Chapter 490 — It Looks Like
6 min read ·
The darkness was almost complete now, Damian’s consciousness nearly extinguished.
’Mom... Dad...’
The thought came distant, barely his own anymore.
’I still need to save them... They’re trapped in that portal... waiting for me to get strong enough to–’
’Need to save them.’
’Save them.’
’Save–’
The old voice resounded again, but it was clearer now, almost victorious.
"Hehe... don’t worry about your family, kid. I’ll take good care of them."
A pause, filled with dark amusement.
"Especially that girl... Luna, is it? Such a beauty. I’ll be sure to ’eat’ her properly once I’ve settled into your body."
’Eat... her.’
The words echoed through Damian’s fading consciousness.
’Eat... her.’
Distant, like hearing through water.
’Eat.. her.’
’Eat. her.’
Suddenly, the meaning behind the soul fragment’s words crashed down–
’Eat eat eat eat–’
–And something deep inside Damian’s soul stirred, responding to those words with primal fury.
A darkness that had always been there, sleeping and waiting, recognizing itself in the threat.
’Luna.’
The name surfaced through the darkness, pulling with it fragments of memory.
Her arms wrapping around him after the Norrington attack, ignoring the blood covering his clothes.
The way she’d looked at him with absolute trust, with love he’d never deserved but received anyway.
Her smile when she thought he wasn’t watching.
And this fragment wanted to–
’No No No NO NO NO!’
The thought came quiet at first, then louder in the drowning dark.
’YOU DON’T GET TO TOUCH HER!’
Heat erupted in Damian’s chest.
’YOU DON’T GET TO EVEN THINK ABOUT HER! SHE’S MINE TO PROTECT! MINE!’’
And it spread outward, racing through his dying consciousness, igniting everything it touched.
’AND I’LL DEVOUR ANYTHING THAT THREATENS WHAT’S MINE!’
BOOOM
An explosion detonated in Damian’s soul, power erupting from the core of what he was.
His crimson hair began changing, color bleeding away from the roots, strands shifting to pitch black that seemed to swallow light itself.
His closed eyes snapped open, but the crimson was gone completely, replaced by absolute darkness like staring into an abyss.
In his peripheral vision, text flashed across his consciousness:
[Law Seed: Devour - (Temporarily Manifested)]
[WARNING: Host body insufficiently developed for Law Seed usage - Soul structure unstable at current rank - Prolonged use will result in permanent soul damage and potential death]
But Damian’s mind didn’t process the warning at all.
His consciousness had narrowed to a single word, a single concept and a single purpose that consumed everything else.
’Devour.’
’Devour.’
’Devour devour devour devour DEVOUR!’
His hand shot up, clutching his own face, nails digging into skin hard enough to draw blood.
"DEVOUR!"
The word left his mouth in a doubled, layered voice.
BOOM
Black energy exploded outward from his core, flooding through his consciousness like a tsunami of annihilation.
The purple soul fragment barely had time to react.
"What–"
The black energy crashed into it with the force of a collapsing star.
"WHAT IS THIS?!"
The old voice screamed as the devouring energy wrapped around the fragment, beginning to tear it apart.
[Will: 495 → 496]
"This energy– it’s eating my soul! How is an A rank–"
Chunks ripped away from the fragment, dissolving into the black energy, being absorbed and consumed.
[Will: 496 → 497]
[Perception: 371 → 380]
"Stop! STOP! You don’t understand what you’re doing! This will kill you too!"
But Damian’s mind just kept repeating the same word, over and over, drowning out everything else.
’Devour devour devour devour–’
[Will: 497 → 498]
[Perception: 380 → 390]
The fragment thrashed desperately, trying to escape, but the black energy followed like a living predator.
"This shouldn’t be possible! You’re just A rank! You haven’t formed a Law Seed! The principles alone should tear your soul apart!"
More pieces dissolved, the fragment shrinking rapidly as it was consumed piece by piece.
[Will: 498 → 499]
[Perception: 390 → 395]
"Please! I’ll leave! I’ll go back to Admond’s body! Just stop–"
’Devour!’
[Perception: 395 → 399]
"What is wrong with this cursed world?! First that destruction-law monster, now this abomination–"
The fragment was barely holding together now, just a small core desperately trying to maintain cohesion.
"Those damn See–"
The final word cut off as the last piece was devoured completely, torn apart and absorbed into Damian’s expanding consciousness.
[Perception: 399 → 400]
And the moment the fragment’s existence ended, Damian’s pitch-black hair shifted back to crimson in an instant.
His eyes returned to their normal color, the absolute darkness fading.
He collapsed forward onto his hands, gasping.
Pant... pant... pant...
His face had gone completely pale, sweat pouring down his temples.
His whole body shook violently, exhaustion crashing over him.
’What... what the fuck just happened?’
His thoughts came confused and scattered, trying to piece together the last few minutes.
He forced himself to think past the shock, rage and exhaustion, to things that mattered more.
’I awakened a... Law Seed? But I’m only A rank... That should be impossible. Law seeds require S rank minimum...’
His hands were still shaking as he pulled up his status screen.
The interface appeared in his peripheral vision, familiar categories displaying his current state.
But there was no Law Seed section visible anywhere.
He stared at the screen for a long moment, his breathing gradually steadying, his mind trying to process what had happened.
’It’s gone... Whatever that was, it’s not showing up now. But–’
He remained kneeling in the snow for several moments, just breathing, letting his body recover from whatever had just occurred.
’–I remember the feeling.’
Then his eyes found Admond’s body still lying where it had fallen.
Damian pushed himself to his feet slowly, his legs unsteady but holding.
Whoosh
His Telekinesis activated, and Admond’s unconscious form lifted from the snow, dragging through the air until it stopped directly in front of him.
Damian’s hand reached out, gripping Admond’s face roughly.
"Sorry, Grandpa–"
His voice came out quiet.
BOOM
Black devouring energy exploded from his palm, flooding into Admond’s skull, tearing through his consciousness like a hurricane.
"AHHHHH!"
Admond’s eyes snapped open, his mouth stretching wide in a scream that echoed across the mountain peak.
’Even though you never wanted me to walk this path...’
But Damian didn’t stop, didn’t hesitate, just kept pouring the devouring energy in exactly as he’d done in that strange state.
Admond’s body convulsed violently, his limbs jerking, his scream becoming inhuman as his mind was consumed piece by piece.
In Damian’s peripheral vision, text flashed.
[Devouring Body Art: Minor Success → Major Success]
Then his words finished, quiet but carrying absolute certainty.
"–But it looks like... I really am the Devourer."
BOOM
The sound detonated in Damian’s mind as his consciousness expanded to its utmost limit.
[Will: 499 → 500]
And the sky above them dimmed suddenly, dark clouds gathering from nowhere, daylight fading as if a veil had been drawn.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, growing louder.
BOOM
The sound crashed across the heavens, reality itself responding to what had just happened, to a Will stat reaching the highest level possible in the entire universe before Ascension to S rank.