Chapter 554: Dark King Upgrade

[Abyss Talent Tree Rejuvenation Process: 3.5%]

[Living Arts: 1%]

[Primal Soul: 1%]

[Elder Arts: 10%]

[Name: Devour]

[Type: Devour/Steal/Consume]

[Description: Devour consumes anything and everything and can be released afterwards. Activating the skill while in physical contact with a target and maintaining contact for a minute can even permanently steal the target’s inheritance.]

Damian blinked in surprise as he read through the details of the Devour skill. He stared at the panel for several seconds, his expression slowly changing as the implications sank in. It finally made sense.

The reason he had been able to stop Duke Dantalion’s final attack became clear. Devour had consumed it, taken something that should have annihilated him and swallowed it into the Abyssal inheritance before releasing its power back at Dantalion.

"I won’t lie, this is worth getting my soul damaged for." Damian mumbled, staring at the description with a faint smile.

Rin immediately rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed by his ability to find something positive about almost dying.

"Bastard, you are in the mood to make jokes?" Rin asked, her expression becoming increasingly irritated.

"Silence, mutt. If your inheritance was worth anything, he wouldn’t have sold his soul in the first place." Abel hissed from Damian’s shoulder.

Rin’s ears flattened immediately, and his expression twisted with anger. "You bloody lizard, what did you say to me?"

Before Abel could answer, Rin launched himself at him, knocking him from Damian’s shoulder. The two creatures tumbled across the desolate ground behind Damian, their argument immediately turning into another physical fight as they rolled through the dirt and scattered dead leaves in every direction.

Damian paid them absolutely no attention. By now, their fights had become so common that interrupting them felt more troublesome than simply ignoring them. His gaze remained fixed on the Abyssal Talent Tree as he considered just how dangerous the inheritance had become.

"Everything about this tree inheritance is terrifying." Damian admitted quietly before returning his attention to the light panel floating before him. He had accumulated a total of 180 talent points during the past two months.

Considering the enemies he had killed and the battles he had survived, the number felt disappointingly small, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had already spent enough time complaining about the slow accumulation. If he wanted more power before the coronation, he would have to make every point count.

"Upgrade Living Arts!" Damian ordered.

10... 20... 30... 40

[Abyss Talent Tree Rejuvenation Process: 4%]

[Living Arts: 5%]

[Primal Soul: 1%]

[Elder Arts: 10%]

Ding!

[Devils Hands Unlocked.]

[Name: Devils Hands]

[Type: Martial Art]

[Description: Devils Touch allows you to drain vitality subtly from targets you make physical contact with. It’s so subtle that even they don’t notice it, silently draining them of their stamina and demonic force. This in turn heals your wounds and replenishes your stamina and demonic force.]

Damian’s eyes narrowed as he studied the description. "This actually takes close combat to a whole new level..." he muttered.

His fox inheritance already possessed Crimson Kiss, a terrifying ability that could make anything he struck explode, but he had seen that technique countered several times. Devils Touch was fundamentally different. There was no obvious attack to block and no destructive effect for an opponent to resist.

The moment Damian’s fists made contact with a target, their stamina and demonic force would begin flowing into him while his own wounds were repaired. Against an opponent who relied on physical combat, every exchange would gradually become more favorable to him. The longer the fight continued, the stronger and healthier Damian would become while his opponent slowly deteriorated.

He almost smiled at the thought. "I’m bound to outlast anyone in physical combat."

Without hesitation, Damian began pouring more points into Living Arts.

50... 60... 70... 80... 90

Ding!

[Abyss Talent Tree Rejuvenation Process: 4.5%]

[Living Arts: 10%]

[Primal Soul: 1%]

[Elder Arts: 10%]

[Dark King Physiology Unlocked]

[Name: Dark King Physiology]

[Type: Passive]

[Description: Permanently alters the physiology of the user, improving both his height, durability and physical capability drastically. This also grants the user natural control over darkness.]

[Transformation in progress... Be patient.]

"Interesting... I wonder how much I’ll change." Damian chuckled as he looked down at himself.

Anything capable of making his fragile body stronger was something he welcomed. His body had always been one of the weakest aspects of his existence compared to the monsters surrounding him. If Dark King Physiology could finally correct that weakness, he had no reason to complain.

He did not waste time waiting for the transformation to complete. The coronation was approaching, and every second mattered. Damian immediately shifted his attention toward Primal Soul and began spending the next batch of points.

10... 20... 30... 40!

Ding!

[Abyss Talent Tree Rejuvenation Process: 5%]

[Living Arts: 10%]

[Primal Soul: 5%]

[Elder Arts: 10%]

[Demonic Armament: Night Lantern Unlocked.]

[Name: Night Lantern]

[Type: Demonic Weaponry]

[Description: The Night Lantern is a lantern of black fire attached to a chain which is tied to the arm of its wielder. This demonic weapon triples the user’s control and power of the Abyssal Flames while also granting the wielder the ability to steal light.]

"Steal light?" Damian calmly muttered, staring at the panel with confusion.

The ability sounded simple, yet the fact that the system had specifically separated it from the weapon’s ability to amplify his Abyssal Flames made him suspect there was more to it than the name suggested.

Unfortunately, he had neither the time nor the inclination to experiment inside his Sea of Consciousness while an entire realm waited for him to appear at his coronation.

"Fuck it, I’ll find out on the battlefield." Damian pushed the thought aside and poured the last fifty points into Primal Soul.

50... 60... 70... 80... 90!

[Abyss Talent Tree Rejuvenation Process: 5.5%]

[Living Arts: 10%]

[Primal Soul: 10%]

[Elder Arts: 10%]

[Name: Call Of The Dark King]

[Type: Summoning]

[Description: Summons a wormhole through which all chaos creatures scattered across the universe can pass through. Be warned, chaos creatures cannot be controlled and would destroy anything and everything in their path. You can only shatter the wormhole and force them back to the Chaos Realm, but not dictate their actions. The only assurance is they will not attack you, but that cannot be said for your allies.]

Damian stopped breathing for a moment as he read the description again. He slowly looked at the panel as if expecting the words to change. They did not.

"Huff!" Damian exhaled loudly, his expression finally revealing genuine shock.

This was the first time a Talent Tree had given him an ability and immediately warned him that he could not control it.

"Just what the fuck are these chaos creatures?" Damian muttered, rubbing his forehead.

The fact that even the system considered them uncontrollable was enough to make him hesitate about ever using the ability unless absolutely necessary.

Behind him, Rin and Abel finally stopped fighting. Rin was covered in bruises while Abel looked almost completely untouched. Damian glanced at them briefly before returning his attention to the path ahead. The fox started fights constantly and somehow managed to lose all of them, yet he never seemed to learn from the experience.

"If you are done, let’s leave... You have delayed the ceremony for too long simply because you were getting your dick sucked this morning." Rin sounded annoyed as he dusted himself off.

Damian looked over his shoulder at him before shrugging with complete indifference. "It’s not my fault, I had to cum. The purpose of getting your dick sucked is to cum."

Rin’s expression became one of pure disbelief, while Abel simply stared at Damian as though he had once again confirmed every negative assumption the Abyssal spirit possessed about him.

Damian ignored both reactions and rose to his feet, stretching his shoulders as the dead trees around him began disappearing into darkness.

Rin immediately jumped into his hands while Abel landed back on his shoulders, settling into his usual position as the entire Sea of Consciousness began to crumble around them. The dead land fractured first, followed by the endless river and distant red gates, everything dissolving into absolute darkness until even the crimson eye of the Abyss disappeared from view.

In mere seconds, Damian’s consciousness returned to his body.

His eyes snapped open within the pool, revealing burning crimson light that illuminated the darkness surrounding him.

BANG!

A deafening explosion erupted from the center of the bathhouse as the water was violently pushed outward. Waves crashed against the stone walls while an enormous empty space formed around Damian, leaving him standing at the center of the pool as water poured down around him.

William instinctively raised an arm against the sudden blast of pressure, while Damian’s girls took several steps backward. None of them spoke. They were too focused on the figure standing before them.

Damian had changed.

His body had grown even larger, reaching nearly seventeen feet in height. His long gray hair had transformed into an extremely dark black, appearing almost wet despite being completely dry, and it stretched down far enough to brush against the floor around his feet.

His skin had become unnaturally pale, almost corpse like, resembling the complexion of an ancient vampire or one of the Blood Demon Clan. His fingers were elongated slightly, and his nails had turned the same deep black as his perpetually pitch black eyes. Across his back, partially visible through the darkness, was a massive tattoo depicting the roaring face of a dragon, its expression so vicious that it almost appeared alive.

The sheer pressure radiating from his transformed body made the bathhouse feel considerably smaller. Hazel, Racheal, Ruby, Mary, Loth, Rah and Alice instinctively stepped backward, their towels held tightly around themselves as they stared at him.

Even William found himself frozen for a moment. This was not simply Damian becoming stronger. Something fundamental about him had changed.

Damian slowly looked around the bathhouse, his crimson eyes sweeping across the stunned faces surrounding him. A faint smile formed on his lips, but there was something unsettling about the expression now.

His voice emerged unnaturally deep, yet beneath it another lighter version of his voice seemed to echo at the same time, creating an eerie overlap that made every word sound as though two Damains were speaking together.

"Alright.... Let’s get this coronation party started."