Eden knew that some Players were fixated on remaining human at all costs, but Eden could not care less. Even all the way back when he had gotten Sukuna's fingers, Eden would have adopted Sukuna's four-armed form if he had not had to surrender his soul for it.
And the form of a Solar was an objectively better form than his old human form. It better be too.
After all, to access the Sword of Zariel, one required the key to Abraxax's demiplane, and for that, one needed to go to the Forbidden Layer, escape from it, and also master spatial magic. Eden actually suspected it to be the true reward for going through all that, the one intended by the system.
And again, it did not disappoint. Simply physically speaking, Eden was now three meters tall, had wings, and more importantly, he could feel that he should be stronger. His Binding Vow, which limited his attributes to 49, had blocked a large amount of power from the metamorphosis.
Had it not been for his Binding Vow, Eden would have promoted into Tier II, and probably quite high as well. He was even starting to experience some mild discomfort as he accumulated power in this sealed form, but he only had to hold out until the end of this mission.
Then, there were the Perks. He had lost Timeless Body, but he had gained so much more.
[Truesight: Peer into the invisible, discerning things as they actually are, seeing past any magical disguises.]
[Divine Presence: All beings find you naturally attractive and are more likely to trust you. Effects amplified on those who worship the divine.]
[Immortality: Your lifespan is infinite, and you no longer age.]
[Golden Tongue: You can naturally comprehend all languages, and be comprehended by all.]
[Telepathy: You can communicate telepathically with any being within 40 meters.]
[Outsider Physiology: You no longer require to sleep, eat, or drink. You are also capable of recovering from any non-fatal injury.]
Immortality had completely replaced Timeless Body, because it was objectively better.
Honestly, a lot of it was things he could already replicate through spells, and that had now become permanent. The perks themselves did not represent any kind of leap in his attributes, and if anything, only made things more convenient for Eden. He no longer would have to care about periodically casting True Sight or Comprehend Language.
Even Outsider Physiology, with its ability to make him recover from any injury, seemed nice; in reality, Reverse Cursed Technique could do it too.
Granted, Eden had still not learned it yet, something that had been gnawing at him for years. At first, he thought it was because of the lack of challenges, as he never got life and death scenarios, so he had tried to forcefully create them, but it never worked.
It had gotten to the point that he had started fearing he was failing to learn it because he was losing his mind. But he felt sane. Sane-ish.
Anyway, delusions aside, the best aspects of this transformation for Eden were the physical changes, Divine Presence, and his two new Immunities to Poison and Radiant damage.
The Sword of Zariel had unfortunately been destroyed when he plundered its power, but it did not matter to him. The weapon was good, especially against Fiends and Undeads, but the transformation was far better, be it in the short or long run.
Exiting the demiplane, only a few seconds had passed in the outside world, and with the sword taken care of, Eden had a few things to do.
Eden's Main Mission was to defeat the Absolute, but that was about in the last place in his list of priorities. Even if powered by the Crown of Karsus, the Absolute, or Netherbrain, was of absolutely no threat to Eden.
As an Elder Brain, even one that had evolved, it relied on two means of attack: Psychic Damage and the domination of beings.
Eden was immune to psychic damage, and anything the Netherbrain could control, Eden could kill. Honestly, there was little Eden could not kill at this point.
On the other end of his list of priorities, at the very top, was killing the Dead Three.
But if there was one thing that Eden's time in the Abyss had taught him, it was that arrogance and pride were his worst traits. It was what had gotten him there in the first place, after all. So, he needed allies to take them down. The party would not be enough, as even if they reached Tier II and the equivalent of Level 20, Eden needed allies on the level of Elminster to take down Gods.
Maybe he could stand against them by himself, but again, his arrogance should be reined in to leave room for caution.
Then, there were also the Players, who were certainly up to no good. They all had nine months to prepare, and the party was not about to face the Absolute just yet, so they would probably bring their fair share of trouble also.
Of course, Eden did not fear the Players themselves. Even if they all banded together, a single cast of his Domain Expansion was all Eden would need to kill them. And even then, it would be overkill. What made the Players dangerous was the influence they could have on the world.
He himself was the best example. Back in Pirates of the Caribbean, Eden had been weaker than many of the Players, but he ended up taking out many of them by summoning Mictlantecuhtli.
So, Eden needed to find allies. Or subordinates. And he just happened to be in the best place for that: the Abyss. To become the Demon King, he needed to make them accept his claim to the title of Demon King, and at the moment, a few hundred demons were challenging him.
But realistically, he would only need to bring the strongest to heel for the others to fold. While Demons were notoriously hard to reason with, they were not mad like those on the Forgotten Layer. Most of them anyway.
Besides, Eden did not care much about becoming Demon King; he wanted strong allies before anything else, so he would have to meet the strongest demon lords anyway.
All Demon Lords were powerful, with the weakest being around a Balor level, and the strongest being the current Prince of Demons, the Demogorgon.
Eden had not learned the complete list of Demon Lords before coming to this world, seeing no point to it, so he decided he might as well go through the Abyss layer by layer.
Since he did not need to sleep and could recover in essentially an instant with his demiplanes that had their time accelerated by 666, going through all 664 Layers of the Abyss should not take him too long, and like that, he would not miss out on any interesting demons.
To someone who had spent the last five hundred years in what had essentially been a constant battle, a month or two was inconsequential.
So, Eden teleported to the next layer, where he could feel a strong presence.
He appeared in a red sky, his wings keeping him afloat easily. Although he flew with the help of wings, they were not cumbersome in the slightest, and to Eden, who had already been flying for hundreds of years, they felt completely natural.
Flying was as natural as walking by this point.
Below him was a seemingly infinite expanse of vermin-infested land, with veritable oceans of thick, black resin parsing it. If there had ever been any civilization there, it had long been covered by years of infestation.
And inside this land was its Demon Lord, whom Eden teleported a couple hundred meters above.
It was a nightmarish entity, a giant scorpion-like creature with three massive stingers, though they were in a reverse position. Its body was covered in a chitinous armor, and its other end was set with three humanoid heads. The moment Eden appeared, it looked up at him with all six of its red, malicious eyes.
[Name: Obox-Ox]
[Title: Demon Lord of Zionyn, Prince of Vermin, The Primal Chaos]
[Perks: Tier II, Eldritch Strength II, Chaotic Resistance II, Chaos Sea II, Aura of Madness, Magic Resistance II, True Sight, Chaotic Regeneration, Being of Chaos]
[HP: 1840/1840]
[MP: 1470/1470]
[Strength: 95]
[Agility: 25]
[Physique: 80]
[Intelligence: 70]
[Wisdom: 60]
[Immunity: Poison II, Bludgeoning II, Slashing II, Piercing II]
[Resistances: Fire II, Cold II, Lightning II]
[Weaknesses: None]
Its three mouths opened to release a seemingly silent scream, but Eden saw space quiver as a symbol appeared in his mind. It was something so eldritch in nature that it would turn most people mad, but Eden ignored it as he used telepathy on Obox-Ox, conveying, "I'm not here to fight."
All he received back were a set of crazed screams. Telepathy worked by translating intents, so Obox-Ox was deliberately being a bitch by not communicating.
Eden looked down at it and, after a moment, yelled in cathartis, "Rip and Tear, bitch! I cast Avatar of Wrath!"
Eden had brought spatial magic to Tier III, which was 7th Circle, to escape the Forgotten Layer of the Abyss. However, there was another branch of magic, or rather one particular spell, that had reached that height as well.
[Avatar of Wrath (7th Circle): Consume a soul to transform into the Avatar of Wrath. Increase defence by 100 (175), gain Fire Resistance III, Poison Resistance III, Lightning Resistance III and Cold Resistance III. Grants wings, and all physical attacks become magical and deal an additional 250 (370) necrotic or radiant damage while unarmed. Heals the user for 50% of the necrotic damage dealt, or deals 200% the radiant damage in healing deficit for 10 seconds. Damage types chosen when the spell is cast. The effects last for 10 (30) minutes. Cost: 1370 (350) MP.]
A silver spell circle with seven rings around it appeared in front of Eden, and his angelic body turned demonic as his white skin became red, two horns sprouted on his forehead, and his silver eyes now shone red.
The only feature of him that did not change was his feathered wings, which formed quite a contrast with the rest of his body.
As for the spell itself, although most of its attributes had improved, the one that saw the most dramatic rise was the duration, since it now lasted for a full half an hour.
7th Circle magic was definitely inside the realm of the divine in this world, and though it did not exactly grant the power of a god, it was more powerful than anything a mortal could cast, and by far.
Having only managed to bring two spells to the 7th Circle in 500 years might not seem to be much, especially with his increased talent thanks to his Binding Vow, but Eden was using magic a full two Tiers above his own.
Heck, with his current MP, had he not perfectly mastered the spell, he would not even be able to cast it with its humongous cost of 1370. Even mastered, with the gap of two Tiers, the spell still cost him 473 MP, which was over half his MP.
This limit of the 7th Circle was not only due to his MP and Tier, though. In its current form, Avatar of Wrath not only combined the best Transmutation spells Eden knew, but it also now powered itself through souls.
Casting it not only cost Eden 473 MP, but also a full soul. That was not a problem for him, considering he had hundreds of millions of them on him, but that still represented a kind of peak.
Or so he thought, as he had recently uncovered a potential way to bring this spell beyond its current form, and that was the Solar Metamorphosis.
But that was not something he was about to master just yet, even with his Simulacrum studying in the Forgotten Layers' demiplanes. Speaking of which, Eden might have felt guilty at subjecting something to the years of confinement, but his Simulacrum had no feelings.
Anyway, Eden was happy he was finally getting to test the spell, as the demons from the Forgotten Layer hardly represented real opponents by the time he developed the spell.
Eden flew down from the sky instead of teleporting, thus gaining momentum. His face, now demonic, exuded a particular kind of savage cruelty as he transmitted telepathically, "I'll drive my fist so hard up your ass it'll come out of your throat."
Obox-Ox snarled, apparently not immune to insults, and twitched its natural weapons, preparing for the incoming clash. Eden could feel the mad confidence oozing out of it.
But the moment Eden got into its range, he took a sudden turn, his whole body twirling with grace as he dodged the pair of pincers, while three magical shields stopped its stingers.
The shields shattered nearly instantly, but they still allowed Eden to attack first. He slapped his hand against the base of one of the stringers, his finger tracing the gap between two plaques of chitin.
There was hardly any strength behind his hand because of the last-second swerve and odd positioning, but that did not matter as Eden still got to activate a Maximum Output Cleave, which instantly severed the stinger.
Obox-Ox tried to attack Eden, but he was gone just as fast as he had arrived, flying up once more as the swarms of vermin around them also tried to intervene. Not that they would do anything, since Eden's passive defence under the Avatar of Wrath was enough to negate any of their physical attacks, and he was immune to poison.
Magic was not the only thing Eden had worked on, as he had made considerable progress with his Cursed Energy, too. He had not learned Reverse Cursed Technique, and mainly focused on his Domain, but he had still improved on his raw output.
[Dismantle (6th Rank): Launch an invisible slash with a range of 49 meters to deal 380 magical slashing damage. Output: 999 CE.]
[Cleave (6th Rank): Inspect the target and use the exact amount of Cursed Energy required to cut them apart. Must be in contact with the target, deals a max of 495 magical slashing damage. Output: 999 CE.]
999 seemed to be a cap as Eden had been stuck there for quite a while, and he suspected that reaching 1000 output would land him in the realm of 7th Rank. Still, even in this form, it represented the absolute peak of Tier II.
In other words, a Maximum Output Cleave was about the most damage a Tier II attack could deal. Any higher than that would make it to Tier III.
Moreover, while in the Forgotten Layer, Eden's damage had been mostly held back by Tier Suppression, as any attack against Tier II beings was reduced by 25%. Thanks to his Godslayer Perk, though, his attacks were now all considered Tier II for the sake of calculating Tier Suppression.
… now that he thought about it, Eden might have overdone it, activating Avatar of Wrath.
No, scratch that. The sheer thrill of finally getting to use the 7th Circle Avatar of Wrath was worth the MP, even if the opponent was disappointing.
Shaking his head with a smile, Eden pointed down at Obox-Ox with a finger, chanting softly, "I cast Shattering Darkness."
Eden's two favorite spells had always been Fireball and Mists of the Underworld, along with their evolution, and thus stood among the few spells he had brought to the 6th Circle. As a reminder, 5th Circle was the equivalent of 8th and 9th Level spells, 6th Circle was Epic Magic, and 7th Circle was Divine Magic.
Eden had first evolved his two favorite spells to the 4th Circle, with Supreme Fireball and Fog of the Underworld. Then, the 5th Circle evolution was pretty easy to figure out since two spells in Dungeons and Dragons already worked: these were Meteor Swarm and Maddening Darkness.
And now, Eden had devised two more evolutions for the 6th Circle. Shattering Darkness was the evolution of Mists of the Underworld.
[Shattering Darkness (6th Circle): Conjure a cloud of magical darkness with a radius of 50 (75) meters that blocks all forms of sight, including Truesight, and that lasts for 20 (30) minutes. Those standing inside the darkness have all their attributes reduced by 15 (20), their defence by 50 (75), are assaulted by fear and illusory screams, and receive 250 (370) Psychic damage every 10 seconds they stand inside. Cost: 990 (250) MP.]
With the six-ringed spell circle appearing, a giant cloud of pure darkness appeared below Eden, surrounding Obox-Ox. Although Eden himself could not see what was happening inside, he felt many souls attach themselves to him; no doubt the vermin dying the moment the cloud appeared, their minds shattered.
Truesight was only a 4th Circle effect, so Eden's 6th Circle spell, which was a full Tier above, easily blocked it.
Flying down into the cloud, although Eden was blinded as well, the illusory screams were completely blocked, allowing him to hear the chattering of Obox-Ox's armor, helping him locate the Demon Lord.
Eden greeted it with a punch, not only damaging its weakened armor but also burning it with radiant damage, and Cleaving apart what remained.
Obox-Ox tried to fight back, but Eden danced around it with ease, having long learned to fight without sight. It was also where some of his old scars had come from, but now Eden was just as deadly a fighter, blinded or not.
At first, Obox-Ox tried to fight back, but Eden completely dominated it. Yet, he did not kill it. He took his time instead, slowly and methodically tearing it apart. In the end, Obox-Ox even tried to flee, but it was too late.
It died in a thousand pieces exactly.
The moment Obox-Ox died, and its soul became trapped in Eden, something rippled out, and after a few seconds, Eden felt several of the hundreds of the challengers take back their challenge, making him smile. He might not have gotten any worthwhile loot from the fight, but at least it helped towards reaching the Demon King Title.
He still threw its corpse into a demiplane for later, and entered another to recover. To the outside world, he was only gone for a moment, before he came back out, and teleported to the next layer.
Author's Note:
Alright, you guys are awesome, so to thank you for all the comments and reviews, I am dropping another chapter for this week (and the piece of my soul I had to let go of). Next update will be in two days, as usual.
Also, where would you guys want the next mission to take place, considering Eden's current power? Marvel and DC are too high-up, but I've been thinking of Invincible, because Viltrumites are between Peak Tier III and Tier IV.
I've put this within the chapter so you can write paragraph comments, but you can also reply in the regular chapter comments. Curious to hear what you guys think.