I'm grinding for Marvel attributes

Chapter 255 The Beneficiary of Ragnarok, the True Form of the Shadow God

"You've lost your memory? How could that be? Has your injury worsened?"

Upon hearing that Russell had lost most of his memories, the female shadow god asked with concern.

"Uh... I think so."

Russell, taking advantage of the situation, followed the lead of the woman who had given him the "friend zone" treatment and continued to probe.

"My injuries have never healed since that incident, and they have even continued to worsen."

"How pathetic." The female shadow goddess gave Russell a complicated look.

Most of it was pity, mixed with a little fear.

"Could it be that your injuries were too severe, and you didn't absorb enough energy while you were asleep?"

How about this, you stay awake and don't fall asleep. When the energy tide arrives, we'll intercept it together and give it to you.

"Prioritize absorbing energy to see if you can stop the injury from worsening."

The other four Shadow Gods also offered words of comfort and automatically imagined how to help Russell.

Throughout the entire ordeal, they seemed to have no doubt about Russell's identity.

This made Russell even more puzzled.

Surely no one can fall asleep and not be able to tell if there are five people sleeping or six people waking up, right?

Could such a person truly be the mastermind behind Ragnarok?

"Thank you for your kindness, but I feel like I won't live to see the next energy tide; I'm going to die."

Luo Su made a snap decision, disrupting the divine power within her body and feigning that she was too badly injured to control her internal energy.

"How could this happen?"

So, you were dying, and that's why you woke us up to say goodbye.

Upon hearing Russell's words, the five Shadow Gods couldn't help but scan Russell's internal condition.

They found Russell's life force to be broken and dire, like a candle flickering in the wind, and their spirits plummeted.

For a moment, everyone was immersed in sadness and fell silent.

This surprised Russell even more.

These shadow gods couldn't even tell that there was one more person, which shows that they weren't familiar with each other.

They had absolutely no memory of Russell.

Why would someone be so saddened by their impending death?

"Why don't you absorb some of my primordial energy first?"

A moment later, a female voice broke the silence.

It was Russell who gave me the good guy card, that woman's shadow god.

"No!"

Before Russell could react, the other four Shadow Gods loudly rebuked and stopped this behavior.

"Although this might cause him to fall into demonic ways, it's better than death."

The female shadow goddess retorted to her companions, her gaze sweeping over the group as she said with a forlorn expression.

"We can't afford to lose any more of our people."

After she finished speaking, the four Shadow Gods had nothing to say and could only acquiesce to what the female Shadow God had done.

Only the shadow god, who sat in the middle while asleep, the tallest and most imposing figure, looked at Russell and gave him instructions.

"The divine essence is both beeswax and poison. Hold fast to your mind and never let it influence you."

"Okay, I will."

Russell paused for a moment, then said somewhat gravely.

He gleaned from the few words spoken by these five shadow gods.

These five should be from the same race, a race of gods.

Furthermore, this race must have already declined, with few members remaining or even losing their newborns.

Otherwise, the female shadow goddess wouldn't have said something like, "We can't afford to lose any more of our people."

"bring it on."

The female shadow goddess extended her hand, gesturing to Russell.

Russell: What does this mean? A ritual before absorbing energy? A hand-kissing ceremony?

He considered imitating a medieval knight, but abandoned the idea after glancing at the female shadow goddess.

This ancient shadow god was a beautiful and great goddess in her race.

But he only saw the size; he couldn't appreciate the beauty.

These are cultural and aesthetic differences brought about by countless years of history.

Just as Russell hesitated, unsure of what to do next, a voice rang out.

"It's here! It's here! The energy tide is coming!"

Another female shadow goddess pointed in a direction and exclaimed in surprise.

Has Ragnarok ended in some universe?

Although it was somewhat coincidental, it's not surprising in terms of probability.

In recent years, Russell has marked hundreds of thousands of universes that may experience Ragnarok.

On average, there are hundreds of such occurrences every day.

Following the direction she was pointing, Russell saw a massive surge of energy flowing down the World Tree's trunk.

These energies are not what he marked!

"Quick! Let's attack together."

As soon as they finished speaking, the group opened their mouths wide and began to suck in the energy flowing through the branches of the World Tree.

The massive energy flow split into five smaller tributaries, which flowed into the mouths of several people.

Using your mouth? How uncouth!

After making his comments, Russell also started absorbing energy in the same way they did.

When absorbing energy, Russell observed carefully and found that the rate at which energy was lost from the branches of the World Tree was greater than the rate at which several people absorbed it.

Besides the six of them, there was something else absorbing this energy.

And this thing seems to be... the World Tree itself?

Russell vaguely sensed that the World Tree's branches had grown slightly stronger where the energy was flowing.

A moment later, a massive flow of energy passed by, the energy stream disappeared, and the group stopped sucking.

"Would it break the rules if we proactively take on this?"

"Never mind, it's all for saving them."

Bertrand Russell.

"In order to save Russell, we need to be flexible."

Russell, we didn't absorb this energy. Try absorbing it yourself and see if it can stop the injury from worsening.

The tall, imposing Shadow God spoke in a deep voice.

His eyes and mouth/nose gathered energy, illuminating a pale white light.

Energy has no distinction between good and bad, clean and clean!

Bertrand Russell always treated everyone equally.

"No need."

He secretly transformed the divine power within his body into various forms of mixed energy, and as he reached out, a ball of mixed energy appeared.

"Energy tides are no longer useful to me; I cannot convert their energy into primordial energy."

Why?

The imposing shadow god was incredulous, dazed and disoriented.

"Why can't it be converted?"

"Let me do it."

The female shadow goddess said in a deep voice, drawing her sharp blade as if to cut off her own left hand.

"Wait a moment."

Russell realized what was happening and stopped her.

He figured it out.

Good heavens, these shadow gods are really ancient.

It doesn't just absorb the World Tree's energy by sucking it in with its mouth.

This absorption of the original energy of one's own kind also involves eating a portion of the body raw with one's mouth.

"I've made up my mind, maybe this is my destiny."

My life is already as fragile as a candle flickering in the wind; I cannot sacrifice you as well.

Bertrand Russell said with deep emotion,

"My people, my companions."

I have no regrets if I can see you all one last time in the final moments of my life.

I only hope you won't resent me for disturbing your slumber.

"Russell, don't give up, there must be a way," the female shadow god advised.

Russell looked at her, met her gaze for a few seconds, and then looked at the others. His gaze lingered on each of them for a few seconds.

"My only regret is that I lost my memory and forgot too many things."

Can you tell me your names?

"Nice, my name is Nice."

The woman in shadow who gave Russell the "friend card" spoke first, followed by the others who also gave their names.

Russell made a mental note of it, intending to look it up when he got back.

"Nice, can you tell me about the past? About the rise and fall of our race. I don't want to die knowing nothing."

"Okay, but I don't know much either," Nice said softly.

A story about the Shadow God race was told to her in detail.

Countless ages ago, they were born on a strange and magnificent planet.

They are born powerful, born as gods, and control all kinds of natural forces.

A flawless version after careful inspection!

They lived carefree on that primitive planet for a long time.

Until a member of his tribe named Seth discovered that consuming other members of his tribe could enhance his own power.

"Set? The serpent god Set. The god of shadows is the ancient god of Earth?"

Russell had a flash of inspiration. He remained calm and continued listening to Nice's story.

A terrifying war known as the God Eaters broke out, and the gods began to fight each other.

Some deities who were unwilling to devour their own kind banded together to resist the attack.

They split into two camps, with the conservative gods initially holding the upper hand.

But as time went on, the situation gradually shifted in favor of the devouring faction.

After devouring their own kind, they became demons, dominated by power, but they also grew stronger.

The most outstanding among them gained power far exceeding that of other deities.

As a result, the races that were once scattered across the planet and began to venture into the stars rapidly declined.

"Later, the Earth Goddess Gaia found the Creator, and together they gave birth to Atum. Under Atum's leadership, the conservatives reversed the situation."

When Atum destroyed those gods who had fallen into demonic ways, he absorbed their life energy and also fell into demonic ways.

A more powerful and evil demon than them—the God Eater.

Under the threat of the God Eaters, almost all the gods fled the real universe.

The God Eater War has thus come to an end.

"And then what happened?" Russell asked. "How did we get here after the God Eater War ended?"

"This is the Creator's arrangement."

To prevent any more gods from falling into depravity and embarking on the path of devouring their own kind for evolution, the Creator scattered us, each residing in a separate dimension.

No one is allowed to leave without his permission.

"Is this imprisonment?" Russell asked.

"No, this is a blessing."

Nais refuted Russell's statement.

"If it weren't for the protection of the Creator, we would have been killed by Atum long ago."

If we accept the Creator's protection, we must accept His conditions.

Moreover, the Creator allowed us to absorb the energy of the World Tree in order to cleanse us of the demonic nature within us.

Bertrand Russell, we should give thanks to the Creator.

Nice spoke with a devout tone, like a faithful believer addressing a deity.

However, her words sent a chill down Russell's spine.

Who needs to cleanse themselves of their demonic nature?

Judging from their adorable appearance and their caring attitude towards their fellow tribesmen, Russell initially thought the five were conservatives.

Unexpectedly, they turned out to be the Devouring Faction.

Moreover, as members of the devouring faction, they were brainwashed into becoming a fraternal faction even more conservative than the conservatives.

Could the energy of Ragnarok have been tampered with?

"Nice, are you sure your memory is correct?" Russell couldn't help but ask.

"When you wash away the demonic nature, you also wash away some memories and powers; this is a normal phenomenon."

Nice didn't care.

"Russell, you have suffered severe memory loss and your injuries have worsened."

"Perhaps it's because you devoured too many of your own kind, erasing too many of their memories and power."

Russell nodded thoughtfully.

He now suspects that these energies, in addition to erasing memories and strength, also erase intelligence.

And he was certain that these shadow gods were not the masterminds behind Ragnarok.

At most, in some multiverses, they think they are the masterminds behind everything.

Creator? And who are you, God?

Having figured out the details of these shadow gods, Russell prepared to leave.

He made an excuse that he was dying and wanted to go back to his hometown to see it.

The five men stopped him, saying that it was against the Creator's command.

If they insist on leaving and are discovered by the Creator, they will also be punished.

Upon hearing this, Russell fell silent again.

It turns out that it wasn't just imprisonment, but also collective punishment.

"Alright, even if I can't see my hometown one last time before I die, and I pass away with regrets, I can't let you all suffer as a result."

Goodbye, my brothers and sisters.

Russell sighed deeply, bid a heartfelt farewell, and closed his eyes, as if resigning himself to his fate.

Before the others could stop him, a faint white light appeared, and he vanished into specks of light.

Afterward, the shimmering white of the shadow dimension faded, and it was once again occupied by black and white.

"So, it was because you were about to pass away that this world turned a pristine white, Bertrand Russell?"

Nice stared blankly at the spot where Russell had vanished, and murmured...

"Another member of our race has passed away. I wonder how many of our kind are left in this universe."

She sighed and looked at the throne left by Russell.

After hesitating for a moment, he walked over, sat down, and buried his head in his sleep for the next period of time.

"Is there something wrong with our memories? Russell, have you discovered something?"

Also, I have absolutely no memory of you, so why do I feel so close to you?

Throughout the entire ordeal, Nice never doubted Russell's identity, stemming from an inexplicable sense of familiarity with Russell.

It was as if he were the most familiar stranger to her.

Therefore, the others did not suspect Russell's identity.

My head hurts.

After leaving the shadow dimension, Russell only felt a headache coming on.

Every time he thought he had discovered the person behind the World Tree and was about to take action.

Further investigation revealed that the person behind this was someone else entirely.

Like a nested doll, it's layered inside another, not neat and tidy at all.

Moreover, each new discovery disrupted his original plans.

His original intention was to convert the Ragnarok energy pool, corrupt the person behind Ragnarok, and take them down without bloodshed.

However, it now appears that the Shadow Gods, who absorbed the energy of Ragnarok, were not the true masterminds behind Ragnarok.

At most, they were merely beneficiaries of Ragnarok, and they only absorbed a small portion of Ragnarok's energy.

The World Tree itself absorbed the majority of Ragnarok's energy.

Although the changes were extremely minor, Russell still made the discovery.

Where the energy of Ragnarok flowed, the World Tree's branches grew thicker.

According to conspiracy theories, the biggest beneficiary of an event is the mastermind behind it.

The World Tree benefits the most from this.

It is the most suspicious.

But what role did the Creator play in all of this?

What is he trying to do by using the energy of Ragnarok?

Is it simply a matter of washing away the demonic nature of the fallen ancient gods?

The more Russell pondered, the more puzzled he became.

He still has too little information to piece together the truth.

(End of this chapter)