Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener - Chapter 618

Chapter 618: Chapter 618: The Mother Entity’s Formidable Soul Resistance
Sterl initially believed that with the strength of his soul, no matter how vast the soul of this grotesque worm was, it couldn’t entirely resist his Soul Absorption ability. At worst, it might take more time, requiring a gradual, methodical approach to extract its soul memories in their entirety.

But to his surprise, the worm not only possessed an unimaginably colossal soul, but the gray energy core within it granted it extraordinary soul resistance.

The absorption rate was shockingly slow—only about 0.1% per second!

If that were the only issue, it wouldn’t have been a significant problem. He could simply persist for ten minutes or more, gradually draining it completely. After all, his soul energy replenished quickly, and he could pause periodically to recover before resuming.

However, the moment Sterl absorbed the first fragment of soul memory, he immediately regretted it. What he had captured wasn’t the worm’s true memories, but rather the memories of the countless hellish creatures whose souls the worm had forcibly amalgamated.

With millions of beings twisted into its essence, even 0.1% of the worm’s soul amounted to tens of thousands of distinct memories flooding into Sterl’s mind at once.

Worse still, because these souls had been forcibly warped and fused together, most of the memories were fragmented, incoherent, or entirely replaced by an overwhelming sense of pain and torment. As a result, all Sterl could glean from the absorption were these broken, negative memories—completely devoid of value.

The sheer volume of these shattered and agonized memories overwhelmed his mind, leaving him dizzy and deeply uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the Soul Absorption ability of the Soul Prison’s Eerie Eyes operated from a third-person perspective. It didn’t truly assimilate the memories into his own consciousness. Otherwise, such a massive influx of chaotic soul fragments might not have completely shattered his will, but it would have severely impacted him. At best, it could muddle his memories; at worst, it could leave him disoriented, even causing him to lose his sense of self entirely.

This experience raised a sharp sense of caution in Sterl. The power of the Soul Prison’s Eerie Eyes, especially in the realm of the soul, was undoubtedly terrifying.

But against an enemy as bizarre as this, the ability could easily become a double-edged sword. If the opponent understood the nature of his power, they might even use it to set a trap, luring him into their snare.

Sterl set aside further contemplation. Though Soul Absorption couldn’t reveal the secrets hidden within this grotesque worm, the power of Phantom Purgatory was something it could never withstand.

His next move would ensure that the creature, and whatever it was hiding, would be brought to its knees.

Might as well take it one step at a time—first, consume the soul of this grotesque worm, and deal with the rest later!

Though the worm’s soul was unimaginably vast and fortified by that mysterious gray energy, the Phantom Purgatory ability functioned very differently from Soul Absorption.

The key distinction? Phantom Purgatory didn’t care who the target was—it guaranteed at least 1% soul damage per second.

Once the worm lost the protection of the fused monster, it would become nothing more than prey, ripe for Sterl to gradually wear down with his ability. With ample time and his own soul energy replenishing continuously, Sterl could slowly grind it down.

The thought of consuming and refining the worm’s colossal soul—equivalent to tens of millions of individual souls—was exhilarating. Fully absorbing it could yield a staggering 100,000 points of ordinary soul energy. That number alone was monumental!

With this in mind, Sterl’s mood improved significantly. Casting aside unnecessary thoughts, he turned his focus to the fused mantis below.

The monster didn’t immediately attack, seemingly hesitant in the face of Sterl’s strange and overwhelming powers.

More accurately, it wasn’t the monster itself that hesitated but the grotesque worm controlling it. After all, the fused monster had no independent will; it was entirely under the control of the mother entity’s consciousness.

“So, even things like you can feel fear?”

Sterl smirked disdainfully. Since it didn’t dare to act first, he decided he would.

Raising his hand slowly, Sterl snapped his fingers. Instantly, the sky was illuminated by the fiery tails of hundreds of crimson meteors descending from above.

He had activated his Celestial Stars ability.

Thanks to the refinement of his soul energy, Sterl’s endurance far surpassed what it had been during his battle with the Silver Moon Wolf God. Even summoning hundreds of Celestial Stars at once didn’t strain him.

Moreover, with his vastly improved recovery rate, the energy he expended was rapidly replenishing.

With the massive enhancement of his attributes, even a single Celestial Star now carried the destructive power of a god’s attack. Hundreds of them striking simultaneously were akin to a hundred gods unleashing their full might.

But the meteors weren’t aimed at the fused monster or the grotesque worm cocooned by millions of Silver Spiders. Instead, their target was the expansive layer of silvery liquid covering the barren ground for hundreds of miles.

In war, the first step is to cut off the enemy’s supply lines. The silvery liquid, seemingly ordinary, was in fact the foundation of these grotesque creatures.

This liquid, secreted by the worm after consuming massive amounts of material, was a nutrient-rich substance. It not only accelerated the growth of the creatures birthed by the worm but also enabled them to rapidly regenerate their bodies and wounds, granting them a horrifying semblance of immortality.

Sterl knew that as long as this lifeline existed, his enemy’s resilience would remain near limitless. By destroying it, he could finally tip the scales in his favor.

Furthermore, the silvery liquid also served as the worm’s emergency reserve energy source. In moments of crisis, it could rapidly absorb these nutrients to exponentially accelerate its ability to spawn soldiers.

To prevent any unforeseen developments, Sterl made the destruction of this lifeline his primary target from the start.

The terrifying Celestial Stars, engulfed in scorching flames, descended from the heavens like divine punishment delivered by the cosmos itself.

At this moment, the fused monster seemed to react—or rather, the mother entity controlling it realized Sterl’s intent. With an enraged screech, the monster transformed into a silver streak, positioning itself above the worm’s body in a defensive stance.

To the mother entity, protecting its own survival was far more critical than preserving the nutrient reserves. Without the mother entity, everything would fall apart.

The next moment, hundreds of Celestial Stars rained down, accompanied by the activation of Cursed Vision and Starlight Spray.

In an instant, the area spanning hundreds of miles was engulfed in a fiery inferno, as if a hundred nuclear bombs had detonated simultaneously.

Massive mushroom clouds rose into the sky, enveloping the landscape. The silvery liquid was consumed in the fiery explosions, its essence obliterated by the relentless searing flames and overwhelming force.

It didn’t take long for the chaos to subside. The choking dust and roaring flames dissipated under the chaotic fluctuations of Divine Power.

Sterl gazed down at the aftermath. What was once a vast, silvery expanse was now a colossal crater spanning hundreds of miles in diameter.

The pit was unfathomably deep, a monstrous scar upon the world, its sheer size resembling an abyss embedded into the fabric of this layer of hell.

At the center of this massive void, the area where the worm’s mother body resided remained relatively intact—a thousand-meter-wide section that had somehow withstood the destruction.

The Silver Spiders that had once swarmed over the worm had mostly been obliterated by the aftershocks, reduced to silvery puddles that reabsorbed into the mother entity’s body.

As for the fused monster, it was visibly worse for wear. Its body bore significant injuries, its limbs contorted, and its wings on its back had been entirely incinerated by the residual flames.

The devastating power of hundreds of Celestial Stars concentrated over such an immense area was evident. Even if Boris and the others had joined forces to withstand the assault, their fate would not have been much better.

Had the fused monster not leveraged its speed to detonate several Celestial Stars near the worm preemptively, its condition would likely have been far graver.

“Struggle all you like,” Sterl remarked coldly, his gaze piercing through the remnants of his foes. “The outcome has already been decided. You cannot escape your fate…”

Sterl gazed down at the grotesque worm-like mother entity below, muttering to himself, “If I kill this thing, would that count as saving this layer of hell?”

If he couldn’t uncover more information about these creatures, it might be better to eliminate the immediate crisis and claim more authority over hell as a whole.

And if he could seize the entire hell itself? That would be a windfall beyond imagination.

The thought stirred something within him. Hell, by its very nature, was chaotic and fragmented, composed of countless layers, each inhabited by distinct species locked in endless cycles of war and invasion. Some even waged battles between layers, annexing one another.

To the gods and countless beings across the cosmos, hell was a place of scorn, a forsaken corner of the universe, discarded and shunned.

But to Sterl, hell held immense value—far greater than a typical divine-level faction!

Moreover, hell wasn’t as simplistic as outsiders assumed. It concealed vast reservoirs of power. In some of the deeper layers, gods were as common as the stars.

Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought of controlling all of hell for now—it was too ambitious at his current strength. But leveraging this opportunity to acquire significant authority within hell could yield enormous benefits.

Besides, as things stood, unless this crisis was resolved, the Will of Hell would remain dormant, and he wouldn’t be able to leave. Missing his chance to intervene in the war between Orichalcum and the Ashen Temple would be a significant loss.

Just then, the grotesque worm’s head, which resembled a massive maw, emitted a piercing, bone-chilling screech.

Immediately, all the Silver Spiders clinging to its body began to liquefy, turning into a surge of silvery secretion that flowed back into the mother entity.

As the worm absorbed these nutrients, its body began convulsing violently, contracting and writhing as if undergoing some radical internal transformation. A sickening, squelching noise echoed through the battlefield.

“Looks like it’s preparing for a desperate last stand,” Sterl mused, raising an eyebrow. He wasn’t foolish enough to stand idly by while the enemy powered up. The best strategy was to strike while it was vulnerable—take them down before they could strike back.

But the fused monster in front of the worm moved first.

Despite its lack of wings, it could still fly effortlessly, bursting forward with a speed rivaling that of a High Divine Authority. It became a streak of silver light, hurtling toward Sterl with terrifying precision.

…