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Chapter 496 - Threads of the Devourer
🕑 Added 2024-11-24 09:28:13 +0000 UTCPassive Skill: Mental Attunement Loop (Mid Arcane) - The user’s mind functions in an unending attunement loop, immensely reducing the mental toll of continuous high-energy and mana usage, seamlessly sustaining even the most demanding skills and traits. This allows unrestrained high-energy and mana manipulation over extended periods without fatigue.
Close to five hundred thousand shards disappear, and the passive appears in my status. The description is simple yet perfectly aligned with my ever-growing goals and the increasingly intricate ways I use mana.
There were passives offering more—some designed to help my body better withstand the strain of mana, others to enhance my mental capabilities—but I chose to pass on them.
This passive is straightforward, and its simple description assures me it delivers exactly what I need. The rarity only reinforces its effectiveness. Impressively so.
Right away, that pain hits me, but this time I don’t have the luxury of waiting it out as the hells descend outside, the eye staying high in the sky but threads resembling veins stretching down towards the ground, connecting to bodies of people who died during the Framework activation.
These corpses twitch, bulge up, and quickly grow in size until they tower over most of the houses—giants made of exposed flesh and bones poking through with twisted expressions and blood dripping from them at every move, burning the ground.
And the eye in the sky, even though weakened, gradually grows stronger and stronger, creating more strands that reach down towards the people killed by these giants. They have no text over them, but the eye has.
[Bloodroot Devourer - lvl ????]
This prisoner doesn’t seem like the type to talk to.
(We bail?) Aaron sends through the link.
(Sophie, did you get the out-of-the-moon teleport array thing?) I ask.
(Beatrice escaped to the palace before we could get to her. She was extremely aware of Lily, and she was gone the moment Lily attacked.)
(I gave it my all.)
(I know you did, Lily,) Sophie sighs and I can sense her constantly checking on Izzy. (The good news is that I deployed my web over the Archon’s palace, so he shouldn't be able to teleport away yet.)
All this communication continues very quickly—a rapid stream of messages as Sophie, Maya, and Lily move at high speed towards the said palace. I can tell because every one of them is connected to me by [Ley Line].
(So you recommend staying and trying to get there while that eye, which is probably a soon-to-be-at-full-power Champion, hunts us. Sounds good.)
(Dennis, don’t talk to me like that. It’s my sister who is also in danger.)
(I will hold it off.)
After sending my message, silence follows, and I’m grateful to be alone in my room. My hand rises to my lips, where I feel the corners curved upward. My heartbeat, now more noticeable to me, confirms it.
The eye looms above, towering over the chaos. Powerful attacks are directed at it, but they are blocked by the once-human figures now transformed into fleshy golems—some with wings, flying around the eye in its defense, while others remain on the ground, creating more corpses.
It’s still weak, far too weak to be called Champion, but it grows stronger by the second, making me curious if it was crippled or if it can fully regain its title.
(Nat, you think you can fight a Champion?) Aaron asks carefully.
And I answer honestly, (No way. A Champion would beat the shit out of me in one second, but that thing—it’s not it yet.)
After that, I push the link to the back of my mind, only monitoring it for urgent messages.
“Use Trait strengthening token on Mana Wavelength Iris.”
The pain I was feeling from my new passive being applied intensifies as now the strengthening of my trait is applied as well. Even though not fully applied, the passive should help with this damn powerful trait.
Not that long ago, I strengthened this trait for the first time, and it should have taken me months longer before I felt like I could do it for the second time. But now? With a new passive?
I reach my hand, and Fracture flies to it, still in its sheath and pulled by my [Ley Line].
The mana in my crown begins to spin, and with a surge of kinetic energy, I shatter the window and leap out of the tower. Far in the distance, I notice a huge mecha mana armor form—slender and deadly, equaling its size to the flesh abominations. Maya fights to create a way for Lily and Sophie into the palace.
At the same time, blue flames explode around the tower, along with dozens of lifelike projections the twins create to distract the flesh golems attacking it.
I boost myself and fly into the air, heading towards the eye, Mana Weaving creating a huge projectile behind me.
A few monsters attempt to block my path, but at incredible speed, javelins streak past me with a terrifying whistle. Red and white lightning arcs around them, annihilating the monsters in a single strike before the javelins pivot and surge toward new targets.
I launch the massive javelin at the monster, but the eye shifts focus to intercept the attack. Vein-like tendrils extend from it, effortlessly swatting both my strike and Tess’s out of the air.
As I form another weapon and clash against the fleshy monsters, a constant barrage of javelins supports me.
The monster releases even more fleshy veins—hundreds of them—twisting, shifting, and forming a shape, an inscription. Then a single pulse of mana flows through them, and activates it.
I find myself unable to fly no matter how hard I try. My kinetic energy is still there, but it’s impossible to use it to create the effect of flying.
My Mana Wavelength Iris takes in that incredible structure made by fleshy things. An immensely intricate design, able to generate effects like that so simply. The sheer knowledge and control needed for something like that—a beautiful movement of mana to allow it.
I stare at it even as I land on the ground in between the buildings, absorbing the kinetic energy of my fall. Three fleshy golems charge me, blood dripping everywhere and melting anything—stone, people, or metal.
Mana surrounds me, and I allow myself to compress it more than I did before. There are more threads through Mana Weaving, and mana flows from me in waves.
It hurts so much, my new passive and trait still applying to my body, a process that will likely take hours longer. But gradually, there are changes already applied, making me stronger.
Kinetic energy flows through my armor, and I crash against a fleshy giant. A hit from my armor breaks it, slamming it against the buildings nearby. My armor moves slowly because of its weight and size, so I pump more kinetic energy through, speeding it up and crashing against another fleshy golem. Grabbing its shoulders, I tear it in half. The last one’s head flies off after my punch.
Immediately after, my armor disappears, and I softly land on the ground, all that huge amount of mana pulled back into my crown where I make it circle.
Three javelins, as long as a bus, form over me. Weaving from mana, compressing, filling with golden thermal energy. They shoot forth, a shockwave in their wake sent through the street.
All three explode in the fleshy veins that grasp them far away from the eye. A few of Tess’s javelins meet the same fate.
Getting a message, I teleport through [Ley Line], ending near the palace where Sophie, Lily, and Maya went. The huge armor forms around me again, and I clash against the fleshy golems trying to follow the trio. At the same time, Min-Jae, already here, starts throwing huge pieces of broken buildings at the monsters. These pieces are as big as cars and build up a lot of speed, obliterating the monsters.
To test something, I tear the fleshy tentacle connecting one of the monsters to the eye, but the monster continues to move and attack even then.
One of the tallest golems falls down, unable to stand within the field Min-Jae creates around it. With a sweeping motion of his hand, Min-Jae brings down an entire tower along with a smaller one nearby.
With all of them dead, I teleport to the boy and gesture at the eye. “Throw me at it.”
To his credit, Min-Jae doesn’t hesitate and doesn’t ask why. I lower my natural defense, and his skills envelop me, shooting me right towards the eye at incredible speed.
Forming armor around my body, I pierce through the monsters in my way. When these fleshy tentacles reach for me, I increase the armor's size so they grab the armor instead of me. Their movements are still incredibly quick.
The eye turns to me, looking, observing, its veins forming inscriptions once again. This time, I allow my Mana Wavelength Iris to take over. I observe the same way, reacting to the movement of the mana.
At the same time as the monster activates the inscriptions, I add a bit of speed to the crown—an instability releasing a pulse of disruption I modify to counter the attack that was supposed to vibrate my body and mana apart into pieces of flesh.
My pulse and the monster’s attack collide, disrupting each other.
And I live.
The eye blinks, and the tentacles form into another shape. More of them attacks the armor around me, trying to pierce it, to tear it apart with great force. For my armor to last this long tells of how durable it is.
But the monster grows stronger. Its movements become quicker, the pressure it radiates increases, and it moves mana at a much higher speed. Another inscription activates, and I barely counter it—half of my armor evaporates into nothing.
A red and white lightning passes by me, destroying fleshy tentacles in its way and the ones that try to stop it, before nearly reaching the eye—only for a last-second mana barrier to stop it. And what a powerful barrier it is. With my eyes, I can tell right away I won’t be able to break it apart.
(Tess, there’s a box full of sand in my room. Just throw it at the monster if it looks like I’m getting my ass kicked,) I send through the link.
Finally done, I let mana cycle in my crown one more time, and after the disrupting wave the effect that didn’t allow me to fly disappears.
My armor gets pulled back to me, mana seeping into my crown.
The monster, now feeling at least 50 levels stronger than me, moves. Its tentacles form ever-changing shapes of inscriptions that hurt my eyes—a terrible attack I’ll have no way of facing.
At the same moment, an orb forms over the palm of my hand.
Light blue.
Dark blue.
Dark blue with wisps of light blue.
Dark blue with wisps of light blue and purple.
An orb on the brink of destabilization and turning bright white.
Then another color.
An orb made of black mana. So domineering, yet so calm in my hand now.
With my [Focus] and [Mana Manipulation] at level 60, with my body getting used to the strengthening Mana Wavelength Iris, and with the new passive still being applied, I connect the orb with the crown floating over my head.
Within a blink, the crown turns an inky black, all movement of mana within it ceasing in an instant. The stillness is unsettling, unnatural—yet it doesn’t stop there. The crown begins to draw mana from me, pulling from my body and reservoir without hesitation, consuming it with relentless efficiency.
The air around me shifts, growing dense with an oppressive weight. The battlefield seems to hold its breath as the crown absorbs mana endlessly. A quiet power builds, steady and unyielding.
This time, I might just make it work.
***
Comments
Funny guy
Danks fur da chappie! Nevermind, it's "just" a champion lol Also black mana's back! 🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺
Chopper
You are forgetting Nat is a Mana Maniac. If he could have every single item on him hold more mana and sacrifice anything else it could do, he would.
Memelord Steambath
More mana=better, its a simple equation really
Mister Cakers
The only real downsides to the crown is that 1: it gets harder to control the output of mana the more there is, and 2: the crown can have its control challenged by an opponent since it’s outside the casters body. Also the mana stat seemingly affects not only amount but also regeneration?(I’m not super sure on this one).
Xyminimal
I’ve been wondering. Doesn’t the mana crown kinda make ‘Vast Mana’ somewhat useless? I’m confused about the benefit of having both
Arnon Parenti
Different materials make different weapons he can chain make low epics now that sell for 80k, doesn't have to be 150k every time
Nisheeth Pandey
It’ll probably reject it being sold more than once the same way it rejected Liss’ coordinates
Lonnie
Cliff hanger! No! Feels like a damn half chapter. Good stuff, black mana to add chaos to an already chaotic environment
Brendin Olsen
I'm willing to bet we are about to see not just a catastrophic explosion, but also a lot of variations of nat using black mana efficiently
Johnny
?
Boyo
This fic gave me a fierce half chub. I cant wait to get a full erection from the next one.
Broseph
With these new mana applications, especially logic cores, I’m getting the feeling we’re gonna see some crazy stuff. Like, more mid combat inscription usage or mana bloc mechs 🤌🔥
Dr.Awkward
Tftc, glad to have the cliffhanger at the beginning of chapter week!
Le Frog
Nope, he lost arcane resilience (mid epic) It just boosted his body’s resistance to mana
CptJimmy42
Nat is a bomb now. We all saw it coming. Set crown to big boom, and Ley Line outta there.
Sean
The angry kitten approaches the all seeing eye and quickly boxes a paw into it. "Ow! Prince Mitts, that hurts!" -Some cat owner somewhere.
Andrew
Thank you!
RJ
Did he lose his mind protection passive?
CJ Tamberella
Thank you!
Zaim İpek
Both his mana crown and mana manipulation skills are significantly higher than during his last attempt, and I don't think he had any arcane passives at that time if my memory serves me. He should be able to handle this for at least 30 seconds now. Maybe even a whole minute before the mental fatigue becomes too much. But at the pace things are going, he needs to finish the fight within 10 seconds. The issue is when the fight is over and he has ticking bomb over his head. He will need to either teleport the crown many miles away or teleport the group many miles away.
JTP
Hell yeah! Worth the wait!
Arnon Parenti
Go go Nat infinite money making machine, selling mana manablock weapons to the shop.
Arnon Parenti
That's 500k shards into something he could have gotten over a clock, using money to buy time.
Barnabas_11
Sword using black mana?
Barnabas_11
He needed to master it so that his eyes don’t „explode” when he upgrades them.
Ananiash
cap
RingoSeto
it's what the passive was for
Rubeno
I feel like there's small plothole. MC stated that before upgrading Mana Iris to 2nd stage he needs to master 1st stage. Now it's suddenly out of the window.
GallantRage1 .
Sword?
Manohar
Maybe if he had time .. but as we have seen even in the fight vs Gaiathra on the 5th floor .. its possible to swat the orb or anything made out of black mana away physically So maybe the eye could use the tentacles to do just that With the black mana crown Nat should have an advantage when it comes to mana .. but the eye is still a champion So in a protracted fight it will win ... but as i said Nat should only want to delay it
Nerø
But can he breach it with black mana tho?
Manohar
Highly doubt that Nat will be able to kill the eye He remarked in the chap abt the mana barrier and how its impossible to breach it for him Nat should be able to stall the eye and make enough time for the others to get the teleportation array and then escape
zoarian
Welp, I guess it's time to go past level 300. Should be a much bigger level up compared to the first one since he's not using the sand. I hope the 2nd stage of Mana Wavelength Iris helps Nat see more details about black mana. It seems like a really OP trait, to the point Champions were willing to steal it.
Nerø
Can't wait for tomorrow's chap!!!
Borbino the great
Is the eye a play on the all seeing eye?
Belmont Igneul
Eldritch Kaiju battle :)
Spam X
Uhh big boom incoming
Moonfrost
TFTC!! First thought seeing the passive description was like "time for black crown?" and then I read the last few paragraphs.
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