Myriad Devils-Chapter 166: Murderous cycle

By the time he returned to clarity, the corpses disappeared, and the cave had changed once more.

He could not help but show several expressions on his face, discomfort, annoyance, and helplessness...

"It seems..." Anon’s eyes had become unnervingly dull over this period of slaughter. "The second layer had swarms of remnant souls, however because they were mere remnant souls, even if the difference between one and a hundred was large, it was insignificant to me, so I did not realize."

On the other hand, even if only one wraith had brought him a slight bit of internal turbulence, the fact that he had cleaned up the entire third layer, whether affected by the wraith or not, he had naturally overlooked the effect dozens or even a hundred wraiths would have on him.

Now...

"I’m stuck in a maddening cycle!" Anon clenched his teeth, but his face was unusually stiff.

Even though he felt anger and helplessness, only a deathly and cold aura escaped his lips, and his face remained almost expressionless.

"The moment I appeared in the fourth layer, I must have been subtly influenced," Anon coldly uttered.

"Then I entered the tunnel and the influence grew, however this influence did not go against my general desires, and so I did not realize."

"Then the headaches were practically the nail in the coffin," Anon mused. "The wraiths influence my psyche by using my initial intent to kill the natives, to exterminate them. They don’t even attempt to directly destroy my will."

"Instead, they’re opting to play the long game. Before I purify their influence, I’m instead brought to another cave where dozens of wraiths await my presence." Anon concluded.

Previously, he made a conscious effort to wipe clean any influence a wraith would’ve had before heading to the next.

However, these wraiths made sure he had no choice in the matter. They did not even attempt to directly confront his will, but chose to subtly influence him instead.

He would slowly fall into a trance, consumed by murderous intent and a desire to slaughter all wraiths, he’d end up in the next cave without even realizing.

By the time the influence from the previous wraiths were purified, and his mind cleared, he’d already be under the influence of a new set of wraiths.

Actually, this was under the assumption that his will had successfully purified the previous wraiths’ influences.

Instead, though he did not want to, Anon felt that this feeling of clarity was also influenced by the previous wraiths.

He felt that they chose to give up influence only to give the illusion that he had clarity, actively breaking down his defenses, and seeping deeper into his will instead.

Thinking this, Anon’s stiff expressions had slowly morphed into a deep frown. The veins on his temples were bulging as the throbbing in his head rightfully increased.

He found himself in a very delicate situation.

More importantly, there was only one way to break out of this. However, this way only further worsened the situation.

’I either devour all the wraiths in this layer, my will adapt, evolve, and break free of their influence, or I lose myself completely,’ Anon thought.

Once his thoughts reached here, a bloody light flashed across his crimson gold eyes. It couldn’t be helped.

He had no choice but to continue the slaughter...

Ah, shit!

As his thoughts reached here, he realized that it might have been influenced once again. Or maybe it was not influenced, and these were his genuine thoughts.

However once the doubts appeared in his mind, he did not know which was his, and his heart flared with even more helplessness and anger.

Anger?

Anon was already frowning, so he couldn’t frown again, however he internally frowned even more and thought deeply, ’I usually am not easily angered. Only Seth and Bolan had truly angered me, so how can I allow a few wraiths to play with my emotions like this?’

Tsk, tsk...

The situation was truly becoming more and more hopeless.

At this time, his ears twitched and footsteps entered his range of hearing. Immediately after, the throbbing sensation intensified much more than before.

The pulsing veins on his temples was too much. The moment some dozen and more natives exited a tunnel, Anon glared at them and lunged in their direction.

...

In each layer of the mind swallowing abyss, there were dozens of cavities on the abyss walls.

And in the fourth layer in particular, within each of these cavities, there were tunnels that lead Anon to expansive caves where tens of wraiths assuming the form of natives, resided.

When one multiplied these numbers, as the cycle continued, the number of wraiths Anon unknowingly devoured reached the thousands.

Some time passed, and after unconsciously venturing into fourteen or fifteen caves, the swarthy skinned youth had underwent a drastic change.

Within one of these caves, the stalactites dripped with black drops of water. There was a vast pool that had formed on the ground, and Anon walked deeper into the cave, the water splashing into his surroundings.

Surrounding him was a dark aura.

The previous pair of resplendent sun stars were completely eroded by endless murderous intent.

His hair had grown wild, his clothing was tattered and unbecoming, and the spear in his grasp was stained with dry blood.

Illusion and reality had become obscured.

His mind was not his own.

Anon had completely succumbed.

The wraiths won.

Deep in his mind realm, surrounded by hundreds of crimson stars, the mighty sun star at the center of this formation released endless waves of blood red flames.

At a deeper layer of this suns star, the liquified essence was in a crimson shade.

The influence of the wraiths were undeniable.

Further into the cave, Anon ’saw’ a figure with flowing white hair. The ends of this figure’s white hair was of a fiery red.

The figure was adorned in a black cassock, and though the figure’s face was obscured, Anon felt an overwhelming sensation in the depths of his soul.

This figure...

He was too pure. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Not mortal in nature.

A name, or more so a title appeared in Anon’s mind.

As the figure approached Anon, he held an inverted cross close to his chest. Under his gaze, Anon unconsciously uttered, "Father God...?"

This was the purest incarnation...

Anon wanted to kneel, however as his knees bent slightly, the purest incarnation appeared mere inches away, gently grabbing Anon’s shoulders and prevented him from kneeling.

"The In..." His voice was pleasant, yet familiar.

Upon hearing them, a golden light flashed across Anon’s crimson eyes. However, it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. On the other hand, the words spoken were obscured.

"He," the holy father stressed before continuing. "Is very pleased with your..."

This voice was too familiar. In the depths of Anon’s crimson eyes, a golden light flickered for a few seconds before disappearing.

Once more, the figure’s words were obscured.

The golden light’s appearance was longer than before, so the holy father sighed briefly at this sight, and with a gentle gaze that seemed like nature’s embrace, the holy father turned his back and faded before Anon’s unwilling gaze.

Unwilling?

Anon unconsciously frowned at this. Simultaneously, the many crimson stars in his mind realm buzzed with intensity, releasing a crimson aura.

It seemed that these wraiths had realized something.

Anon’s head suddenly began throbbing for the first time in a while.

When his ears twitched slightly due to the faraway footsteps, a trace of annoyance and anger flashed in his eyes.

"Was it you all who caused Father God to leave me?!" Anon scowled at the figures who exited one of the tunnels leading into this cave.

Confused by the holy father’s disappearance, and angered too, Anon desperately began to spill the blood of these natives.

After all was said and done, and his spear had torn apart over a hundred natives, he found himself in a spotless cave, with clarity returning to him.

His heart thumped with discomfort.

This was the first time the wraiths had eased their influence over his will for an extended period.

Anon chuckled darkly, "Is it because you guys failed to truly get me to succumb to your so-called purest incarnation?"

Shaking his head, Anon was deep in thought.

He had a limited amount of time, and his heart was truly trembling.

Compared to before, this moment of clarity would be many times shorter than before. For the most part, his will had already succumbed.

This was a rarity.

’Previously, these wraiths must’ve thought that they had absolute control over my will, however the illusion with that ’purest incarnation’ shattered that thought,’ Anon mused.

’Now, they’re afraid that their hasty actions of bringing me before their father god might ruin their ploy, and instead of continuing to influence my will which might bring out even more resistance, they’ve instead given me back some control so as to ease into another cycle.’

’Certainly, they will not make a mistake of haste once again. This is highly likely my last chance to reverse this horrid situation.’ Anon concluded.

The only question that remained was the same question that appeared the very first time he had acquired a sliver of clarity.

That was, how to reverse this situation?