NOVEL NEXT Chapter 214: Time To Play!
The Beast King stepped forward again, and the entire structure convulsed like it had just been sucker-punched by an angry god.
Chunks of the ceiling tumbled down, revealing the swirling madness outside. Colors that shouldn't exist twisted through the air like hallucinations ripped from someone else's fever dream.
Rumble! Crack!
Despite the cosmic threat marching toward him, Creed couldn't tear his focus from the Primordial Circle at the center of the chamber.
His system was hard at work, syncing with its design, slowly copying the functions embedded in its ancient geometry.
If it succeeded even a tiny bit, he'd gain more than strength, he'd gain influence over the building blocks of reality itself.
The applications were endless. Assuming, of course, he didn't die first. Or worse, if the artifact's energy exceeded his system's limits and erased him from the simulation like a bad line of code before he gained anything tangible.
Cracks spread across the walls as crystal formations that had stood for thousands of years shattered, unleashing beautiful, destructive cascades of raw energy.
The chamber itself seemed to weep as reality bent and twisted, peeling back layers of space like wet paper.
His environment grew harder to track. Distortions shimmered at the edges of his vision. The creatures in the Beast King's army were so wrong, so off, they distorted everything around them.
Even seeing them clearly made his stomach flip, like his eyes were rejecting their shapes on principle.
But Creed couldn't stop. Not now.
The system ticked forward with painful slowness. Every .01% was a triumph of logic and willpower.
The data being absorbed was prehistoric in nature, no, pre-everything. It touched on ideas so fundamental, so impossibly vast, it felt less like learning and more like remembering how the universe had once breathed.
The beast king's approach scrambled senses, disoriented perception, and made it feel like the world had turned sideways.
And still, the Primordial Circle stood untouched, unmarred, perfect.
The progress bar ticked forward to 0.02%.
[Ding!
ADVANCED ANALYSIS
• Core Function: Universal Constant Manipulation
• Method: Temporal Anchoring via Primordial Resonance
• Power Source: Primordial Foundation Matrix Link
• Copying Requirements: 47 Fundamental Source Comprehensions
• WARNING: Partial Data May Trigger Localized Reality Collapse]
Creed blinked. Then blinked again.
"Forty… seven?" he muttered, voice cracking in disbelief.
He stood there, knees slightly bent, posture tense, staring at the glowing line of text like it had personally insulted his bloodline.
"Since when were there forty-seven sources?" he hissed under his breath. "I thought there were three. Three. Force, Aura, and Will. The Holy Trinity of Headaches!"
His brain did a quick backflip trying to comprehend how the universe had been holding out on him this whole time.
Were they hidden behind a paywall? Locked in DLC? Where was this mysterious secret syllabus of advanced reality manipulation that nobody had bothered to mention?
"I didn't even know four existed! Where the hell are the other forty-four hiding? In someone's lunchbox?"
He resisted the urge to scream. Or cry. Maybe both.
The Primordial Circle pulsed softly, as if smugly acknowledging his ignorance.
"Oh, shut up," Creed muttered, aiming the insult at the artifact. "Bet you think you're so special with your high-maintenance geometry and your 'I-can-break-laws' energy."
Still, as his mind reeled from the revelation, a strange determination settled in his chest. Sure, he only knew about three sources, but he'd learn the rest. Eventually. One nightmare at a time. Probably while being chased by something with too many eyes.
But he wasn't quitting.
Even if the universe was playing on nightmare mode, Creed Walden never backed out of a challenge, especially one that came with god-tier hacks.
Still…
"Forty-seven sources, huh?" he mumbled again, walking back toward the artifact.
"…I barely passed algebra."
Rumble!
The Beast King reached the outer rim of the chamber, blotting out the storm's shifting lights. Its presence mangled the environment with a casual cruelty.
Whole patches of space became frozen, or boiled, or just… vanished. Meanwhile, its army moved into place with military precision. This wasn't a wild stampede. This was an execution.
Ren stood at the eye of the storm, where knowledge kissed madness and extinction breathed down his neck.
Around him: reality shredded, walls groaned, and predators watched. But right in front of him: a key to shaping the rules themselves.
The system continued extracting, each percentage earned by fighting entropy itself.
0.03%. 0.04%.
He could leave. Log out. Retreat to safety and review what he'd learned.
But no. Knowledge this rare, this sacred, came with risk. And even in death, the system would retain fragments of it. That alone made the risk worth taking.
The final roar of the Beast King weakened the last barrier between the chamber and the swirling chaos outside even more. Space crumpled. Sound distorted. Light folded into dark. But Creed held steady, refusing to break the connection.
0.05%.
The moment the final barrier groaned like the dying breath of a collapsing world, Creed's breath hitched. This was it. No more walls. No more distance. No more time.
With a sharp gesture, his fingers danced across the tattoo etched over his heart, and in a burst of swirling sigil light, the three figures who had become the heart of his power emerged with theatrical grace—no, with power. Raw, terrifying, majestic power.
Lilith was the first to fully materialize, and even though Creed had already seen her new form, the impact still hit like a steel hammer to the chest.
Her towering 6'3 frame strode forward like a queen who had never bowed a day in her life.
Purple lightning coiled across her bare shoulders like living serpents, and with a casual, almost bored snap of her fingers, the very air shook.
Crackle!
A massive, elegant scythe of condensed purple lightning formed in her grip, arcs dancing across its crescent blade with malicious intent.
The weapon wasn't just intimidating, it was art. Deadly, arrogant, unreasonably beautiful art.
Her glowing sigils flared across her temple like blooming flowers of divine authority. Her eyes, glowing a deep violet, locked onto the distant roar of the incoming Beast King.
"Ohoho~," she said in a sultry, teasing voice. "Finally. Something worth slicing."
Creed shuddered, not in fear, but in awe. He swore the ground bent toward her just to avoid displeasing her.
Beside him, Tierra didn't make a sound. No lightning. No theatrics. No nonsense. She simply… vanished.
No ripple. No flash. She faded like a dream at dawn, as if the world itself accepted her disappearance with reverence.
One second she stood beside him, silver hair flowing in a nonexistent breeze, eyes cold and sharp. The next, nothing.
Creed blinked and whispered, "What the hell…"
"She's gotten terrifying," Lilith hummed, grinning with pride.
Then came Meredith, eyes shy and fingers nervously curled as she raised her hand. Her power wasn't loud like Lilith's, nor subtle like Tierra's. It was elegant and mystical.
Oooomm!
A glowing Rune bloomed midair; bright gold etched with celestial patterns that twisted and reformed like living scripture.
It floated gently toward Creed's chest and stamped itself onto his arm like a kiss from heaven.
Instantly, warmth flooded through his body, no, power. Raw, clean, perfect power. His fatigue vanished. His aura surged.
His body felt lighter and more durable, like he could take on a tank with a sharp spoon and still win.
He turned to Meredith, stunned. "This is stage two?"
The petite succubus beamed, shyly tucking her hair behind one ear. "Mhm~ I've been practicing."
"Well damn," Creed muttered, rotating his arm and marveling at the divine energy flowing through it. "You've all become monsters."
He almost felt like a proud parent watching his little children growing into wonderful, mature adults.
He was this close to shedding tears of joy and pride!
Then came the sound that made every nerve in his body scream, like a volcano coughing up death. The last wall shattered with an earth-shaking crack, and a tidal wave of pressure rolled in like a tsunami of dread.
The Beast King had arrived.
"Let's dance," Creed whispered, stepping forward with his spear drawn.
His Pale Horizon Spear spun once in his grip, the pale white shaft whistling through the air as he activated all three of his paths at once.
Mountain rose behind him like a stone mirage. Killing stained the tip of his spear with a blood-red edge. Freedom wrapped around him with radiant, translucent wings of light.
His feet left the ground gently, he hovered a few inches above, his presence magnified like a battlefield conductor leading his orchestra of destruction.
Although he wasn't going to be the main force in the upcoming battle, he was ready to give it his all and support Lilith and Tierra with everything he got.
The goal was to survive for as long as they could!
Lilith's scythe sparked as she spun it once and pointed it forward. "Time to play."
Creed glanced back once, his eyes locking with hers, then to Meredith whose floating divine hex was already charging a second rune, and to the blank space where Tierra lurked unseen.
"Let's buy ourselves a miracle," Creed muttered.
Then they pounced.
Kaboom!