Death… And Me

Chapter 4443: More Predators

Naturally, the twins’ group didn’t reveal the whole truth about the Sanctuary Skill.

There were simply too many things connected to it that absolutely couldn’t be exposed, beginning with the System itself. Instead, they gave Lukay a version that stayed close enough to reality while hiding the parts that truly mattered.

According to their explanation, they could temporarily force the Echo of the Vinx Great Void to flow outside their bodies, creating a pseudo-Sacred Relic area of influence that lasted around two minutes. However, doing so placed an enormous burden on their connection with the Great Void. Unless they were willing to pay a heavy price, they would only be able to activate the Sanctuary once every day.

Naturally, the real price was nothing more than spending twenty Orb Points to reset the cooldown.

Lukay, however, had no way of knowing that. In his mind, forcing another activation before a full day had passed probably meant damaging their cultivation, harming their foundations, shortening their lifespan, or suffering some other irreversible consequence. Such techniques weren’t uncommon among cultivators. In fact, Lukay himself possessed a desperate move that placed an enormous burden on his core, one he would never use unless his life truly depended on it.

Even with that in mind, the Sanctuary still left him deeply impressed.

”To think you can completely wipe out the existence of Godly Pressure within a radius of two hundred meters,” he said, the lightning around his core still flickering from excitement. ”Not only that, you can even remove the Godly Pressure inside the Godly Creatures themselves. Naturally, they become much weaker as a result.”

Roan immediately corrected him. ”Not exactly. The weakening effect isn’t caused simply because the Godly Pressure disappears. The Sacred Relic’s own power enters the Godly Creatures’ bodies while suppressing the Godly Pressure. Since there isn’t an actual Sacred Relic inside our Sanctuary, all it truly does is erase the Godly Pressure in the area. Nothing more.”

Lukay pondered those words for a moment before replying. ”...That doesn’t sound right.”

”Hm?” Rean looked over.

”If the Sacred Relics work by using Echo—or Miracle Energy, as I know it—from their respective Great Voids,” Lukay explained, ”shouldn’t your own Echo produce the same effect? Even if it’s weaker, your Sanctuary should still weaken the Godly Creatures once it’s activated.”

Rean shrugged. ”Maybe. The truth is that it simply doesn’t.”

The moment those words left his mouth...

Pin!

[The Sanctuary uses Echo, and so do the Sacred Relics. That is proof that the Echo can be used for weakening purposes as well. To better understand how the Echo affects the Godly Creatures, the system requires more tests.]

[New Quest Available.]

[Objective: Use the Sanctuary Skill against 100 Godly Predators.]

[Reward 01: 100 Orb Points.]

[Reward 02: One Stage Equivalent in power weakening effect added to the Sanctuary Skill permanently.]

Rean’s mouth twitched.

’...Seriously?’

He had literally just finished explaining that their Sanctuary couldn’t weaken Godly Creatures, only for Sister Orb to immediately hand him a quest whose reward was... exactly that ability.

’Sister Orb,’ Rean complained inwardly, ’couldn’t you have thought of this a little earlier?’

Ahem... Sister Orb sounded slightly embarrassed. I only realized that possibility after Lukay mentioned it...

Rean nearly coughed blood.

Lukay, naturally, hadn’t heard any of that. ”So your Echo can’t do it... Perhaps the Miracle Energy—or Echo Energy, in your case—is simply different from one Great Void to another.”

”Ahem!” Rean quickly interrupted before the conversation drifted any further. ”Actually, I think it probably should be capable of doing that. We’re still new ascenders. It’s only been a little over ten years since we arrived in the Celestial Plane. You already investigated us, so you know that much.”

He rubbed his chin as though an idea had just occurred to him. ”Maybe we simply haven’t figured out how to use our Echo properly yet. Now that I think about it, using the Sanctuary against Godly Predators would probably be the best possible test. They contain much denser Godly Pressure than ordinary Godly Beasts. If we keep observing the interactions between the Sanctuary and their bodies...”

Rean’s eyes suddenly lit up. ”...we might eventually figure out how to use the Echo itself to weaken Godly Creatures.”

Kentucky immediately caught on. ”That’s actually a great idea!” Celis nodded several times in agreement. ”It makes perfect sense.”

Even Roan played along without hesitation. ”Seems feasible.”

Lukay remained silent.

For some reason, he had the distinct feeling that Rean had completely changed what he was about to say halfway through the explanation.

”Are you sure that’s all you have to tell me?” Lukay asked, the lightning around his core flickering suspiciously.

”O-Of course!” Rean’s mind worked at full speed. ”Think about it. There are many Sacred Relics, and as far as we know, each one is connected to a different Great Void. If the Great Void Echoes were all different, how come every Sacred Relic weakens Godly Creatures? It wouldn’t make sense, right? Hahaha...”

His laugh sounded a little forced.

Unfortunately, Rean immediately realized he had made another mistake.

And sure enough, Lukay caught it.

”Every Sacred Relic is connected to a different Great Void?” Lukay repeated. ”How do you know that? You haven’t even left the Besgol Region before, have you?”

’Fuck!’

Rean felt like crying. All because Sister Orb had decided to issue that quest at the worst possible moment.

”Ahem...” He quickly composed himself. ”No, we’ve never been outside the Besgol Region. However, as you know, every Region has a hub where ascenders from countless Great Voids arrive, right? It is only natural that another Region’s Sacred Relic wouldn’t be connected to the same Great Void as ours. It’s simply the only explanation that makes sense.”

Lukay remained silent for a moment, carefully considering those words. Although he still felt something was off, he couldn’t find any flaw in that line of reasoning.

”...I suppose that’s reasonable,” he finally admitted. ”Let’s leave it at that.”

Rean, Kentucky, and Celis secretly sighed in relief.

Roan remained as calm as ever, but he also relaxed inwardly. If they managed to complete Sister Orb’s new quest during this expedition, the Sanctuary would permanently gain the ability to weaken Godly Creatures. By then, they would already have a perfectly reasonable explanation prepared in advance.

It would also make the Sanctuary vastly superior to any Anti-Godly Pressure Pill Roan could ever concoct.

Thinking that far ahead, another idea suddenly appeared in Roan’s mind.

’The weakening effect...’

His eyes narrowed slightly.

’If the Sanctuary can eventually use the Echo to weaken Godly Creatures... perhaps I can study that process and incorporate the same principle into our attacks.’

The more he thought about it, the more feasible it sounded.

’It’s worth researching.’

Just then, Kentucky suddenly pointed toward the radar.

”Hey, Rean! Rejoice! Another Predator is coming!”

”Already?” Roan stepped forward, gently pushing Kentucky aside before examining the radar himself. Several dots had appeared near the edge of its detection range, with one of them rapidly approaching their position.

He found it rather strange.

”Nine days of traveling without encountering a single Godly Predator, yet we’ve already found two within the span of an hour. Is that just a coincidence?”

Lukay immediately looked confused.

”What coincidence? That’s completely normal.”

The twins’ group turned toward him.

Seeing their puzzled expressions, Lukay continued his explanation.

”Excluding Godly Horrors, Godly Predators usually become the leaders of their respective races. Godly Creatures are also extremely territorial, so it’s common to find two or sometimes even three Predators occupying neighboring territories.”

He pointed toward the radar.

”They don’t live together. Instead, each one constantly watches the borders of its own territory while making sure the others don’t cross into it. Those territories become battlefields over time, and that’s actually how most Godly Predators are born.”

Rean tilted his head.

”They evolve through fighting?”

”Exactly,” Lukay confirmed. ”The strongest Godly Beasts survive countless territorial battles until they eventually become Godly Predators. You can be certain that many of the scars covering that wolf’s body were left by this very Predator that’s now approaching us.”

”I see...” Rean couldn’t help but smile.

That was excellent news.

If neighboring Predators constantly watched each other’s territories, then defeating one would naturally attract the attention of another sooner or later.

In other words...

The twins’ group might not need to spend nearly as much time searching for Godly Predator Crystals as they originally thought.

”Then that’s perfect,” Rean said while increasing the radar’s sensitivity. ”Looks like we can look forward to harvesting a lot more Godly Predator Crystals.”