Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener - Chapter 611

Chapter 611: Chapter 611: Phantom Purgatory! Instant Annihilation!
Compared to the Silver Spiders, these Silver Mantises were clearly more refined. Their bodies seemed to be crafted from some kind of exotic liquid metal, and their compound eyes, glowing with a sinister red light, gave off an eerie feeling.

What set them apart the most, however, was the gray mist that had transformed into something resembling blood, slowly circulating through their bodies. When they attacked, this energy would manifest alongside their movements.

Although they didn’t appear as monstrous and aggressive as the Silver Spiders, they exuded a far more precise and lethal aura!

Furthermore, when these Silver Mantises stood still, Boris and the others couldn’t sense any presence from them, as if they were nothing more than lifeless statues. Their speed rivaled that of gods, and they possessed a bizarre energy that could pierce through Divine Power and divine authority Laws. Coupled with their almost imperceptible presence, these Silver Mantises quickly escalated in threat level in the minds of the gods.

Confronting these several dozen Silver Mantises felt like facing a band of assassin gods—murderous intent filled the air!

After their first attack, however, the Silver Mantises did not continue their assault. They simply stood still, as though offering a warning.

If Boris and the others dared to press on, they would undoubtedly face the full force of these creatures’ violent assault!

Boris and the others stood ready, their nerves on edge.

The master’s orders must be carried out, even if it meant death, so…

“This is interesting… things are getting more and more intriguing,” Sterl’s voice slowly sounded from the side.

“Master!”

“Master, be careful, these creatures are incredibly strange,” Boris and the others exclaimed as they saw Sterl appear.

The moment they saw Sterl, they all let out a long breath of relief. The tension and pressure in their hearts immediately eased.

In their minds, Sterl was an all-powerful being. As long as their master took action, all crises and enemies would be wiped away without a trace.

After all, this was a being with the body of a third-class entity, one who had successfully trapped higher-tier divine authorities. A future ruler destined to be the lord of all gods and the master of all living things!

Sterl wore an expression of mild amusement on his face, but inwardly, he couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless.

He hadn’t actually wanted to intervene. However, the scope of the previous soul-shattering attack had been so vast that it had almost engulfed the entire Venomous Swamp Hell.

At that moment, Sterl had already exposed himself. When the Silver Mantises appeared, their killing intent was not only directed at Boris and the others, but also at him, who had been hiding in the shadows. Thus, even if he had concealed himself, it would have been meaningless. It was better to reveal himself now—at least this way, in the hearts of Boris and the others, he could maintain the image of a powerful being.

As he looked at the Silver Mantises in front of him, Sterl used Soul Insight and found something strange about their souls. Their numbers were the same as the ordinary Silver Spiders, and they only possessed a single thread of soul, but the quality of that soul was extraordinarily high.

It was enough to make him feel the same kind of soul quality as the Silver Moon Wolf God!

“Could it be that the souls of these Silver Mantises are on the level of high-tier divine authority?” he thought, both astonished and intrigued. However, he knew that the only way to find out for sure was to test it.

Previously, in order to remain hidden, he hadn’t had the chance to test whether the Soul Devourer Sphere could absorb their souls.

As for the threat posed by these Silver Mantises?

When had Sterl ever been afraid of a threat? Those who had threatened him didn’t even deserve to have grass growing over their graves!

If he wanted to tear apart the true nature of these creatures, there was no one who could stand in his way!

“A group of soulless trash, completely ignorant of their place,” Sterl muttered coldly.

These Silver Mantises were indeed powerful, but in truth, they were only at the demigod limit. Their strength came from the mysterious gray energy that allowed them to contend with gods. In fact, if one wasn’t careful, even a god could fall to their attacks.

But to Sterl, even gods were nothing more than trash that could be effortlessly destroyed. How much less significant were these inconsequential insects?

Without hesitation, he activated all his amplification abilities. His eyes gradually grew deeper, as if hiding a mysterious Black Hole that was rapidly spinning, threatening to devour the very souls of any living beings in its path!

Suddenly, a wave of intense danger enveloped Boris and the others, their faces filled with horror as they stared at Sterl. It felt as though a terrifying demon was awakening within him.

While the Silver Mantises had given them a sense of danger and sharpness, Sterl now made them feel an overwhelming sense of despair and terror. Even their very souls seemed to tremble and struggle in response to his presence!

What Sterl had activated at this moment was none other than the ultimate power of Soul Prison’s Eerie Eyes—Phantom Purgatory!

The reason he didn’t hesitate to unleash this power was twofold: first, he wanted to see just how strong the effect of this ability truly was; and second, he didn’t want to give these monsters even the slightest chance to resist.

He vaguely suspected that, since the Silver Spiders were able to merge perfectly, these Silver Mantises might be capable of the same.

Before merging, they already had the power to annihilate gods. If they were all merged together, wouldn’t that mean they could even strike down high-tier divine authority beings?

This was why Sterl didn’t want to waste time dealing with these creatures. There was a real risk of things going awry, and that would be rather laughable.

After all, this was the fourth layer of hell, and there were even more dangerous realms waiting for him ahead!

With Phantom Purgatory activated, anything within his sight was dragged into it. These creatures weren’t ordinary beings—under the influence of Soul Prison’s Eerie Eyes, anything with a soul could be considered a living entity.

In an instant, these Silver Mantises didn’t even have a chance to resist. Their faint souls were directly pulled into the purgatory.

Immediately, Sterl’s own soul energy began to deplete rapidly, draining at a rate of 30% per second.

However, despite the impressive soul level of the Silver Mantises, their souls were far too weak. Compared to Sterl’s, they were like the moon compared to a firefly.

Thus, they would endure the most intense burn of Fire of Purgatory, receiving 100% soul damage per second!

One second later, the souls of all the Silver Mantises had no room for resistance, instantly perishing within the Purgatory Space.

At the same time, within the Purgatory Space, dozens of soul puppets identical to the ones before began to slowly emerge.

From this moment on, the souls of these Silver Mantises would forever become his puppets, controlled by him. Even in death, they could be revived within the Purgatory Space.

Sterl opened his eyes once more, the deep, Black Hole-like gaze gradually returning to normal. A faint weariness appeared in his eyes.

“30% soul energy drain per second is a bit excessive, but it seems not as bad as I imagined.”

He took a few deep breaths, and the soul energy that had been depleted began to replenish at an astonishing rate.

Within just a few seconds, all of the lost soul energy had been fully restored.

Of course, this was thanks to his exceptionally high soul level and strength. He only used up 30% of his soul energy. The more soul energy he consumed, the slower it would be to recover. If he had drained 50% of his soul energy, even with his current recovery rate, it would have taken several minutes to replenish.

If he had depleted all of it, not only would his combat power have been severely weakened, but the recovery would have taken much longer—at least a day or two.

Noticing this issue, Sterl quietly kept a mental note. He could easily activate Phantom Purgatory for just one second at a time, then wait a few seconds before releasing it again.

This way, wouldn’t he be able to wear down any enemy by relying on this feature!?

Of course, the precondition was that the enemy didn’t have a way to regenerate their soul, and that he wouldn’t be killed outright during this process.

“Not bad.”

Feeling the presence of dozens more puppets within the Purgatory Space, Sterl realized that these puppets could serve not only as combatants but also be devoured by the Soul Devourer Sphere under his control.

However, once devoured by the Soul Devourer Sphere, they wouldn’t be able to be revived.

The first time he used Phantom Purgatory, the results were even more overwhelming than he had anticipated. Creatures like the Silver Mantis, with their formidable combat prowess but relatively weak souls, were essentially born to be their natural nemeses!

Without souls, no matter how powerful their bodies, they were nothing but puppets.

Of course, this was something the stronger beings were bound to be aware of. The more powerful the entity, the stronger their soul would be. As they grew stronger, they would have no weaknesses, becoming incredibly powerful and versatile beings.

But Sterl wasn’t worried about that. If the enemy’s soul was strong, he would simply make his own soul even stronger.

As long as he was strong enough, even those legendary, all-powerful beings, who appeared flawless in every way, would seem like nothing more than mediocre beings in his eyes.

“Let’s test how the devouring and refining works.”

With a flick of his thought, the Soul Devourer Sphere appeared in his hand. He immediately pulled a Silver Mantis’s soul from the Purgatory Space and placed it into the sphere.

Unlike absorbing a soul, this time Sterl didn’t feel any backlash or impact at all.

He couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy and immediately began to activate the Soul Devourer Sphere to begin the refining process.

Sure enough, the Soul Devourer Sphere began to rapidly refine the Silver Mantis’s soul. Even facing the terrifying Soulforge Fire, the Silver Mantis’s soul showed no signs of resistance or struggle—it was simply and effortlessly consumed.

“Is it over already?”

By the time the refining process was complete, Sterl was still a bit taken aback. He hadn’t expected that the soul refinement process would go by without any backlash. This was just too satisfying!