Endless Debt

Amidst the chaotic etheric turbulence, Bologue witnessed the Throat of the Abyss being shaken, contemplating to himself, "This is not truly a dead end; I am not without the strength to counterattack."

Currently, Bologue is located in the Etheric Realm, the source of extraordinary power, filled with an ethereal amount that scholars find difficult to calculate and describe.

Just like the primordial soup theory proposed by scholars, the Etheric Realm is the primordial soup of all extraordinary phenomena, where even the slightest disturbance can easily stir up a storm. Hence, although Bologue is now merely a Negative Power User, he can, with the flutter of a butterfly’s wings, unleash a grand extraordinary assault within this realm.

The endless ether is closely bonded to him; Bologue feels an unprecedented power within himself.

Perhaps, he could attempt something more extreme.

Bologue half-crouched, muscles tense, bones locked, high-energy ether coursing through the Alchemy Matrix within him, boiling and surging, almost spilling over and bursting his body.

The Throat of the Abyss had now recovered; it was a blind, foolish monster acting solely under Mammon’s command. Now the storm of the Secret Source had divided the battlefield, making its connection with Mammon ambiguous, yet it continued to faithfully execute the Devil’s orders.

Devour Bologue.

Swallow and tear apart, leaving nothing behind, showing no mercy.

The Throat of the Abyss twisted its body, its countless slender arms grabbing the void, tearing it forcefully, causing a clear rift to rupture and unfold.

The bloated, twisted body dug into the Curved Pathway Rift, while another rift blossomed behind Bologue, a pitch-black mouth surfacing rapidly. With its lethal speed, this strike was enough to bite through most of Bologue’s body, crushing him into a pulp.

But this time, the Throat of the Abyss merely bit into emptiness.

Bologue’s figure vanished from the spot; seconds later, numerous cracks erupted from where he had just stood, as if a giant had just stomped through the area.

Howling winds came from all directions, and then a dark blade cleaved down along the old scars on the Throat of the Abyss, causing torrents of blood to gush forth.

The monster twisted its body, its pallid limbs flailing wildly, each strike like a giant blade capable of tearing through steel mountain ranges, but it could never catch up to or hit Bologue.

Bologue was now too fast, the fiercely burning ether matched with the high-energy ether environment of the Etheric Realm, thrusting Bologue beyond the insurmountable barrier.

Power of the Extreme Realm.

Bologue transformed into a dark shadow, flickering incessantly around the Throat of the Abyss, with large swaths of blood spraying out after each brief pause.

The Throat of the Abyss didn’t wait to die. The high-energy ether environment could enhance Bologue, but it could enhance it as well, in fact, the Throat of the Abyss, with its inherently powerful attributes, gained a power increase far exceeding that of Bologue.

Thus, as Bologue tried to inflict another wound upon the Throat of the Abyss, the bloated massive figure suddenly vanished, leaving only a rift suspended nearby.

This time the Curved Pathway Rift did not heal.

"Killing Array!"

The bizarre sound filled Bologue’s ears, and he barely discerned the word.

At the same time, countless Curved Pathway Rifts appeared around Bologue, each wound serving as a path, and within each path, the Throat of the Abyss might emerge to strike.

Bologue had underestimated the Throat of the Abyss; unknowingly, this creature had enveloped Bologue with a network of rifts, able to attack him from any direction, even simultaneously.

In an instant, countless pale limbs probed out from the rifts, thousands of arms surrounding Bologue from all directions, like extending shredder blades ready to tear him into pieces.

Bologue’s eyes burned brightly, ether surged rapidly.

Secret Energy·Commanding Decree.

The aggressive ether released instantly like a detonated bomb.

Bologue couldn’t invade the body of the Throat of the Abyss; there was no material to command in this Etheric Realm, hence he summoned only the ether.

Pure ether.

A glorious surge of ether, like sharp daggers, indiscriminately slashed towards the surrounding limbs, Bologue’s shouts and the etheric cacophony overlapping, like echoes from primordial times.

The surface of the pale skin cracked into layered blood marks, even entire chunks of skin were cut into pulp, flesh peeled away, bones fractured.

The cage of limbs collapsed segment by segment, yet more limbs reached out from the rift, growing feverishly like buds despite Bologue’s relentless hacking and struggling, severed limbs splitting into two and then four.

Within the cage forged by flesh and blood, a rift appeared directly beneath Bologue’s feet.

No image of the Throat of the Abyss emerged from the open darkness, but an eerie suction force was felt, resembling the black hole Bologue had seen within the Golden Palace, devouring everything.

"Is this the true extent of your power?"

Captured by the suction force, Bologue suddenly felt his body weighed down several times over, with nowhere to stand, plunging headlong towards the Mouth of Darkness.

This was not a Curved Pathway Rift at all, but the wide-open mouth of the Throat of the Abyss.

By relying on the Curved Pathway Rift, the Throat of the Abyss can freely project its body into any corner of the Material Realm, like a predator lying in ambush.

"Devour you."

A blurred, hazy voice once again reached Bologue’s ears. Now he could confirm, it was indeed the voice of the Throat of the Abyss.

Previously, Bologue had always thought that the calamities of this world were mindless monsters acting solely on instinct. Now it seemed, perhaps only the Beast of the Herd was like that.

The Throat of the Abyss possesses a certain level of intelligence, even some tactical thinking, which is truly frightening news.

But thankfully, in the face of such a foe, Bologue was not without countermeasures.

"Heart of Light? Such an ordinary name," in his memory, Nesanel’s voice echoed, "I expected you would name it something like a Super Light Radiator."

"Am I that flamboyant?"

"Aren’t you?"

Nesanel looked him over and handed back the crystal-clear Crystal Core to Bologue.

"Without Raymond Gaudent’s Array System, the light radiated by this core will be significantly weakened, making it less important strategically. Not to mention, the lethality of the light itself... You should keep this with you. Its perfect bearer should be a rational Undead."

The memory ended, and Bologue tore open his collar, revealing the Silver-Inlaid Crystal Core hanging from his necklace.

"This flame, you should be quite familiar with it."

In Bologue’s furious shout, a surge of Ether injected into the Crystal Core, igniting a flame inside the transparent crystal. Through the refraction of the mirror, the firelight grew more and more intense.

A towering pillar of flame shot up.

From afar, Mammon watched the scene. In this desolate land of the Ethereal Realm, such changes were rare. Soon after, his expression gradually became serious.

He could clearly perceive that this world of energy was gradually awakening. With the progression of the battle, the disturbed Ether would only increase, triggering a series of chain reactions until it swept through the entire Ethereal Realm.

Breaking the silence.

But compared to what Mammon was troubled by now, the disturbance of the Ethereal Realm was not a problem.

"Why are you so concerned about Bologue?"

Mammon watched the approaching storm and couldn’t help but question, "King Solomon once almost touched your essence, but when he died, you remained silent... Why did you react to Bologue?"

Mammon couldn’t understand, and neither could Beelzebub.

But Mammon wouldn’t be troubled for long. He knew well that even as a Devil, he wasn’t omniscient.

Some puzzles would always trouble the mind.

After the skyward blaze, charred severed limbs shattered, raising clouds of ash as Bologue charged out of the sea of fire, flames swirling around him.

Behind Bologue was the Throat of the Abyss emerging from the Curved Pathway Rift. It could freely shuttle through the rift, but similarly, as long as the light was infused into the Curved Pathway Rift, regardless of where the Throat of the Abyss was, it would suffer the punishment of the flames.

At this moment, it writhed in agony like a fish out of water, its body twisting painfully. Gushing wounds scattered blood like rain, evaporating instantly within the Ethereal Realm.

Bologue could see the blood traces rapidly dissipating while wisps of Ether ascended.

In the Ethereal Realm, all matter seemed destined to eventually return to its original energy form.

Countless voices arose from the body of the Throat of the Abyss, all cursing Bologue, vowing to devour and digest him completely.

Bologue had heard too many curses from enemies to care about these voices. Breaking free from the predicament, he continued to pursue the Daylight Core within the storm.

"Can you still hold on?" Aimou inquired.

"No problem," Bologue replied, glancing down at the Crystal Core hanging on his chest, "In the Ethereal Realm, its drain on me isn’t that great."

Even King Solomon needed Raymond Gaudent’s array and a continuous supply of Ether to fully activate the light.

In the Material Realm, using the light required a great cost for Bologue, but in the Ethereal Realm, with the endless Ether, he accomplished this with ease.

He blazed a trail with fire, entangled and guided.

The Throat of the Abyss tried to catch up with its bloated body, but it was too late, forced to watch as Bologue vanished into the brilliant light source.

As the light faded, the storm was upon him.