Myriad Devils-Chapter 201: The resonance of a decade

On an emerald green ancestor cloud, Anon finally opened his eyes after the evolution of his soul and the drifter cloud.

There was an overwhelming silence that followed.

He expressionlessly stared at the crimson expanse before his eyes for a long while, without blinking.

Anon pursed his lips and stood up. He opened his left palm, and the closed book levitating in the air behind his head gently fell onto the palm of his hand.

When he reached the edge of the emerald cloud, Anon seemed to ponder in silence for an extended period.

Finally reaching a decision, a flash of determination appeared in his eyes.

"I do not intend to pursue blood magic any longer, so I offer this grimoire to the world. I hope that you exchange for it with me, something of equivalent worth."

He flung the grimoire into the crimson sea without hesitation. Right after, the crimson sea churned with vigor, and the drifter cloud trembled.

A dark light shot out of the crimson sea and rushed toward the earth above. It then drew an arc in the air before falling toward Anon with crushing might.

Stretching out his left hand, the dark light landed on his palm, releasing a wave of vile energies into his surroundings, and momentarily shrouding his figure in a foreboding darkness.

What was revealed to him was the sight of a dark book with a five-leaf clover; each leaf was of a deep, dark shade of purple.

"The last grimoire had five leaves as well; however, it was a merger of three blood colored leaves, and two of this color. The backlash I received was from the three blood colored leaves."

"It would appear that blood magic is, at the very least, tied to an Antigod, or maybe even an Apocalypse."

Anon frowned.

Blood magic was easier to harness due to its clear origins, often linked to an Antigod or an Apocalypse.

In contrast, magic without a distinct source may not cause backlash when wielding its more powerful forms, but it is also more challenging to develop said powerful forms.

Since he could not wield such blood magic, and he had already mastered the blood magic spells that he had wielded before, there was no need for that grimoire.

If curse magic was also tied to an Antigod or an Apocalypse, then he would also face a punishment if he utilized a curse magic spell of a certain level; however, to even develop such a spell, he first needed a cursed grimoire of a necessary level.

Luckily, the blood grimoire had such high magic spells, so it wasn’t hard to acquire a cursed grimoire of a comparable stage.

As for facing any backlash once more?

Firstly, the question of whether curse magic had a source origin remained uncertain to him. If it did not, then he certainly would not face any backlash.

More importantly...

"That backlash isn’t particularly frightening. It was only the circumstances that nearly drove me to lose myself. However, if I were to endure such a backlash without undergoing a significant evolution, I should not succumb to it to that extent."

After all, his soul was at the ancestor level now.

More importantly, once he was not undergoing some kind of major evolution, for example, evolving from a mature drifter to an ancestor, or an ancestor to an empyrean, then Anon did not fear that backlash.

"I should still quickly deduce higher-level spells and actually use them whilst there isn’t any resonance with my drifter cloud. This way, if I do suffer a backlash, it won’t be during an evolution."

"With my soul already being at the ancestor level, I doubt that the backlash from before would affect me to such a degree once again."

Thinking like this, Anon quickly went on to flip through the pages of the cursed grimoire and began meditating on the demonic characters within the book.

However, not long after he began deciphering the mysteries within the cursed grimoire, his expression darkened greatly.

The drifter cloud suddenly released a hum and altered its course. Indeed, it had resonated with another ancestor cloud somewhere in the far reaches of the crimson heaven.

Anon remained silent for a time. His thoughts churned at a rapid pace.

"Although, with the current level of my soul, my true magic would be much more potent even with weaker spells, but it is another ancestor I’m battling."

"On the other hand, I’ve achieved true mastery over the sword during my state of madness. Once I achieve the core of true mastery, it will open a new world. My black lightning would be unimaginably powerful by then."

The core of true mastery.

It was, in fact, quite a simple concept.

Back then, though Anon had developed a spear soul, what was actually a spear soul?

Anon’s mastery of the spear had created a resonance between his soul and the spear, but if it was to be a soul, what was a soul without emotions?

Hence, to the Knight, Anon’s spear soul was present, yet it was lacking. He had achieved true mastery, but it could not be considered the core of true mastery.

Once it had been explained to him by the Knight, Anon did not find it difficult to replicate and therein, achieve the core of true mastery.

What was so difficult in pouring emotions into the spear soul?

The basis was understanding oneself.

To understand oneself was to understand what one truly desired, and what desires kept one trotting through the battle called life.

Anon understood himself from a young age.

He could give up many things, but he could not give up his pursuit of the unknown, grasping the unknown, the knowledge of the unknown, and the power that came with it.

Essentially, he desired knowledge and power. Knowledge of the vast cosmic space, and even beyond, and what lay beyond the beyond, if there was...

And the power that resided within and outside.

That single desire was the foundation of his emotions. So what aligned with that desire would make him smile, or frown, cry, or scream...

Only when his mind was imbalanced and he was confused would other things affect his emotions.

Understanding this, Anon did not find it difficult to pour his emotions into his spear soul.

Similarly, having achieved true mastery over the sword, it was not difficult for him to replicate these actions after the death of his spear soul.

His sword soul was completed.

Anon stood in silence.

Compared to his time as a mature drifter, his soul was umpteenth times more powerful. Similarly, his spear soul at that time could not compare to his current sword soul in terms of strength.

The ancestor cloud was now quite large; however, it was still an insignificant size when faced with the power of a fifth-world stellar fighter, much less an ancestor drifter.

Gripping the hilt of the longsword, the sword’s blade trembled in reply.

After the death of its previous master, Anon had effectively shattered the previous sword soul and reforged it.

There was now effectively no difference between his spear soul and this sword soul. If he so wished to utilize apex-tier spear techniques with this longsword, it was possible. However, he could not confront his equals in this way...

Instead, he focused on altering his techniques in accordance with the black lightning and white glowing patterns. Only upon attracting a resonance with these two properties was he satisfied.

Thereafter, he sat in silence.

He waited, and waited, but weeks turned to months, and by the time a year of drifting across the crimson expanse, he finally realized the life of an ancestor drifter.

His expression was strange.

This was already hinted at in the spiritual city; however, that was a figment of his imagination when he had lost himself.

Who’d have thought it was actually true?

Anon suddenly looked at the earth above and wondered if there was really a spiritual city. Maybe, when he was lost in madness, he had really entered the ancestral city?

Anon shook his head.

That was beside the point.

With such a timeframe between fights, he quickly took hold of the cursed grimoire and began deducing stronger spells.

"I wonder how the flow of time in this world compares to Earth?" Anon sighed.

Had years flown by on Earth as well?

Thereafter, he quickly lost himself in deductions.

.....

As a lifeform continues the path of evolution, and a lifeform’s spirit, soul, and/or flesh reaches a higher state of existence, one’s disposition, after acquiring a higher point of view, would naturally begin to undergo several changes.

The true nature of certain concepts would begin to unravel before one’s eyes. This concept may sometimes be mortal death, or other times be the concept of time itself.

The flow of time.

What truly constitutes a long period and a short period of time?

For example, young Anon, upon losing himself in his attempts to decipher the mysteries within the cursed grimoire, had unknowingly spent an entire decade deepening his knowledge of the cursed grimoire.

During that time, the resonance between the two ancestor clouds continued to grow stronger; however, these two ancestor clouds never crossed paths.

And then, Anon raised his gaze.

The cursed grimoire was within the palms of his hands. It gently lifted into the air as Anon shifted his gaze away from it.

At the same time, still a great distance away, was another ancestor cloud. Though it was a vast distance that separated the two, the creature on this ancestor cloud perceived Anon’s gaze.

This was a daemon with a pair of pale eyes, lacking pupils, and a single, pitch black, vertical eye on its forehead.

Its hair was whiter than snow, and its skin was oddly similar in color. The daemon had two curved horns protruding from the sides of its skull.

The daemon was similar to the average human in terms of height and size. It even had a slender physique and could be considered to have certain attractive features.

Sitting in a perfect lotus position, it slowly lifted its head so that its three eyes could meet Anon’s gaze.

Thereafter, the signature daemonic smile appeared.