Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 242 The Heart Beats Again

Legend has it that Cain was the progenitor of vampires, but in reality, Cain himself was not a vampire, because he was actually a human who was immortal due to a curse.

He created vampires, allowing them to feed on his own offspring; he once pushed the snake-people civilization to the brink of destruction, yet for some unknown reason, he gave up; his attitude towards the demon Satan was ambiguous, both personally participating in the plan to seal Satan, seemingly an enemy of Satan, yet after sealing Satan, he watched the statue circulate in the world, and even when Satan was about to break free of the seal, he merely acted casually, seemingly without any strong hostile intentions.

There are many contradictions in him, but perhaps... these are never contradictory at all.

……

Reality has returned.

Its body was boiling, and the reason for the boiling was the hand that was tightly gripping its ankle. That hand was greedily sucking its blood, and the endless stream of divine blood was being stolen by a despicable thief.

Its power is immense, unbelievably so, but it also has a very subtle weakness.

Divine Blood.

Worldly power is utterly incapable of supporting the heart; its strength rests entirely on this body imbued with divine blood. Because it possesses divine blood, it can withstand even such immense power, but what if the divine blood were to disappear?

Therefore, the fragile human body would be unable to withstand such immense power and will, and would collapse on its own.

In an instant, it seemed as if everything was connected.

Perhaps long ago, that tiny obsession joined forces with Cain, and they had been waiting for an opportunity, which they finally got.

But... is that really enough?
Feeling his own power constantly draining away, even facing the possibility of unexpected failure, he laughed instead of getting angry.

"Is that all the little insect's struggle is?!"

He kicked Cain hard on the ground.

Even though the divine blood within him was being constantly plundered, the owner of the voice was confident enough that in just a millisecond, or even less, Cain, who had reverted to a mortal, would die by his hand.

At this moment, Cain was on the verge of death, and all his strength was being used to extract the divine blood from the figure as much as possible. He had no strength left to defend himself.

Even with that persistent effort, a sliver of opportunity was barely found, and victory seemed within reach. But faced with overwhelming power, everything seemed destined to end. The strong are strong, and the weak are weak; how can an insect overturn an elephant?
but……

"Crack!"

The large foot that was being raised crashed into an obstacle that shouldn't have been there.

"I wasn't planning to make a move, but you've pushed me too far, so I have no choice. I'm just trying to protect myself."

An old, strange voice rang out. The language spoken by this voice was not any language in the world today, but the long-lost language of Atlantis, but the two people present happened to be able to understand it.

Looking at what was blocking his way, deep surprise was revealed in his vertical pupils.

Before its powerful, heavy feet, a small, scaly fish blocked its path with its body. This fish was so small that it wouldn't even be considered an ornamental fish, but its pupils held a certain human-like world-weariness and cunning.

……

Let's go back to 1518.

"There are many gods in the world, but the ancient god who still remains in this abandoned world... is perhaps only you."

In the ancient temple, the once glorious statues and decorations have vanished, leaving only ruins and puddles of water everywhere. Before one of these puddles, the old man bowed down.

It was a very strange scene. There were only some aquatic plants and small fish in the pool, but the old man's attitude was extremely solemn, as if he were paying homage to a deity.

The pool remained unchanged, and the little fish swam around obliviously, but the old man simply continued to bow his head and bend over, for a long while.

"Although it's been a long time and I've had contact with you a few times, I still can't understand why your human desires are so strong. You want to reproduce, acquire knowledge, and gain power. Why can't you just sleep soundly like me, and then eat some seaweed when you wake up? Wouldn't that be much better?"

Suddenly, an aged voice rang out.

Beside the pool, a tiny fish surfaced, its lips opening and closing, its pupils showing a hint of helplessness. The fish in the pool were already quite small, but this one was exceptionally small even among its own kind.

However, this seemingly insignificant little fish may be one of the few remaining powerful creatures from the mythical era.

This little fish was so inconspicuous that almost no one knew of its existence since the time of mythology, but a very few intelligent species accidentally came into contact with it and thus left records.

"The leisurely life of the gods is not something that we mortals can enjoy. We are subject to birth, aging, sickness, and death, and naturally we can only struggle for these things."

The small compliment didn't elicit a response from the fish; it simply shook its head.

“I already know your wish, and I would like to help you, since if it were to awaken, the world would be destroyed. But that’s impossible, human. You can’t understand its power, and it’s impossible to stop it.”

"You don't need to confront it head-on; we just hope you can make a move at the most crucial moment."

The old man bent down and pleaded in a humble voice.

Beside the pond, small fish were blowing bubbles, their pupils seemingly deep in thought.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Please wait for me for five hundred years..."

...His vertical pupils were filled with rage, looking ferocious and terrifying.

"Just a few tiny insects... just a few tiny insects!"

With a furious roar, a large hand, shaped like a knife, suddenly fell.

Without any hesitation, the previously enigmatic little fish instantly tore open a spatial rift and escaped.

It took a lot of courage and risk to just come here.

No one knew better than it how terrifying this thing was. If it hadn't realized that it probably wouldn't be able to eat seaweed and sleep anymore when it woke up, it wouldn't have planned to fight it and would have just stayed as far away as possible.

That kick was already too much for it; let the human handle the rest.

With the little fish gone, the target of the chop naturally became Cain on the ground, but...

"It's too late."

A deep male voice rang out.

Before the upright snake eyes, a large hand suddenly appeared, gripping the hand blade tightly. Its strength was so great that it even subtly forced the hand to retreat.

The snake's pupils stood upright, while the human pupils were round. The two pairs of pupils stared at each other, one filled with rage, the other with awe-inspiring fearlessness.

Although it only delayed him for a few more moments, those moments were enough for Cain to seize a sufficient amount of divine blood. At this moment, one-third of the divine blood on the figure's body had been taken away, and the divine blood body that served as the basis of his power was in trouble; the originally flawless power was no longer perfect.

Looking into those eyes, the figure felt a deep unease.

It wasn't just because of the stolen divine blood. Divine blood itself doesn't mean anything. Even if Cain stole the divine blood, he couldn't use it. He only needed two-thirds of the divine blood to maintain his power. Although it was somewhat dangerous, it didn't matter.

But it's too much of a coincidence, it's just too much of a coincidence.

That obsession unexpectedly clouded its senses, and the fish blocked its way again in a pinch. It all seemed too coincidental, and it vaguely felt as if it had fallen into a huge trap.

Its vigilance surged, and without further hesitation, it roared.

"All things should obey my will; time, stand still!"

In an instant, time seemed to slow down.

The scorching hot wind, the surging lava, the changing light and shadow, and everything tangible and intangible gradually came to a standstill.

Having simultaneously possessed the power of both God and Orochi, the figure's power had reached an unbelievable level. This power differed from that of God and Orochi; it seemed to be a more perfect power than even the two original beings. At least in the past, while its power was formidable, it couldn't possibly have shattered stars with a mere glance.

Regardless of its physical strength, although its power in the past surpassed that of the stars countless times, that power originated from its own powerful body. But this power, which simultaneously gathers the power of gods and demons, can manipulate all things at will without any sense of stagnation.

The wind is like this, thunder is like this, the sky and the earth are like this, and even stars, black holes, spacetime thermal energy, and the four fundamental forces are like this.

Will can transcend this material world. This universe, spanning trillions of light-years, is vast, yet it too must submit to the dominion of this ancient will.

If the universe is like this, how much more so a mortal?

Before the figure, the mangled human also slowed down along with the slowing of all things, eventually coming to a standstill.

His pupils were still filled with an indomitable fearlessness, and his hand was clenched into a fist, as if he were about to deliver a fatal blow to his opponent. But it was all over. What bound him was not only his own body, but also the four fundamental forces, the structure of spacetime, and even the entire static universe.

Everything has chosen stillness. If you want to move in this still universe, then bring out the power to fight against the entire universe.

The corners of his mouth curled up.

As expected, victory ultimately belonged to it.

But in the next instant, to its astonishment, the fist suddenly moved, aimed at its face, and slammed into it.

"Click..."

First came the pain, an unprecedented pain. This mortal body possessed healthy muscle structure and a nerve transmission system, and the excruciating pain from his cheek was faithfully transmitted to his consciousness. Then came a wave of dizziness, and a sensation as if something was twisting inside his mouth. Even though the world had stopped, he could almost hear the sound of his teeth breaking.

This time, it was injured and lost even more divine blood.

"Impossible...it can't be like this..."

How could this be? How could anyone move around in this static world?
But it seems to have forgotten that someone else did this long ago...

"Even if you can command everything to stand still, there is one thing you cannot command, and it always has been... You have never been able to command it, because you are a heartless monster."

The voice sounded.

In his ear, he could vaguely hear the voice coming from the body opposite him.

"Thump...thump..."

That was the sound of the heart beating again, awakened by its own hand.

(End of this chapter)