Read Novel Full Chapter 546: Soul Knowledge
Chapter 546: Soul Knowledge
I’ve spent a long time wandering the Foundations of Creation. After meeting the Goddess of the Apocalypse and realizing how childish she is because she’s still a kid, I figured seeking out the child goddesses won’t help.
They all have very young mentalities. They won’t want to help me; they’ll throw tantrums and try to pick fights in most cases. Probably the only goddesses who wouldn’t cause trouble would be my mother, the Goddess of Demons, and the Goddess of Nature.
Anyway, what matters is knowledge. I’m not sure how much time has passed because my head hurts too much to try and count, but it’s a fact that I’ve gained a vast amount of knowledge about the universe.
"So this is why goddesses exist..." I murmur, gaining the understanding of why goddesses exist. Their function in the universe is that of a regulator.
The mana in the universe is like a river, in constant circulation, but it’s also intense and "ferocious" and needs a regulator. The goddesses serve as that regulator.
The more goddesses there are, the more stable this mana regulation is. And that’s what my mother used to "game" the system and create a being that exceeded the permitted level limit, thus creating the existence of a Demon King.
The fact that several goddesses died reduced this magic regulation, and my mother used that gap, using that unregulated magic.
’How brilliant. It’s simple, but also very efficient. And it also explains why there was always only one Demon King... and why the Demon King could be any random demon...’ With this knowledge, I can create my own Demon Kings if I want.
Of course, it’s not easy. It requires using one’s own body as a sieve so the magic doesn’t kill the chosen one, and it also requires the chosen one to be able to withstand the power they’ll gain without collapsing.
This is also the reason why a Demon King is created at the maximum level, but with their power sealed to be unlocked gradually.
It’s great to find answers to questions I’ve always had, like what exactly Mana is. That came bundled with the knowledge of the Foundations of Creation.
Mana itself was obviously created by the Primordial Goddess, but what’s interesting is that it was a piece of her body, more specifically, her mental body.
Since the Primordial Goddess has a body divided into three aspects—physical, mental, and spiritual, so to speak—her physical body sometimes "breaks" and the pieces become weapons like Violet.
Mana, however, came from her mental body, which is quite interesting. I always imagined Mana was created differently, but it was much simpler. She was simply so powerful that her body generated Mana as a form of energy.
It’s like when a star dies and creates a supernova, which can be summarized in a very simplified way as a massive explosion of energy.
"I think my time here is ending..." It’s regrettable, but the knowledge seems to have dwindled, flowing into my head at a slower rate, and I barely got to explore this amazing place.
’There must be some way to force my way in here...’ I’ll try in the future. But for now, before I’m sent away, I want to try one important thing.
"Let’s see... let’s see..." I murmur, using my new knowledge about souls. It’s quite fun, because now I know exactly how souls work. It’s a formula similar to what I was trying, but much more refined and efficient. I use it to coat my Mana with a very unique effect, and soon I cover my arms with it.
"..." I move slightly through the place, and quickly grab something, pulling hard. This something is surprised and tries to pull its arm back, but I keep pulling.
"Got you, Guardian. I understand, you’re a spiritual being, right? That’s why I couldn’t make out your form!" I squeeze the arm of this thing so hard it breaks while I try to pull it out of the spiritual plane.
"[L-Let me go!]" The thing speaks, for the first time actually talking to me, and it seems terrified that I caught it.
"Oh no, why would I let go? It was very hard to find you." I needed complete knowledge of souls to perceive what it is. But knowing it’s a spiritual body gave me confidence.
Even if it’s level 1 trillion, souls don’t have that much raw power. Meaning, it’s weak. Very weak. Which explains how my mother, who was level 100 billion, survived a fight against it.
"[Let go of me! I-I’ll kill you!]"
"Will you now?" I pull its hand towards my stomach, and hear its scream when the mouth on my belly bites. Now that I can touch souls, eating them has also become possible.
"You know, I’ve never eaten a soul. I couldn’t interact with them. But now... how about you be the first?"
"[...]" It cuts off its own arm and escapes. I chew on what was left behind, tasting a soul.
[New Title Unlocked: Soul Devourer = One who has obtained the ability to devour the souls of other beings, causing damage to the existence of those who have parts of themselves devoured]
"Hahaha, what a pleasant title." The taste of a soul is rather bland. Or maybe this Guardian’s soul just isn’t tasty.
"Hey, dear Guardian, I know you’re there." It can’t stray far from me. With the knowledge I obtained, I understood its duty. Its duty is to prevent permanent damage from happening within the Foundations of Creation.
Devouring Takashi once wasn’t permanent damage. But when I met Elysia, I already had some light knowledge on how to cause permanent damage to her. The Foundations of Creation, even though they are the "blueprint" of existence, are still important.
"You know, little Guardian, thanks to what I learned here, I am now a timeless being." Past, present, and future no longer affect me. Even if my past self dies, my current self will not die. Because I’ve transcended the very concept of time. I had almost done it before, but was blocked. Now I’m no longer being blocked.
"If I kill my versions in this place, I won’t die. But what would be the fun in that, right? If you’re so afraid I’ll break something permanently, why not come here and talk to me? I love a good conversation."
"..."
"Silence, then... What a pity... No matter. I will touch you again. And the moment I do, you won’t get away from me again. I would love to kill a level 1 trillion being. That would maybe make me jump to level 100 billion all at once, hahaha."
...
...
...
I look at Pandora’s sleeping body. It’s been about two months since she entered the Foundations of Creation, and as promised, I’ve been taking care of her body during this time.
After about a month of care, she started bleeding heavily, so I thought she was going to fail and got worried. But after a while, it calmed down. It seems she’s succeeding.
"Ah, Pandora... You’re so talented... What I wouldn’t give to have more daughters like you..." I stroke her head. I can feel her body adapting and growing stronger.
And it’s undoubtedly wonderful. Using her power, Adaptation, and the Foundations of Creation, I’m sure Pandora will be able to pull me out of the abyss.
"..." I pick up the progress log I’ve kept since Pandora fell asleep, where I note everything about her body, every action, every reaction, and how her body works.
’So much is different from what I built... How many times has her body adapted?’ I created a "standard model" for Pandora’s race. She and her older sister started with bodies identical in internal and external structure, aside from appearance.
But adaptation changes biology, so they are both quite different now. Currently, Pandora has practically nothing of what I originally made in her body. Everything has already changed to adjust to what she needed.
"Her adaptation seems more efficient at rearranging things inside the body than Azraelith’s... Pandora’s true form is also slightly different than expected." Her life experiences influenced her first transformation.
Pandora is quite different from what I thought she’d be. I imagined she’d be a humanoid, and I thought she’d have some of the things she has, but she has them in a different way.
She lost her tail. The abyssal halo above her head turned into a giant eye. She lost the head she had and gained a black spiral floating above her neck. And the mouth on her belly was unexpected.
The black organs and blood were expected, and the two extra arms were also expected.
"Hmmm... Pandora ended up with an excessively seductive body in her true form..." I expected her to be thinner—not starvation-thin, but still quite slender, and with much smaller breasts.
"Considering your true form was sculpted by your experiences, your body probably ended up this seductive because you spent so much time serving as a mother for tentacle monsters..." It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s a bit strange.
"You also seem much calmer..." I expected her to become far more bloodthirsty and monstrous. But no, she has exceptional, high control in her true form.
"I think that’s a positive point. You’ve impressed me... Although... if I had to name a negative point, it’s that your form is much less durable than I expected..." I talk to Pandora as if she were awake and listening.
"What a shame... I don’t think you’ll ever manage to make your body extremely durable, since your body seems to prefer having immense regeneration." An extremely durable body would have lower regeneration.
Because regenerating a very resistant body causes terrible mutations in the healed area, generating deformities that hinder more than help. So if you have great defense, you’ll have low regeneration.
Pandora forsakes all defense to focus 100% on regeneration. A somewhat strange fighting style, but one I respect.