summoning a sword made of Dark Psychic Corrosion, Sila brandished it and severed Trick Master"s arms at the elbows. As for his other hand, Sila caught the arrow Shuran powerfully fired at him, before counterattacking with a black suntetsu.
At such a short distance, a hidden weapon was more dangerous than an arrow. Furthermore, Shuran had just performed an attack so there was a delay to his reaction. Taking advantage of the gap, the metal suntetsu—which was hard and heavy thanks to Formless Soldier—penetrated Shuran"s forehead. His soulless body fell down as Montra made his move.
G.o.d"s Realm Spear Art — Spear Spinning Rhongomyniad.
The spear"s movement was slow yet exerted a terrifying might. In Sila"s perception, it was like the flow of time was under Montra"s control. Although the spear was slow, he felt it was inescapable. If he made a mistake at defending, just this single move could kill him.
Sila felt his body became slow and couldn"t move according to his will. If he was his usual self, he might be able to fix the abnormality with Five-Attributed Cloud Qi. However, Dark Self couldn"t use Sila"s personal profound art. Even though they were one and the same person, their existences were clearly separated from each other like black and white.
In fact, Dark Self was sure that Light of Illuminus could easily block the attack. However, he wanted to keep the skill that Montra hadn"t seen yet as his trump card. He was inwardly scolding his other self for being bad at using skills. Instead of using Illuminus" skills and deactivating them properly, Sila left the armor and the shield as they were until the duration ran out and they disappeared.
Nevertheless, even if Dark Self couldn"t use Sila"s personal profound art, it didn"t mean that he didn"t possess Sila"s knowledge. Noticing that the spear was slow, he knew it was a move of the wood element. Thus, he quickly exerted the only metal element skill that he could use.
Formless Soldier, Maximum Power.
With how slow his perception became, Sila couldn"t tell which part of his body that the spear would strike. Therefore, he clad his entire body with Formless Soldier, changing his body to become as st.u.r.dy as the legendary mineral.
The spear tip slowly connected to his abdomen, though it was stopped by his skin and couldn"t penetrate his body due to Formless Soldier. Nevertheless, the power within the spear constantly poured into his body, causing Dark Self to be injured for the first time, though it wasn"t enough to kill him.
Ramiel opened his palms and showed them toward Sila. He activated his transcendent ability, one of the two exclusive powers previously belonging to the Sealed One.
The Power of Rebirth.
"You foolish human. Admit your defeat."
The golden beam of light flew toward Sila. For the record, Sila had already used Mamon"s Star Seer to inspect Ramiel at the start and was aware that even Illuminus couldn"t block this power. For ordinary players, the only way to oppose the power was to dodge it.
However, Sila had already come up with a way to cope with the Power of Rebirth. In truth, for someone to defeat Ramiel, the first thing they had to come up was a method to cope with this ability. That was the reason why Sebastian didn"t use Manifesting Soul Lantern; he still didn"t have a way to subdue this power.
If it was indefensible, all he did was to not block it. Sila still possessed a skill that could do what Illuminus couldn"t.
"Do you think this power of yours is invincible? You brainless angel. Go die and reincarnate by yourself."
Sila endured the pain from Montra"s spear penetrating into his body while using his right hand to draw a curve in the air. As it turned out, a mirror reflecting Ramiel"s shocked expression appeared out of thin air.
Moon Reflecting Mirror.
The golden beam entered the mirror and vanished, before flying back to the original user. Once the golden light crashed against Ramiel"s body, he irresistibly transformed into a white diamond-shaped brooch.
Montra was extremely shocked. He promptly recalled the brooch to return to him with the right of ownership. However, it didn"t work. The brooch flew to Sila instead.
"Hahaha. Don"t struggle in vain. Everything in this area belongs to me." Sila let out an evil laugh.
The original Sila might think that King"s Treasury was the most ridiculous and troublesome skill he had ever gotten. However, as Dark Self told him, every skill had its own use. If he utilized it the right way at the right time, it would deal a drastic blow to the opponent.
"Now that you all no longer have someone protecting you, die!!"
Orbiting Cosmos — Fire and Wind.
The remnants of the equipment and items on the street shone a bright light. The truth was, Dark Self had been making use of King"s Treasury ever since he started killing the players on his way here. Normally, Sila couldn"t use Orbiting Cosmos on things he didn"t touch directly or things that didn"t belong to him. He usually used the skill on himself or the hidden weapons flying out of his hand. However, with King"s Treasury, everything that dropped on the street, including broken weapons, was considered his. Dark Self deliberately didn"t collect them into his system window but left them on the street. There were visible yet invisible bombs waiting to be ignited—hiding leaves in a forest.
Some remnants exploded into fires while some exploded into wind. Combining, they caused a disastrous chained explosion.
Sila used Mamon"s power to create a protective barrier made of psychic power around his body. He waved his hand at Montra once as a goodbye. Then, a third of Grea City exploded and was blown into pieces. The flame of the blast shot up, reaching the clouds in the sky. It made the Two Monarchs" previous destruction of the Royal Armament Guild look like a trivial matter in comparison.
KABOOM—!!
Sila inside the group of smoke flew up high and deactivated the barrier around him. He was looking down at his work. A third of the entire city had been reduced to rubble. The experience points from killing thousands of Marquis Rank players poured into him, increasing his level by leaps and bounds.
Nonetheless, Sila was extremely upset. That was because the one he wanted dead didn"t die. The proof was that the Dragon Domain, Abode of the Angels, was still active. Expanding his profound sense, Sila pinpointed two sources of power on the other side of the city.
One was Montra, whose wounds were perfectly healed, and the other one was a man in black, donning a white mask. It was thanks to his speed that he instantly pulled Montra"s body from the series of chained explosions.
Zero, the Shadow Emperor.
In just the blink of an eye, both people vanished. It wasn"t due to teleportation but Zero"s pure speed.
Sila tilted his head, and something deeply grazed his cheek. It was Zero"s throwing chakram that was hard to see in the dark night.
Sila rubbed his cheek once, then tapped the blood on his finger on his tongue before laughing.
"Kukukuku. Montra and Zero. Only these two can get me serious... Well, since everything has settled down, I will take my rest, Sila."
Dark Self closed his eyes, and once he reopened them, his body turned back to normal. The extra hair from his transformation detached and fell away while his horns disappeared. His body fell from his place two hundred meters up in the sky and slammed into the ground.
Sila coughed up blood, his vision rapidly flashing red in the middle of the city"s wreckage.
While barely conscious, Sila heard the system notification.
You have been enlightened about the Essence of Psychic: Creativity. You have acquired the right to unlock the hidden potential of three of your skills. Please refer to your system window for more information.
You have achieved a certain condition. Your status and rank have been promoted to Orange Slime, Level 1 Lord Rank.
Congratulations! As a Lord Rank player, you shall obtain a certain special privilege from the system. Please visit the Information Building in any of the main cities for more information.
Sila circulated qi to recover himself. He sat down, thinking deeply while silently staring at the soulless wreckage. He saw and remembered everything he did, though he couldn"t control his body.
As he examined the damage, he began to wonder who the real monster was.