SSS-Rank Evolving Monster: From Pest to Cosmic Devourer-Chapter 40: Just a mosquito… What could it possibly do?

In the end, after taking a holistic view of everything, Ricky gritted his teeth and made his choice.

He would proceed with the spiritual seed creation.

Right here at this moment.

It was a necessity—no matter how much lifespan it consumed.

"And why am I even worried about lifespan cost, when the entire Forest is filled with walking lifespan ATMs," he muttered with a half-crazed grin.

The hesitation lasted barely a breath. In the next moment, he resolved himself fully.

The system didn’t wait.

Its voice echoed like a mechanical whisper from the void—cold, indifferent, detached from all emotion.

[Hundred year of lifespan deducted.]

Ricky staggered. It felt like his soul had been torn open, the very strands of his existence unraveling. This wasn’t just lifespan being drained—it was like the essence of who he was, the intangible foundation of his being, was being stripped away layer by layer.

He clenched his jaw, body trembling.

And then it came—the hum.

A terrifying, omnipresent vibration filled the air. It wasn’t a sound heard by ears, but by something deeper. It was as if the gods themselves were chanting in a language older than time, shaking the fabric of reality.

The world responded.

The Nascent mist of creation, which had until now lain dormant in the void, suddenly came alive. It pulsed, slow and steady, like a sleeping giant awakening from a thousand-year slumber.

The pain receded, fading into a dull echo. Ricky opened his eyes, and for the first time, he saw.

What lay before him wasn’t just some ritual or breakthrough—it was the birth of something sacred. Something ancient. Something true.

The mist twisted and whirled, every strand moving with purpose. Under his intense gaze, it all converged at a singular point in space—forming a growing void, empty and yet brimming with expectation.

Then, without warning, a deafening explosion shattered the silence.

From the center of the convergence, a tiny white marble emerged. Its surface was smooth, flawless, and radiated a quiet, pristine brilliance.

Ricky could only stare, breathless.

The spiritual seed had formed.

It was white—untainted and neutral, bearing no elemental affinity. As expected. The affinity would be decided not by chance, but by choice—by the technique used to draw in mana for the first time.

If he had used the Thousand Refinement breathing method, he would’ve ended up with fire. But he hadn’t.

Because the affinity was never truly fixed. It was a reflection of self.

"This... is my spiritual seed..." he murmured, voice low and filled with wonder.

The moment he acknowledged it, the marble responded. A soft hum escaped from it, like the breath of a divine being. From the void around him, countless ancient runes manifested—floating, shifting, glowing—and gently embedded themselves into the seed.

They etched themselves slowly, forming intricate patterns that shimmered with faint light.

Ricky blinked—and the world changed.

It was like someone had wiped dust off an ancient mirror. Suddenly, he could see—not the physical world, but another realm entirely. A world made of colorless space filled with dancing motes of light, flickering in and out of existence like fireflies caught in a thunderstorm.

Tiny, multicolored particles zipped through the air, moving in paths too fast and complex to follow.

"This is mana...?" he whispered.

A thrill coursed through his body. Every nerve ending tingled. Every cell screamed with recognition.

He was complete.

The act of forming the spiritual seed wasn’t just a breakthrough—it was something holy. For a fleeting instant, Ricky felt his existence overlap with the world itself, like he had stepped into a role meant for him since the beginning of time.

He ignored the temptation to dwell in that state. Focusing, he turned his attention to the instructions written within Demonic Being Howling in Ten Directions. With calm precision, he followed them, using the method described to sense the mana around him.

This time, it was effortless.

Like a fish dropped into the sea, he was surrounded. Mana brushed against his skin, soft and cool like early morning winds. It flowed through the air with a rhythm, curling around him like a mother’s touch on her newborn.

Ricky’s eyes fluttered closed, body relaxing in bliss.

Then, the marble reacted.

A soft thread of energy, no thicker than a hair, emerged from the surroundings and flowed into the seed. But its color—

It was black.

A chilling, unnatural black that devoured light itself. The moment it appeared, Ricky’s eyes widened. Just looking at it felt like his soul was being grazed by some ancient malevolence.

This was darkness mana.

It was pure, unfiltered, and terrifying in its allure. fгeewёbnoѵel_cσm

As the energy flowed in, the pristine seed began to change. Black veins slowly crept across its surface, dyeing it bit by bit. In moments, the entire marble had transformed into a flawless obsidian jewel—glistening, beautiful, and foreboding.

"My affinity with darkness is... permanent," he muttered.

He didn’t need anyone to confirm it. He could feel it.

Elemental affinity was divided into levels. The first was Nascent Awakening. Then came True Resonance, followed by Embodiment, and beyond that... well, Ricky didn’t know. Not yet.

Everyone started at the Nascent Awakening.

And now, Ricky had also taken that first step.

Before he could even bask in the moment, his instincts screamed.

His spiritual field flickered, warning him. Dozens—no, hundreds—of presences were rapidly approaching.

His body tensed.

"I’ve been exposed..." he muttered, eyes narrowing. The realization hit hard, but not with fear. He didn’t know how they’d tracked him, but they had.

Unbeknownst to him, the Abyssal Pact had soul searched every animal in the surrounding forest, tracing his scent and presence back to this area. The mosquito—the form Ricky used often—had been spotted near the ancient courtyard more than once.

They were coming for him.

But he wasn’t afraid.

If anything, he felt a buzz of anticipation.

"Just come... and die."

The words echoed through the wind as Ricky vanished into the sky like a phantom.

...

"Stay alert!" a raspy voice commanded, slicing through the night air. "That Demonic Mosquito’s presence was confirmed multiple times here. Don’t let your guard down. If it appears, it’ll rip you apart before you can blink."

A hundred Abyssal Pact members stood in formation, led by a masked man cloaked in darkness. Most were peak Stage 1s, while the leader’s true strength remained a mystery.

The cultists nodded in silence, each one wary on the surface.

But behind the masks, a few sneered in contempt.

Just a mosquito... What could it possibly do?

They were about to find out.

Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)