Chapter 292 (1): Heat-to-Heart

Wayne raised his arm, the sharp blade reflecting his face. His head resembled an ancient rock that had been eroded and weathered by time, covered in layers upon layers of wrinkly tissues. They interwove irregularly, forming a face with sickly pallor.

There were no distinct facial features and no trace of human emotion, thus it evoked not fear or confusion, but an unknowable mystery.

“A bit sinister, but...”

Truly beautiful!

This new form symbolized life and was an evolution that Wayne’s stable Golden Triangle had brought him. It was also the framework of nature he had envisioned.

It was far from becoming a universe, but it proved his previous speculation correct: the

Book of Greed

still had room to grow.

Since the book was Wayne, he could still evolve, too.

At that moment, his power came entirely from himself, no longer relying on the power of the goddesses’ chosen knights. Since his starting point was inextricably linked to the chosen knights, though, he still called this form a knight.

This should’ve been called the Life Knight, whether from the perspective of Wayne’s own evolution or the Life Alliance’s framework, but because of the pallor of this life, Wayne decided to call it the Pale Knight, conveniently drawing a line between him and the Life Alliance in case the five goddesses demanded copyright fees. He would remain a five-way fence-sitter after the legal battle.

Wayne’s transformation caught the attention of Senna and Anastasia. They didn’t see his face, but only the back of his figure, covered in pale armor. The lifeless pallor seemed to symbolize death and decay, but on the contrary, this was the original life.

The pale armor concealed an inhuman, transcendent, imperceptible, and untouchable ancient power. Like there was an insurmountable chasm between it and them, they felt a deep awe, as well as an even stronger desire.

I want it!

I must have it!

Senna trembled with excitement. Anastasia also shook slightly, yearning to remove the armor and merge with the body.

“Senna, charge. Aim for the head. I want to have a heart-to-heart with Thoggua.”

Roooar—

Receiving his command, the pale great dragon flapped her wings and soared up into the sky at maximum speed. Her body gradually transformed. Just like Wayne’s form after merging with the

Book of Greed

, the dragon’s body secreted a large amount of white foam, forming a layer of pale carapace.

More and more layers formed like spikes. The dragon was a creature of flesh and blood, yet the outer shell gleamed with cold metallic shine. The pupil of the single eye on the dragon’s chest contracted into a vertical slit, broadcasting praises for life.

The unreasonable preaching enraged Thoggua. Facing the incoming great dragon, they sent countless tentacles spreading in all directions, allowing Wayne to approach so that they could debate up close what life truly was.

Boom!!

Its wings parting the fog, the great dragon charged right into Thoggua’s fierce maw, which protruded from their skull.

The dark green tentacle lined with curved fangs was like a predatory python, coiling around the great dragon and rapidly contracting. The two were disproportionate in size—the tentacle dwarfed and immediately engulfed the dragon completely.

Suddenly, a white sphere of flesh expanded abruptly until it was a thousand meters in diameter, waving numerous pale tentacles and taking the dragon’s position. The dark green tentacle stretched abruptly, nearly torn apart by the sudden change. Sharp fangs dug deep into the white sphere. Two vastly different streams of information collided violently, each preaching to the other its understanding of life.

Etc., etc., etc.!

Blah, blah, blah!

Motherfricker!

Frick your second uncle!

The conversation between higher lifeforms was straightforward like that.

The dialogue was madness, condensing the chaotic and complex knowledge in the Void. It was extremely aggressive and corrupting, radical and impossible to put into words. To translate everything, though, they were more or less just cursing each other out.

In the end, Wayne won the argument because he had a louder voice. The sharp fangs inserted into the white flesh melted, corrupted and transformed into white foam instead. The corruption spread along the dark green tentacle all the way up to Thoggua’s massive face.

Thoggua was so terrified that their face turned green!

They roared in fury, refusing to believe that their life was inferior to Wayne’s. The hysterical madness contained a rage that threatened to annihilate all things. The low, hoarse roars sounded like they came from a primordial creature waking from its slumber, telling the mysteries of the universe with its own unique language.

The terrifying oppression was unbearable to Anastasia. She lost control over her body and her facial features. Her limbs were also transforming into tentacles. The process accelerated her mental mutation. She wanted to resist, but her desire was greater.

Just as Senna had said, it was difficult to accept at first, but once she got used to it, it was comfortable. It felt like she knew everything and had grasped all of the world’s secrets.

High in the sky, Thoggua furiously unleashed its might, summoning all the body parts that had been split across the world. The black fissures gathered and stitched together. Tentacles as big as mountains converged and merged.

Beyond this space, the black mountains that the chosen knights had divided also recombined at this moment, descending from the sky with unstoppable momentum.

Boom!

Deafening noises resounded as countless black mountain rocks fell like meteors, tearing the sky to pieces. The twisted space was like crumpled paper. Following the first explosion, the entire sky began to collapse.

Massive stones rolled down, and the black fissures covered the sky, sometimes mending and dissipating, other times appearing out of nowhere. The world seemed to be turned upside down, painting a terrible picture.

Most of the broken black mountain ranges were swallowed and exiled by spatial fissures, but even just a small portion was enough to deal a devastating blow to the Land of Seal. The five-colored aurora had been precarious due to the violent spatial disturbances. The final straw broke it apart completely. The shattered space peeled away like a shattered mirror, revealing an unknown world of pitch-black darkness.

A smattering of starlight decorated the darkness; the infinite allure would make anyone swear to head toward the sea of stars if they even glanced at it.

Boom!

Space collapsed. The world of ice and snow converged toward the collapsing center. Across the Land of Seal, land cracked, layers of ice split, and snowy mountains toppled. The tremendous earthquake seemed to trigger a tectonic movement that radiated throughout the entire Frozen Land.

To the fleeing dark elves, it seemed like gods were battling!

The fractured mountain ranges crushed the Land of Seal, changing the terrain and recreating a black range. Amid the continuous tremors, a monster composed of countless tentacles descended to the human world. Having experienced defeat in the contest of life, over half of the tentacles had collapsed and dissipated. The advanced information ended up swept away by the void, while the remaining energy and matter blended into the Frozen Land through collision and transformation.

Wayne stole a portion of it.

The large number of his old elemental friends were homeless. Since he had just built a new house, they both had something the other side needed. He would say this was a reciprocated relationship.

Where are you running to? Fire elements, bring all your brothers and sisters to me.

Fire elements led the charge.

The Land of Seal underwent earth-shattering changes, but the greatest change was undoubtedly to Thoggua’s head. With their belief in life crushed and denied, Thoggua’s existence was rendered worthless.

After the initial fury calmed down, fear followed, which led to humiliation of said fear and generated new anger.

You won this time, but only this time. I’ve been in slumber for so long that I’ve forgotten much of the key knowledge. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have won even this once.

The vassal of the ancient god didn’t accept defeat—that would be a denial of their faith. They only acknowledged their weakness, which prevented them from articulating even one billionth of the greatest aspects of their faith.

In other words:

I’ll be back.

Thoggua’s roar weakened into silence. Noticing that the Pale Nest was devouring them to become stronger, they disintegrated themselves into material energy to assimilate into the world, refusing to feed their enemy.

Wayne had reaped a great harvest and was lost in happiness.

Above the Land of Seal, the Pale Nest, now over five kilometers in diameter, hovered in the air with countless tentacles hanging down, sweeping up the elements of earth, fire, water, and wind. It scattered the lingering whispers and erased all traces of Thoggua’s existence bit by bit.

Hours later, the Pale Nest contracted and put the yellow robe back on, standing quietly on the pale dragon’s back.

Senna flapped her wings and landed as she was ordered to. Transforming back into her human form, she sauntered up to Wayne from behind. She wanted to pounce, but received no permission. She could only stare at him, nearly drooling with desire.

“Put some clothes on. You’re too old to be in your birthday suite shamelessly.”

Wayne glared at Senna. Instead of shame, she felt only pride. Seeing her faith watching her, she showcased her body and thoughts openly.

Anastasia was terrified that she felt the same urge.

“Holy Maiden Anastasia, please check on the Land of Seal. I’m going to find the Darkness Knight. He’s got a little problem over there.” Wayne could’ve commanded her directly through thoughts, but he still showed her respect. Once he finished speaking, his body melted into white foam and fell through the cracks in the rubble below.

The fallen black mountains had raised the Land of Seal by a thousand meters, reshaping the landscape and creating a new mountain range. Wayne followed the energy of Darkness through the crevices, finding what used to be Darkness’s seal site.

Twilight Despair was thrust into the ground, propping up a black hemispherical barrier to block the mountains descending from above. Auston had held out until the very last moment; he would rather be buried than take one step back. It wasn’t only because he had the duty to guard this land, but because he had reasons he couldn’t retreat.

Wayne drilled through the darkness and reshaped his body, seeing three figures: Auston, Silvia, and Megan.

Auston had endured too much pain. His body lost its senses, and his thoughts fell into unconsciousness due to exhaustion. To help reduce his suffering, Silvia and Megan had disregarded danger and held Twilight Despair with him, relieving some of the burden...

Wayne’s speculation was more or less what had happened. They all exerted themselves too much and passed out.

Auston was so exhausted that he couldn’t maintain his Darkness Knight form. He fell into slumber with Silvia in his arms. Beside them, Megan lay alone, covered by a black robe.

It was a long robe condensed from the power of Darkness, obviously Auston’s handiwork.

“I see. Knowing that I’d find my way here, you covered your secretary and lover up so that I wouldn’t get a glimpse.”

“Do you trust me, or do you not?”

Wayne spoke with gleeful malice. Looking at the couple and the unlucky woman, he shook his head. “What a cold-blooded guy. If you could cover her up with a robe, why not hold her in your arms? Don’t you have two hands?”

Realization dawned on him. Auston had to have refrained from touching Megan because his dragon-blooded wife was with him, but knowing that Wayne would come and do something, he chose to only cover Megan up. Then Auston would be able to hold both women while maintaining his image of a man devoted to his wife.

“As expected of you. You predicted what I would do!”

Wayne nodded. Since Auston trusted him so much, he shouldn’t let him down. He would move Megan over right now.

Wayne pried Auston’s arm off Silvia and stuffed Megan in instead. After that, he started treating the three of them with the magic of Holy Light, Nature, and Moonlight. Then he immediately woke Silvia up.