Myriad Devils-Chapter 168: A greater will

Anon opened his eyes, bringing forth changes in the space that he observed.

His eyes, the windows to his soul, or more precisely, the connection between the material world and his soul, allowed his willpower to spill out into the real world.

Anon was lost in thought, meanwhile...

In an unknown location, countless flashes of purple lightning tore apart space akin to a whip lashing against tender flesh.

An orb that glowed with an otherworldly splendor, revealing crackles of lightning and thunder within, suddenly buzzed.

Interesting.

A strange voice sounded.

So it’s ’His’ son this time.

The peculiar voice pierced through the crackling lightning and thunderous booms.

Oh how enviable. To achieve such a powerful soul capable nurturing such a will, with such a weak spirit, it only goes to show how powerful that bloodline is.

Since he has achieved the minimum requirement to enter the successor trials, I will not ignore him simply because of his principle.

There was a moment of silence that followed.

Even the thunderous roars filling this unknown space seemed to be quelled for a moment.

Yet, it does not seem that we are fated oh, young lord of humanity. It is, instead, your dear compatriot who has ventured into danger to seek you out that resonates with this dimension.

Nonetheless, it is not yet time for the successor trials. Though steadily approaching, between now and then, I do hope your willpower can be nurtured even more.

.....

Anon slowly stood up.

His sharp gaze landed on one of the tunnels, and with a single step, a distance greater than a hundred meters was crossed.

Anon entered the tunnel with a second step, and by his third, he was already standing in the darkness of the fourth layer.

Standing in the darkness, his hands fell to his side, and his eyes were closed.

His clothes were well-fitted, and the blood previously staining his clothes had disappeared, as if they were but illusions.

Anon saw ’it’.

His body had become a concentration of his soul’s power within his mind realm.

Standing in the dark world in front of the mighty sun star, in the space before him were countless minute particles afloat.

The high concentration of blood-colored particles formed into a human-like figure of equivalent size to Anon.

With the strength of his soul and will, in a short while of observation, Anon counted the hundreds of billions of particles making up the humanoid figure.

It was the transformation of his will which had brought about the appearance of this humanoid figure made up of particles within his mind realm.

Having been observing for some time, lost in thought, Anon had come to a somewhat precise conclusion to what they were.

’A third world body is immensely powerful. Any beast general contains hundreds of tons of force within their arms and legs.’ Anon pondered.

’Some may even near a thousand tons, inching closer to becoming a beast king! It is only there lack of intelligence limiting their incredible fighting potential.’ Anon assessed.

Imagine a beast general, with their each strike containing hundreds of tons, wielding battle arts and complex weapon techniques?

Even a low-level beast general like such would be an unstoppable force capable of immediately achieving pinnacle third world prowess.

It wouldn’t be unrealistic to think that a high-level beast general like the Cinder Fiend, if it was capable of utilizing complex battle arts, would be capable of combatting some fourth worlders.

’With such strong bodies, whether it be a beast general, or a fourth worlder, the internal body must be divine. Countless times more complex than a mere mortal human.’

With a wave of his hands, the billions upon billions of minute particles transformed into countless shapes and sizes, swarming around Anon’s illusory body, before assuming a humanoid form again before him.

’Each cell contains unimaginable power compared to the cells within a mortal’s body. Controlling such a powerful body, requires a similarly immensely powerful consciousness.’

’However, besides lacking battle arts, beast generals also lack intellect. Even their consciousness aren’t nearly as powerful.’

’Comparatively speaking, if the consciousness of a stellar fighter in the fourth world were to take control of a mortal, such a being would likely be capable of cellular control over that mortal body.’

’Cellular control? Not comparing the cell of a mortal with the cell of a beast general...’

’A will capable of commanding a mortal’s cells can almost instantly grant that mortal unnecessarily high regenerative abilities, incredible strength amongst mortal, the most minute control over the body, and more...’

’The metamorphosis of my will resulted in this too. Hundreds of billions of cells under my control, with each cell containing comprehensive power.’

’It isn’t perfect cellular control, but mortal cells aren’t comparable to my own. Even just partial cellular control is something I am certain that most fourth worlders are incapable of with their own bodies comparable to beast generals.’

’If previously, I wielded hundreds of tons of force, right now, unearthing over a thousand tons would not be impossible. My regenerative abilities were already high, and my cognitive speed was similarly high, but amongst other things, everything has skyrocketed with just this partial control.’

The countless crimson particles dispersed and Anon’s focus shifted. His hands were crossed over his chest as he observed this dark world.

This entire dark world...

It was obvious that the massive sun behind him was the absolute core of this dark world. However there was one thing that always left him doubtful.

’The sun star is a manifestation of my will, whereas this dark world is a manifestation of my soul. If that’s the case, why the hell is this world, the manifestation of my soul, so damn dark and foreboding?’ Anon stared on with perplexation.

’Not only that but, yes I know the saying that each lifeform contains endless potential, but isn’t that just a way for father to make even the ordinary people still burn with some form of determination after they realize how ordinary they actually are?’

Anon truly believed the ’endless potential’ talk was a hoax.

However...

’Then why the hell is this infinite dark world truly infinite? Isn’t the soul within the body? It isn’t possible for something to be infinite in size, and also contained within a finite thing, right? So why can’t I sense any end to this world? It is ’my’ soul, is it not?’ Anon shook his head.

He had limited knowledge of the mind realm and so on. After all, the contents within those books in the library did not cover everything in existence...

He turned to observing the ’sun’.

’If my will had not transformed, I would not even begin to realize,’ Anon thought.

Besides the three layers, the solid core, the liquid essence, and the outer flames, there was an almost invisible layer of pure heat.

This invisible ’aura’ influenced and warped the surrounding space.

Observing the sun within his soul, Anon blinked in the real world, revealing his eyes to the outer world. For a moment, there was the illusion of two mighty stellar stars in the darkness of the fourth layer.

The darkness attempted to swallow this foreign light, however this starlight remained unhindered and eternal.

Anon’s gaze was as sharp as his will.

Lost in his thoughts, Anon had even pondered on the different types of wills.

For example, his gaze was as sharp as his will, because he cultivated his will through hatred. His determination to cut apart the devil continuously grew, refining his will in such a form.

Some wills might instead be overwhelming, giving off the illusion that one was in the sea, and their body was constantly being pressed down by wave after wave.

Other wills might even contain a trace of hypnotic power. Before one even realized, their mind was swept up by feelings of idolization and submission.

Towards both examples, Anon’s will would not be affected.

Simply cut through the waves.

Simply cut through any confusion.

Naturally, if these wills were fundamentally stronger than his own, then with but a glance, his mind would be swallowed.

Similarly, with the evolution of his willpower, with but a glance, he could theoretically destroy the mind of some weak-willed mortals and severely injure some stellar fighters too.

The death of the mind was the truest form of death.

In theory, he could, with a glance, transform many into vegetables.

Anon chuckled at such thoughts.

The darkness of the fourth layer had become somewhat ineffective under his gaze. This wasn’t merely a biological transformation of his eyes, but the metaphysical transformation of his will.

Too dark?

Cut through darkness.

Too obscure?

Cut through obscurity.

Anon looked in a particular direction where a tunnel resided.

Within his body, a minority of his cells burned with intent, and the space around him buzzed.

With a single step, he entered a tunnel, and in another, the hundreds of meters within the tunnel, leading to a cave, was crossed.

At the same time he entered the cave, he looked back at the tunnel he exited. In the darkness of the tunnel, footsteps could be heard.

Patiently waiting, soon after a few figures could be seen.

Though they appeared in the form of natives of this world, under his gaze, their true forms could be seen.

’But some wraiths that still cling to life,’ Anon silently mused. ’Well, in essence, that is what these remnant souls and wraiths are.’

Before they could even begin to speak, these ’natives’ were slashed into pieces. The illusion shattered whilst their true bodies rushed into Anon’s heart, all under his gaze.

The battle between wills was utterly uneventful, with the mighty sun star rolling over the crimson stars until they became dust.

Will-less forms of remnant souls and the even more powerful wraiths, only transformed into another form of sustenance for the dark infinite world, strengthening Anon’s soul.

Whilst these wraiths strengthened Anon’s soul, his more powerful soul nurtured a more powerful will, and hatred refined and weaponized said will, bringing forth a transformation.

The wraiths in the fourth layer, no matter the quantity they swarmed at him with, had become ineffective and unable to hinder him in the least.