Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener - Chapter 453

Chapter 453: Chapter 453: The Location of the Stars
Billie’s radiant-level skill created a strange ray similar to sunlight, which would strip the flesh from any living being within its range, turning them to dust. Moreover, this skill was remarkably clean; apart from living beings, it did not affect any buildings or inanimate objects at all.

And then…

Sterl was truly reduced to ashes…

While his Iridescent-Level ability provided extremely high damage resistance, it was still not enough to withstand the output of a radiant-level attack!

Rebirth of All Thoughts merely bought Sterl three more seconds, allowing him to run for three more seconds…

Then, the rainbow-colored soul marks on his body began to shatter.

With each fragment that broke apart, the exposed skin instantly turned to dust, and the radiant energy surged into Sterl’s body, corroding him with formidable intensity.

“Damn!”

Even with Sterl’s willpower, he couldn’t help but curse; it was just too painful!

He had learned in his previous life that the greatest pain one could endure was from internal organs, and now Sterl was experiencing the agony of his soul marks collapsing, with the green light burning him from the inside out!

Even the most terrifying torture in the world could not compare to this.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a backlash effect that one could not withstand through willpower.

Sterl continued to run without stopping, even as his insides were burned to a hollow shell, leaving only a dried-out husk on the ground.

Then, he revived once more.

Sterl felt a twinge of regret.

He had amassed a massive quantity of revival items on the battlefield, but those with teleportation capabilities numbered just over seventy.

At this rate, he felt he would need to consume at least a dozen revival items just to escape from the depths of the dungeon, and then another dozen to make it out entirely…

No matter how many revival items he had, he couldn’t afford to waste them like this…

However…

After a moment’s thought, he refrained from taking any extra actions, allowing Billie to kill him over and over again.

Sterl simply activated time acceleration and other skills repeatedly, trying to run as far away as possible. He kept reviving, continually heading toward the exit of the dungeon.

Meanwhile, the princess behind him remained cold, her eyes filled with a chilling intensity.

“What are you struggling for?”

“Your items will eventually run out.”

“While my power will also be consumed, it can gradually recover.”

“Even if I can’t release the skills to kill you, I can still keep pace with you.”

“In the end, we will both die; why bother resisting?”

Billie’s tone was tinged with a hint of urgency and dissatisfaction, even carrying a trace of inexplicable panic.

At first, Sterl had been in a state of panic when he was being hunted, unable to think through everything; now, dying had become a habit, and he gradually began to sense something was off.

From a purely power perspective, Billie should not feel she had the overwhelming ability to crush him.

So what was she afraid of? Afraid of the power of the Starry Clan.

No, it shouldn’t be called power, but rather the consequences that the inheritance and strength of the Starry Clan might provoke…

Upon realizing this, Sterl’s expression changed slightly. At that moment, the mummies behind him were making a ruckus.

“Quickly surrender!”

“You were meant to die; why resist?”

“Beastly thing, didn’t you hear the princess’s orders? Kneel and wait for death!”

The mummies clamored, their tone filled with anger.

Sterl didn’t care at all; after all, they were just a bunch of remnants that had nearly burned away all their intelligence. However, as he observed the mummies’ movements, he noticed a hint of panic among them. He sensed that something was increasingly amiss.

The mummies didn’t possess the understanding that Billie had; they were instinctively afraid!

A guess formed in Sterl’s mind as he flew backward, shouting, “I understand!”

“Stop!”

“If you insist on attacking, I will unleash the power of the inheritance and bring forth calamity!”

Indeed, his words had an effect!

Billie paused for a moment, visibly slowing down her skill-gathering action.

It took a full second before she was able to launch her next skill.

That one second, free from any attacks, was enough for Sterl to sprint to the elevator and pull the lever.

As he watched the elevator doors slowly close, he maintained a calm demeanor.

The materials of the various creations within the dungeon were extraordinarily robust; even a Radiant skill couldn’t bring the elevator crashing down.

For the moment, he was safe.

Sterl’s heart raced. Just now, he had taken a gamble. As a non-conventional heir of the Starry Clan, his class was purely based on stat allocation.

He didn’t possess any special abilities from the inheritance!

This meant that the technique that had made Billie so wary of him was something he couldn’t use!

“I actually managed to bluff her.”

“So there really is a secret within the Starry Clan’s inheritance.”

“Could it summon a great calamity?”

He analyzed the situation.

At that moment, Sterl felt a sense of gratitude toward those who had ambushed him.

From the giant’s narrative, he had thought the Starry Clan was nothing but trouble, but the story was quite thrilling.

Now it seemed that they had concealed quite a bit of crucial information from him.

This included…

Did the power of the Starry Clan have any side effects? Would it bring about calamity? Besides, wasn’t the very act of cultivating the stars leading to a transformation of bloodlines rather bizarre?

It was reminiscent of the individuals in those “Cthulhu Mythos” novels he had read before transmigrating, who turned into monsters from worshiping evil gods!

Once he removed the filter of admiration, Sterl couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

However…

Just as he was considering whether the Starry Clan might be a special race that worshiped some kind of monster, a strange, clear sound echoed in his ears.

“Come!”

“Come… my child…”

“Call for me.”

“The stars shall ultimately descend upon the earth.”

“Ahhhhhh!!!”

Sterl screamed in shock.

In that fleeting moment, he glimpsed an indescribably bizarre entity.

It was as if he stood in a vast void, watched by a pair of enormous eyes…

The mere gaze of those pupils made Sterl feel as though his entire body, blood, and veins had developed a consciousness of their own, writhing and distorting!

Surrounding the monster was a magnificent starry sky.

It was extraordinarily beautiful, enchanting to the point of being intoxicating.

This was a realm and domain that no human could reach; Sterl felt as though his very soul was being corroded!

Fortunately, while that bizarre presence observed him, it was blocked by Sterl’s authority heart.

His abilities came from the Starry Clan, but ultimately, he had relied on stat allocation to enhance them. That unknown presence’s sensing ability lasted only a moment before becoming ineffective!

Yet in that brief moment, Sterl’s eyes nearly bulged out in pain as he fell to the ground.

He understood! He comprehended!

No wonder Billie was unwilling to say anything…

Sterl had no idea what the bizarre entity serving the Starry Clan was. He was merely guessing randomly, and coincidentally, he stumbled upon the truth, which pulled his consciousness away. Only by relying on the barrier formed through his stat allocation was he able to escape. If Sterl had truly known the real information about that terrifying existence, this encounter might have been even worse—perhaps he wouldn’t have been able to escape at all!

But right now…

He was simply kneeling on the ground, feeling as if something flesh-like was beginning to grow on him.

At the same time, an entry appeared on his panel.

[Unknown Scales] +

[Description: A blessing bestowed by the respected deity from the location of the stars, but not everyone can understand the love of the divine.]

[Effect: ???]

“Damn!”

Sterl shouted in anger, his expression extremely pained.

He hadn’t expected that, just like before, his wild thoughts would lead to such a heavy blow.

Not only had he been pulled into the starry expanse, but he had also suffered from permanent contamination.

The Unknown Scales were clearly not a good thing; Sterl speculated that they were likely an anchor point of the Ancient One in the starry sky, and now that he had been affected, it would be very difficult to break free from it.

He touched the scales on his left hand, which were like large fish scales from a creation, and when he flicked them gently with his nail, they emitted a metallic echo.

At first glance, they seemed unremarkable, but with the metallic sound, tentacles gradually sprouted from the surrounding walls, waving around vigorously.

Moreover, they seemed to convey excitement akin to that of a small cat or dog seeing its owner.

However, this scene made Sterl’s expression even worse; he felt a tremendous malice hidden within the scales.

Fortunately, this thing could be enhanced.

And by merely tapping into a thought in someone else’s mind, he could draw the will of the Ancient One from the endless stars. The abilities granted by it might be unacceptable to ordinary people, but in terms of strength, they should not be low.

“If I can use stat allocation to remove the influence of the Ancient One from the scales, perhaps I could gain a decent ability?”

“Then I might even come out ahead.”

Sterl muttered, trying to find humor in his predicament.

However, if given a choice, he didn’t particularly want this powerful ability…

Who knew what kind of unfortunate events awaited him after establishing this connection with the Ancient One?

Fortunately, after examining the scales for a while, he could refocus his mind.

Sterl sensed his mental domain and slowly let out a sigh of relief.

His mental domain was constructed based on various astronomical knowledge he had learned in his previous life; it was a kingdom of stars, and while it was called stars, it was actually a manifestation of the universe itself.

The Ancient One that had pulled Sterl’s will toward the location of the stars symbolized the mysticism of the celestial bodies.

Though both were associated with stars, Sterl’s spirit was in stark contrast to the will of the Ancient One. Coupled with the brief time he had spent in contact with the Ancient One, he soon realized that the being in the starry sky seemed to still be in slumber. Pulling his will toward it was merely a passive action.

Sterl barely managed to ensure the purity of his mental domain…

“Damn, I almost bit the dust!”

His expression was somewhat numb as he thought of the Frost Giant, Princess Billie, and the Ancient One…

He just wanted to complete a legendary quest; was it really necessary to go through all this?

Every time he faced life and death!