Chapter 946: Chapter 498: Black Fog Demon
"Master, don’t be afraid."
The voice of the Book of Knowledge echoed in the darkness, instantly calming the fear that had risen in Rod’s heart.
"It’s the chaotic evil thoughts, your spirit is far stronger than them. Focus your mind, form a blade, and cut through them. This is a battle of consciousness, strong willpower is the only way to victory."
Rod steadied himself, following the Book of Knowledge’s advice to focus his mind, imagining them gathering into a sharp blade.
Invisible forces began to converge.
Soon, a transparent blade actually appeared in front of him, swinging on its own to slash the evil beasts into pieces.
More evil beasts lunged forward, but Rod was no longer afraid. More invisible blades appeared, embarking on fierce battles with the beasts.
"As expected of the Master."
The Book of Knowledge exclaimed in excitement.
"That’s right, you’ll soon be able to cut open the core."
The evil beasts were far outmatched by the invisible blades, getting slain in decreasing numbers, and the dark consciousness space had a plethora of cracks forming.
It wouldn’t take long before it broke apart.
So simple?
Rod found it hard to believe, he didn’t even feel much pressure.
"Soul Devouring King..." he hesitated for a moment, attempting to ask: "Why do you know everything about the Dream Realm?"
The Soul Devouring King’s hollow voice echoed in the darkness.
"This is the mission bestowed upon me by Yanosadag."
Rod’s heart trembled: "The God of Destiny Yanosadag? Again, Him?"
"At the end of the Twilight War, humans were utterly defeated, the divines fell one after another, the Primordial Fire extinguished, survivors scattered, I fell in the darkness of a disastrous defeat, Yanosadag used the power of Star Source to protect my spirit. He told me that you would return like lightning, after endless ages, darkness would recede like a tide, there was still hope for this world..."
"And I would become a puppet of the black fog, in the waning era of fire, amidst the final hope, replacing the most terrifying crisis, helping you rise from ruin and dust."
"This is the whole meaning of my existence."
"It is the only light in my failed life. I couldn’t protect my people, my family, my parents, children, and grandchildren, my kingdom fell, the ones who trusted me, those who revered me left no bones behind, I couldn’t block the black fog, in the face of that vast darkness, I was like an ant."
"But I can still deliver the blade to pierce it, I am not useless."
"Yanosadag foresaw the future of decline, planted a seed of revival, and after your power grew strong enough, when the disturbance from the source feedback reached a certain level, my existence would be activated, actively invading the Dream Realm to prevent more terrifying destroyers from appearing."
The Soul Devouring King’s voice became even more hollow, as if his consciousness was dissipating, a terrifying void replacing him.
"Yanosadag predicted that this is the greatest obstacle on your path to revival, and my existence will shatter this barrier, helping you cross the greatest chasm."
"The King’s Soul and the Strong Source will help you grow quickly, while the lost past will assist you in returning to the peak."
He let out a long sigh.
"Ah, a thousand years of pain, a thousand years of torment, all for this moment... Please, please let this world return to light, Yanosadag told me this is the last chance."
Crack.
Countless cracks appeared on the deep black condensed matter.
"It’s finally going to end..."
The Soul Devouring King stood tall, gray spiritual energy began to boil, a giant shadow descended from the void, his soul body crossed numerous obstacles and returned to his main body in a peculiar manner.
Tsunami-like spiritual energy waves surged forward, the heavy spiritual pressure felt like a mountain pressing down on Rod, causing space to warp strangely, the presence of Strong Source bent the Sea of Source creating a Domain Well effect, making it seem like everything was sinking into the void.
Is this the complete Soul Devouring King?
Rod gazed up at this entity, dozens of times larger than before, and suddenly realized something.
The Starry Kingdom had once waged war against the Soul Devouring King, the Great Star Priest’s summoned meteor even blew a huge gap in the Soul Devouring King’s castle, but they ultimately did not kill him, only sealed him.
Back then, Jon and the others thought it might be because the Soul Devouring King was hard to kill, so the Starry Kingdom used sealing methods.
But now it seems, the Starry Kingdom, with its many ties to the previous Master of Dreams Heigao’er, must have sensed something, perhaps even that Heigao’er wasn’t dead yet.
This matter might be somewhat related to him as well.
Additionally, Rod noticed that the Soul Devouring King’s spirit was also preserved using "Star Source."
And those they once encountered, all still-conscious Fallen from the Starry Kingdom, relied on the power of Star Source, and many corpses that had died in battle without being eroded into monsters were the same.
The Starry Queen depended on Star Source to prevent complete erosion, giving them the chance to defeat the Mysterious Shadow.
Surely there’s some connection between these.
Perhaps the Star Chart for extracting "Star Source" was created by Heigao’er.
Recently, studying the Star Chart has been one of the most important tasks for the Royal City’s Master and researchers. They’ve discovered this divine artifact is composed of as many as twenty-one parts, with its core being the ancient divine artifact, the "Movable Star Disk," a true divine artifact made by gods that can harness the tremendous energy of star movements, while other components are man-made class divine artifacts.
Clearly, the Star Chart is not an inherited relic from ancient times, but something artificially created after the establishment of the Starry Kingdom. According to the Starry Queen, the rise of the Starry Kingdom is greatly related to the Star Source provided by the Star Chart, with the Star Characteristic being an extremely rare trait, its possessor being one in ten thousand geniuses.
Yet the sheer strength of only a few individuals was not enough to support a powerful Human Kingdom.
The Master and researchers also found several components missing from the Star Chart, which seemed to be the damage mentioned by the Starry Queen, rendering the Star Source no longer capable of bestowing Star Characteristics power, only usable as a material to enhance spiritual medicine.
Even so, it was called the "Primordial Element," a super material that could create the most precious Soul Potions, rapidly strengthening Troli as a whole in battle power.
And the mysterious function of "Star Source" goes far beyond this, as the Starry Queen used a purer, more powerful "Star Source" to build a prosperous kingdom, with traits related to stars for everyone within.
So, is the "Star Source" used by the Ancient God of Destiny Yanosadag stronger and more pure?
If the "Star Chart" could be repaired, could they also obtain stronger and purer "Star Source"?
Rod’s thoughts flashed like lightning, and in an instant, he decided he must ask the Soul Devouring King about this.
Powerful spiritual energy came across space, pushing Rod away.
The Soul Devouring King’s body inflated dozens of times in the blink of an eye, its core wrapped in layers of powerful spiritual energy, so solid it was almost like solid matter.
If the Soul Devouring King remained in such a state, standing still for Rod to kill, he would barely be able to do so.
But its core was already ruptured, the hollow on its chest remained, the cracks on the vaguely visible black condensed matter were rapidly increasing.
In the Soul Devouring King’s hollow voice, there were a few strands of joy.
"I am about to die, I can feel the great Dark Devourer eroding the black fog, soon you will acquire the King’s Soul and a portion of Strong Source."
"Now, let me uphold the great Spirit’s Curtain, I will tell you the greatest taboo in this world, and the way to acquire the origin power of the stars."
Rod’s heart beat rapidly, he knew he was about to take this crucial step.
However, at this moment, the sense of unease in Rod’s heart suddenly exploded, the intense palpitation left him unable to calm down, his mind suddenly conjured the wails of the spirit of the remnant Ancient God of Flesh Rebirth before it vanished.
"I saw the darkness, endless darkness!"
"Be careful, my lord, the great terror lurking in the black fog is about to descend, be cautious..."
In the next moment, the dreamscape dimmed for the second time.
A colossal black hand descended from the night sky, gripping the entire dreamscape.
The omen surface of the Obelisk exploded with unprecedented bright red light, with bloody text forming on the monument surface at great speed.
Warning!
Warning!
Warning!
The dreamscape is under attack by the Black Fog Demon!
Please, Master of Dreams, escape immediately!
Repeating!
Please, Master of Dreams, escape immediately!