NOVEL NEXT Chapter 213: Civilization Destroyer!
The truth hit Creed like a punch to the gut. This wasn't just some random monster chasing him for food or fun.
The Beast King was hunting him specifically, and the crazy dimensional storm wasn't something getting in its way. It was using the storm like a GPS to track him down.
The massive creature had locked onto something connected to Creed personally. He had no clue what that could be, but whatever it was, the Beast King could follow it through this reality-bending nightmare.
ROAR!
The sound made his bones shake. The monster was probably tracking his energy signature, or maybe it was drawn to the power flowing through him during the replication process.
When he'd connected his dimensional pathways to the Primordial Circle, he'd basically painted a giant target on his back that every creature in the area could see.
His device showed 0.004% progress. Still barely anything. The message below hadn't changed either: if he left this area, the whole process would stop and he'd lose everything he'd learned so far.
Whatever his system was copying from the Primordial Circle was too important to give up.
But staying here meant facing a creature that was literally eating dimensional chaos and getting stronger every second.
This was going to be a really tough choice.
If he ran away from this storm, he'd probably never find it again. But this was all happening in a virtual reality simulation, so dying here wouldn't actually kill him in real life.
He just had to get as much as possible before getting kicked out of the game.
The Beast King reached the edge of the storm and started pushing through the reality-warping winds. It moved slowly but never stopped, like nothing could get in its way.
KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!
Every step the creature took sent shockwaves through the fabric of reality. The ancient building around Creed shook and groaned under the pressure.
This thing was so heavy and dense that Creed wouldn't be surprised if time moved slower when it got close.
The magical shields protecting the chamber were starting to flicker. They'd been keeping this place stable for who knows how long, but the Beast King's approach was too much for them to handle.
Cracks of pure emptiness appeared in the walls. Through these gaps, Creed could see the swirling chaos of the storm pressing in from all sides like a hungry monster trying to eat everything.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
He had maybe a few minutes before the creature reached the building. When it got here, there would be nowhere to run.
The Beast King would tear through the magical barriers like they were made of paper, and Creed would be trapped in a small space with something that could probably bite mountains in half.
But the most annoying part wasn't even the approaching death. The progress bar was still moving up incredibly slowly!
It crawled forward like a snail, while his system kept insisting that what it was learning was worth any risk.
This was his chance to gain knowledge and abilities that were older than known civilization.
It was literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that might never come again, especially in a virtual reality simulation.
But it was just too slow!
BANG! BOOM! RUMBLE!
The storm kept raging around the building. Reality kept bending and breaking under the Beast King's power. The progress bar kept climbing at a painfully slow speed.
Creed stood in the middle of it all, surrounded by impossible architecture and ancient mysteries. He had to make a choice that would decide not just how well he did in this test, but his entire future.
ROAR!
The Beast King's next roar shook dust from the ceiling and made several floating crystals flicker. The creature was close enough now that Creed could feel its presence like a heavy weight pressing down on his mind.
The dimensional tears around it were starting to affect the chamber in ways that made all his senses scream warnings.
Through the biggest crack in the wall, he saw something that made his virtual heart stop completely.
Things were about to get a lot worse.
The Beast King wasn't alone anymore!
The dimensional rifts it had been creating were working like doorways, and through them came other creatures that were impossible to describe.
Things that existed in too many dimensions at once. Creatures made of frozen time. Beings that looked like they'd been built from the forces that controlled the spaces between atoms.
A whole army of impossible monsters was gathering around the Beast King. All of them were drawn by the same energy signature connecting Creed to the Primordial Circle.
What had started as a single hunt had become something much bigger. Powers that looked like they hadn't been active since the beginning of magic itself were coming together.
The worst part was that each of these new creatures was giving off energy levels similar to the Beast King. Each one of them was basically a pseudo-Beast King! That was absolutely terrifying.
Creed was getting more and more curious about this strange planet. It had way too many secrets hidden beneath its normal appearance.
His instincts told him he was about to discover something huge, and it had to do with this Primordial Circle.
He absolutely had to get it!
Ding!
The progress bar reached 0.01%, and new information appeared on his device:
[PRIMORDIAL CIRCLE ANALYSIS UPDATE]
[- Main Function: Primordial Power Control System
- Other Functions: Dimensional Stabilization, Time Anchoring, Universal Law Modification
- Estimated Power Level: Civilization Destroyer
- Copying Complexity: Way Beyond Current Abilities
- Warning: Long Exposure to Primordial Energies May Completely Change User's Existence]
Creed stared at the warnings, then at the approaching army of dimensional horrors, then at the Primordial Circle that was apparently powerful enough to destroy entire civilizations and might completely change his existence if he stayed connected to it long enough.
The Beast King's massive form was now visible through the dimensional storm. Its eyes burned with the light of dying stars as it focused on the building with single-minded determination.
The creature's presence was making the very air freeze and shatter, creating chain reactions that spread through the storm system like cracks in breaking glass.
Behind the Beast King, reality kept tearing apart as more impossible creatures came through from dimensions that didn't have names.
Some looked like living ideas that had been given physical form. Others seemed to be made from the spaces between thoughts. A few appeared to be built entirely from the concept of hunger itself.
The magical barriers protecting the chamber began failing for real. Sections of the walls simply stopped existing as the dimensional chaos overwhelmed the ancient protections.
The floating crystals started falling from where they'd been suspended, crashing to the floor and releasing stored energy in spectacular light shows that added to the growing chaos.
Through it all, the Primordial Circle kept pulsing with steady, ancient power. It seemed completely unaffected by the reality-bending disaster approaching from all sides.
The geometric construction appeared to exist in its own pocket of stability, immune to the forces that were tearing everything else apart.
Creed's system chimed with another update:
[CRITICAL ANALYSIS REACHED]
[- Primordial Circle Classification Updated: Universal Stabilization Matrix
- Possible Uses: Time Anchoring, Dimensional Fortress Creation, Time Sanctuary Building
- Estimated Time to Complete Copying: 720 Hours Minimum
- Survival Chance if Process Continues: 0.003%
- Survival Chance if Process Stops: 0.001%]
"What the hell! I die either way?! What kind of impossible situation is this?!"
If he kept going, he was going to die. If he stopped the process, he was also going to die! There was no way to run without having to fight dozens of angry pseudo-Beast King level beings.
It was like there was no way out at all!
He could only try to gain as much as possible from his current situation and leave the rest to luck.
KABOOM!
The Beast King took another step closer, and the entire building shook like a ship in a hurricane.
Pieces of the ceiling began falling, showing glimpses of the storm beyond where impossible colors swirled in patterns that hurt to look at directly.
The dimensional tears were getting larger and more numerous. Through them, Creed could see landscapes that belonged to universes with completely different physical laws.
But even as the immediate danger got more overwhelming by the second, he found himself staring at the Primordial Circle with growing understanding. He was beginning to grasp just how enormous his discovery was.
This wasn't just an ancient artifact or a powerful magical device. It was a tool for controlling the basic forces that held reality together! At least, the reality of this universe or dimension.
If his system could successfully copy its functions, he would have access to abilities that went way beyond normal magic.
He would be able to create zones of stability in dimensional chaos. He could make anchor points of reality in places where existence itself was uncertain. He might even be able to create time sanctuaries that existed outside the normal flow of time.
It basically meant he would be able to control the four dimensions of this world like they belonged to him!
The possibilities were literally endless, assuming he survived long enough to use them or was strong enough to handle them.
There was no doubt in his mind that he would have to come back to this place when he was stronger. Strong enough to guarantee his survival if he completely copied the circle and could withstand whatever happened as a result.
But for now, he could only try to profit as much as possible!