Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56I decided to nod toward the healer and take up his offer:
"I will do it, but hopefully you guys won't back out or do something else to me while he analyses whatever he needs to."
The healer chuckled and shook his head as he told me:
"That would be no problem. We the mage guild pride ourselves in our ability to hold up the bargains we make, don't worry."
I didn't know much about the reputation of the mage guild, but up till now, they looked like an upright organization. Of course, they must have had their dark side, just like any other place with considerable power.
I got up from the table and the healer waved his hand, indicating for me to follow behind him.
We left the white room through an indistinguishable door, making our way through corridors that looked like we were in a maze before entering a dark room with a chilly atmosphere.
The darkness was profound, but my improved eyesight let me spot a person hiding inside of it, sitting on a chair behind what should be a desk, if the outline I saw was correct.
The healer gave a slight bow before he said:
"Lady Maria, we have a volunteer for your dissection and analysis. In turn, he wants you to remove something from his body."
A rather tall woman figure got up from the desk as she appeared in front of me soundlessly. Now that she was rather close, I could make her appearance a little bit more clearly.
She had long dark hair that reached her shoulders, very pale skin, purple thin lips, and a nose that looked a little bit big when she was that close to me.
Her green eyes were pouring into my own as she analyzed me up and down, a small but firm hand came out of her long leather robes that covered her whole body as she said:
"Leave us alone."
The healer took one more bow before he left us in the dark room.
She towered over me as she grabbed me by the shoulder, making me tense up, but the room finally lit after she did that.
However, the surroundings made me a little bit thoughtful about what might happen to me.
There was an operating table in the middle of the room, and near it was a tray full of knives, needles, and other sharp things that I didn't recognize.
Besides the desk, which had some blood-splattered scrolls and papers on it, the room was rather bare.
"Now, up on the operating table with you."
I was getting second thoughts about letting her do what she wanted with me, but I was more scared of Aratas than her.
So I went up to the operating table where he tied me up with some leather straps before the table flipped horizontally without any warning, making me look directly at her face.
Her eyes had dark bags under them, showing that she hadn't sleeper in a while, but as she looked at me, I could sense some madness evoking from the green pupils that looked like she had already started dissecting me.
"Ok then, let's start."
Dark runic energy started to appear on her hands as it entered the tools on the tray, making them levitate around her, she started with a small knife as she made an incision on my chest, starting by analyzing my two hearts, even making small holes in them to see their insides before sealing them right back up so I wouldn't die.
The pain was rather high, getting cut open was something that made me want to scream, but I endured as it wasn't worse than what happened to me before.
Seeing how I didn't let up a peep made Maria whistle as she said:
"Most people would have started crying or screaming by now, even if they agreed to this beforehand, cannibals or not."
I didn't say anything as she continued to mess with my insides, her pupils were glowing with dark-purple haze, analyzing everything she could with a critical eye.
She took looks at my bones, my intestines, the whole package.
Then after she was done, she started concentrating as she closed her eyes and said:
"So you want me to remove the obedience seal of the fire god Church?"
She chuckled as her arms started to slowly turn into bones, her skin and muscles slowly dissipating as if they were never there:
"Messing with these damn Churches is rather fun, after all, they hate my occupation quite a lot, even more than cannibals."
Her bone fingers inserted themselves into my open chest before tracing to some blood veins, ripping one open very quickly and catching a spark of fire before sealing it inside a dark runic barrier that resembled a laughing skull."
"Done."
After that, she had sewn back the broken blood vessel before I could bleed out to death and then started sewing back everything together and sealing my wounds with some of that dark energy that was always surrounding her at certain times.
The straps that bound me to the table came undone as I fell to my knees, feeling a wave of weakness drowning my whole body.
I tried to get up, but my legs were trembling, Maria chuckled as she looked at my weakened form and said:
"You still lost quite a bit of blood even though I acted very quickly. You shouldn't be strong enough to get back up even with your current physique. Let me help you a little bit."
More of her dark energy entered my body, reinvigorating it, and making my two hearts pump faster and faster until some of my lightheadedness went away. However, because of that, I could feel a different type of exhaustion creeping up on me.
"Now that our exchange is over, you can go."
I looked at the sealed fire spark in her hands and asked:
"What about the obedience seal? Would the person that put it on me know that it was removed?"
Maria shook her head as she looked at the sealed fire and responded:
"Not really, my ability is foolproof, and even if they activate it, they wouldn't sense that the seal had been removed from your body, you just have to act the part. If that's all you want to know, please leave as this information was a little beyond what we agreed, and I have some new knowledge to ponder upon."
I nodded at her and left the room, immediately being rather startled by the healer, who waited at the door, our faces were very close to each other as I turned back after I closed the door behind me.
I narrowed my eyes, and he gave me a rather strange smile as he said:
"If that's all you need, I will escort you back to the lobby."
I followed him back, and the woman with long ears glanced at me before asking:
"Something else?"
I shook my head and left the building. Hopefully, no one tracked me when I left towards the mage guild, and if they did, and I wasn't able to sense them, things won't be nice when I went back to the Church.
Unfortunately, running now would confirm any suspicions they had, so it was better to return and play the part for now.
My path to greatness needed a lot of corpses that I need to step on, or rather than step, I could say that there were quite a lot of corpses I needed to devour!
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
The Ultimate Devourer Test run (Part 1)
After I got back to the Church, things seemed to be rather calm on the surface.Zerath and Miwa were being ostracized by the other trainees when I arrived back at the training camp.For now, I didn't have any intentions to interact with them. They would most likely be deadweight in the future, so they weren't people that I needed to create a good relationship with.The only person who got my attention was Shira. Her improvements were as quick, or even quicker than mine!I couldn't help but be a little jealous as I saw her concentrated expression as she swung a wooden training sword. Her aura was gradually increasing with every swing as she showed all twelve basic moves of the Church's swordsmanship.Her mastery over them was beautiful but deadly. Her agility and strength could be easily observed from the way her firm muscles exploded with power at every swing she did.I couldn't help but shake my head as I saw Zerath and Miwa try to walk toward me.The whispering between the other tra
The Ultimate Devourer Test run (Part 2)
I, Miwa, and Zerath were resting inside of the somewhat broken house. Both Zerath and Miwa couldn't sleep properly as they were thinking about what type of mission they would be given tomorrow.I didn't particularly care about the mission. As long as it was an extermination one, it will be quick and easy to do.With my current strength, I knew that there weren't many bandits or other types of lawbreakers that could match me. It would only be a problem if a fought a fellow superhuman or someone from the other four Churches.Zerath and Miwa didn't interact with me at all during our cohabitation. They knew that I didn't want to be bothered, so they acted accordingly, at least they weren't dumb, even though they were still rather weak and naive.However, this was the first time in a while had Zerath asked me something:"Minato, do you think we will have trouble with the mission tomorrow?"I looked towards him and didn't say anything for a few seconds before shaking my head and saying:"Pr
The Ultimate Devourer Test run (Part 3)
The two of my teammates looked at each other, and they wanted to tell me something. Most likely they wanted to team up with me so they would have an easier time dealing with the bandits.But I had no intention of helping them, my body moved at quick speeds, leaving the two of them wondering where I had left, but I was already in the small village, looking for the inn, which was the most likely place to be able to find information.The village was small, so finding the inn was very easy. I entered it and went directly to the bar, where I put a bronze coin on and asked while eyeing the barman's reaction:"I heard there is a band of bandits troubling villages around these parts."The barman started sweating slightly as he put a glass of ale in front of me.He didn't seem to want to respond to my question or even engage in a conversation, so I downed the ale and put my hands over the counter, lifting him in the air and asking:"I'm not in the mood for the silent game, just tell me where t
The Ultimate Devourer A little bit serious
As I made my way to the cornfield, I could sense that someone else entered the wheat field behind me, it was most likely those two who finally put two and two together and found the first bandit hideout, but it was a little bit late for them to showcase their ability in that location.I shook my head. Gathering information and finding the base of the enemy should also be a test that they were failing right now.Coming second after everything had been taken care of couldn't be considered an accomplishment.Well, they were on their own.I made my way towards the cornfield, which was rather obvious to spot, even from a distance.This time around, I decided against sneaking around since the bandits must have put something in the fields that would notify them if anyone entered.I listened closely, using my improved hearing before I started to make my way through the cornfield until I found them.They were in a similar formation to the previous ones. However, if I could deal with the others
The Ultimate Devourer Two idiots
Those two attacked with no tact or plan.I knew they were urchins, but they should have gotten some memories from when they ate those corpses with me.It didn't make sense to do such a frontal attack...What were they up to?I was pretty curious about what their plan could be.They weren't suicidal, were they?From what could I see, their attacks were rather sloppy, and even through the darkness, the head honcho of the bandits didn't have any trouble keeping up with their attacks.He was still very wary of me attacking, after all, he knew that there were three people here, knowing that I was the one that killed all of his subordinates before the other two showed up.He kept his guard up for any sudden attack from his blindside, and he easily kept Miwa and Zerath at bay with his martial abilities.He knew how to swing his fist, his stance was airtight, and besides his sloppy looks, he knew where to hit and when to hit.His ability to block all of Miwa's crazed attacks combined with Zer
The Ultimate Devourer One last meal
After the headache subsided, I finally got ahold of the new information in my brain.It was the technique that the sloppy bandit leader used against Miwa and Zerath.It was a straightforward knife technique that consisted of two moves, one was a counter, and the other one was a set of movements that complemented the short reach of the knife.That's how the bandit was able to keep both Miwa and Zerath at bay, even though they had similar strengths.It was a rather good technique, not inferior to the 12 moves of the fire god church basic swordsmanship. Of course, that was compared to my incomplete swordsmanship.I wasn't sure I would be able to master this swordsmanship unless I ate a master swordsman of this style after I completed all 12 moves beforehand.And I was pretty sure Aratas wouldn't give me such an opportunity.It was better to stick with something simpler that I now had more proficiency in unless I became lucky enough to encounter a situation where I could eat a master swor
The Ultimate Devourer A hearty meal before the start of war
Soon enough, I found myself back in the dungeons where Aratas was leading Zerath and Miwa further in as he let me stay near the cage of the martial matters that I first saw when we entered the dungeon for the first time.If I guessed correctly, my meal would be the six people chained to the walls that stood almost near each other in the jail.They all had a refined aura around them, regardless of how raggedy and weak they looked, and even though their bodies had lost a great deal of strength, I could still feel somewhat pressured by the pure power they previously wielded at their peak. It was ingrained in their bones, even though they might have lost it now.As I waited, Aratas came back and said:"Those two weren't able to eat six people, and they stopped at 4 and a half, but you should be able to, right? I don't want the cardinal to be disappointed with the efficiency of the squad that I raised personally, especially since we fed you so many prisoners."I looked at Aratas and said w
The Ultimate Devourer Reaching the true battlefield
We made our way out of the city as Aratas lead us.There was something different about Miwa and Zerath, but I couldn't put my finger on it. However, they seemed to be a little more serious compared to the last time I saw them.Maybe they wouldn't be dead weight after all.Or at least, they wouldn't be extreme liabilities that would die in seconds on the battlefield.Aratas looked back at us as we exited the city and made our way toward a small clear stone path that lead to the open fields near the city."There is no quick path to the battlefield. This was an agreement made between the five Churches so we wouldn't overwhelm it with continuous and quick reinforcements."He slowly walked as we followed behind him, but as we increased our pace, the fields around us started to disappear as the surroundings started to change. I could feel that my body and the other two's were being enshrouded by Aratas's aura as we somehow were able to keep up with his speed.I looked at Aratas, and I was s
Latest Chapter
- The Ultimate Devourer
The 'Heroes' of the universe fall? (Finale)
(WARNING, VERY LONG CHAPTER AHEAD!) The devil's red eyes were hypnotizingly horrid as they taunted me insidiously. The way he raised his eyebrow as he kept the leaders of the alliance bay e made me know that he was slowly getting his strength back. Sooner or later, he would be able to push both of them back and kill them! His body language told it so, the facts told it so, and the two alliance leaders knew it as well, it was obvious from the perspiration that was flowing down from their foreheads that things weren't as good as they seemed on the surface. Was death that close to me? I could feel blood gurgling in my throat as the devil sent a claw through space to immediately appear in front of my throat and pierce it. However, my instincts were still as sharp as ever, so I was able to barely take a step back before the claw would fully penetrate my throat and tear it out. I glared at the offending appendage that almost ripped my throat out, but a finger snap made the insides of
- The Ultimate Devourer
Waiting for reinforcements in vain
The devil didn't have enough time to retrieve all of his fragments, thus stopping at the strength of around 24 mastered laws. However, this amount of strength was still too high for me to deal with. The two alliance leaders nodded at each other before looking at me and saying: "You have done your best, but your incompetent allies dragged you down, you can go now, there is nothing you could do in this type of fight anymore." I wanted to leave since I was given permission, but could I? The devil's red eyes targeted me immediately after he regained his bearings from being hit by the dual uppercut. "You... yes, the fragments told me about you." "You have interfered with me countless times, do you think that I will let you go that easily?!" The devil opened his mouth and started to spit flames at me, his gigantic body immediately shrunk to a smaller human-sized form as he fought back and forth with the two alliance leaders, he knew that he wouldn't be able to recover all of his frag
- The Ultimate Devourer
Despair
I could feel my hearts jump into my throat as I looked at the recovering magic circle, I failed?I clutched my chest as I growled at the encircling demons, making them take a few steps back as they understood that they were way over their heads by attempting to attack me, even though I haven't fully recovered my energy after I launched that nuke at the immobile devil fragments, the 17 laws that flowed around my body created an impenetrable shield that not many people would be able to break.The demons may be scared by me, but they were all emboldened by the fact that one of the fragments had survived and melded with the magic circle!I wasn't entirely sure what the circle was supposed to do, but it was certainly nothing good.I wanted to fly towards it and break it apart now that there was no one to protect it, but the demons that were previously scared of me started to create a wall of bodies as they tightened the encirclement around me, the morale of the alliance had already dropped
- The Ultimate Devourer
The devil makes his move
The distance between the two black difficulty planets was quite far away, so it took me ten hours of traveling at my quickest speed to reach it.This time around, this new planet was on full defensive mode, the fragment I killed must have told the other nearby awakened pieces about what I had done to him before his death.But at this point, where my strength had reached a whooping 17 laws, 4 of them being a specialization law, how could the flimsy barrier around this planet even withstand my strength?I punched forward, making the barrier crack and break without even having to find its weak spots.The demons that were on standby for defense crumbled along with the barrier from the shockwaves of my initial attack...Most of them were weaklings that didn't even learn one law, it looked like the devil only left behind cannon fodder...There were no ambushes as I dropped down on the planet, the weaklings that were dumb enough to get near me were squashed to death by my aura as I didn't ev
- The Ultimate Devourer
Organ changes
The organs of the devil fragment were certainly quite larger compared to the demons or other races that I have encountered up till now.They had a certain heavy weight to them, and I could feel that they were hard to the touch, almost like a rock.They were also in different shapes compared to the average human, or even the average humanoid specie.The heart was in a triangle shape, the lungs were square, and the liver was just like a small ball.The intestines were quite short as they seemed to have evolved for utmost efficiency in energy conversion from the stomach to the whole body.I continued to analyze the shapes of the organs before I couldn't help but be curious about their taste.I took the triangle heart with both hands since it was quite heavy and big, and I started munching on it, splattering some blood on my face.The taste was very bland, toxic even, the organs of the devil were filled with a certain poisonous substance that even bypassed the poison-proof constitution th
- The Ultimate Devourer
Test running ten laws
After comforting Shira for a bit, I could feel my hands becoming quite itchy as I felt the need to test my newly gained strength.Even though the seven laws I have plundered could be considered inferior, quantity could still be used to crush the quality opposition when it was in a high enough number.As long as my opponent had eight or below laws, I should be able to easily deal with them, as for nine and above. I had to fight someone at that level to understand my place on the strength scales a little better.I wasn't sure about the powers of the top dogs of the universe, so I had to slowly find out while messing with the devil's plans in passing.A fully awakened devil fragment who was able to get his hands on the seven sins would be equal to a normal being that had learned and mastered seven laws.He would be the perfect test partner.Fortunately, I could easily infer the location of such heavily infected planets through the alliance's medal.I was able to find out about the locati
- The Ultimate Devourer
Researching the devouring ability
After we left the vacation planet, we started to attack low-level corrupted planets that had a few law-wielding demons.The experimentation started from there.I started by dissecting the demons and seeing how the laws were embedded in their bodies after they have mastered them.I have attempted to learn from introspection, but I could not properly see all angles inside my body, and some places were obscured for some reason.Now, by dissecting these weaker demons, I was able to infer how the laws would settle in the body, and by extension, I might be able to learn how I could apply the devouring ability to strip them of their laws and make them mine.From what I found out, the first law would settle near the heart in the form of the element that was comprehended.The second would go onto one lung, the third on the other...Atleast that's what I thought it would go like considering that I was only able to slay and dissect demons that wielded up to 2 laws.I was able to somewhat see the
- The Ultimate Devourer
Concrete theories about the time law
With the usage of a few bribes and some 'honeyed words' I was able to immediately regain control over the organization.I sat in the control room of the barrier as I made some adjustments to it, slowly incorporating the runes and other features that I have been able to master during the time I have been controlling the Ice Palace's barrier.This place needed an upgrade, and all I had to do was change a few things on the medium to make those changes, no extra materials were needed! Quite convenient.I had to fill my time with something while my underlings were doing their best to find out the things that I inquired about.Surprisingly, this academy had a library with quite a lot of books filled with neat tidbits of information. However, during my time in the academy, I didn't seem to be able to find such a library, even though I had visited most of the corridors and other important rooms of the academy...Quite strange...I even asked Shira if she knew that the academy had a library, b
- The Ultimate Devourer
Shira's changes
Shira seemed to be the same, but also quite different at the same time, almost as if she was a familiar person that I haven't seen in a long while that changed so much that she was almost unrecognizable, but I would still know her because of small things, like her voice, her face, etc...Shira took my hand into hers, it was cold, very cold, it looked like she had entirely changed from her previous fire-based nature to an ice one, such a drastic shift... it should have been really painful and deadly for her.And she didn't even come to me even once when she thought about doing such a thing, was she thinking for my sake, or did she think that I would dissuade her from doing such a perilous experiment?I hugged her tightly, and she hugged me back, while her appearance and demeanor had small changes, her personality seemed to be the same.Shira giggled lightly as she broke off the hug and said:"Oww, you were worried about me?"I nodded lightly at her question and asked with a little worr
