Chapter 158 Master Silver, I Really Want to Improve (Three-in-One)
“So, the Golden Dawn people are using this black mist to deliver packages.”
“And now, the package has been intercepted by me at the transit station?”
Shaya’s thoughts stirred, and he immediately understood his current predicament.
The ethereal prayer sounds in his ears slowly dissipated.
In the end, only a void remained.
And within the surging black mist, a phantom point of light slowly overflowed.
Then, it condensed into a tangible and reliable entity.
It was a pale skull.
The skull was enormous and ferocious, appearing in the void before Shaya, occupying nearly half of his field of vision.
This was by no means the size and proportion that a normal human or ordinary humanoid creature’s bones could possess. Above the bone-white skeleton, two twisted horns extended with an eerie arc.
And within the gaps of its teeth, faint traces of black ash could be seen, evoking images of its former owner chewing magma and devouring flames in life.
[Immortal Skull of a Nameless King]
[Category: Pollutant | Extraordinary Material]
[Rank: Eighth Tier]
[Attributes: Fire | Dark | Curse]
[Description: This is the skull of a former Flame Giant King, defeated in a divine battle against the Lord of Ashes for the authority of incineration. His skull also became the Lord of Ashes’ most glorious trophy.]
[Later, this skull was bestowed by the Lord of Ashes to his believers, becoming the supreme holy artifact of the Ash Cult and the carrier of the Ash faith. Only the Pope of the Ash Cult could possess and touch it.]
[According to the legends of the Ash Cult: When the eye sockets of the holy artifact are rekindled by darkflame once more, the Lord of Ashes will return from ancient history and descend upon the world again.]
[To complete a grand plan to subvert the Western Continent, this holy artifact was sent out by the Pope of the Ash Cult, and then it appeared before you.]
“Hoo, the Ash Cult again?”
“Last time it was a left finger bone, and this time it’s a whole skull, right?”
Shaya sat on the golden lounge chair, looking at the bone-white skull before him and the bright blue light screen that appeared in his mind. He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
Old acquaintances.
And the kind that brings wealth.
He remembered when Shaya was still very weak, not even reaching the Third Ring.
It was the ruffians of the Ash Cult who raided Saint Roland Academy, which allowed him to obtain that pollutant, the left finger bone, and helped Silver complete the self-created skill ‘Amaterasu’.
It also allowed Shaya to shine for the first time in the Imperial Capital and enter the sight of the Second Princess, marking their first encounter.
Later, whether it was in the final battle of the Historical Echo of the Ancient Azure Court, or at the Borgia Family dinner party, Amaterasu had been of great help to Shaya.
If not for the left finger bone of the sixth-tier status as the Source of Fire supporting it, ‘Amaterasu’ would never have been able to exert such power.
Of course, with the iterative updates of the version, the opponents Shaya encountered now were either Legendary Experts or demigods, and even traces of True Gods had appeared…
‘Amaterasu,’ with a sixth-tier pollutant as its Source of Fire, was indeed a bit lacking in strength currently.
Even the Little Mink had become a collector’s item, only occasionally appearing to play a small role with Tsukuyomi.
But now, things were different…
“Speaking of which, didn’t I also blame the Ash Cult for killing the Twilight demigod, which led to the Ash Cult being hunted by the Twilight Cult for hundreds of years afterward?”
“Hope God is fine.”
Shaya sincerely blessed the Lord of Ashes in his heart.
In fact, adhering to the concept of sustainable development, he never intended to keep pestering such an evil god.
After all, they were sending him pollutants and even acting as matchmakers for him and Isadorella, so it wasn’t easy for them.
But since the great cult leader of the evil cult had come to his doorstep, refusing to accept it would seem too impolite.
As he thought this, Shaya’s thoughts stirred.
The next moment, a faint silver light flickered above the black mist.
The Little Mink appeared in Shaya’s arms. It was a bit lazy at first, nuzzling in Shaya’s embrace for a long time before finally opening its clear and bright ruby-like eyes.
Because the time flow in the fragments of imagination was different from that in the Prime Material Plane, and the river of time was distorted and chaotic, constantly in flux.
Shaya, with his extremely high space-time affinity brought by the Sands of Time, and Aerora, with the contract of the Holy Spear, could still survive and remain unaffected in the temporal turbulence… but Silver and Sparkle, they were different.
Due to the soul’s incompatibility with distorted space-time – over the years, except for Yui, who was a mechanical life form and thus had no concept of soul or adaptability. Silver and Crimson had spent most of their time in a deep sleep within the Soul Pact Space, only waking up briefly for occasional breakthroughs.
Now, as the space-time turbulence began to dissipate and the river of time gradually stabilized, Silver and the others began to adapt, but they were still quite sleepy.
But the next moment—
As Silver sensed the aura of the bone-white skull before Shaya, the Little Mink’s ruby-like eyes widened abruptly.
“Yin yin yin~ (Master, is this for me?)”
While acting like a whiner, Silver’s large, fluffy snow-white tail had already affectionately wrapped around Shaya’s neck.
Within the Little Mink’s heart, tears welled up.
It had been so long, so very long!
Whether it was the exclusive cuddle spot in Shaya’s arms or the special treatment as his beloved daughter, it had been a long time since she had experienced it.
Originally, with Yui’s arrival, Silver could clearly feel the newcomer’s formidable power.
It couldn’t be helped; whether it was the mecha Black Knight, or the space-based kinetic weapons and nuclear explosions, they were simply too overpowered.
In direct combat, there was no room for Silver to play, and she could only be relegated to a supporting role on the fringes.
But now, it seemed their master was indeed their master.
Although he didn’t often say it, he still remembered her when he had good things!
Silver could clearly sense that the bone-white skull before him shared the same origin as the Source of Fire for her Amaterasu.
So, wasn’t this a coincidence?
Just as she was thinking she was being phased out and becoming a relic of the past, a power-up patch arrived.
This was what it meant to be Shaya’s only designated main familiar, his number one favorite daughter!
As expected, childhood sweethearts were the eternal version answer!
She looked at the bone-white skull with burning eyes.
“See, so impatient.”
Shaya gently stroked the Little Mink, a familiar gesture after a long time, and placed the fluffy snow-white tail on his shoulder.
Although Silver had been sleeping for most of the past decade, due to the Soul Pact connection with Shaya, as Shaya’s own mental power advanced, Silver and the others also received feedback.
To put it more plainly, they leveled up while sleeping.
“With your current status, it’s still a bit difficult for you to directly accommodate an eighth-tier pollutant.”
Shaya spoke softly.
The seventh tier was Legend.
And the eighth tier was naturally the level of Throne and demigod.
Of course, an eighth-tier pollutant did not mean it directly possessed demigod combat power, but rather that its attributes in a certain aspect had reached the status of a demigod.
“After all, it’s the supreme holy artifact used by the entire Ash Cult to contain faith, accumulating the faith of the entire Ash Cult over a thousand years.”
“It stores enough power to summon the Lord of Ashes, and if you try to accommodate it directly without any processing, it might disrupt your soul itself and turn you into a little mink that only knows how to breathe fire.”
Shaya stroked Silver’s head, soothing the Little Mink’s restless emotions.
“Yin yin yin~ (Understood.)”
“Yin yin, yin~ (Master, I really want to improve.)”
Silver wagged its tail and obediently relaxed back into Shaya’s arms.
It was just a bit groggy from sleeping for too long.
Now that she was awake and sensing the mystery emanating from the Ash King’s skull, she naturally knew the risks involved.
“Don’t worry, dealing with this pollutant is not a difficult task for me now.”
Shaya’s gaze also locked onto the skull dotted with specks of pitch-black embers.
Pollutants from evil gods were no different from suicidal actions for the vast majority of extraordinary beings on the Western Continent.
But for Shaya, he was extremely experienced in how to deal with pollutants.
He could even say that no one on the entire Western Continent understood pollutants better than him, and perhaps no one would dare to argue.
Since obtaining the pollutant of the Twilight Ancient God from Annrina, Shaya had encountered pollutants of all levels.
Compared to when he was still very weak, needing to be fully alert when facing even a wisp of an evil god’s aura, and needing to seal a pollutant in a mithril box –
Shaya now, after ten years in the fragmented imagination, had already undergone earth-shattering changes.
If the Lord of Ashes in his complete form descended, that would be another matter entirely, but just an eighth-tier pollutant –
In front of the current Shaya, it really couldn’t stir up much trouble.
Shaya placed his hand above the bone-white skull.
The next moment.
On the [Immortal Skull of a Nameless King], the eerie bone-white radiance suddenly dimmed.
Immediately afterward, myriads of black embers rapidly spread up along Shaya’s palm, covering his entire body.
In Shaya’s soul, myriad distorted thoughts instantly appeared.
Illusory scenes slowly emerged in his mind.
In a fire element plane where flames covered the ground, the distorted high temperature burned the air to the point of distortion, and even the sky was shrouded in darkflame, resembling a fiery purgatory.
A small fire elemental was born in a lake of volcanic magma.
It roamed in the magma, growing stronger bit by bit.
And when it accumulated enough power, a group of fire elemental creatures slowly formed around it.
Slowly, it began to conquer other tribes in this elemental plane, killing the leaders of other fire elemental tribes, and then devouring their elemental crystals.
Thousands of years passed. The weak fire elemental that was once there gradually grew stronger through constant conquest and devouring, even its life level underwent a transformation.
From fire elemental, to fire elemental lord, to hellfire monarch…
Until finally, it became the Flame Giant King, and the ruler of the entire elemental plane.
Even, guided by the laws of the plane, it condensed divinity through the faith of the plane’s beings, with incineration as its authority, embarking on the Path to Godhood.
Later, it was no longer satisfied with being merely an emperor of an elemental plane, nor was it satisfied with the faith of a mere elemental plane.
Instead, it chose to step into the dimensional rift, seeking a greater evolution.
However, just as it was about to achieve the status of a True God.
A sudden divine battle in the rift between the dimensional void and the abyss turned all the Giant King’s ambitions and aspirations into dust.
The divine throne and the star chalice, accumulated over thousands of years, became trousseaus for that abyssal visitor named “Ashes.”
Along with the fire elemental plane that had once submitted to it, it changed its faith and became one of the countless believers of the Lord of Ashes.
“I will have revenge, revenge!”
“Revenge against Ashes, revenge against the plane that betrayed me.”
“Slaughter all of Ashes’ believers, make that shameful thief fall from his divine throne, and let the entire abyss be engulfed in my rage!”
In an instant.
Madness, despair, depravity, anger, and many other negative emotions surged into Shaya’s heart along with the whispers.
It was an extremely violent rage, as if it wanted to burn everything, carrying the ancient giant language of the primordial era.
If it were to be translated, it would probably be something like, “Suddenly, a madman sharpens his knife at night, and the imperial star wavers, while Mars hangs high!”
And along with it came the countless memories of the skull’s owner, the former Ashes King, into Shaya’s mind.
These were the memories of a plane ruler who was one step away from becoming a True God, spanning thousands of years.
In the face of such vast, ocean-like memories, human memories of mere decades or centuries were like a drop in the ocean, easily washed away.
“I’ve always heard that True Gods linger even in death, and it seems that’s true.”
“Even a deity who fell eons ago made arrangements in their remains.”
“If I hadn’t entered Eden, I might have truly been overwhelmed by these memories that weren’t mine, and become a subordinate to your memories.”
Feeling the torrent of fragmented memories washing over his soul, Shaya couldn’t help but shake his head.
If his self were to be drowned in thousands of years of memories, he would no longer be Shaya, but a fire elemental plane ruler with Shaya’s memories, allowing the long-dead ancient god to be reborn in another form.
“Unfortunately—”
Shaya smiled slightly and put on his brilliant golden title, [God Slayer].
“This level of corruption and erosion can’t even compare to what my wife and the Princess wife went through.”
The next moment.
In his Spiritual Ocean, hundreds of dim Sands of Time stars roared.
Brilliant star beams flickered against the pitch-black background of the Spiritual Ocean.
It was as if myriad stars were shining in the star sea at the same moment.
The chaotic and distorted mad whispers, along with countless memory fragments, vanished like smoke in the shining starlight, dissipating.
The black embers on Shaya’s skin slowly faded.
“You already lost, you lost after that divine battle thousands of years ago.”
“With your current strength, you are not qualified to usurp my body, let alone take revenge on that Lord of Ashes.”
“However, I can give you an opportunity.”
“An opportunity to take revenge on the abyssal thief who usurped your divine throne and bewitched your believers.”
Shaya’s spiritual body stood in the Spiritual Ocean flashing with myriad starlight, and spoke slowly towards the vast and desolate depths.
“I know that this skull was your trump card for revival, and you must have made other arrangements that were unknown to the Lord of Ashes.”
“For example, a backdoor that can alter the faith power stored in this holy artifact without being detected by the Lord of Ashes’ main body above the Astral Realm.”
“Give me this backdoor.”
Shaya’s voice was calm.
“In exchange, I can promise you—”
“If I have the chance, I will send the Lord of Ashes down to be your companion.”
“You should know very well that I am not speaking in vain.”
As Shaya’s words left his mouth.
The previously frenzied and ferocious whispers, along with the pitch-black embers and chaotic memory fragments, gradually subsided into silence.
This was the residual consciousness of the skull’s owner, the Flame Giant King, left in his remains.
The brief confrontation in Shaya’s Spiritual Ocean had already greatly astonished the Giant King, who was once on the verge of reaching the divine throne.
Although he appeared to be merely human, and had not even stepped into the divine domain or embarked on the Path to Godhood.
His spirit was far more resilient than some demigods the Giant King had faced directly.
With his residual strength, worn down by thousands of years, he could not harm the other party’s soul, let alone usurp his flesh and be reborn.
And more importantly—
From Shaya, this former Giant King clearly sensed an indescribable aura that made him feel a chilling sensation, almost suffocating.
That was the indelible mark left after killing a god.
For any mythical creature that chose the Path to Godhood and stepped into the divine domain, this mark represented an irreconcilable hatred and the greatest fear from an natural enemy.
The exchange condition he proposed was not in vain.
This terrifying human… he seemed to have actually killed an ancient deity.
After a long time, the ancient sound, like flames burning firewood, slowly echoed in Shaya’s Spiritual Ocean.
“Since it is a promise made by a God Slayer.”
“Then I am willing to believe.”
The residual soul of the Flame Giant King looked deeply at Shaya’s calm face.
The next moment, the frenzied darkflame gradually receded, converged, and faded.
Finally, it returned to nothingness.
And in the place where the darkflame had originally been, an illusory aperture slowly appeared.
This was the Flame Giant King’s arrangement within his own remains, a backdoor that could directly connect to the faith power stored by the Lord of Ashes, bypassing the Lord of Ashes’ defenses, and directly converting the power of this holy artifact for his own use.
And at this moment, he opened this backdoor aperture for someone else.
The price for opening the aperture was the dissipation of the Giant King’s last wisp of residual soul within his skull.
This was not because the Giant King’s evil spirit had great faith in Shaya’s character. The title of God Slayer was merely an honorable medal for the glorious achievement of killing a god, and had nothing to do with integrity… even among mythical creatures and True Gods, betrayers were commonplace, otherwise, there wouldn’t be a God of Deception.
It was simply because this was the Giant King’s only choice.
His residual soul had been gradually worn away over thousands of years and was already close to dissipating. If Shaya had not actively touched the skull to awaken him, his residual soul might have returned to nothingness in a few hundred more years.
And his enemy, the Lord of Ashes, grew stronger with the expansion of believers and the accumulation of faith, and the gap between them widened.
In fact, the Giant King’s residual soul knew that the so-called revenge, from the beginning, was merely his own ethereal obsession.
And now, seeing that usurping the body was hopeless, it was better to benefit the God Slayer before him.
After all, the title of God Slayer meant that Shaya and the Lord of Ashes were enemies.
And even if Shaya couldn’t repeat the feat of killing a god, the Giant King hated the Lord of Ashes more.
Being able to let his believers’ thousands of years of accumulated faith on the Western Continent go to waste and annoy his enemy was always good.
“Quite sensible.”
Seeing the Giant King’s residual soul dissipate, Shaya couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
After all, this skull had been modified by the Lord of Ashes, serving as a holy artifact and container for faith power.
If not for the help of the Giant King, the wronged party who had his face NTR-ed, it would have been quite difficult for him to make changes to the skull silently and without being detected by the Lord of Ashes himself.
Shaya stroked the Little Mink on his shoulder.
“This skull is no longer dangerous. You can start absorbing the power of the darkflame.”
Silver wagged its fluffy tail, and its ruby-like eyes opened.
Three rings of blood-colored tomoe quietly appeared in Silver’s eyes and began to slowly rotate.
And from the grim, bone-white skull, wisps of dark, masterless darkflame emerged, drawn by Silver.
Then, they were absorbed by the three tomoe in the Little Mink’s eyes, completing the Source of Fire for her ‘Amaterasu’.
And Shaya’s thoughts also stirred.
His consciousness, following the illusory aperture left by the Giant King’s residual soul in the Spiritual Ocean, entered the world within the aperture.
Inside the aperture was a pitch-black world.
A dark and deep flame became the center of this Faith World.
After being modified by the Lord of Ashes, the Giant King’s skull, as his supreme holy artifact in the Prime Material Plane, housed a wisp of his divinity and a fragment of his God Kingdom that had been cut off.
And that dark flame was the wisp of divine sense the Lord of Ashes had left in this holy artifact.
Over the years, the Ash Cult had madly scoured various cities and towns for sacrifices.
Then, they would select pure, high-value souls and perform fire sacrifices to the Lord of Ashes.
And the souls of those sacrificed would end up in the Ash Cult’s holy artifact.
Or more accurately, within the fragment of the Ash God Kingdom in this skull artifact.
And as Shaya’s spiritual body entered the God Kingdom, the wisp of divinity from the Lord of Ashes immediately became excited.
In the perception of this divine sense, the newly arrived Star Spirit Body was naturally the sacrifice newly completed by his believers.
Darkflame leaped, then diffused, and was about to devour Shaya’s Star Spirit Body, transforming it into a member of the Ash God Kingdom.
However, the next moment.
The wisp of darkflame suddenly stopped in confusion.
The projection of a living being’s spirit in the Astral Realm, also known as the Star Spirit Body.
With differences in soul strength and life essence, the strength of different life forms’ Star Spirit Bodies also varied.
However, under normal circumstances, the Star Spirit Body was more like a subconscious manifestation of life, incapable of subjective control.
Only Legendary Experts, by condensing their Spiritual Ocean, could control their Star Spirit Body to a certain extent, which was why Legendary Experts could traverse the Astral Realm.
But at this moment—
Before the darkflame of the Lord of Ashes’ divine sense could follow the procedure and erode and convert the soul of this sacrificed individual, it found that the golden figure formed by Shaya’s Star Spirit Body had already eagerly rushed towards itself.
It could be called a pure mutual rush.
This is not right.
Even though the Ash God’s divine sense residing in the skull was incomplete and unable to perform normal thinking processes of intelligent beings, it subconsciously sensed that something was wrong.
However, before the Ash God’s divine sense could react.
The next moment.
The golden figure formed by Shaya’s Star Spirit Body had already charged into the darkflame.
…
