"I-I'll tell you!"
The scared apostle quickly said upon seeing the rage in Aeron's eyes. He didn't want to get killed.
"Harbingers r-refers to people who come from another world, bringing with them an illness that would consume Almighty Raal's powers and bring destruction in this world. We have always killed all the Harbingers who come here."
"The l-last one was here almost a decade ago."
Aeron frowned. "Illness? What kind of illness?"
"I-I don't know. I swear, I don't know. Nobody knows what the illness is except for Almighty Raal."
"Bullcrap." Aeron's eyes glinted. "Tell me, where can I find this Almighty Raal?"
"Y-You…" the apostle's face twisted. "You are not worthy of meeting him! You will die before that!"
Aeron's lips twitched.
Death Bullets.
Zrrrrrrrrrr!
Dead.
Aeron took a deep breath and looked up.
'Illness… harbinger… Almighty Raal…'
He had a feeling this Almighty Raal was connected to the creator of this technique somehow.
'So the entire world is my enemy in this trial, but the main villain is this Almighty Raal.' Aeron's fist clenched. 'If I kill him, I'll pass. Maybe I won't have to survive for one year.'
[ You have triggered an Epiphany and an Inspiration in the Death Reaper Deck. ]
[ You have acquired an evolutionary reforge of the Valiant Force Deck. You can initiate it anytime. ]
At the same time, Aeron felt warm and a surge of power within him that was increasing gradually.
'Hmm?'
Aeron looked at the dead body of the apostle in surprise. It was breaking down and turning into motes before entering him.
POP! POP! POP!
His chakra points were opening crazily!
But that was not all.
A large stream of motes arrived and entered his body from the direction of the village!
'What the hell?' Aeron was shocked. He was becoming powerful fast!
'The apostle had stats over 900, but below 1000… he was almost ten times more powerful than me.'
Aeron gulped. 'Will I become as powerful as him?'
Soon, all the motes had been absorbed, and he no longer grew stronger.
He couldn't gauge how powerful he had become from just the feeling alone.
Looking at the nearby tree, Aeron swept his palm in a blade-like motion and split it so easily. He felt zero resistance! It was easier than cutting paper.
'What the…'
Aeron took out his ID card and infused a bit of Prana into it to do a scan of his body's status and update it on the card.
When he looked at it, he was dumbfounded.
[ Aeron Endfield ]
Lifeform Rank: Tier-4
Power Level: 61,373
- Physique: 1.1-star
- Stamina: 10,000/10,000
- Spirit: 1-star
- Prana: 10,000/10,000
- Vigor Points: 1021 opened
- Spirit Points: 1037 opened
'What? 1-star?' Aeron tilted his head, confused. 'Could it be that once your stats go past 1000, it quantifies into this form?'
'So 1000 points could equal 1-star. If I kill stronger enemies, I'll get even stronger.'
'But first, I have to find a safe place so I can check the upgrades I got.'
Aeron looked back at the village, his heart heavy.
The villagers were sweet people. Innocent and respectful of life, they meant no harm to others, and yet, they were mercilessly obliterated.
This world was wrong.
Almighty Raal was wrong.
'I will avenge you.'
Survival was no longer his goal. It was not his priority.
Aeron's eyes sharpened with a blaze of determination.
His goal had shifted to eliminating the so-called Almighty Raal.
…
Aeron found a huge, lush tree and went up onto one of its branches before sitting down and checking his gift. Of course, he had also used Death Undone on the apostle and made him his servant.
'Now then.'
First, he checked the new thing he had triggered.
Evolutionary reforge of his Valiant Force Deck.
In his gift's window, the Valiant Force Deck was glowing as its details had disappeared, except for the bright Evolutionary Reforge blinking next to it.
'Let's see.'
[ Please choose the reforge option. ]
1. Warrior's Trailblaze Deck (A-rank)
2. Astral Magus Deck (A-rank)
3. Hiveborn Legion Deck (S-rank)
Aeron blinked.
The options were good, but given the ranks of these decks, Aeron made his choice.
[ Hiveborn Legion Deck ]
Rank: S-rank
Card Draw: 15 Prana per star of the card.
[ 1/6 cards — 0 Inspiration — 0 Epiphany ]
Cards:
1. Hiveborn Creation (6-star)
Aeron checked the first card.
[ Hiveborn Creation ]
Card Quality: 6-star
—> Summon a random Hiveborn Creature and add it to the legion. You are the hivemind of this legion, able to share their senses and direct them with impeccable command. Legion Size: 0/100.
—> The summoned creature can combine with an identical class summoned creature to evolve.
—> The summoned creature can absorb external resources to acquire upgrades.
'Interesting. So I can make an army.'
Aeron's eyes glinted. 'Perfect.'
Moving on, Aeron opened his second deck to activate the Epiphany and Inspiration he had triggered.
[ Death Reaper Deck ]
Rank: SS-rank
Card Draw: 30 Prana per star of the card.
[ 2/7 cards — 1 Inspiration — 1 Epiphany ]
Cards:
1. Death Undone (7-star)
2. Tommy The Reaper (8-star)
3. [ Choose the card ]
He first activated the Inspiration to get the third card of this deck.
Option 1.
[ X Energy Reaper ]
Card Quality: 9-star
Effect:
—> Can only activate on a target affected by other cards of this deck. Upon activation, you instantly reap 50% of their vitality and Prana and convert them into X Energy.
—> X Energy: You can use this energy to temporarily upgrade any card of any deck, any stats of any creature, or your stats. X Energy: 0/10,000
'This is flexible and lethal both.' Aeron raised his eyebrows. He was almost tempted to pick this, but it was important to look at the other options.
Option 2.
[ Bullet Hell Ultimate ]
Card Quality: 9-star
Effect:
—> Upon using this card, create a 100-meter radius zone for 10 seconds in which all projectiles released by you and your allies travel twice as fast. After ten seconds, generate one of the ultimate weapon cards (10-star+) based on the number of projectiles unleashed within the Bullet Hell Zone during the ten seconds it was activated.
'Ultimate weapon?' Aeron's eyes glimmered. He was curious. From the description, it seemed that these ultimate weapons were 10-star and above.
'Let's see the third option.' Aeron's eyes moved. The name of this option was quite powerful.
Option 3.
[ Death Ruler's Imprint ]
Card Quality: 9-star
Effect:
—> You can target anyone within your sight, or yourself, with Death Ruler's Imprint to gain the following buffs until you die.
Buffs:
1. Upon death, you can turn into a ghost for up to 24 hours, travel without restriction from the physical world, and revive anytime you want. Only once per imprint.
2. Any living being you injure or kill temporarily increases your stats based on the target's power. If your stats are boosted by 1000% of their original stats, you will die.
3. After reviving, your Prana recovery speed is boosted by 1000% for 1 hour.
—> After reviving, the target will lose Death Ruler's Imprint and will be affected by Death's Touch for 24 hours, and will not be able to receive Death Ruler's Imprint for the duration of Death's Touch.
'This is amazing…' Aeron's eyes glinted.
The first card was lethal and flexibly empowering. Two cards could instantly kill any target, and he would gain X Energy that would allow him to boost anything.
The second card was pure destruction. These 9-star cards were already crazy, but this card would give him 10-star and higher cards, Ultimate Weapons. He couldn't imagine what they could do.
And the third one… it gave him one extra life with a 24-hour cooldown after reviving. Not just him, but also his summons and servants. Not to mention that it could boost stats just by injuring and killing. Though it was temporary, it was still powerful.
'If I think rationally, there's only one sound option for me.' Aeron's eyes turned serene with cold optimization.
He made his choice.
[ Death Ruler's Imprint ]