Rise of the Devourer

Chapter 40: My Turn Now

Noah looked at the words, floating in front of him. Was this death? He had expected more non-existence from an event like this.

A voice rang through the dark.

It stirred the unending stillness of the void, like a ripple through existence.

Noah frowned, feeling his rest being disturbed. Just who was calling out to him?

The void continued, echoing in Noah’s mind. At last, unable to ignore it, Noah let the voice reach his mind.

“Master!”

Awareness returned to Noah’s mind, as he saw a floating eyeball with bat wings in front of him. “Tony?” he asked, confused by what he saw.

“Tony!” the creature responded. Though how he spoke, Noah could not tell. The eyeball had no mouth after all.

“Where are we? Heck, where are you?” Noah asked, glancing around.

“A dream, master. A bad dream. I have been here before. The non-existence was similar. Where reality and non-reality mingle into a single existence,” Tony said.

“What?” Noah blurted. “I have no idea what anything you just said means.”

“It means Master is losing! But Master cannot lose. This is a battle of wills, Master. It is not real. The spear is fighting Master’s willpower, so Master needs to fight back. The battle is both real, and not. But you cannot lose, or I will lose you!” the eyeball exclaimed. “The real battle is with the crimson, eating at Master’s health!”

Noah looked up, and saw his health bar. It was empty, the health entirely gone, with more than half the bar missing.

Health: 0%

Max Health: 31%

“Am I dead?”

“Nope! The mind lies. The Valkyrie beat you, so your spirit thinks it is dead. But it’s not dead till the Crimson eats through everything. What Master needs to do, is push, and force your mind to fight,”

“Okay… so… what do I do?”

Tony flapped his wings, thinking with an audible humming sound. “Master could fight back with me?” Tony suggested.

“I don’t get it,” Noah replied, staring at the flying eyeball.

“I can show!” Tony exclaimed, before flying into Noah’s chest. Instead of a collision, Tony slipped inside Noah’s chest.

Void mana flared inside him, as he felt Tony’s consciousness reach out and mingle with his. Perspectives changed, his mind running faster and faster, as the darkness began to shudder.

Sensations returned, and with it returned the pain. The agony was like a thousand needles piercing his skin, before threading through his muscles as they cut through the bone before pulling out the other end, all at once.

He could sense a sharp, knife-like pain poking behind his eyes, and if he could, Noah would claw his eyeballs out just to rid himself of the agony.

“Focus! This is Master’s mind!”

Gritting his teeth, Noah focused on the pain, using it as a lifeline to pull himself back to reality. The darkness receded, and the world around him slowly came back into focus. He was battered and broken, but alive.

Summoning the last of his strength, Noah pushed himself up from the ground, his body trembling with the effort. The Valkyrie, sensing his resurgence, turned her scarlet eyes upon him, surprise and anger evident in her gaze. As the pain fueled him, Noah felt a surge of power unlike anything he'd experienced before.

[Abyssal Symbiote] has used [Metamorphosis]!

All attributes increased by 25%

Time remaining: 60 seconds

Notifications upon Notifications filled his eyes, sub-attribute and attribute increases taking up his vision. He moved them all to his notification folder, not spending a second on them.

Rising up, Noah spun his spear around, pushing the Valkyrie away from himself.

His eyes glowed with a fierce determination, and the void mana within him roared to life, wrapping around his spear with a deadly purpose. Claws struck against her bone blade, sparks flying across as Noah growled, launching the Valkyrie backwards.

He could feel Tony moving through his body and mind, calculating each move, each muscle that would tense and relax and optimizing everything. Noah barely had to think, and his body would do precisely what he wanted it to do.

The world slowed down, and Noah looked ahead, watching his foe staring at him in surprise.

He glanced down, noting his clawed arm extending all the way to his shoulder and into his chest. His body’s structure was changed, more demonic, as dark swirling skin covered patches of him, oozing with void mana.

Noah reached out to his Dimensional Storage. Blindly grasping within, he selected a single glowing stone from within, letting the stone teleport into his mouth.

Closing his eyes, Noah bit on the mana stone, the crystal cracking into pieces as a flood of energy flowed into his body.

You’ve consumed [Mana Stone - D]

Mana replenished by 300%

All attributes increased by 50.

Power increased 164.

Agility increased to—

Noah dismissed the notifications. They did not matter. All that mattered was this battle. He needed to win before he died in reality.

His eyes glanced at his health bar, watching the numbers drop.

Max Health: 31%

Noah looked at the Valkyrie standing in the distance. A moment of silence remained as the two warriors looked at each other.

Slowly, Noah moved his neck, cracking the bones with a pop as a guttural growl escaped his mouth. A manic grin was spread across his face, splitting it apart like the perfect visage of a demon.

“My turn now.”

With a deafening roar, Noah charged towards the Valkyrie.

The Valkyrie, sensing the surge of power within Noah, prepared herself for his assault. Her eyes narrowed, and she gripped her bone blade with renewed vigor.

As Noah closed the distance, the world around him seemed to slow down even further. Every detail of the battlefield, every speck of crimson sand, stood out with perfect clarity. His senses were heightened, his reflexes sharpened, as if he was no longer just fighting to survive, but to truly live.

The Valkyrie and Noah clashed, their weapons meeting in a deafening symphony of steel and bone. The force of their strikes sent shockwaves rippling through the air, threatening to tear the very fabric of this reality apart.

Their deadly exchange continued, each combatant pushing the other to their limits. Noah's spear found its mark again and again, carving deep gashes into the Valkyrie's mutated form. Blood and flesh sprayed across the arena, forming a crimson mist that bathed the two warriors.

Time remaining: 37 seconds

The Valkyrie lashed out at Noah's neck, her blade aiming for a lethal blow. As death closed in, Noah's skin and muscles near his neck hardened in response, a swift adaptation from Tony to protect him. The sharpened edge skidded across his reinforced skin, leaving a shallow cut instead of a fatal wound.

Seizing the opportunity, Noah thrust his elongated claws into the Valkyrie's side, tearing through flesh and organs as he pulled his hand upwards. The Valkyrie screamed in pain, her bone blade striking out in retaliation.

Reacting instinctively, Noah raised his arm to block the incoming strike. Tony had already adapted Noah's body again, forming a hardened bone blade from his arm that met the Valkyrie's weapon with a metallic clash.

Without wasting a moment, Noah took advantage of the brief opening in the Valkyrie's defenses. Using his dimensional pocket, he teleported his spear into his free hand, swiftly thrusting the weapon at the weakened Valkyrie.

The spear pierced the Valkyrie's chest, the void mana within it hungrily devouring her life force. She gasped, a mix of surprise and agony in her eyes as she struggled to maintain her grip on her bone blade.

Noah pressed his advantage, putting all his strength behind the spear, driving it deeper into the Valkyrie's body. Crimson thorns grew, burning through the skies, as a shell of bloody mutated plants began to rise, trapping Noah. Claws grew from Noah’s feet as he used them to free his body, pulling his spear out as he teleported away from the Valkyrie.

Crimson Spears rose from the ground, shooting Towards Noah. Roaring, Noah slashed his claw, Obliterate burning in a frenzy as it cut through the spears of energy. Fire erupted in Noah’s face, the heat singeing his vision as the Valkyrie rushed closer, swinging her weapon.

Spear clashed with bone blade, the impact shaking the ground as Crimson mana mingled with Void mana, and reality began to fracture at the impact. Noah used Blood Drain, as the life-force from all around him began to be pulled into his body. The Crimson Rot burned his skin, his muscles broke down and rebuilt themselves every second, as Tony continued to fight to keep his body intact.

Time remaining: 17 seconds

As the Valkyrie lunged forward again, her spear aimed for Noah's heart. He deftly dodged the attack, using his newfound agility from his clawed feet. With a feral snarl, Noah summoned the last of his strength, combining it with the stolen life-force from his surroundings.

Noah's eyes glowed from the overflowing mana. One strike, all he needed was one strike.

He leaped towards the Valkyrie, his spear crackling with the combined energies of Crimson, Void and Blood. Obliterate and Bleed mingled in a frenzy as the spear distorted.

The Valkyrie, sensing the imminent danger, tried to block his strike, and Noah let her. Letting go of his spear, he used the blow to swerve into a strike as he tackled the Valkyrie onto the ground. Grabbing her in a hold, Noah clutched her throat, cutting off her airway.

The Valkyrie roared, as thorns stabbed through Noah’s back. Fighting through the pain, Noah roared, teleporting his spear right above the two of them.

The weapon hung in the air, and as the Valkyrie’s eyes widened in surprise she kicked, her hand crushing Noah’s bones and tearing through his skin, but he held on.

The spear fell, gravity doing its job as the weapon maintained its momentum. With a final scream of defiance, the Valkyrie pulled at Noah’s arms, before the spear pierced through her mouth and back out the other end.

Noah felt the spear cutting a good way through his neck as blood flowed from the wound. He felt the Valkyrie’s blood mixing with his own as the woman’s body shuddered with a final twitch.

Time remaining: 0 seconds

Metamorphosis has ended!

Temporary Mana buff has ended!

You’ve gained [Mana Poisoning - V]

You’ve gained [Migraine]

You’ve gained [Fatigue]

You’ve killed [Crimson Rot Valkyrie - lvl 127 (Legendary)]

Noah’s heart pounded as the notifications continued to pour in front of him. Feeling all strength fade from him, he sensed Tony return to the ring at his finger, the changes to his body reverting back to normal.

With effort, Noah pushed the Valkyrie’s body aside, raising himself up. His arms were mangled, bone jutting through flesh and soaked in blood, with crimson rot having eaten and mutated large chunks of his skin. He looked horrible.

Would you like to consume [Crimson Rot Valkyrie lvl - 127]?

Yes/No?

Reaching out with the last of his strength, Noah touched the Valkyrie’s corpse, before he selected yes.

[Devourer] has absorbed [Crimson Rot Valkyrie lvl - 127].

[Progress till next rank: 43/100]

The corpse disintegrated into ash, flowing into Noah, as faint memories of an eternally long battle of death and carnage filled his mind.

The surge of memory was the last straw. Noah collapsed onto the ground, feeling his mind fade into the darkness. The last thing he saw, the chime of a new notification, informing him of his victory’s rewards.

[Spear of Scarlet End] has bonded with you.

Level notifications: 29

Skill notifications: 52

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