Chapter 272: Losing Something For More Of Something Greater
...…
"...Yes, make me more powerful. Whatever the cost, I will pay it."
*Ding!* *Affirmative! Your Power will be increased by leaps and bounds, but at the cost of increased passive pain!*
*Ding!* *If your Battle Power ends up crossing over into the Qausar Lord Realm, you will also start to lose the motor functions of one of your ears. As your power progresses further, you will begin to go deaf…*
*Do you still wish to continue with the transference and evolution of all your Traits into the Singularity Trait?*
"Yes, whatever the cost, do it."
Azmodeus's devilish voice echoed through all of existence as his intent was made known.
WAAAAA!
His body immediately entered a cocoon-like state as a starry weaving of the Laws encapsulated his existence. It separated him from all the infinite possible timelines of the Starry Expanse, making him virtually invisible to all prying eyes.
As his mind faded into his subconscious, a few more system notifications rang out inside his head.
BLING!
*Ding!* *You have killed a number of existences and acquired all the loot that they could provide. This has caused your Loot God Nourishment Rate to spike up past 1%, directly achieving a firm hold on 1.3%.*
*Your body will now undergo a racial evolution, and your basic attributes will drastically increase by the end. Furthermore, you will gain a random Racial Trait of the Loot God Race. On top of that, your physical appearance will be altered in a way that better suits the qualities of a Loot God.*
*Your pain will increase, your emotions will veer even further from what is deemed 'human', and you will lose more motor functions over your left ear. Over time, you will undoubtedly go deaf in this ear…*
*The Price of Infinite Evolution is a steep one… You have already reached a point where there is no turning back… But for those who walk the Path of Infinity, one either falls from the heavens or rides the stars to what lies beyond. Where you end up… Well, that is for you to decide…*
Beep…
The Infinite Evolution System went into a mode of stagnation, waiting for its host to take one step closer to Infinity.
…
After an unknown number of years passed, a cocoon on the verge of fading out of reality started to crack. The cracks spread throughout its exterior, eventually reaching the very center of the cocoon, and…
CRACKA-BOOOOOM!
A loud, ear-deafening explosion reverberated throughout the void of space as an existence that was assumed to have died a billion years ago started to awaken.
Azmodeus opened one of his eyelids, and then the other. Before long, he was leaning up from his shattered cocoon, scrutinizing his surroundings with a hawk-like gaze.
"It seems like the world has once again forgotten about my existence… However, unlike the last time, there is no one waiting for me to return."
A saddened feeling passed through his immensely powerful crimson aura before vanishing into the wind. It came and went in the blink of an eye, not permitting its host to even understand what it was that washed over him.
"My ear…"
Azmodeus put his hand to his ear and realized that he could no longer hear as well out of that one. It was this realization that put the last notifications from the system into perspective for him…
"The Path to Infinity… It is one that requires the participants to pay whatever price is necessary. Whether that be the price of pain, appendages, emotions, or even companions… For Infinity, the price is a steep one."
Azmodeus recalled the numerous warnings made by the system, all telling him to think carefully about his path forward. Even though it did not tell him that it might come at the cost of those close to him, he should've been able to infer that himself.
And he did, in fact, expect such a scenario to occur. It was just that one part of him refused to accept such a thing coming to pass. A part of him that he didn't even know he possessed…
In spite of all these complicated thoughts swirling around inside Azmodeus's head, he still had a few things to check over. So that's exactly what he did.
"My arm…"
He looked down at his arm and noticed something shimmering, almost like his skin was embedded with the purest of gold shavings.
It was this sight that caused him to look at the other parts of his body. And when he did, he immediately noticed the same golden sheen. Whether it be his torso, his arms, his legs, or even his face—everything now had a golden filament covering it.
Azmodeus decided to ask the system about it, and the response he received was quite an interesting one.
BLING!
*Ding!* *Due to the host having passed the 1% Nourishment mark for the Loot God Physique, you have randomly rolled for one of your race's Traits. This roll allowed you to land on the 'Midas's Touch' Racial Trait.*
*This Trait will allow anything you touch to turn into the purest liquid form of loot, which can be used to better nourish your Loot God Race. Of course, this can be turned off and on at will.*
"I see…"
An analytical glint flashed past Azmodeus's eyes as he touched a part of his skin and felt the deeper connection he now possessed with the essence of a Loot God.
This feeling directed his attention toward the next thing that had changed within his existence. Namely, it was the fact that his power advanced straight from the peak stages of the Super Massive Voider Realm right to the Half-Step Quasar Lord Realm!
On top of that, his cultivation base managed to breakthrough to the very peak of the Middle Nebula Veil Realm. He was likely only a few years away from reaching the Late Nebula Veil Realm!
This meant many good things for the future. And the best part of it all was that his cultivation foundation was utterly flawless, without a single blemish in sight.
"Middle Nebula Veil Realm Cultivation Base, Half-Step Quasar Lord Realm Battle Power, Half-Step Quasar Lord Rank Professions, 10,000+ Level 4 High-Star Laws…"
Azmodeus named a few of the plethora of things that had changed within the core of his existence. Eventually, he reached the reason why he went into the cocoon in the first place.
"The Singularity Trait." He spoke with a devilish tone, looking over the exact details of this Trait.
Luckily, a pop-up screen materialized in front of him upon making his intent known.
BLING!
*Ding!* *You have combined all of your various Traits, coming together to form the most powerful Trait of all—the Singularity Trait.*
*This Trait is an extremely versatile aspect of your existence, and it will enable the host to not only utilize the different attributes of your previous Racial Traits. But it will also increase the effectiveness and quickness of all the individual attributes.*
"Very well… This is better than the cluster bunch that it was before…"
Azmodeus lightly nodded his head at the details of this Singularity Trait, then he decided it was about time to take a look at his system interface again. Which was exactly what he did.
...…