Chapter 161 161: Return To Reality [3/7]
"Hahah, she really makes me cry…"
Renji chuckled helplessly. Miyuki was as thorough as ever, arranging everything perfectly for him. Therefore, he couldn't disappoint her good intentions.
After taking a deep breath, Renji placed his hand on the shoulder of the elf's body. The next second, the "crown" icon in his skill bar began to flicker. A gray-brown light burst from Renji's palm, linking him and the elf's body in front of him.
Renji's hand quickly disappeared into the elf's body, which then transformed into a swirl of red Miasma mist around him. When Renji withdrew his hand, the Miasma furiously converged in his palm, and the elven woman vanished. In its place, in Renji's hand, was
A tentacle.
Renji: "…"
"Alright then."
According to the description of the Touch of Miasma, the Miasma item produced is closely related to the Eclipse itself. Renji, looking at the wriggling tentacle in his hand, felt it further confirmed his previous guess.
Regarding this tentacle, Renji, as its owner, could faintly sense its numerous functions. Holding it, he felt like he became the master of the entire Miasma space. The tentacle acted like a root antenna, continuously issuing commands to the surrounding Miasma, making all Miasma forces serve him.
For instance, if there was a living being in front of him, Renji felt he could even command the tentacle to devour or corrupt it. The former involved wrapping the tentacle around the being, absorbing all its power like an old tree's roots, while the latter was more terrifying and bizarre, transforming the being both mentally and physically into a being similar to his "offspring".
Through the tentacle, Renji gained a deeper insight into the powers of the 'Miasma Mother', likely just the tip of the iceberg. This realization made him break out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, he had resisted temptation before and identified the dark-skinned elf. Otherwise, if he had let the false Miyuki engage in any "happy activities" with him, it wouldn't just be a matter of being drained. The so-called extraction of his genes and bloodline, as it now appears, could have involved some more sinister and twisted method.
Regarding this evil tentacle, Renji had no intention of delving deeper into it. He merely used it as a whip. After swinging it fiercely in the dark space, the tentacle suddenly extended, striking like a spike against the space's walls, adding the final straw to the space already destabilized by the mental collapse of the dark-skinned elf.
*Crack. Crack!*
Countless cracks appeared around the space, spreading quickly like a spiderweb, covering the entire area in the blink of an eye, and then
*Boom!*
With a muffled sound echoing around, the entire dark space shattered like broken glass. Renji's body in reality also began to rapidly rise from the water of the altar's pool.
*Splash!*
Sitting up from the pool, Renji opened his eyes wide. He looked around and, seeing the forbidden area of the ancient Wolf Clan, he breathed a sigh of relief, confirming his return to reality. Although it seemed he had experienced a lot in the consciousness space, in reality, it might have only been a few minutes.
Speaking of the space,
Renji looked down at his right hand. The evil tentacle, materialized from the elf's body, had not disappeared with the space but was brought out with him.
But in the next moment, Renji immediately stowed away the tentacle. He always maintained a principle of avoidance towards such evil objects, using them only when absolutely necessary.
After leaving the pool, Renji observed the entire altar and noticed it had drastically changed.
The water in the altar, previously a polluted black swamp, had now become clear and transparent, almost indistinguishable from ordinary water.
Renji then looked towards the center of the altar's pool. The cursed Skull Gem, an S-rank Miasma item that had accumulated the Dragon Nation's negative emotions for centuries, was now dim and lifeless. When Renji picked it up, he found that the Miasma power inside was completely drained, turning the "gem" into an ordinary stone.
All these changes undoubtedly originated from him. Renji faintly sensed that with Miyuki's help, he had absorbed the massive and terrifying Miasma. He had "drained" the entire altar, and it was the power of the Dragon Nation's centuries of accumulated Miasma that laid the foundation for his sixth "Calamity" rank ability, the Touch of Miasma.
Even though the cursed Skull Gem had lost its power and become just a regular stone, Renji, adhering to the principle of making sure it was completely destroyed, broke it into several pieces before leaving the altar with peace of mind and quickly heading out of the forbidden area.
As soon as he left the restricted area, he saw 86 and Eileen anxiously waiting for him.
Although he had purified the altar in the depths of the forbidden area, the entire zone was still filled with centuries of dense Miasma, not so easily dissipated.
Seeing Renji come out safely, both Eileen and the maid sighed in relief. Renji didn't have time to explain; he immediately asked about Nova's situation. However, before they could answer, the sound of intense combat not far away already indicated the grim situation.
The concern here wasn't about Nova losing in a one-on-one fight. For the Dragoness, with almost unparalleled individual combat strength, probably only Renji himself could put her at a disadvantage in such a scenario.
What truly troubled Nova was that no matter how many times she killed Bal, the High Priest, he would rapidly "revive" and get back up. Moreover, with each resurrection, it wasn't without an impact on Bal himself.
Nova felt that the earlier Bal still had some rationality left for communication. However, now, after dozens of resurrections, Bal had almost completely become a monster driven by raw emotion.
"Give it back to me"
"Give me back what rightfully belongs to me!!!"
After being blown apart by the Dragoness's punch and reforming again, the High Priest's eyes were now blood-red. The makeup once worn for the "reunion" had now twisted into a grotesque expression. Bal's remaining essence was her hatred, screaming at Nova,
until
Renji, returning from the forbidden area, reappeared in Bal's sight.
Renji, looking at the High Priest caught in madness and chaos in the sky, had a flash of complex emotions in his eyes, eventually turning into a heavy sigh.
Initially, he hadn't recognized the High Priest, whose appearance and even gender had changed drastically. But as the fight between him and Nova progressed, despite the change in profession to a special ability user, many of his moves still bore the shadow of the past.
Memories of the old game surfaced; it was a card and model that, although somewhat ugly, had great potential and an excellent skill set. It was once a trump card for Renji, just as important as Nova.
"Bal, it's all over now, stop."