Chapter 439: Side Effects
After making sure that the Arch Bishop was finally dead, he let out a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground. His body hurt terribly.
Every single muscle had weakened and lost its strength, several bones were broken, and many others were cracked.
However, in less than a moment he fully recovered, all his wounds healed. Of course, they weren't actual wounds—it was just the side effects of using [Self Transcendent].
Now, only mental exhaustion remained. This could be considered the hardest battle of his life. He never thought he would feel so helpless against just one person.
If it hadn't been for his trump card, he would definitely have died here today. Even thinking about that was terrifying. Still, he wasn't really worried.
From the moment he came here to destroy this mountain, he had prepared himself and even considered the possibility of facing an S Rank.
He had two trump cards that were the source of his greatest confidence. He didn't know their exact limits, but he was sure that even if he had to face an S Rank, it wouldn't be a problem.
One of them was, of course, [Self Transcendent]—a skill that allowed him to borrow power from his past and future self. With this skill, his rank would temporarily rise to the peak of what his body could handle.
And then there was his most important trump card: [Fallen Will], a truly cheating skill and his greatest source of confidence.
He didn't know its limits or even how it really worked. He had no idea what happened to him when it activated. He had a few guesses, but they were just guesses.
One thing he was sure about, though: when he activated this skill, he felt like he completely turned into another existence—an exalted, superior being standing above all worlds.
He could look at all creation with disdain, everything appearing no different from insects. He felt like he could rewrite reality itself, reverse time and space however he pleased.
But was this feeling real? Even he didn't know. When he activated the skill, he felt infinite power surge into his body, yet he couldn't actually use it.
It was as if that power was far beyond him or anything else. Only a very small portion of it became accessible to him.
That was why he was sure that [Fallen Will] was his strongest and most important trump card. A long time had passed since the last time he used it, and fortunately, it was available again.
The reason he didn't use it now was because he felt using it against a False S Rank would be a waste. He preferred to save it for the future, when he would face a stronger enemy.
He pushed those thoughts aside and slowly stood up. He still had a few minutes left before [Self Transcendent] ended—he might as well make use of it.
His gaze fell on the Arch Bishop's corpse. He let a single drop of his blood fall onto it.
[Creating a Fallen one…]
Suddenly, a purple light descended from the sky and covered the Arch Bishop's entire body. In less than a few minutes, the body transformed and revealed its new form.
As expected, two purple wings appeared behind him. His skin had turned pitch black with glowing purple veins running across it.
His eyes now resembled a galaxy full of countless colors.
[Please choose a name for your Fallen one.]
"Zaimorn." Daniel didn't think too hard and randomly picked a name.
[A new Fallen one has been successfully created.]
[You have obtained 10% of his stats.]
[Please choose either one of his skills to copy or 10% of his Exp.]
"Glory to my Lord." Zaimorn kneeled respectfully.
Daniel also felt a new power flowing into his body, and it was very noticeable. On top of that, because he had killed the Arch Bishop and the other Corruption Worshipers, he had gained a large amount of Exp. Now he was at the peak of Rank B.
He moved toward the rest of the Corruption Worshipers. When he looked at them, he hesitated for a moment. He could either devour them or turn them into Fallen ones.
With Zaimorn, he had no doubts—turning him into a Fallen one was clearly the better choice, giving him far more benefits.
In the end, he sighed and decided to devour half of the Rank A's and turn the other half into Fallen ones. The same applied to the remaining Corruption Worshipers.
He devoured 80% of the Rank B's and turned the rest into Fallen ones. As for any Corruption Worshiper below Rank B… he simply devoured them. They weren't worth turning.
After that, his stomach became like a devouring black hole, swallowing half of the Rank A Corruption Worshipers, 80% of the Rank B, and all of those below Rank B.
[Your physical strength has increased.]
[Your physical strength has increased significantly.]
[Your physical strength has increased.]
Every time he devoured one of them, a notification popped up before him. It didn't take long before he had devoured all those who needed to be devoured.
Afterward, he dropped a single drop of blood onto the rest, turning them into Fallen ones.
When he looked at Zaimorn and the large number of Rank A and Rank B Fallen ones kneeling respectfully before him, a smile appeared on his face.
Even just the monstrous, terrifying aura radiating from his body showed how ridiculously his strength had increased.
He could now feel that if he faced the Arch Bishop of Corruption again, he wouldn't be as cornered as before. He could actually fight.
Victory, though? Impossible. Without [Self Transcendent], he still had no chance of winning.
And speaking of [Self Transcendent], he suddenly felt his rank dropping sharply—from Half Step S Rank all the way down to the peak of Rank B.
His expression instantly weakened, and his aura dropped drastically from something that could crush space-time into something far weaker.
He let out a sigh, because he knew this would happen. Then he looked at the notifications.
[The time for using the skill Self Transcendent has ended.]
[Side effect: For one month, you cannot use any of your offensive or defensive skills.]
[Additional side effect: The use of Law power will not be possible for one month.]
"...."