< Ding! You have killed a Tier 7 Terror Mutant known as Mistshround, the Vampire snake >
As soon as Karsha's soul returned to his body, the kill confirmation ssage appeared. It had all happened in under ten minutes. Karsha had planned to kill the snake with one precise strike, using the latest addition to his Fire Beam skill, the One Slash Kill. However, he hadn't expected the snake to be so cunning. When he was trapped in Shadowcoil's soul space, Karsha panicked for just a few seconds.
He had almost forgotten about his recently acquired mask. The mask was indeed mysterious. Karsha had never studied it, but sohow, at that very mont, he knew he could use it. He had considered trapping the snake's soul in his amulet, but since he hadn't really experinted with that, he decided to use the mask instead.
It's always advisable to use your strongest move in situations beyond your control.
If he had tried using the amulet and it had failed, his soul would have been exterminated before he could blink. So using the mask was the optimal solution to his sudden problem.
Imdiately after he finished absorbing the soul of the Overlord, a new window appeared for the mask. The details, of course, left Karsha in a state of shock.
< Mask of Malevolence >
Rank: Spiritual Grade
Current Level: Level 1
Abilities: 2/7
Trial: 0/7
-- The Mask Of Malevolence Has accepted a Master. Feed it and watch as it blossoms to beco one of the most feared weapons in existence.
Requirent to Level up. Level up to unlock all the features of the mask.
Soul: 1/10,000
Fear: 0/10,000
Nightmare: 0/10,000
[Note: If any of these three is captured without using the mask. the count obtained will be halfed]
The mask, already terrifying, had now beco a weapon that could be leveled up. But that wasn't the most terrifying part. After using the mask, Karsha could feel his third eye and the Demon Gaze linking to it. He could also feel both his third eye and the Demon Gaze growing stronger after absorbing the soul of the Overlord.
At the mont, Karsha could only use the first two abilities of the mask: [Hellish Vision] and [Malevolent Gaze]. Hellish Vision allowed him to see in the darkness and perceive hidden threats and evil. However, all this would be seen through the twisted eye of Zalgorath, sothing Karsha wasn't ready for just yet.
The second ability was more imdiately useful: those who t his gaze would be struck with paralyzing fear, their minds plagued with nightmarish visions full of dread.
It's an evil ability but invaluable for soone like Karsha, who was bound to clash with powerful foes. However, neither of these two abilities ntioned anything about absorbing souls, which ant there were many functions of the mask that remained undiscovered. This ant Karsha could now level up the mask and potentially unlock more abilities.
The only limitation was that he could absorb souls from Tier 5 upwards, but he didn't yet know the upper limit. Absorbing the soul of a Sage might be disastrous, so for now, Karsha knew he had to proceed cautiously. When the ti to be bold and ruthless ca, the mask would be ready.
"I need to study this mask well. It might just save my life one day—again," Karsha muttered before turning to the huge body of the snake. He picked up the core as usual and climbed on top of the snake. He then summoned the shadow guards, who appeared to be gasping for air. Clearly, they were either in battle or retreating before Karsha summoned them.
"That was fast," Kilian was the first to notice the snake and Karsha, who was comfortably sitting on top of its head.
"Well, I had to speed things up a bit," Karsha replied nonchalantly. At this point, the shadow guards were no longer surprised by the extraordinary feats Karsha had been pulling off for the past six days. They just brushed it off and went about their business.
He then accessed the system ssage about the Phoenix Blood.
[ Phoenix Blood ]
Rank: Sage
-- A drop of blood from a Phoenix said to contain the purest form of Fire. Absorbing it will enhance all fire-type abilities and skills. Also, you will gain the aura and fierceness of a phoenix.
"Good stuff, I wonder if I can absorb this," Karsha thought. He had been consuming the blood of Overlords, but they were all King Grade. Consumable blood essence cos in different grades or ranks: Common, King, Saint, Sage, etc. Based on this chart, Karsha hadn't absorbed anything past the King grade yet.
The blood of a Phoenix was many tis stronger than that of the Overlords. Absorbing it now was sothing he knew he wasn't ready for. However, not absorbing it ant he would face his next opponents, who were all formidable, without an essential boost.
From what Shadowcoil had said, he would have to be at his best when facing the last three Overlords. Absorbing the Phoenix's blood seed like the way out, but the danger was too great in this situation. After weighing his options, Karsha decided against it and decided to move on for now. However, the system had other plans to solve Karsha's little crisis.
< The host can absorb the blood, but at the host's current strength, only 5% can be absorbed. The rest will be stored for later use. As your strength grows, you can absorb the rest bit by bit. >
"Wonderful," Karsha's face lit up when he saw the ssage. He never liked the idea of postponing the absorption of sothing so valuable. The blood was Sage grade, and absorbing it would not only boost his fire abilities but also enhance his already powerful body.
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Although phoenixes can't compare to dragons in physical strength, they are still considered one of the strongest races of Beasts in existence. Karsha getting his hands on a drop of phoenix blood ant he had acquired sothing incredibly valuable.
"Are you guys done?" Karsha asked his guards.
"Just one more sac," Dhaka responded.
"Alright, once we finish here, we'll head back to the Waterfall. I need to spend a few days in cultivation before we continue the hunt."
After instructing them, he absorbed the core and consumable blood of Shadowcoil. The pain was non-existent to him now, so absorbing the blood had beco routine. To his surprise, the system awarded him another legendary longsword. It wasn't flashy, but it was better than nothing, so he kept it.
Now, he had four swords, with his strongest being [Call of the Fla]. With his skills growing stronger by the second, acquiring more swords seed ideal. The system could only offer up to Legendary grade since it was still Version 2.0. Once it upgraded to Version 3.0, he could start getting Earth and Heaven-grade weapons and maybe even Pseudo-Divine Grade.
The avatar he received this ti was a Terror Mutant. However, this Mutant could speak and could take on a human form, just like Ayarr and the others. Its humanoid form wasn't as detailed as the Purple Tail Anaconda, but according to the system, it could transform into a type of human called ShadowHuman. They weren't real humans, nor were they real shadows.
This ant it couldn't blend in with humans. But Karsha was satisfied. At least with its shadow and soul abilities, his chances of absorbing more souls had increased. And with the ability to level up and break through to the next Tiers, Karsha knew it would only get stronger over ti. The only downside was that it would forever remain a Terror Mutant.
Although the Terror Mutant is powerful now, it will struggle against those higher in class. But Karsha didn't plan on using it for fights. He needed soone who could sneak around, and ShadowCoil fit that profile. If it beca useless in the future, he could always give it to soone else.
"We're done with the last one," Dhaka's voice broke Karsha's thoughts, prompting him to jump down. He stored the three huge sacs of venom along with the snake's body. His riches piled up with each kill. Right now, he had millions, if not billions, of spirit coins lying inside his space ring in the form of monster bodies.
Hando, the man he sold his first batch of monster bodies to, would go bananas once he saw the new load of bodies Karsha would be bringing along.
"We still have 13 days to go. I'll be using the next three to five days to cultivate, so use that ti to master your skills, especially the ones I gave you. The last three Overlords are the strongest yet. I hope you all rember how it went when we were there last ti," Karsha said as they flew toward the waterfall.
"It won't be like the last seven, so be prepared. It's going to be dangerous," he continued. The shadow guards nodded in response. The next battle would be against Thundercoil, the lord of thunder. It was incredibly powerful, and from what Karsha saw in the Book of Annihilation, the last three Overlords were the reason he was sent to the island.
At this point, Karsha knew he wasn't on the island by coincidence. A lot had happened, and his perspective had broadened. He could see things more clearly now. From what the Book of Annihilation had written about Thundercoil, Crystalisk, and Abyssal Leviathan, he knew he had yet to face the real challenge. The last seven Overlords were just a warm-up.
The real battles would be against Thundercoil, Crystalisk, and Leviathan. Could he really handle them? That would depend on his abilities, his gains from the last seven battles, and his quick trip to the Red Planet. If he failed, he would die. If he succeeded, he would break the curse on the island for good.
"I will kill them, every last one of them..." Karsha vowed to himself.
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