Chapter 11: Blood Centipede
Damon sat quietly on his grand bed of black stone and shadow silk, legs crossed in perfect lotus position, eyes shut tight as though sealing away the chaos of the world.
His expression was as still as a frozen lake under moonlight, serene on the surface, yet hiding depths of ancient madness that churned endlessly below.
The chamber was silent save for the faint hum of the two towering pillars at its center, their carved entities seeming to watch him with eternal patience.
He extended one hand slowly, palm open, as if beckoning something long-lost from the deepest shadows.
From the darkest corner of the room, where light dared not linger, a blood-red centipede emerged.
It was slightly larger than its lesser brethren, its segmented shell glowing with an almost otherworldly vibrance, crimson hues shifting like living fire beneath the surface.
Tiny mandibles clicked softly as it crawled forward without fear, drawn by an invisible bond.
"I need to gather my forces," Damon murmured to himself, voice low and laced with urgency that belied his calm exterior. "They must have sensed my return by now, the echoes of my awakening rippling through the void."
He lifted the creature gently from the ground, cradling it in his palm as though it were a precious relic rather than a parasitic horror.
"Right now... I feel like a mere worm, unable to reclaim even the faintest remnants of my past life." Urgency crept into his tone, a rare crack in his unshakeable facade. "If Dabara of Chaos or Yunku of Time saw me reduced to this fragile state…"
A gentle, almost nostalgic smile played on his lips as he regarded the blood centipede with genuine affection.
"Tell me, little one," Damon asked softly, bringing it closer to his face, "what do you desire?"
The centipede tilted its tiny head in innocent curiosity, mandibles twitching. Through the link of Damon's sudo soul embedded within it, its voice echoed in his mind, high and childlike, full of simple, fierce ambition.
"If you ask Centuria... Centuria doesn't want to remain small forever. Centuria wants to devour dragons and wyverns! Centuria wants to grow strong enough to feast on the mightiest beasts!"
The creature waved its tiny limbs excitedly, pouring its pure, unfiltered heart out to its master.
"Hahaha," Damon laughed, a genuine, warm sound that lit his beautiful yet terrifying face with rare joy. "This tiny bug dreams of feasting on dragons and wyverns." Delight sparkled in his crimson eyes. "Then let's get started." He felt a deep, satisfying warmth in Centuria's bold ambitions, a reflection of his own unquenchable hunger.
"This journey will be challenging for this little creature," he mused silently, cradling Centuria with utmost care. "It has never tasted true divinity. If I force even a drop into its tiny body now... it will burst apart from the strain."
His gaze shifted to the two imposing pillars at the center of his chamber, the Pillar of Control and Pillar of Strength, their carved entities looming like silent guardians.
"It's time for me to enter that realm."
Without hesitation, Damon rose and stepped between the twin pillars.
In an instant, reality warped. He and Centuria were whisked away, spirits drawn into the sacred depths of his internal temple of power.
Before them loomed a colossal 16-foot headless Shura, its empty neck engulfed in eternal crimson flames that burned without consuming.
Its massive body moved with weary yet relentless determination, marching endlessly across a landscape of blood-red earth, never ceasing, never tiring.
Damon smiled, holding Centuria aloft like an offering to the realm itself.
"Welcome to my temple of power."
He advanced slowly, revealing a surreal landscape: countless ancient swords embedded in the ground like grave markers, their blades humming with trapped killing intent.
The surface beneath their feet felt both solid and fluid, like walking on blood that coursed with hidden life, warm and pulsing.
"From this day forth," Damon said, voice resonant in the vast inner realm, "this is where you will dwell, until your body can bear the weight of true divinity."
He set Centuria down gently on the blood-coated floor.
"Now, go explore this temple. Prove to me that you are worthy of my blessings."
His gaze was intent, ancient power burning behind his eyes. "Within you lies my sudo soul, it will guide you through the dangers and wonders of my temple of power."
"As my first pawn," Damon continued, raising one index finger solemnly, "I offer you one piece of advice."
Centuria lifted her tiny insect head, mandibles still as she listened with absolute reverence.
"Rely on madness," Damon said, a crazed glint igniting in his eyes like twin blood stars. "Only then will you truly taste power."
As the words left his lips, the realm shifted dramatically, morphing into a deep, primordial forest of towering trees with bark like dragon scales, branches heavy with fruits that pulsed with divine light.
The cries of ancient creatures echoed through the canopy, roars of forgotten beasts, whispers of predatory plants, the rustle of things that should not exist.
Centuria felt overwhelmed, her tiny body trembling in the vastness.
Soon, a calm washed over her mind as she heard her master's sudo soul speak directly within her.
"Centuria," the voice said, calm yet commanding, "this is a perfect replication of the Raksha Forest, created from the power called divinity. Be it creature or plant, in this space, their end product is pure divinity. Devour them, and grow."
"Is that the violent, overwhelming energy emanating so casually from my master?" Centuria asked, burrowing instinctively into the ground, blood-scented soil for safety.
"Yes," the sudo soul responded. "He has given you a chance to seize evolution with your own hands,."
The words had barely faded when Centuria was suddenly thrust from the soil in a violent explosion of earth.
She burst forth alongside a massive earth mole, its eyes wild with madness, fur matted with blood, claws like daggers as it lunged at her without hesitation.
"Kill it now," the sudo soul urged sharply.
Like a beast unleashed, Centuria regained her form mid-air. She launched herself at the incoming mole with primal fury.
The mole seized her tiny body in its jaws, biting down on several of her arms. Pain shot through her like lightning, agony that would have ended lesser creatures.
But Centuria fought back with savage instinct. She sank her fangs deep into the mole's flesh, injecting several doses of blood poison that burned through its veins.
"Kill, kill, kill!" Centuria cried in a frenzy, wrapping her segmented body around the mole to immobilize it completely.
With fierce, unrelenting determination, she sank her fangs in once more, tearing chunks of flesh free in a spray of hot blood. The mole screeched in agony, thrashing wildly, but Centuria held on with deathly grip, devouring it completely until nothing remained but bones and divine essence flowing into her.
"What is this addictive feeling?" she wondered in awe, chewing on the last remnants. "This energy doesn't flow to the core like ordinary cultivation... it reshapes my very body and soul from within."
"Do you feel any changes?" the sudo soul asked.
Centuria remained silent, too focused on the surging power.
"It begins!"
Immediately, Centuria started to vibrate uncontrollably. Her flesh peeled away in burning strips. Millions of tiny claws fell off her body as it stretched and grew.
"Divinity is altering this one's race," the sudo soul observed calmly. "It deems her imperfect form unworthy, but in Damon's realm of power, evolution is not just possible... it is essential."
Centuria writhed in excruciating pain, body convulsing as old shell cracked and fell away.
"It's time for the merging process."
In an instant, Centuria's body shimmered with violent red light. Damon's sudo soul forcefully merged with her own, binding them deeper, sharing power and will.
Though engulfed in deep, searing pain that felt like being reborn in fire, she was unaware of the transformation completing.
She had grown to a towering 3 feet.
Her old shell shed completely, replaced with black, blade-like plating, each segment thicker and stronger than before, adorned with a singular, glowing eye that pierced darkness.
From the sides of her body, new blood-red legs erupted, sharper, longer, designed for rending flesh and climbing impossible heights.
Atop her head, two long red antennae curved elegantly at the tips, sensing divine essence from miles away.
Centuria raised her massive new body high, letting out a sound of pure joy and reverence that echoed through the temple forest, a chittering cry of triumph and devotion to her master.
"Centuria," the sudo soul spoke again, "your evolution has consumed your time."
She tilted her enlarged head in confusion.
"Your evolution wasn't instantaneous. It took two full weeks in the outside world."
"You must continue your task," it commanded calmly.
Together, they moved deeper into the endless forest, hungry for more power, more growth, more madness.
Meanwhile, in the physical world, Damon remained immersed in intense, solitary training within his chamber.
Sweat poured from his body as he pushed limits that would break ordinary geniuses. "I do not have enough divinity stored in my temple of power," he mused between breaths, biting his lips in thoughtful frustration. "If I keep pulling directly from the firmament... I will definitely summon something unknown, perhaps things I am not yet ready to face."
He paused, halting the flow of divinity with iron will. "But right now, I only have one true worshiper. If I'm not careful... I'll be forced to draw from the firmament once more, risking attention from entities beyond this world."
A sudden surge of pure divinity flooded his temple, warm, vibrant, full of faithful devotion.
"Ha!" Damon exclaimed, leaping to his feet with unrestrained excitement, crimson eyes blazing. "A new follower!"