Chapter 121: Artifact Embryo
2015-11-16
Author: Floating Tower
“Souls!”
“More souls!”
As the Archdevil of the third layer of the Hell of Bartok, Mammon possessed a special power that Soren could not comprehend. He did not know what he had done beforehand to these half-elf nobles of Leaffall City, but upon coming into contact with the strange ethereal light surrounding his body, these individuals began to wither and decay one after another. Soren could not decide whether to describe these poor souls as withered or decayed, as their bodies seemed to wilt like dead plants, followed by the emergence of confused souls appearing like seeds of light, ultimately being drawn into the body of the Archdevil – Mammon.
“Enough souls.”
The Archdevil, Mammon, had no idea how many souls he had taken, only knowing that there were not many living beings left nearby. The devil turned around and glared at Soren with hatred, saying, “Goodbye! d*mn new god!”
“One day I will come for you!”
Soren’s appearance undoubtedly disrupted Mammon’s plans. The descent of a devil onto the material plane was more difficult than that of the gods, and the cost and risks involved were equally great. Mammon’s goal was to enjoy a feast amid the ruins of Leaffall City, perfectly harvesting a large number of souls before returning to the Hell of Bartok. However, Soren’s presence had obstructed his plans, and high-ranking Archdevils always sought to avoid battles whenever possible, especially when they held little advantage.
…………
——“Trickery [Domain]!”
A cloud of black smoke spread, and amid the roaring flames around, the body of the Archdevil suddenly vanished. Even Soren could not sense his location, unsure if he had teleported away or left the material plane entirely to return to the Hell of Bartok.
“No need to wait for the next time!”
A glimmer of divinity shone in Soren’s pupils. He re-locked onto the target’s location in an instant and said in a deep voice, “If you want to deal with me, now is the time!”
——“Tracking [Divine Profession]!”
Traditional means could not locate the whereabouts of Archdevil Mammon; the divine perception yielded no findings. However, Soren had other methods. He wielded the new divine profession [Tracking]!
“How is this possible?!”
A terrified voice echoed in the void, followed by a hazy shadow appearing before Soren. It turned out the Archdevil had not left; he had merely used [Trickery] and his soul-related abilities to transport himself into a space between the spirit world and the material plane, a overlapping crack in the underworld. The Archdevil frequently dealt with the God of d*ath, so it was unsurprising that he possessed some abilities on the soul level.
Mammon’s distorted body reappeared, and he impatiently said, “How could you find me! d*mn it!”
Clang.
A gleaming cold light struck towards Mammon’s head. Soren did not respond to such a trivial question. As a god who held the [Tracking] divine profession, it was nearly impossible for anyone to escape from his sight.
——“Shadows [Domain]!”
——“Evil Aura!”
——“Slayer Transformation!”
——“Greater Acceleration!”
——“Dimensional Lock (Divine Power Transformation)!”
——“Divine Power Shockwave (Single Target)!”
——“Edict: Intimidation!”
Against an enemy like Archdevil Mammon, even Soren dared not grow careless. High-ranking devils always had unique trickery abilities, and their studies of the soul level were far superior to those of demons. Thus, Soren unleashed his full strength at once, almost immediately activating the majority of his abilities. He simultaneously sealed off the surrounding dimensional space; Mammon’s avatar was certainly not as strong as Soren’s true form, but it was essential to prevent him from escaping once more.
Clang, clang!
As Soren’s storm-like attacks rained down, the Archdevil could only clumsily defend and evade. An avatar typically possessed up to 70% of its true form’s power, and even that required being personally created by the original. The Archdevil before Soren was certainly not a hand-crafted avatar but a form transformed directly from the souls of the corrupted mortals. In such cases, the strength depended on the power of the host. If a legendary host was corrupted, the Archdevil’s strength could reach about 80%, but if the host was below legendary status, he would possess at most 50% of his powers.
Leaffall City had very few legendary professionists, and the nobility was generally weak due to their corrupted lifestyles!
The Archdevil Mammon retained at most 60% of his attributes.
“Ah!”
A shrill cry rang out as Soren’s curved blade plunged into Mammon’s abdomen, directly severing one of his arms.
The battle had already determined its victor.
An Archdevil with only one remaining arm could not possibly stand against Soren; he could only glare at him with resentful eyes, cursing, “You will pay for everything today!…”
Pfft.
A spout of bl**d gushed forth.
Soren directly decapitated Archdevil Mammon; as his physical body perished, streams of souls surged out frantically, and the Archdevil’s phantom appeared, filled with malice and resentment, attempting to leave the material plane.
“No, no, no!”
“How is this possible!… How could this happen!?…”
The d*ath of his physical body exposed the essence of his soul. The first to emerge was part of Archdevil Mammon’s soul, which was the foundation of his avatar. Just as the d*ath of the demon – Sauron would cause a decline in Soren’s true form’s strength, all avatars drew upon a portion of the true form’s soul energy. The second soul was the original consciousness of the physical body, which had been so thoroughly corrupted that it was completely twisted into a demonic form. With a little infusion of power from the Hell of Bartok, this soul could be transformed into a mid-tier devil.
One must admit that while the nobility had fallen into depravity, their life experiences and education methods significantly enhanced the quality of their souls.
Of course, this was from the devil’s perspective!
If it were the soul guides on Mount Heaven, they would certainly disdain these treacherous souls.
A multitude of wailing souls emerged.
These were the riches that Archdevil Mammon sought to take, as the souls of the nobility aligned closely with the standards of devils; many of the nobles were of the Lawful Evil faction, skilled at manipulation during their lifetimes. After d*ath, their souls only required slight manipulation to produce a batch of exemplary mid-tier devils.
Three streams of souls surged out violently!
Soren’s target was naturally focused on the soul of Archdevil Mammon. The soul energy gained from killing the target was merely a fraction, providing Soren with less than 8000 killing experience, which indicated that he had only slain the host of the Archdevil. The true avatar existed on the soul level; unless this portion of the soul was killed, he could always seek another host.
——“Killing [Domain]!”
——“Profane Words!”
——“Soul Extraction Technique (Divine Power Transformation)!”
Soren now had two choices. The first was to use energy attacks to k*ll part of Archdevil Mammon’s soul and absorb this soul power for killing experience. The second was to directly seal and extract powers using soul-type spells, permanently sealing the Archdevil’s soul in a gem.
Soren chose the latter!
“No!!!”
Accompanied by an excruciating scream, Archdevil Mammon’s soul was twisted as the Soul Extraction Technique injected it into the gem in Soren’s palm. The immense soul power directly transformed the gem, while the divinity contained within the soul granted it a unique luminescence.
——“Soul Extraction Technique (Divine Power Transformation)!”
Soren began to invoke the Soul Extraction Technique for the second time, collecting all surrounding souls and injecting them into the gem.
Killing the Archdevil’s avatar granted him an opportunity.
An opportunity to create an artifact without consuming his own divine power.
First.
Most artifacts required alignment, and Soren’s alignment was [Lawful Evil], which matched almost all Archdevils belonging to the same alignment.
Second.
Artifacts required the infusion of divinity; Soren’s divinity was precious. Infusing his absorbed divinity into an artifact was a luxury, especially since his current divinity had just broken through. The soul of Archdevil Mammon contained divinity, and extracting all of it through the Soul Extraction Technique had almost completely met the prerequisites for artifact creation.
——“Create Magic Weapon!”
A peculiar stone from the Bottomless Abyss appeared in Soren’s palm. As divine power was consumed frantically, he forcefully erased the consciousness of Archdevil Mammon’s soul at the moment of the enemy’s d*ath, and then infused it into the Legendary Curved Blade Icebane, the divine power igniting into intensely hot flames as he began to fuse everything together.
Creating an artifact was a very complex matter!
What Soren needed to do now was to seize the opportunity to complete an artifact embryo. The core component of this embryo was divinity, and the resentment and malice that filled the Archdevil’s soul just after d*ath served as excellent nourishment.
A radiant glow of divinity emerged!
As the fragments of the Archdevil’s soul and the divinity were forcibly injected into the Legendary Curved Blade, the brilliance emitted by the weapon changed entirely.
“Item Type: Unnamed [ +2 ]
Item Level: [Second Tier Artifact]
Item Description: This weapon once possessed a legendary history, and its former master wielded it in the Abyss; its blade stained with the bl**d of demons and devils. But now it has become even more powerful, as its new master has infused it with souls and divinity from a certain Archdevil, making this weapon even more dangerous with its potent malice and evil power!
Equipment Requirement: Lawful Evil, Strength 18 points.
Equipment Effect: Artifact Traits, Curse Traits, Soul Drain, +8 Sharpness, +10 Penetration, +8 Durability, +5 Armor Penetration, +5 Ice Damage, +5 Evil Damage.
Weapon Special Effects: [Curse Trait], this weapon encapsulates the resentment and curse of the Archdevil; any enemy hit by this weapon must make a legendary saving throw against the curse or suffer a permanent reduction of 1 in an attribute value. (Note: Randomly reduces 1 attribute.)
Weapon Traits: [Soul Drain], this weapon possesses the power to absorb souls; any target killed by it will have a portion of their soul drained, and the absorbed soul power can be used to heal the user, restoring 10 health points upon defeating an enemy.”
…………
An artifact embryo was completed!
With a massive infusion of divine power into the weapon, a newly completed artifact embryo had reached the level of a second-tier artifact.
The entire process was quite brief.
However, the price paid was a significant portion of Soren’s accumulated divine power over the course of nearly two months. The soul of the devil indeed brimmed with evil power, and this freshly completed artifact surprisingly possessed the ability to reduce enemy attributes upon striking them.
This ability was incredibly rare!
Even among artifacts, it was quite uncommon to find weapons that could lower target attributes upon hitting them.
As for the [Soul Drain] ability, it could only be considered fairly average, as the most powerful draining ability Soren had encountered was the legendary artifact [Black Magic Sword], which absorbed 10 life points upon hitting any enemy, far more potent than the effect of regaining 10 health points after killing a target by draining soul power. (To be continued ~^~)
