Chapter 21 : Talent Awakening

The Mother Goddess had said something else about humans: never underestimate them, and their arrogance is not without reason.

"Heh."

Daniel, however, was completely drenched in blood. A large hole had appeared in the middle of his body—his stomach—and one of his shoulders and arms had been completely torn off.

The skin on his face and his other hand was badly burned. Pain had spread all over his body, and if it weren't for the willpower from his past life, his mind would've already collapsed.

The light of life in his eyes was slowly fading. He hadn't expected to face death this closely again.

But at that moment, a sudden voice echoed in his head.

[Congratulations to the participant for successfully completing the Minor Mission.]

[You have successfully gained the chance to Awaken.]

[Mission Completion Rank: SSS.]

[Awakening process begins.]

Before his eyes, his body began to heal quickly—from the large hole in his stomach to his severed arm and burned skin.

However, at the same time, another pain struck him.

It felt like someone had stabbed a needle straight into his eye and twisted it, but a hundred times worse.

The awakening process had started, and a spiritual sea was beginning to form.

The spiritual sea was created within his head, at the barrier that separates body and soul.

That barrier shattered completely, and a new space formed deep in his mind—a space that connected the two dimensions of his body.

A massive sea began to take shape there.

Without hesitation, Daniel focused all his attention on the spiritual sea as it formed—a vast, lively sea.

The sea stretched about ten thousand miles, and at its center, a core was forming. It was a cycle—a cycle of death.

"This...?"

But it wasn't just the cycle that caught his attention. It was the water of the spiritual sea.

The water was entirely black, something that shouldn't be possible.

[Congratulations, you have successfully completed the Awakening.]

[Processing data... Participant's body scan complete.]

[Participant's soul has been fully scanned.]

[Participant's existence has been fully scanned.]

[Ding... Host possesses the Divinity of Death.]

[Warning... Warning... Warning...]

[A mortal has obtained an Divinity. Consulting higher authorities.]

"What the hell is going on?"

Seeing the red light suddenly surround his body, Daniel couldn't help but curse.

The Divinity of Death? Wasn't that what he had received from the Death Goddess? He hadn't expected to still have it in this life.

Or maybe... could this divinity be connected to his regression?

He hadn't ignored the possibility, but he hadn't had time to think about it until now. And now that he did, everything seemed far too strange.

His mind raced through countless possibilities in an instant, but unfortunately, none of them mattered. At the moment, there was nothing he could do.

Luckily, it seemed like there was no need to worry—or at least, that's how it appeared.

[Alert! Alert! Alert!]

[External interference detected! A foreign force is tampering with the Mother System.]

[Ding... Mother System restarting.]

[The Divinity of Death confirmed.]

[Congratulations on acquiring your first innate ability.]

[Name: Dormant Chaos.]

[Rank: SSS/Transcendent.]

[Description: Heralds of Death, similar to Angels of Light, but instead serving the Fallen. You can summon the souls of Heralds of death from the Abyss.]

[Note: To summon a herald of death soul, you need a body for it to inhabit.]

[Current Limit: 0/10.]

"...What?"

Daniel stared in awe at the notifications in front of him. The innate ability he had just awakened was nothing like what he had expected.

In fact, something like this wasn't even mentioned in the novel.

"The Divinity of Death...?" He seemed a bit skeptical.

He hadn't expected the divinity of death to still be with him. This was an unbelievable surprise.

Focusing more closely on the floating blue screen in front of him, Daniel realized this was the first time he had seen anything like it.

He turned his attention to his innate talent. Rank SSS, also known as Transcendent Rank.

Among all of humanity—and all other races—such a rank was almost unheard of. Perhaps in the entire world, throughout history, only a handful of people had awakened innate abilities of this rank.

And now, he was one of them.

"Herald of Death?"

His gaze shifted to the lifeless body of One-Eyed Winter. According to the Mother System's explanation, he could summon souls from the Abyss to serve him.

He wasn't sure what exactly the Abyss referred to, but the ability reminded him of Beast Tamers or Necromancers.

Daniel stood up and walked over to the lifeless body of the beast. If he wanted to test his innate ability, One-Eyed Winter was the best choice.

However, he wasn't sure it would work. After all, the creature was a Corruption Beast.

Throughout history, ever since the Mother System's emergence, no one had been able to tame Corruption Beasts or use their corpses as Undead.

In both the novel and his previous life, such a thing was deemed impossible.

No one knew exactly why, but it seemed to be an unbreakable limitation.

So he wasn't confident that he could turn this monster into a Death Harbinger.

But trying didn't cost anything.

He glanced at the word required to activate his ability, then slowly spoke it out loud:

"Rise from death and serve me."

"...."

Before he could react, a sudden light appeared from the sky and enveloped One-Eyed Winter's entire body.

A purple light, radiating a certain unique allure.

[Attempting to summon a Herald of Death.]

[Error: Awakening level too low... Attempt failed.]

[Retrying.]

[A Herald of Death.has responded to Dormant Chaos.]

[Error: Awakening level too low... Attempt failed.]

[Final attempt.]

[...]

[Attempt successful!]

[You have successfully summoned a Herald of Death]

The light around One-Eyed Winter faded, revealing an entirely different being.

Its fur was no longer white but the color of the night sky—dark yet radiant.

Its body had grown larger and more muscular, and around its head was a mane like a lion's, shimmering with a violet lightning hue, giving off a brilliant glow.

Its eyes were still golden, but they now emitted a moving light that instilled awe and fear—a misty and eerie glow, yet its presence was overwhelming and terrifying.

[Please choose a name for it.]

"Vorak."

After a moment of thought, Daniel chose the name.

[Name Vorak selected.]

[His panel is now complete. Would you like to view his panel?]

Before he could look at the notification, Vorak bowed respectfully before him.

"I have seen my Lord."