Damon's Ascension-Chapter 125 - 13 Billion Worldly Essence

The green-blue spheres of condensed Worldly Essence floated gently before each member of the vanguard team, pulsing faintly like living hearts torn from the universe itself.

Felicia Rothschild was the first to move.

With a surgeon’s precision, she extended her hand and pressed it lightly into the hovering sphere.

A subtle tremor ran through her elegant frame as the sphere dissolved into her palm, streaming rivers of bright energy into her body. She inhaled sharply but quickly composed herself, her glasses reflecting the pulsing light.

"Efficient... as expected." She murmured quietly, as if noting a successful stock acquisition rather than absorbing enough energy to create legends.

Across from her, Kyle Greer watched with open fascination.

"Woah... it’s like leveling up in an anime, but real." He muttered dreamily, grinning.

He plunged his hand into his sphere without hesitation, and the moment the Worldly Essence flooded into him, his hazel eyes widened and his pale skin flushed slightly from the surge of vitality.

"This is better than any isekai cheat skill ever..." He whispered with religious fervor.

Bane McGregor stood stiffly before his sphere, fists clenched at his sides.

For a moment he simply stared at it, then grunted and slammed both of his massive hands into the orb like a battering ram.

The green-blue light exploded around him, sucked into his veins with a visible shockwave of force. His already formidable frame shuddered, muscles flexing violently beneath his simple combat wear.

"Tch. Good! I’ll need all of it." He muttered grimly, already thinking about the battles ahead.

Nicholas Spencley was far more refined as he touched the orb with only two fingers, as if brushing dust off a priceless painting.

As the Worldly Essence entered him, he merely closed his eyes, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

"Information... no, authority. This is what true power feels like," he said softly, almost to himself.

Nearby, Levi Thane accepted his sphere without ceremony.

He absorbed the light with a solemn expression, his tall frame glowing briefly before returning to stoic calm.

No words, only a silent vow made in the depth of his heart.

Connor Baines approached his sphere with a casual saunter, whistling under his breath.

"Alright, let’s see if this juice is worth the squeeze."

He slapped the orb lightly and when the Worldly Essence poured into him, even he grunted from the sheer pressure.

"Oh...oh that’s good stuff." Connor exhaled, flexing his fingers like a man trying on a freshly tailored glove.

Protizen Echo stepped forward without a word, his exo-armor forming almost instinctively around his body as he absorbed his share.

The plates shimmered and expanded ever so slightly, his very presence becoming heavier, more solid, like a mountain had started to breathe.

Henry Jasek fidgeted at first, nervous.

"Man, what if this mutates me into some tentacle monster or something? I didn’t sign up for hentai school, bro—"

Felicia shot him a look. "Henry..."

"Yeah yeah, alright, alright!" Henry grimaced and pressed his hand into the sphere.

He staggered slightly but managed to absorb it without falling over, a wide grin splitting his face afterward.

"Ooooh baby, Daddy Henry’s gonna go wild tonight!" He bellowed, ignoring the collective sigh from the others.

Marshal moved silently, absorbing the Worldly Essence with eerie calm.

There was no visible change in his expression, no words spoken but a slight tremor passed through the ground around him when his body finished integrating the power.

A reminder that Words of Power were no mere trick.

And then there was Xela Stone.

She hesitated while standing before her sphere, the silver-haired girl hugging her arms around herself, gray eyes wide.

"...It’s so sad." She whispered, trembling slightly.

No one rushed her.

After a few seconds, she reached out gently, almost like apologizing, and absorbed the Worldly Essence in a soft ripple of light.

Tears welled in her eyes as the transfer completed, but she wiped them away fiercely.

"I’ll make it worth it. I swear." she whispered under her breath.

———

Watching it all from the edge of the grid, Damon’s Avatar stood like a silent sentinel.

He observed them coldly, his brown eyes reflecting no warmth, only calculation.

The green-blue light from the others’ absorption rippled in his eyes, but it stirred nothing within him.

’Eleven humans... infused with the condensed lives of billions. In another time, another place, each of them would have been gods by now.’ He thought quietly.

’Instead, here they are... still at the bottom of the universal food chain.’ Damon thought as he folded his arms behind his back, the faintest smile brushing his lips.

His eyes became half-lidded to hide the strange light in them. ’Good. It will make for a grand ascension for me in the future.’

When the others were done, when their gasps had settled into heavy breathing and their auras had shifted palpably, Damon’s Avatar finally stepped forward.

His own sphere hovered alone, slightly smaller than the others, a reminder of the hundred million units he’d already claimed in advance.

Without ceremony and without hesitation, he touched it.

The energy surged into him like a floodgate bursting, yet his body - that was trained, refined, tempered through will and wisdom - accepted it without a ripple.

The moment the last thread of greenish-blue light vanished into his chest, Damon’s Avatar opened his eyes slowly.

The silent pressure that leaked from his existence made even the air around him tremble faintly.

Godin, observing everything from a distance, smiled thinly.

"Well... looks like the galaxy just got eleven new monsters."

Damon’s main ’consciousness’ finally descended here, turning to Godin with a smile.

"We still have you to thank, my dear friend. I can assure you that for as long as I live, the Goblins will always be good friends of the human race."

Godin heard this and smiled happily, but his thoughts were cold. He had been made brutally aware of the mercurial nature of humanity and knew that all manner of ’friendship’ was only viable based on benefits provided.

The Goblins could provide the benefit of Worldly Essence through the sacrifice method, which humanity clearly needed. Even if they hid it, after such a huge purchase, it was clear to Godin that humans likely had a huge problem regarding their Worldly Essence absorption talent.

However, he was also perceptive in seeing that the humans who came here were not bothered by this, and even seemed to have hope in their eyes. This meant that they likely had a means to resolve this problem.

In fact, thinking further, the huge wealth they just spent, which should have been earned by the auction, was used to empower this small group of elite humans who were part of the first 100, so their details were public in the IUAS database.

Godin knew that the three human EX ability holders were here along with SS and SSS ability holders, so this could be said to be the most elite small crew in the entire history of the IUAS.

So why gather this crew? It could be just to form a top-level strength for the human race to deter outsiders, which would make sense if they were panicking and had no means to solve the problem.

But if they had hope... if they had a way... then it meant this crew was preparing to do something big, and that big thing might involve the Chaos Realm.

Godin did not know the means or how they got that information to give them hope, but he knew that if the human race fixed this issue of theirs, their demand for Worldly Essence in huge quantities would be severely lowered, causing their newly built ’friendship’ to disappear into smoke and ash.

He did not dare betray the human race because who knew if one of them awoke a reality manipulation ability that allowed them to identify the cause and effect of things? If so, then the losses wouldn’t match up with the gains.

It was not impossible for the human race to directly seize their line of business because a racial value of EX Providence meant that the Universe Will favored them like its own direct children compared with the Goblins, who only had B-rank Providence—and even that was increased thanks to Godin’s discovery back then.

So after this objective of theirs was achieved, Godin could kiss these new friends bye-bye for good, which was something he was not willing to see. No matter how dissatisfied he was with Damon about his perceived ’betrayal,’ he still hoped to get closer to humanity and link the goblin race to this big thigh.

Even worse, his idea of cooperation that he had been simmering over—whether the human race deserved it—would become invalid the moment they entered the Chaos Realm themselves—assuming they were entering the Chaos Realm, which was most likely—so he had to bust it out now or forever hold his peace.

As such...

"Well, the Goblin race is thankful for the friendship of humans, but it doesn’t mean that we cannot take it a step further." Godin quickly said with a smile.

Damon turned with a raised eyebrow, having been about to return to the ship. "Oh? What do you mean by that, Lord Godin?"

Godin pushed up his glasses and grinned. "How would you like to enter a lucrative partnership cornering... the ever-limited supply of Awakening Agents?"