Rise of the Devourer

Book 2: Chapter 63 — The Big Bad Ugly Pt. 3

Noah dodged one of the limbs rising from the giant beast that struck down upon the arena, cracking stone and sending a wave of void mana howling into a pulse. The beast roared, its underbelly opening into a giant maw as it continued to eat its way out of the rift. The shard was now firmly within the creature's body.

Noah felt the ground shake, cracks spreading across the walls as the realm around them began to break down. Rifts in reality spread like cracks shattering through space, more and more tendrils from the monster continuing to rise outwards, pulling things into its giant maw—stone pillars, corpses, it ate everything in its path.

"What should we do now?" Noah shouted, glancing at the rest of them.

"Run?!" Aurelia screamed, dodging one of the tentacles herself as a portion of the wall crumbled down around her.

"We cannot just leave that shard within the beast; we need to kill it before it's too late," Erwest said.

"Can we even kill it?" Noah asked, shooting a charged Obliterate towards the creature, which shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

"We have to try," Erwest said.

"If that thing gets out into the city…" Aurelia trailed off, glancing at the rest of them.

"The realms are breaking, we are holding back a hoard of monsters rising from the abyss. But… We cannot last long; the spell is powerful, unless we can stop its source, we will not be able to prevent the abyss from opening,” Zax said, his voice clipped.

"If they could do this all this time, why did the cultists even bother with all that they said," Aurelia said, frustration and anger mixing across her face.

"Now is not the time to worry about that; we need to bring this thing down," Erwest said, raising his blade as he pointed it towards the beast. "The all-mother guide my path."

"Guess that's that then," Noah said, dodging another falling section of the chamber as he saw more of the creature following out.

"We will bring back any of you if you get injured. We do not intend to let a single person die here," Zax said, the message being conveyed telepathically to their minds.

"I’ll be counting on you then," Noah said, raising his spear. "Let's do this. We can do this if we work together."

His team members nodded, each preparing themselves with fire, lightning, holy light, and void mana, alongside Noah's own. As all of them readied to attack, the giant beast continued to eat its way through the castle, no concerns or worries in its mind. The only thing it did was eat anything that its limbs could reach.

"You will have to strike at the beast's core. This creature had been what we were sensing from the very start, guarding the Shard… but we had not expected it to be this bad," Zax said.

"Got it," Noah said, glancing sideways at Erwest, who gave him a nod in return.

Holy light charged around him as he raised his blade, an aura of divinity covering him. "By the all-mother's grace and justice," the paladin said, rushing ahead with a powerful swing of his blade into the creature. The golden arcs of energy struck the beast, tearing gashes through its body. Dark smoke bellowed as Hellion’s light melted the creature with each swing of Erwest’s blade slicing through its flesh.

The monster finally reacted to them, thrashing around with its massive appendages. The tentacles reached out, grabbing at the floor itself, trying to cave them into the abyss alongside the rest of them.

“Don’t you dare!” Aurelia screamed, jumping in as ash and embers swirled around her, covering her body in dark armor. Fire spread through her eyes and hair now, as she activated Embers of Fury, roaring in rage as her fists struck the beast’s maw, pushing it back in a shrieking fury.

Snow called back Shadow, the wolf shining with the girl as the teenage girl's figure transformed, changing to become something more between a wolf and a human.

Noah called upon Tony, the symbiote reacting happily as its powers surged within him. He did not activate metamorphosis, not yet; he was going to wait for the right opportunity, but that didn't mean he couldn't use his other abilities.

His hands turned to claws, his feet changed, and his muscular structure responded, his skin hardening as Noah physically changed to be stronger. His attributes may not have been enhanced, but that wasn't the only thing he could change was with Tony's help.

Charging mana into his feet, Noah kicked off, blinking ahead as he slashed with his claws, cutting through one of the tendrils. The beast continued to thrash, picking up pieces of the ground to put into its maw, but more and more of its focus was now being dedicated to the attacking party members. Even so, they were still not significant enough threats for the monster to stop devouring its way through the castle.

Noah could feel the shakes and shudders as the realm around them continued to collapse, the abyss spreading beneath their feet. He could feel it now, the presence of millions of void creatures at the edge, waiting to pour out and devour anything in their way. The only thing holding them back was Zax.

They needed to win, and they needed to win fast.

"There, within its mouth, can you see it?" Zax asked.

Noah continued to slash his way through the tendrils, the gooey, slippery void flames thrashing around him with powerful strength, destroying anything and everything in their path with abandon. It felt like he was fighting a mountain, one that did not care for his existence, like a fly buzzing around a creature far too big, too powerful.

"Bit busy trying to survive," Noah sent back to the dragon.

"We are aware. But if you wish to win, you must attack its weak point. You have four minutes left, after that we will be forced to bring you back and escape from this rift," Zax said.

Noah grimaced, he could see the rest of his party grimacing alongside him. The odds were against them, and so was time. They needed an entrance, an opening to attack the monster's core.

"We will coordinate with you," Zax said. "Working together, we can guide you to where to go, all at once, to give you the chance that you need. The final blow will rest on you, Noah. You'll have to make sure you either destroy or take the shard as you do."

Noah gave a nod as the dragon began to strategize. "Focus on its tentacles. Destroy as many of them as you can. Target the base so that you can hit the portion from where it cannot regenerate them fast enough," Zax said.

Noah rushed ahead, shooting his spear into the maw of the beast, charged with void mana. Obliterate pulsed through the shaft of the weapon like missiles shooting from a launcher.

The spear shot ahead, crackling with black lightning as it struck the beast. Noah blinked closer immediately after, the claws on his hands charged with black flames as he let loose a Netherflame burst into the creature's maw.

The beast roared for the first time, shrieking in pain, as the fire spread and one of its massive appendages began to break apart.

"No, get away," Zax said. Noah blinked away as the beast snapped its mouth at him. Its body thrashed as the entire castle shook, sending ripples across the area. More pieces fell into the now-expanding abyss.

Erwest headed in, his blade charged with light as he slashed through the tendril, getting a deep gash within it. Another pulse of golden aura tore through the massive tendril as smoke bellowed from the beast's body.

Noah teleported in at Zax's command, touching Erwest, before quickly teleporting him back out before the beast could grab him.

Aurelia struck next, her fiery fists slamming into the beast as she pushed back one of its giant feet, clawing at the edge of the abyss. She screamed, striking at the creature, pushing it further into the abyss.

Snow jumped in as well, attacking one of the tendrils. She was raised into the air and slammed down, but the fusion of Snow and Shadow kept grappling with the tendril, tearing it apart. The tendril lost a giant chunk of flesh, dropping onto the floor and disintegrating into black particles.

The beast didn't simply remain still to be attacked. It let out a shrieking wave, momentarily stunning everybody. Noah pushed through the effect, striking with his spear, but the beast was faster.

A tendril grabbed Aurelia, raising her into the air before smashing her down on the ground, sending cracks across her body, pulling her in, almost dragging her down into the abyss.

Flames burst around Aurelia, ash swirling in a frenzy as she fought. Noah struck with his spear, attacking the tendril as Aurelia grabbed the monstrous appendage with her bare hands, fire bursting through them.

She ripped it apart, but a limb shot from within the monster's body, impaling her chest. Noah felt his heart drop as he rushed closer to her, but before he could reach her, he heard Zax's voice in his head.

"We've got her. Keep your focus," Zax said.

Aurelia's body vanished in a flash of light.

The beast continued to thrash, its gaping maw raising itself out of the abyss, eyes shining with fury and hate. Tendrils came from the creature's body, grappling with Snow.

Noah rushed towards her, slashing with his blade as he freed the girl, taking a blow on his face as a tendril cut through his shoulder. Noah rushed in with his spear, striking the tendril, severing it with his hand while the aura burned it till nothing remained but dark motes of magic like glowing ash.

"Two minutes," Zax said. "Target the inner mouth."

Noah turned his attention and saw Bun Bun rushing closer, lightning bursting around the dragon spawn as he rushed in, striking with fury and haste.

Noah followed with his blade, arcs of golden light streaking towards the beast where the appendage had been cut off, hitting the body of the creature and cutting gashes into it.

With a blinding flash of lightning and flames, Bun Bun rushed in, letting out a powerful burst of elemental magic that tore through the creature's insides.

A moment later, a tendril grabbed his familiar. Noah felt the teleportation from Zax wrapped around the rabbit, pulling him out just in time, yet the attack had been enough. Within the gaps caused by the attacks, Noah could now see a sight: a tight ball of wrapped tentacles within the creature, clutching the Shard.

"One minute. We cannot hold for long," Zax said.

Erwest glanced towards Noah, before facing the Devourer. "You have one shot, don't mess this up. I'm trusting you," he said.

A moment later Erwest rushed in, jumping within the beast's maw.

Noah clutched his spear tightly. He looked at the fight and waited for his chance. Golden arcs flashed, the creature thrashing in pain, shrieking as the light of Hellion continued to cut it apart from the inside. Seconds passed slowly as Noah watched.

The magic continued to break apart the castle, the roof collapsing. Noah saw the void surrounding them, the purple sky now black, stars reflecting within it as the castle sunk into the abyss alongside them. He waited and continued to wait, watching Erwest, waiting for the signal. As the thrashing settled, he felt the pulse of mana for the teleportation as the command came.

"Now."

Tony whirred with rapid frenzy as Noah's body transformed in an instant.

Abyssal Symbiote has used Metamorphosis.

All attributes increased by 25%.

Time: one hundred and twenty seconds.

Noah rushed in, his body transforming. Wings protruded from his back, his legs changed as his form turned into that of a being from the abyss himself. He dashed forward, not thinking of anything else as he jumped directly above the creature’s gaping maw. Fires burst around his body, dark flames covering him and his spear, as his weapon absorbed all of it.

Not enough. I need more.

Taking out one of the mana crystals that Zax had given him, Noah put it in his mouth, crunching on it, as he felt the surge of energy wash over him.

You have consumed [Mana Crystal - C].

All attributes increased by 200.

Dark lightning flashed, mixed in with the flames from the place itself. The powers of blood, astral, and void combined, forming a singular force. Purple colors swirled around Noah, crackling, bending reality as he jumped into the maw of the creature.

Tendrils rushed out towards him, the bleeding monster looking up, ready to devour its last prey. Noah continued to fall, channeling every ounce of mana into his body until there was nothing left for this final strike.

As the creature, groaning, wrapped its tentacles around Noah's body, grabbing him to be devoured, Noah let his spear loose with all the energy he had stored. A ball of black, red, and blue merged into a singular purple colored explosion as the weapon howled.

Reality shattered within the breaking astral realms as the spear struck the beast like an exploding missile, piercing its core. The monster howled, shrieking in pain as its limbs shot through Noah's body before dragging him into the abyss with itself.

With the very last of his strength, Noah used one final blink, sinking even deeper as he reached out towards that shard he had been seeking all this time. As his hand grasped the piece of Divinity, something within him rose, something primal and so familiar.

Noah heard the abyssal maw shriek in pain, its body burning from the flames of the Nether. Yet, right now, none of that was in his mind. The only thing he felt was an unending hunger and the cold grasp of the abyss.

You have killed [Abyssal Maw (Legendary) - Level 317].

Feat of strength performed!

You’ve obtained the title [Titan Slayer]!

Devourer activated, and Noah felt his mind scream in hunger. The Shard flowed into his body, merging with his soul, pieces of it returning into place like a puzzle that had just gotten another part restored.

You have consumed a Shard of [???].

[Devourer] has increased in rank.

Quest completed!

Noah felt Zax’s magic wrapping around him, covering his body in a warm and familiar embrace. As the blinding light of teleportation magic rose around him, he closed his eyes as his consciousness faded away into darkness.

Conditions met. Path evolutions available.

Starting evolution.

Transporting to Astral Space.

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