Chapter 245 - 246: Cunning Prey
The Void Devouring Dragon finished absorbing the last remnants of the third universe. Dark energy swirled around its massive body in thick, oily currents that clung to every jagged scale like living shadows. Dimensional wounds that had once split its hide open—jagged tears left by the desperate resistance of the previous universes—slowly sealed under the influx of pure void essence. Its information Flesh cells knitted. Information Bone cells densified. The pain was still there, a deep, grinding ache that pulsed with every beat of its colossal heart, but it was fading. With every universe it swallowed, recovery accelerated. The stolen energy did not merely heal; it refined. It polished the dragon’s already terrifying foundation, pushing its Advanced-tier Multiversal strength closer to the threshold of something far more dangerous.
It turned its head toward the next nearest universe, already preparing to move. That one glowed faintly in the distance, in its eyes, a fragile sphere of light and Principles hanging in the endless dark. One more meal, maybe two, and it would be strong enough to handle whatever radiated those dense principles farther away—the ones that made even its ancient instincts prickle with caution. Those principles felt... complete. Mature. Not the half-formed scraps most Multiversals carried. Something about them set the dragon’s teeth on edge in a way few things ever had.
Then it sensed something.
A few void-units away, a large concentration of energy had gathered. Multiple Multiversal auras. Dozens of them. Their signatures overlapped and tangled, some sharp with aggression, others cold with calculation. And underneath those auras was a massive formation signature that was still charging—an intricate web of power that hummed with barely contained lethality. The dragon’s eyes narrowed with interest. Golden irises, each larger than a small planet, contracted as it focused.
"Oh?" it thought, a low rumble of amusement vibrating through its vast body. The sound rolled across the void like distant thunder. "They’ve gathered to deal with me. Perfect. That saves me the effort of hunting down more weak universes. Multiversal weaklings will be a much better meal."
It abandoned the next universe without a second thought. The fragile sphere of light was forgotten in an instant. Muscle and dark energy coiled. Then the enormous dragon shot forward at full speed. Void space folded. Distance collapsed. In far less than a rontosecond—the kind of interval so brief that even most Multiversals would miss it—the Void Devouring Dragon arrived directly in front of the assembled force.
At the exact same moment the dragon appeared, the killing formation had already finished charging.
The void around the formation lit up with complex layers of glowing runes, glyphs, and interlocking arrays. Lines of white and black light carved themselves into the emptiness, forming geometric patterns of staggering complexity. Some floated freely. Others anchored themselves to the positions of the Multiversals who stood in precise formation. Dozens of Beginner and Initiate-tier Multiversal beings held their places with iron discipline, their individual powers already linked into the structure like tributaries feeding a single raging river. At the center of the formation stood the Initiate-tier Multiversal being who specialized in the Principle of Runes, Glyphs, Arrays, and Formations. His expression was calm but confident. Thin streams of silver energy danced across his fingertips as he made final adjustments to the array’s core.
He looked up at the massive dark dragon and spoke clearly, his voice carrying easily through the frozen void.
"Good. Looks like you willingly came to your death. Your arrogance will be your downfall."
Several of the surrounding Multiversals muttered in agreement. Their voices overlapped in a low, satisfied chorus.
"It actually flew straight to us."
"Arrogant bastard."
"Does it think we can’t kill an injured Advanced-tier?"
"Stay focused. Don’t underestimate it."
The dragon’s golden eyes scanned the formation with slow, deliberate care. What it saw made genuine caution flicker through its ancient mind for the first time in a long while. The amount of stored energy was far higher than it had expected from a group of Beginner and Initiate-tier beings. The formation master had clearly poured years—perhaps centuries—of preparation into this array. Layers of destructive principles intertwined with spatial locks and disintegration laws. The combined output could genuinely threaten even an Advanced-tier entity if that entity was already wounded. But not to him. But still he needed to act.
’Time to test my acting skills.’
It tensed its massive body and tried to retreat.
Before it could move more than a short distance, the Universe Wills acted.
Invisible pressure slammed down from every direction. Multiple Universe Wills—those vast, impersonal authorities that governed entire universes—combined their powers, laws and principles and they suppressed the dragon. The surrounding void froze into an unyielding lock. Space itself became rigid, like solidified glass. Escape routes that had existed a moment before simply ceased to exist. Every direction the dragon tried to twist toward met the same absolute resistance.
’Oh this suppression is actually adequate, but it doesn’t matter.’ The dragon thought as he struggled against the suppression. Its powerful body thrashed once, sending shockwaves of dark energy outward that cracked the nearest formation lines but failed to break them. Scales ground against the invisible pressure. Claws scraped at nothing. Then, after a few moments, its movements slowed. The thrashing faded into a heavy stillness. It lowered its head slightly and spoke in a rough, strained voice that carried across the void with deliberate clarity.
"Fuck... no! I can’t take this attack! I’m still too injured for this!"
The words spread through the Multiversal ranks like a spark landing in dry tinder.
One of the Beginner-tier Multiversals grinned, eyes bright with sudden bloodlust. "It’s scared."
Another nodded, tension easing from his shoulders. "It’s still injured. The suppression is working."
A third, more cautious voice tried to cut through the rising confidence. "Don’t celebrate yet. Advanced-tiers don’t—"
But the formation master raised his hand higher, silencing the doubt. Silver energy flared brighter around him. "All power into the final strike! Do not hold back!"
The Universe Wills reinforced the freeze on the void, pouring more authority into the lock to ensure the dragon could not slip away. Confidence rose quickly among the gathered Multiversals. The dragon’s desperate shout had convinced them that victory was within reach. Many of them had never faced an Advanced-tier being before. The idea that one could be so thoroughly suppressed and so openly terrified filled them with a heady mix of relief and triumph.
"Launch it!" the formation master commanded.
The killing formation roared to life.
A massive disintegration ray—pure white and black energy twisted together in a spiraling beam thicker than a star—erupted from the center of the array. It tore through the frozen void at impossible speed, carrying the combined power of every Multiversal being present. The ray was designed to erase everything it touched, breaking information matter, energy, and even complete principles into nothing. Where it passed, the void itself seemed to scream, reality peeling apart in thin, glowing ribbons that dissolved into pure chaos.
The Multiversals watched with tense anticipation as the ray streaked straight toward the dragon’s chest. Some held their breath. Others clenched their fists so tightly that blood—or whatever passed for blood in their true forms—trickled between their fingers. The formation master kept his eyes locked on the point of impact, ready to adjust the array if the dragon somehow managed a final struggle.
Just moments before the disintegration ray was about to hit, the dragon suddenly stopped struggling.
Its body went completely still. The earlier panic disappeared from its posture as if it had never existed. The desperate strain in its limbs vanished. The lowered head rose again with deliberate calm. The Universe Wills, seeing the change, believed the dragon had finally given up hope. A few of the Multiversals even allowed themselves small, victorious smiles.
They were wrong.
The dragon’s eyes gleamed with cold cunning. In a calm, almost casual voice—completely different from the strained panic of a moment before—it spoke again.
"Just what I was waiting for."
Far away, outside the membrane of William’s universe, Runar continued absorbing void energy at a steady rate. His main body floated in the empty void, golden light occasionally pulsing across his form as another principle completed itself within his soul. Streams of pure void essence flowed into him in silent rivers, refining his foundation further with every passing moment. Through his vast perception—perception that stretched across multiple void-units with effortless clarity—he had watched every second of the confrontation.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"This dragon is really cunning," he muttered quietly to himself.
He did not move. He did not interrupt his enlightenment. The principles still forming inside him demanded absolute focus, and he would not risk incomplete comprehension for the sake of an early intervention. He simply continued watching, already calculating the next few moments with cold precision. The dragon’s feigned panic. The formation’s full commitment. The Universe Wills’ overconfidence. All of it painted a clear picture.
The disintegration ray was less than a heartbeat away from impact.