Chapter 424: Dark Demon’s Unending Greed (51/233)
“Meow? (Is it finally coming?)”
As Darc started his preparations for the experiment, Miao Miao, who was squatting on the small table carving little figures, suddenly had her eyes light up and began meowing loudly.
Among the Mana Spirits present, none were more eager for “Greed III” than she was.
After all, she was the embodiment of “Greed,” and was certain that through “Greed III,” she could achieve further evolution.
“Meow! (After evolving…)”
Miao Miao quickly glanced at the few Second-tier Mana Spirits and internally cried out, wondering if the day of her transformation was finally here.
In contrast, the Imp Beast hanging upside down on the bird perch remained unusually calm.
“Greed III” wouldn’t bring about any substantial change for him; he only needed “Pride III.”
On the other side, Deoxys was still urging the Vampire Noble to learn phonetics, but the Solo Sword Sheath floating beside him was performing a circular dance.
After all, the Solo Sword Sheath was also considered an embodiment of “Greed.”
However, its creation only possessed 3 points of “Greed,” which was different from Miao Miao created with the “Fruit of Greed.”
“Greed III” might not necessarily allow it to evolve further.
Meanwhile, the Trash Slime playing with Ditto kept sneaking glances over, as it was clearly one of the beneficiaries.
Additionally, Lil’Eevee, holding an astrological book, occasionally looked up.
She knew she would gain a new evolutionary form, but she was slightly confused about the evolution choice for “Greed III.”
What form would “Greed III” correspond to?
…
Feeling the anticipation of the Mana Spirits, Darc picked up the prepared apple juice and drank it in one go, instantly feeling refreshed.
Then, he immediately began the process of refining “Greed III” according to familiar steps.
The entire process went relatively smoothly, and within an hour, a Capital Sin Card with 10 points of “Greed III” lay quietly on the experimental table.
The face of this “Greed III” card was deep blue-black, and upon closer inspection, one could see a hint of purple, indicating the hidden “Greed” emblem.
Staring at this Capital Sin Card for too long would inevitably stir up a desire.
“Success!”
Darc couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Every time he refined a Capital Sin Card, he would tighten his nerves.
After all, every point of “Capital Sin” was so precious.
“So, who wants to try first?”
After picking up “Greed III,” Darc turned around smilingly and scanned the Mana Spirits.
“Papa?” The Vampire Noble pouted and looked over, but was then slapped on the hand by Sister Deoxys.
She let out a sound and hurriedly turned back to focus on her book, but her sharp ears were noticeably perked up.
Not letting her see, and not letting her hear either? Humph!
At the same time, Miao Miao, who had been waiting impatiently, quickly raised her paw, full of unfulfilled desire: “Meow, meow, meow!”
Other Mana Spirits appeared somewhat uneasy, especially the Imp Beast, who looked away, clearly unwilling to be the first to try.
Since it was unwilling, Darc wasn’t a devil and gestured for Miao Miao.
Miao Miao’s heart leaped with joy, even her drooping eyelids opening slightly.
She placed the carving knife and little wooden figure on the table, then ran and jumped into Darc’s arms, sitting on his knees and looking up, rubbing his palm vigorously.
Darc rubbed her head, thinking it was wonderful to have a cat fish that volunteered.
Of course, he was also very excited about Miao Miao’s evolution.
“In the name of Darc Diemon, Mana Summoning!”
…
With the completion of the usual summoning spell, a deep dark blue light instantly burst forth from the surface of “Greed III.”
The bedroom was bathed in this dark blue light, as if draped in a gauzy veil, with a sense of unfulfilled desire.
Mana Spirits illuminated by the residual light couldn’t help but feel greedy.
But they all had some forewarning and managed to suppress their rising desires with concentration.
Only the immature Vampire Noble was quickly blinded by greed.
“Wooh!”
She suddenly turned and hugged Deoxys, rubbing her tender face against Deoxys’ face—this was her long-held wish!
Although Deoxys looked repulsed, she didn’t move away, but instead grabbed her with both hands, holding her firmly to prevent her from running out and disrupting the experiment.
On Darc’s knee, a “Greed” emblem appeared on Miao Miao’s forehead coin, and the dark blue light was absorbed like a whale sucking water, turning the golden coin into a deep blue color!
In the next instant, Miao Miao was enveloped in the light of evolution.
Her body rapidly elongated in the glow, growing larger, and in no time, she transformed into a slender big cat!
Darc felt his knee sink, “Meow.” Miao Miao successfully evolved into “Fat Cat”!
Still with the same light gray fur as during the Miao Miao phase, but the quality of the fur had significantly improved, feeling softer than the highest grade velvet.
After evolving, Fat Cat resembled a female lion more, with a deep blue gem atop her head replacing the coin, her face and ears becoming extremely round, eyes half-closed with very fine pupils, not much different from when she was still Miao Miao.
Although this Fat Cat looked slightly different from the ordinary Fat Cats Darc remembered, he certainly wouldn’t dismiss it because of its round face.
The more he looked at the round face, the cuter it seemed.
The first-evolving Fat Cat couldn’t control its greedy desire and, while lying on Darc’s knee, couldn’t help but reach out and grab the drawer of the experimental table.
Darc casually pulled back her paw and pressed it on the cushion, then injected Mana into Miao Miao’s Mana Card, receiving feedback on the information.
[Card Name: Fat Cat]
[Type: Elemental Card]
[Level: ????]
[Race: Avian-beast Kin]
[Attribute: Evil]
[Mana: 2500]
[Attack: 2200]
[Defense: 2500]
[Ultimate Skills: Fur Coat, Taunt, Guard, Deception]
“Hiss—”
Darc quickly glanced through the information, gaining a general understanding of Fat Cat’s racial attributes and stats.
Fat Cat and the Mana Nightmare Demon were both five-star—this was expected.
But the stat distribution of Fat Cat was unexpected.
“If I remember correctly, Fat Cat shouldn’t be a defense-specialized Mana Spirit, but rather speed-specialized…
Even when she was Miao Miao, she only had 900 defense, yet after evolving, why did she become such a shield?
Dark couldn’t help but touch the soft fur of Fat Cat, smoother than velvet.
“Five-star top-tier mana and defense, slightly inferior attack, turning this Fat Cat into a standard five-star tank. Coupled with its four ultimate skills…”
Dark first looked at what seemed to be a passive skill converted from a characteristic— “Fat Coat.”
[Fat Coat: The thick, smooth fur of Fat Cat reduces damage, halving the damage taken in battle.]
“Without ‘Technical Mastery,’ instead there’s ‘Fat Coat.’ This ‘Fat Coat’ is clearly a defensive god-skill like ‘Rolling,’ let me take a closer look.”
“‘Rolling’ multiplies defense, while ‘Fat Coat’ halves damage. They have different mechanisms but each has its strengths.”
“With ‘Fat Coat,’ Fat Cat’s MT capability increases by at least double!”
“Having such a passive skill, coupled with the next ultimate skill, ‘Taunt’…”
[Taunt: Taunt the opponent, making them angry, only able to use skills that deal damage within thirty seconds, and will only attack Fat Cat.]
“Thirty seconds, which is one round.”
“Only able to use skills that deal damage, meaning they can’t use change-type ultimate skills.”
“Pity that ‘Taunt’ seems to be a single-target ultimate skill; if it could target everyone, it would be even better.”
Dark suddenly realized he was being greedy.
He smiled wryly and looked at the next ultimate skill—”Guard.”
[Guard: Within thirty seconds, enter Guard state, completely blocking the opponent’s attacks, unaffected by most ultimate skills. If used continuously for over an hour, the success rate decreases to that of the previous use.]
“It’s actually ‘Guard’!”
“‘Taunt’ paired with ‘Guard’ is a full thirty seconds of single-target strong control.”
“Good job!”
Dark abruptly lifted Fat Cat, pinching its large flat face forcefully, making it look larger and flatter, comical yet helpless.
If ‘Fat Coat’ is a defensive god-skill, then ‘Guard’ is the god-skill among god-skills.
Moreover, ‘Guard’ is a conventional god-skill that almost all Pokémon-type golems can learn.
If he could extract ‘Guard’ from Fat Cat using a ‘Ultimate Skill Card’…
Then using a [Ultimate Skill: Guard] card would ensure a Pokémon survives for thirty seconds.
Of course, ‘Guard’ isn’t invincible; there are many types of ultimate skills effective against ‘Guard.’
For example, environmental changes brought by ‘Field Cards’ cannot be blocked by ‘Guard.’
This largely depends on the form of ‘Guard’; it is not a 360-degree ‘Guard’ but a barrier-type skill for frontal defense, so it can’t block effects from ‘Field Cards.’
Additionally, skills like ‘Blow Away’ are effective against ‘Guard.’
Yet, this does not change the fact that ‘Guard’ is a super defensive god-skill.
“Just don’t know how high the threshold for ‘Guard’ is?”
In the real world, a barrier-type ultimate skill cannot have no threshold; the difference lies in how high the threshold is.
The threshold for ‘Guard’ might be very high, but it needs testing to find out.
While pondering when to test, Dark looked at the last ultimate skill.
[Deception: Use the opponent’s power to attack. The stronger the opponent’s attack, the greater the power!]
It was still ‘Deception’!
Having this dark-type ultimate skill means Fat Cat is not just a pure tank; it also has powerful offensive means.
…
“Not bad.”
Dark couldn’t help but repeatedly pinch and mold Fat Cat’s large, round face, finding it increasingly pleasing.
“Mew…”
The “Greed” surging in Fat Cat’s heart was forcibly suppressed.
In short, Dark didn’t give it any time to act and immediately recorded the experimental results.
By fifteen minutes later, Fat Cat had regressed into Meow, lying limp and lifeless on Dark’s knee.
Dark glanced at the time; it was about 9:45. He planned to wait until the cooldown for “Greed III” was ready before conducting the next experiment.
Estimating one hour per cooldown, it would take at least four more hours to complete the necessary experiments, with the Imp Beast, Solo Sword Sheath, Ibut, and Trash Slime all waiting in line.
…
But one hour was enough to dampen the enthusiasm of the golems.
When the cooldown was up around 10:30, the golems had already dispersed, busy with their own tasks.
So when Dark asked for volunteers again, only the dejected Meow raised its eyes to look at him.
He touched his nose, feeling somewhat awkward, and firmly designated the next subject—the Imp Beast!
“Here, here.”
The Imp Beast lazily flew over, not particularly afraid.
Since Meow had taken the lead as a model, it instinctively felt that “Greed III” was more reliable than “Pride III” or “Bliss III,” unlikely to cause any embarrassment.
Since there wouldn’t be any embarrassment, there wasn’t much to fear.
During the last test of “Greed II,” it merely stretched out a hand towards the evil flower in the drawer. This time, it probably wouldn’t be much different.
With a mysterious confidence, the Imp Beast landed on Dark’s knee.
But Dark immediately picked it up and placed it on the ground.
“Huh?”
The Imp Beast tilted its head, showing a puzzled expression.
Dark laughed awkwardly.
Not that he didn’t want to hold it, but he feared it might evolve and become too heavy to carry!
Digital beasts have diverse evolution forms, unpredictable. He couldn’t imagine what the Imp Beast would evolve into, so he couldn’t possibly hold it on his knee.
Dark didn’t explain further, immediately picking up the “Greed III” card and casting a regular summoning spell.
“In the name of Dark Diemon, swipe—Evolve!”
In an instant, the dark blue light representing “Greed” illuminated the entire bedroom.
The golems were prepared mentally and thus were minimally affected.
As the center of the light gathering, receiving the spotlight, the skull pattern on the Imp Beast’s forehead transformed into the “Greed” emblem.
As all the light was absorbed by the “Greed” emblem, the Imp Beast began to glow, gradually becoming a luminous entity.
Then, its body visibly elongated
Stretching.
Judging by the extent of the body stretch and the gradually forming contours, it was not much different from when it evolved into a demon兽.
“Could the evolved form of ‘Gluttony III’ also be a demon兽?”
Dark furrowed his brows slightly. Although he wasn’t averse to “demon獸,” he hoped to see more types of Digimon.
But as the light of evolution gradually receded, the newly evolved form of the small demon兽 clearly solidified into the outline of a demon獸.
But just as Dark was about to accept it, a hint of ice blue shone through the light of evolution.
“This is…”
When the light instantly vanished, the new evolved form of the small demon兽 finally revealed itself.
Almost simultaneously, an extremely cold air suddenly spread outward.
Even the corner of the nearby table was frosted over.
“Haa… Haa…!”
The vampire noble immediately sneezed due to the cold air.
Deoxys quickly hugged her and wrapped her in a coat from beside her.
Despite being the highest-rated seven-star mage golem present, she always gave off a need for care.
Deoxys treated her completely like a baby.
The other mage golems also felt the cold, with several directly curling up in their warm blankets, only their little heads showing.
In the presence of all the mage golems, the mature Digimon evolved from the small demon兽
“Ice Demon獸” suddenly spread its wings, its greedy gaze sweeping around.
“It’s actually an Ice Demon獸!”
Dark’s heart stirred, immediately injecting mana into the mage card, quickly receiving feedback on the information.
Ice Demon獸 could be considered a variant form of Demon獸. They typically had a heart as cold as ice, not only cruel but also skilled at deceiving enemies with words.
Apart from its entire skin turning snow white, resembling frozen ice, the Ice Demon獸 was basically identical to the Demon獸.
Even the three attributes were nearly the same.
【Card Name: Ice Demon獸】
【Type: Elemental Card】
【Level: ????】
【Race: Demon race】
【Attribute: Ice】
【Mana: 2000】
【Attack: 2000】
【Defense: 2000】
【Ultimate Skills: Frozen Claw, Icy Shower, Zero Freeze, Cold Aura.】
“It is indeed very similar to the Demon獸.”
“Except for the attribute changing from Dark to Ice, the race is the same, and the mana, attack, and defense are all full values of 2000 points. Even the ultimate skills seem to have similarities in some ways.”
【Frozen Claw: Stabs like a sword with the wrist, the cold aura on the claws can freeze the enemy.】
【Icy Shower: Spreads huge ice wings, shoots frost arrows from between the wings.】
“It’s clear that ‘Frozen Claw’ and ‘Icy Shower’ correspond to ‘Death Claw’ and ‘Razor Wing,’ roughly estimating their power and damage to be similar, but the additional freezing effect is a plus.”
“The regrettable part is the lack of an ultimate skill similar to ‘Teleportation.'”
“Lacking ‘Teleportation,’ the Ice Demon獸 has deficiencies in flexibility and tactical value, but perhaps the remaining two ultimate skills might compensate somewhat.”
Dark continued to look at the subsequent ultimate skills.
【Zero Freeze: Shoots icy blue light from the wrist, freezes the enemy.】
【Cold Aura: Uses cold aura to lure the enemy into a cold place.】
“‘Zero Freeze’ is undoubtedly a non-damaging variation type ultimate skill. Its freezing effect should be much stronger than ‘Frozen Claw’ and ‘Icy Shower.'”
“And ‘Cold Aura’ should be a mental control ultimate skill similar to ‘Charm’ and ‘Hypnosis,’ capable of luring the opponent into a cold place.”
“Judging by the effects, both ultimate skills belong to the category of control-type variations.”
“There’s no doubt that compared to the Demon獸, which doesn’t deal with control skills at all, the Ice Demon獸 has its own advantages. And one is Dark while the other is Ice, so in battle, you can choose the evolutionary path based on the opponent.”
Overall, the Ice Demon獸 was already quite outstanding.
Dark had no complaints.
He looked up at the eager Ice Demon獸 trying to do something, issuing a forceful command: “Kneel down.”
So the tall Demon獸 obediently knelt down.
Although it might not have wanted to, its body didn’t allow it.
Dark patted its head twice gently, treating it like a small Demon獸: “Be quiet.”
And then, as he turned around to start taking notes, the ruthless, cold, and cunning Ice Demon獸 squatted there like a rabbit for fifteen minutes straight.
After fifteen minutes, the small Demon獸 that had regressed back opened its wings and flew to its bed as if escaping, pulling the covers over itself and leaving only its two small claws exposed.
Inside the covers, faint cries of “Ah ah ah” could be heard.
…
Dark wasn’t intentionally making things difficult for the small Demon獸. Mainly, the personality of the Demon race was often恶劣, and the “Capital Sin Card” always brought out their evil side, especially during the first use, which required extra caution.
After multiple attempts and adaptation, even without Dark’s commands, the small Demon獸 could suppress excessive desires with rationality.
Dark was very confident in this.
“There are still three necessary experiments.”
After finishing his notes, Dark glanced at the time and took advantage of the cooldown period of “Gluttony III” to take a bath, then placed the notebook on the bedside table and got into bed, reading while waiting.
Tonight, he planned to stay up until 2 AM, completing all the necessary experiments.
Seeing that their master had already gotten into bed, the mage golems followed suit, climbing onto their respective beds.
Tonight was a rare occasion where Dark didn’t put away the mage golems from the “Watchers Alliance” before going to bed. Meow and Mana Spirit each had their own beds, and even the vampire noble had a slightly larger bed, leaving the lion beast feeling a bit lonely.
“Da Mao! Nai!”
After the vampire noble climbed into bed under Deoxys’s care, she moved closer to the edge, making room and waving at the lion beast.
The lion beast looked at the half-bed that could only accommodate one arm and couldn’t help but smile gently.
It walked to the edge of the small bed and sat down, flipping open a children’s book with phonetic annotations, reading a bedtime story.
The vampire noble moved closer, sharing half the blanket, listening happily.
The bedroom gradually became quiet.
Only the voice of the lion beast reading the story continued persistently.
