"Man, I already told you. I am the Lord of the Tentacle Dimension."
"And this here is the Ocean Dimension, the territory of the Naga. Here I am imprisoned."
Quaggs lay at the bottom of the sea, exhausted. His tentacles, enormous like mountain ranges, moved slowly and lifelessly, as if every bit of strength had been stripped from him.
"Naga…"
"Alright. I remember."
Aron had not expected this journey to take such a turn. He had discovered not only the existence of the Ocean Dimension, but also the true name of another lord of dimensions. That was information of immeasurable importance.
Wasting no time, Aron pulled out an empty exorcist card and a pen from the magical belt Simontos had given him.
Right there, he began drawing symbols.
"What are you doing?"
One of Quaggs' twelve enormous eyes slowly opened. Within it shone a spark of hope.
"I told you, Quaggs…" Aron continued drawing the symbols. "I can break your seal."
As soon as he finished, he activated the ritual on the card.
Buzzzz—!
White light exploded from the card and spread across the chains that bound Quaggs.
The entire chains began to tremble. The inscriptions carved into them, those ancient symbols that for centuries had imprisoned the lord of a dimension, began to fade and disappear, one by one, as if some invisible force was erasing them from reality itself.
"This…"
"This is impossible…"
"You're actually erasing the seals!"
Quaggs' twelve eyes snapped wide open, filled with shock and disbelief. He looked at the man before him, then at the card that shone with white light.
"You can really break the seals!?" Quaggs' voice trembled with disbelief.
But it didn't last long.
Less than a tenth of the inscriptions managed to vanish before the white light of the card began to weaken. Soon, it completely faded away, leaving the chains still firmly intact.
"Why did it stop!?"
"Man! Just continue!" Quaggs cried out, desperate, his tentacles twitching violently. The entire dimension trembled together with his voice.
"I'm sorry…" Aron's voice was weak, barely audible, as though he had exhausted all his strength. "This is the limit of what I can do."
"Don't forget, Quaggs… I am only human. I am nowhere near the level of heavenly entities. Just to weaken the seal this little, I had to sacrifice part of my own life essence and blood."
Aron's body trembled, his forehead beaded with sweat. He looked as if he might collapse at any moment.
"It's too much…"
"After all, this is a seal set by Him." Quaggs' voice was heavy, but also full of acknowledgment. "For a human… it's already a miracle that you've managed even this much."
He gazed at Aron, the fragile human standing before him, and for the first time in thousands of years, Quaggs felt something he had long forgotten, hope.
"Man," he said. "I can give you part of my power. I will make you stronger. But you must promise me that one day you will remove the remaining seals."
"No problem." Aron was breathing heavily, but determination flashed in his eyes. "I, Kaecilius… am known for keeping my promises."
Seeing this, Quaggs closed most of his eyes, and from the remaining ones gleamed radiant sparks. The entire dimension distorted. The space around Aron began to shake, as if invisible forces were gathering at a single point.
In a trance, Aron felt countless tentacles stretch toward him from every direction, wrapping around him and entering his body.
But thanks to the Sorcerer's Eye Odin had given him, Aron saw the true nature of that illusion.
They were not tentacles, but an endless river of dark purple energy. It surged toward him, unstoppable and infinite.
As if the entire Ocean Dimension suddenly turned purple.
The more energy poured into his body, Aron's eyes began to change.
His pupils glowed dark purple. The glow grew brighter and brighter until it finally blinded the entire dimension.
Buzzz—!
Suddenly, from his eyes fired two parallel beams of dark purple lasers.
They exploded into space, extending through the endless Ocean Dimension.
Wherever they passed, seawater vanished!
Rocks, sand, and dust from the seafloor, all disappeared in an instant, as though they had never existed.
"Hey!"
"Careful, mortal!"
"My annihilation beam can ignore certain defensive mechanisms!"
The purple laser beam crossed over one of Quaggs' tentacles, leaving a white scar on its gigantic surface.
Quaggs flinched, and the entire Ocean Dimension shook from it.
"Use that power carefully! It's enough for you to cross the threshold and become equal among beings of the level of Heavenly Fathers." Quaggs' voice resounded through the depths.
His words were no exaggeration.
Aron, after absorbing Quaggs' energy, had indeed stepped into the world of the Ancient One, Odin, and Mephisto.
He had become one of the beings belonging to the rank of Heavenly Fathers.
But… something troubled him.
Because, although he had fully absorbed Quaggs' power, the system did not display the usual notification of detecting and purifying abnormal energy.
"System… why is this so?"
[1: This energy belongs to the original Tentacle Dimension and is extremely pure.]
[2: The system has not detected any spiritual imprint of living or non-living entities within the energy.]
[Conclusion: No abnormalities detected. No purification required.]
Hearing the system's explanation, Aron fell silent.
For the first time, he had encountered someone who truly gave power without any trap.
"Quaggs… I didn't expect you to be so honest."
With his new strength, Aron discarded the mask of exhaustion he had been pretending until now. His body straightened, energy surged through his veins, and his eyes still glowed with purple light.
The truth was simple: Aron could have completely removed Quaggs' seal from the very beginning.
The exorcism ritual could have immediately banished him back to the Tentacle Dimension, since here he was not the master but an intruder. The seal could have been ignored and Quaggs sent home.
But… why would he do that?
"Kidding me, if I don't squeeze every last drop of value out of you, let my name Kaecilius vanish from memory!" Aron clapped his hands, now completely overflowing with energy.
Quaggs began to feel that something was wrong. The man before him didn't look as if he was struggling or losing strength.
But still, he had no choice. He was trapped and depended on this mortal.
"Kaecilius! You've gained enough power, now help me remove the rest of the seal! Quickly!" Quaggs demanded impatiently, his tentacles twitching.
"No problem. I said I would do it, and I stand by my words." Aron spoke calmly, but he walked toward the bronze doors without looking back.
"Hm?"
"Where are you going!?"
Quaggs' twelve eyes suddenly flared and focused on Aron.
"Kaecilius! Are you lying to me!? Won't you fulfill your promise and remove the seal? Did you lie to me just to take my power!?"
His rage grew, and his eyeballs began radiating destructive purple light. At any moment it seemed he would unleash a rain of annihilation beams and destroy everything around him.
But then Aron suddenly stopped, turned, and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Who lied to you?"
His voice was icy.
"Do you think a few strokes of a pen on an ordinary card are enough to remove the seal that binds your chains? Quaggs, think. Have you forgotten who sealed you here? Do you think an ordinary card could undo that seal? Do you really think that's possible?"
Aron's voice rose, growing stronger, more piercing.
Quaggs was speechless.
He was furious, but the words of the mortal before him were filled with logic he could not deny.
"I…"
He hesitated.
His anger subsided, and his enormous eyes flickered.
"Man… what you say… makes sense."
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