Chapter 31: Fenrir

Originum, a very unique thing that only existed in Terra. Some similar things might be found in other worlds, but it is nowhere near as potent as originum.

Once you are unlucky, it'll suddenly assimilate inside your body before replicating in a very fast manner. When an infected dies, they turn into countless black crystals before exploding, as in literally.

Just as the saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger", the environment of Terra made their bodies stronger. Added to the fact that each Ancient Race has their innate talents, the populace of Terra is much stronger than the norm.

If you place a child of Terra on Earth, they'll surely wipe the floors with more than a dozen adults.

Shiro found its existence incredulously as he could see Winged Knight's level of physique in the mercenaries that he fought before, and then he saw 2 Grand Knights' level leading a small group of escorts.

"Mn... There's an arts like this? But why..." Surtr, no, the alien god possessing Surtr mumbled unconsciously as he found the existence of magic surprising.

'I won't be able to deal much damage before I empty my abundant mana at this rate.' Shiro thought as he saw just how Surtr was blocking the elemental beams with her flame barrier while she cuts off the lightning descending upon her.

She occasionally sends out flaming blade attacks, too.

'I can't fully utilize the abilities of my Reality Marble without allies, damn it. The pressure only debuffed her by the minimum?'

While seating on his throne, he enjoyed many benefits such as increased max health, increased health and mana regen, and some unique abilities such as "Pressure", "Liege", and "Array".

With pressure, he could debuff the enemy within this Reality Marble by 30%~100%. Meanwhile, Liege buffs his allies by 30%~70%, depending on their connection to Shiro. The buffs that Shiro receives from sitting in the throne would also partially affect them.

Lastly, the Array allows him to use several defensive measures in the throne room. The elemental beams and the barriers are only the most basic part of it as most of its capabilities are still sealed.

Cutting through several dozen beams that came after her, she disappeared on the spot and reappeared just above Shiro who was in his throne.

Clang-!

Sparks flew out as her blade got stopped by several dozen barriers that overlapped with each other. At that instant, flames started appearing beside her, making him feel the unbearable temperature that it emits.

Shiro reacted by summoning brown elemental chains, but she used up more of her power this time to create a heat wave, disintegrating them to dust.

Crack-!

Slowly, the barriers cracked one by one. "Surtr" looked at Shiro, who still has calmness in his eyes, and smiled.

Blazing hot flames erupted from her sword as she mustered the strongest output that she could produce as of the moment. It completely devoured Shiro and the throne he was sitting in.

The sizzling of flames are the only thing that "Surtr" could hear at the moment. However, she tensed up as she felt danger coming on her left side.

Clang-!

A black sword clashed with the orange-red blade at this moment. It quickly separated as she saw who attacked her. She was surprised to see that it's a black shadow.

The person who came out of it after the shadows formed the shape of a person is none other than Shiro. Though, his appearance is clearly different right now.

His hair turned complete black and his eyes became akin to clear rubies. Stars could be vaguely seen shining in his irises. On top of his head is a pair of ears that resembles a Vulpo's.

Behind him is a black fluffy tail that constantly sways around. Overall, his looks became similar to that of Terra's Ancient Races and Earth's Phantasmal Species.

"I knew that it would turn out like this."

"... You changed races?" 'Surtr' asked. In its long life, this is the first time that he saw others transform into other race instantly. Yes, it knew about some 'experiments' of the mortals during the time he surveyed their planet, but it saw a uniqueness appear the moment he changed.

'In exchange of losing those buffs and the power to use the Array, I gained some interesting abilities in return.'

When he left the throne, the buff that he received had disappeared as well as the ability to control the Array. However, his "Liege" and "Pressure" abilities became more powerful.

He also temporarily awakened a certain power inside him, the bloodline of a creature named "Fenrir". It allowed him to turn into shadows and devour anything within his capabilities, which grants him a permanent buff in return - be it in form of attribute increase or some other things.

Lastly, the reality marble boosted this power of his by five times, shortening the devouring time and allowing him to devour things stronger than his current strength.

Clang-!

"Surtr" didn't just stand there and allowed him to continue his thoughts as it clashed blades with him once more, but this time, she placed her sword over the head and swung it down at him.

It also has some bits of flame in its edges, a great counter to his shadow form.

Using the [Demonic Arts], Reinforcement, and Aura to the greatest extent, he barely avoided the blade as it implanted itself to the floor. Shiro dashed to her and positioned his black blade below him. Without hesitation, he swung a vertical arc towards her, only for it to be blocked once more as it swiftly removed the sword from the ground and swung it upwards.

As a result of sheer strength difference, Shiro flew at the direction of the ceiling.

Bam-!

Just in time, he used his feet and used the ceiling as a foothold, allowing him to avoid the fate of being embedded to it. He saw her leap at his direction and leaped to his right.

Seeing this, it formed a foothold made out of flames before it changed directions at him.

"Heh."

Unexpectedly, Shiro brought out [Fragrant Olive Sword] from his storage and chanted syntaxes quickly in his mind. "Surtr" was about to reach him when Shiro chanted something.

"Enhance Armament." He said as the golden blade turned into countless flowers.

What's more, he turned into a shadow as he quickly escaped from her blade, leaving the heavy flowers that fell at her. It quickly caused her to crash in the ground, creating another crater in Shiro's marble.

Meanwhile, Shiro reappeared besides his throne. As it stood up, Shiro could see various wounds of different degrees on Surtr's body. Blood dripped on the floor, causing it to melt.

"Tch. I thought that no one is my match even at this state."

"Sorry to say, but I caught of your tail days ago."

"...So you're the reason why I'm this weak?!"

"Haha, yes."

It looked with hatred at him. If he hadn't purged his remnant will inside the sword, he'll be much stronger than now. Though, it tried to repress the hate that it's feeling right now as it'll definitely cloud its judgment in this mortal form.

"Surtr" looked at him intently until it found something wrong.

"Wait... My flames..?"

"You finally noticed."

The flames in this throne hall, which are constantly making sizzling noises, is now gone. It also saw Shiro throw some originum crystals onto his shadow before it got devoured by it.

[Originum +1]

[Originum +1]

[Originum +1]

...

...

[Hidden Quest Complete! Eat 100 Originum Crystals at the same time. Reward settlement...]

[Hidden Quest Complete! Reach 50 Originum Attributes using the "Devouring" power. Reward settlement...]

[+6 Top-Grade Originum Crystals]

[+6 Top-Grade Originum Fluids]

Seeing the Originum crystals and vials appear in his storage, he didn't hesitate to throw them out to his shadow, too. During the short time that "Surtr" got confused, the devouring process of the flames are finally finished.

[Devouring Complete. Gained the permanent buff "Blazing Heart (B)"!]

[Blazing Heart (B)]

Details: A pure amount of conceptual flames had entered your heart and resided within it. This power is something that no normal mortal can wield.

Effect 1: Increase Flame Element Affinity

Effect 2: Increase Flame Element Damage

Effect 3: Increase Flame Resistance

Effect 4: Weapon Attacks will be imbued with flames

In that instant, Shiro understood how to use this certain buff of his. In a blink of an eye, his black sword began to burn with orange flames. The alien god's eyes went wide upon seeing this.

"H-how is that possible? It's my power..!"

"Even a god isn't all-knowing, huh."

"Y-you..!"

"Surtr" became more serious as her crimson eyes turned orange. Her surroundings began to set ablaze as Shiro sensed that this is the final clash.

[Requirements met. Demonic Arts (Expert--1%) becomes Demonic Arts (Master 1%)!]

When Shiro saw that his Originum surpassed 50, the acquired mastery [Demonic Arts] evolved all by itself. Unknown memories on how to handle the originum inside one's body popped up in his mind.

After reviewing those, he felt that he could go further on it, so he did.

More originum crystals appeared on his body as a result, but its increase went from two times to three times. Meaning, his 100 Strength and Agility became 150, making him feel more power coursing through his veins.

"Let's do it!"

Shiro said with a shout as he dashed to "Surtr" and decided to meet her blade. The golden flowers on her back and black sword in her front would decided the result of their battle.