Chapter 6: Evolve or Die
Abyss creatures do not record history, or rather, they do not record history that has no relation to survival.
So, the current Abyss creatures generally do not know that the Abyss Dominator Samuel initially was just an ordinary, even somewhat weak, Bone Demon.
The talent of Bone Demons, as such, isn't actually weak. Their diet is varied, and they can even consume minerals.
Moreover, they can strengthen their skeletal frames, which resemble Alchemy Machines, by devouring different foods.
Unfortunately, although Bone Demons possess a good talent, this is a long-term manifestation of talent.
In the environment of the Abyss, if one cannot quickly turn talent into survival ability, such creatures can only serve as fodder for powerful demons.
And Samuel was just such a demon.
But unlike his kindred, Samuel successfully manifested his talent.
Richard looked at Samuel, now reduced to just a skeleton, filled with amazement.
Samuel's skeletal frame is nothing short of perfect. The connection between bones is so intricate that even the most complex Alchemy Machines of a Wizard cannot compare.
These complex structures make the body extremely stable. No matter where it's hit, the structures cleverly disperse the force, allowing the entire skeleton to bear the impact.
Flesh grows from the gaps in these bones, and in just an instant, Samuel's body is restored to its original form.
As if the prior attack had never happened.
Samuel stretched his arms toward Richard and Talal Peak.
"Continue! Let me see what you've got."
Richard remained silent, with runes constantly changing on his body. Beside him, Talal Peak's form flickered, and the Instant Thousand Strikes he once used against Richard appeared again.
But unlike last time, this time each strike in the Instant Thousand Strikes was twice as strong.
Samuel's comment on this was—
"Flashy."
Samuel made no particular moves; he merely adjusted the structure of his bones to take the hit directly.
Accompanying this was his counterattack.
Bang!
Talal Peak's body streaked across the void like a meteor, with almost all of its flesh shattered. Dark red blood splattered across the void, each drop transforming into a twisted creature comparable to a World Master.
Samuel waved his hand, flicking the flesh off of it.
He mocked, "Cutting off the energy cycle? You actually dare use such a petty trick in a battle between Dominators.
It seems not all Titans are strong."
With that, he looked at Richard.
The moment Talal Peak acted, Richard had already been preparing an attack. Although this move happened in just an instant, for a Dominator, it was enough.
Richard lightly swung his fist, appearing to wield no force. Yet as his fist moved, ripples suddenly appeared in the void.
His Power of Dimension was also depleting at a staggering rate.
Samuel's face lit up with excitement, and a crisp crackling sound emanated from inside his body.
If the God King of Ten Thousand Changes were present, he would surely recognize—Samuel was getting serious.
Likewise, Samuel swung a fist.
Samuel's fist collided with Richard's.
In an instant, a deep gloom was born between their fists.
It was darkness akin to a singularity.
But immediately, this "singularity" dissipated, transforming into brilliance akin to a supernova explosion.
Bang!
Both Richard and Samuel's bodies were blown backwards.
Richard's arm was annihilated due to the backlash, while Samuel's arm also lost its flesh, and the black bones now had fine cracks.
"Marvelous, marvelous, you can actually perform such techniques! You're truly worthy of being selected by the Titans as their heir!"
Samuel looked at Richard, eyes full of admiration.
Richard's punch seemed mundane but was actually a display of profoundness.
Richard had realized that his only advantage against Samuel was his inexhaustible energy.
So, he chose to condense all his energy into that punch, using runes to force the energy to stabilize, then exploding upon collision.
Such a reckless approach would even make a Plastic Energy Crown act with caution.
But Richard, relying on the probability manipulation of the Miracle Dimension, forcibly achieved it with the Power of Dimension.
Richard felt no joy from Samuel's praise.
He watched Samuel's arm, with cracks healing visibly quickly, and again felt the powerlessness he had experienced facing the Dimensional Incarnation of Furnace Fire.
For Physique Evolvers, there is a chasm between Breaking Limit and not Breaking Limit.
"Still not strong enough!" Richard sighed in his heart.
Bang!
Talal Peak's body suddenly appeared before Samuel, using once again the Destruction of Killing Fist from earlier.
Seeing this, Richard also followed suit, runes on his body constantly changing, each change representing a Furnace Man's inherited masterpiece.
As the King of Titans, yet using the skills of a Furnace Man. It's just that Samuel, not having much research on Titans, assumed these were techniques acquired by the Titans after forming the Civilization Alliance, absorbing the runes of other civilizations into their system.
Facing the siege of two Dominators, Samuel handled it with remarkable ease.
Although he used sealing to restrict his power to ordinary Dominator levels, he was, after all, a Breaking Limit Sovereign, far surpassing normal Dominator level in both combat skills and innate talent.
Moreover, even with his power sealed, the strength of his skeleton far exceeded that of ordinary Dominators' bodies, making the oppressive attack from Richard and Talal Peak not much of a challenge for him.
Bang!
Samuel suddenly swung a punch, using the purest physical strength to send the weakest among the three, Talal Peak, flying.
Then, with a simple low-kick, Richard, who attempted a sneak attack, was also sent flying.
Three towering entities confronted each other in the void, their auras almost materializing.
Richard and Talal Peak were two fierce tigers, while Samuel was a demon, a demon terrifying enough to shatter one's courage at a glance.
"Alas, ultimately, I cannot be fully sealed." Samuel sighed slightly as he looked at Richard, "I am a Bone Demon, bones cannot be sealed, fighting you is truly too easy."
He was too strong.
Even if sealed, he could not truly be reduced to the level of an ordinary Dominator.
If he could go back to the times before Breaking Limit, either Richard or Talal Peak would be his formidable enemy.
The two of them combined, he would definitely be caught between life and death.
To enjoy that wonderful moment of life and death.
It's a pity, he was too strong.
"You are quite impressive; if I were still an ordinary Dominator, I would absolutely fight a decisive battle with you today.
But unfortunately, I have already broken the limits."
As he spoke, one after another, abyssal spells began to surface on Samuel's body; these were seals he used to limit his own power.
And at this moment, these runes were quietly shattering.
He looked at Richard, eyes filled with anticipation.
"Boy, I have high hopes for you. You will undoubtedly become very strong, as strong as me, or even stronger.
So I've decided to nurture you a bit."
After Samuel finished speaking, Richard suddenly felt his body trapped in a kind of gel.
A nearly tangible pressure instantly engulfed his body.
Opposite him, the seals on Samuel's body had completely shattered, and the powerful aura of a Breaking Limit Sovereign surged towards him like a tide.
Talal Peak, standing beside, understood what Samuel intended to do and his face grew extremely anxious.
But Samuel, with just a casual wave of his hand, sent him flying like a meteor.
Samuel looked at Richard and slowly assumed an offensive stance.
Killing intent permeated Richard's body like flowing water.
"With your current physique, relying on something like an evolutionary force field to evolve would take too long.
Without tens of thousands of years, you won't even touch that boundary, let alone break through it."
Richard's face was solemn, and his body took a defensive stance. Within him, the trillions of cells constructing his body were completely active at that moment.
His body sensed a great danger looming.
"However, high-pressure evolution is different."
Samuel looked at Richard and lightly swung his fist.
In an instant, Richard seemed to see a chaos Demon God wielding a warhammer at him.
Samuel was a pure physique evolver, so his methods were extremely simple.
Nothing more than swinging a fist, kicking, occasionally bumping.
Yet with such simple means, Samuel lived until Breaking Limit.
This could only mean one thing—that his flesh had grown strong enough to offset the side effects of not employing those fancy techniques.
A thought suddenly flashed through Richard's mind, coursing through every cell of his body in an instant.
Without evolution, there's only death.
"In that case, evolve then!"
The energy in Richard's body circulated wildly, and nearly all his cells began elemental annihilation.
Seemingly endless energy formed a barrier like a city wall before Richard; even though Samuel's fist appeared to penetrate the barrier without hindrance, Richard did not give up everything.
Evolution is forced out.
If he could defend, why would Richard need to evolve?
If the barrier was ineffective, then armor; if armor was ineffective, then rely on the body to endure.
In an instant, Richard's cells frantically changed forms to sustain their survival.
Evolution was right here.
Clang!
A crisp sound suddenly echoed in the void.
Samuel's fist stopped in front of Richard's head, gently tapping it.
"This sound is nice, a good start."
Samuel retracted his fist and turned to leave. Behind him, Richard's massive body nearly completely disintegrated.
Less than one-billionth of his trillion cells remained.
But those cells that remained were full of vitality.
Talal Peak came to Richard's side and immediately took him back to the Abyss World—in the void of the Endless Dimension, there was no nourishment to support Richard's reconstruction of his body.
In the Abyss World, Beelzebub squinted as he watched Talal Peak bring Richard back.
In the end, however, he chose to abandon the idea of making a move.
Samuel did not kill, indicating he intended to nurture Richard. If he acted now, Samuel would definitely fight him for it.
He had no desire to fight Samuel.
At least not now.
"He is unconscious, so now should be my best opportunity."
Beelzebub murmured to himself, a trace of wickedness flashing in his sallow eyes.
Since Richard did not restrict him from stealing the bloodline, how could he waste such goodwill?