Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 496: Threads of the Devourer

chapter 496: threads of the devourer

passive skill: mental attunement loop (mid arcane) - the user’s mind functions in an unending attunement loop, immensely reducing the mental toll of continuous large-scale mana and energy usage, seamlessly sustaining even the most demanding skills and traits. this allows unrestrained mana and energy manipulation over extended periods without fatigue.

almost five hundred thousand shards disappear, and the passive appears in my status. the description though simple is perfectly aligned with my ever-growing goals and the increasingly intricate ways i find myself using mana.

there were passives that could have offered more—for instance, those designed to help my body better withstand the strain of mana, others that would’ve enhanced my mental capabilities—but i chose to pass on them.

this passive is straightforward, and its simple description assures me that it will deliver exactly what i need. and the rarity only reinforces its effectiveness. impressively so.

the pain immediately hits me, but this time i don’t really have the luxury of waiting it out as hell descends outside, the eye maintaining its position high in the sky as threads resembling veins stretch their way down towards the ground, connecting themselves to the bodies of those who died during the frameworks activation.

their corpses twitch, bloat, and quickly grow in size until they stand towering over most houses—giants of exposed viscera with bones peeking through their bloated flesh and twisted expressions fixed on their mangled faces as blood drips from them every time they move, burning holes in the ground.

and the eye in the sky gradually grows stronger and stronger, despite its weakened state, creating more strands that seek out the ever increasing victims of the giants. they don’t have any text over their heads, but the eye does.

[bloodroot devourer - lvl ????]

this prisoner doesn’t seem like the type to hold a conversation.

(do we bail?) aaron asks through the link.

(sophie, have you gotten ahold of the off-moon teleportation array?) 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 sense her keeping a constant watch 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 just yet.)

our communication continues, question and response firing off at rapid speed in a rapid stream of messages as sophie, maya, and lily make for the palace at high speed. and i take note of their movements, keeping tabs on them through the connections i’ve established with [ley line].

(so you recommend staying and trying to get there while the eye, which is probably a soon-to-be-full-power champion, hunts us. sounds good.)

(dennis, don’t talk to me like that. my sister’s in just as much danger as you.)

(i’ll hold it off.)

after sending my message, silence follows, and i’m grateful to finally be alone in my room. my hand rises to my lips, and i feel the corners curved upward. my rising heartbeat, confirming its presence.

the eye looms above all, towering over the chaos. people lash out at it with a host of powerful attacks, only to have them deflected by the once-human figures the creature has transformed into an army of fleshy golems—those with wings, fly around the eye as the main line of defense, while the others remain on the ground, creating more corpses.

it’s still weak, far too weak to be called a champion, but it’s growing stronger by the second, making me curious if it was ever truly crippled or if it still has some hope of fully regaining its title.

(nat, do 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 a second, but that thing—it’s not it yet.)

and with that, i push the link to the back of my mind, monitoring for urgent messages.

“use trait strengthening token on mana wavelength iris.”

forming armor around my body, i pierce through any monsters in my way. when the fleshy tentacles reach for me, i increase the armor's size so they grab the armor instead of me. though their movements are still incredibly quick.

the eye turns to me, looking, observing, its veins forming inscriptions once again. this time, i allow mymana wavelength iristo take over. observing it in the same way, reacting to the movements of its mana.

as the monster activates the inscriptions, i add a bit of speed to the rotation of my crown—an instability that releases a pulse of disruption, modified to counter the attack meant to vibrate my body and mana into a mist of bloody 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 try to attack the armor around me, attempting to pierce or tear it apart with great force. for my armor to last this long really goes to show just how durable i’ve made it.

but the monster grows stronger at the moment. its movements become quicker, the pressure it radiates increases, and it starts moving its mana at higher and higher speeds. another inscription activates, and i barely manage to counter it—as half of my armor evaporates into nothingness.

a red and white lightning passes by me, destroying the fleshy tentacles in their way along with 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 that 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 the mana in my crown cycle one more time, the resulting wave disrupting the effect preventing me from flying.

my armor gets pulled back into me, and the mana seeps back into my crown.

the monster, now feeling at least 50 levels stronger than me, moves. its tentacles forming an ever-changing array of inscriptions that hurt my eyes—a terrible attack i’ll have no way of withstanding.

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 beginning to turn bright white.

finally collapsing into another color.

an orb made of black mana. so domineering, and yet so calm here in the palm of my hand.

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, the movement of the mana within coming to a halt 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 all with relentless efficiency.

the air around me shifts, growing dense with an oppressive weight. the battlefield seems to hold its breath as my crown absorbs an endless stream of mana. building a quiet sort of power, steady and unyielding.

this time, i might just be able to make it work.