Rivers of the Night - Chapter 356

Chapter 356: Manifested Echo
The Immortal Jellyfish had been slowly changing Theron’s body from the very start. Now, his body was over 80% water, and he could even freely apply the effects of his Blue Pufferfish Echo right to it.

If he was correct, and this silvery-blue inner armor was an Echo manifested to a level he had simply never seen, then it was also looking for a host to be the extension of—it wanted to be a part of someone’s body, and it was more than capable of doing exactly that.

In that case, why couldn’t Theron give precedent to his Immortal Jellyfish, the core and root of his body, to take control of it?

Since this inner armor was able to adapt to any worthy host, then it was about time it became the tool of a Water Mancer in earnest.

When Theron’s Immortal Jellyfish set its hooks into the inner armor, it lost all ability to resist.

It had never faced off against someone with the right tools to counter it. Even if someone else had realized what Theron had, they might not be able to do what he was doing right now—not unless they had an Echo that was at least somewhat comparable to this armor when it was at its peak.

Theron knew that if he was correct, there was no way he was anywhere near this armor at its peak. Controlling it with his normal Echo would be impossible.

Good thing… he didn’t have a normal Echo. He had an Echo that was infused with his body so deeply it was practically fundamentally changing his capabilities and limits as a human.

Taking in so much of his blood like that was practically like the inner armor was delivering its own Trojan Horse to itself. It was destroying itself from the inside out, but it had no idea.

‘This will be useful.’

As the inner armor lost its independence and was swallowed whole by Theron, there was also another plan brewing in Theron’s mind.

If Vellan was truly just a science experiment, he bet that right about now, Vellan’s young master was quite sure that Theron would end up slipping into the same trap.

This would be a weakness that that man thought Theron had—that he certainly wouldn’t have. Because even as the inner armor swam onto Theron’s body, not just taking up his chest, but down the length of his arm, and even his legs…

Theron felt as light as a feather.

Water Runes hidden beneath the surface of the armor, swimming through it and changing its properties. However, before more changes could take place, Theron retracted his Immortal Jellyfish Echo and stumbled, his face completely pale.

‘What a powerful armor…’

Theron could already battle Gold Mancers. But someone like Elder Black… he could only defeat her because she was a Water Mancer. Had she been of any other Path, Theron was smart enough to know that he didn’t stand a chance.

But right now, that might not necessarily be the case anymore.

Theron took a step and almost collapsed, the earth cracking beneath him.

He allowed the inner armor to show off its true weight, and he felt like he could hardly move properly anymore.

‘I’ll go like this for now… until the right time. Soon.’

Theron looked up to the moon. They spoke of the Seijin Clan like it was some lofty, untouchable existence, like no one would dare to offend it.

But not only did he dare—he would raze it to the ground very soon. He just had something he needed to do first.

Theron continued to go through the spatial devices. He didn’t really find anything else of interest—at least not nearly the same in value as the inner armor.

If he used this inner armor right, even low-tier Gold Mancers wouldn’t be able to harm him if he just stood there and let them have at it.

But that was just the weakest this armor could be, in Theron’s opinion. If he was correct, it would respond to the odd breakthroughs he had made recently quite well… breakthroughs Theron still didn’t quite understand.

They were like the Runes on the Black Limbo Tortoise shell, and yet different at the same time. They made natural sense to him, but he didn’t have an underlying understanding, and that left him feeling confused.

Why had he grasped something and yet didn’t have full understanding of it? It felt… broken, in a way.

He wanted to fill in that gap, and there was only one thing capable of filling it:

The Luminescent Sect’s Secret Realm Library.

However, Theron was torn between that place and something else he needed to do first. He felt like he had more capital to return in secret now, especially with Patriarch Gian being heavily injured right now. But the Daggers of the Night…

Theron’s gaze flickered as he picked up the last of the treasures scattered around. It was Exsaa’s bracelet—the one capable of storing her living puppets.

From what Theron could tell, it could store about ten or so of those puppets. It was a cramped space, not really designed for leisure. It also couldn’t take in normal humans, only those that were heavily sedated. But…

Theron looked to the Alpha. It could definitely store the Alpha.

Not that he needed to do that right now.

“Let’s go,” Theron said, pulling himself onto the Alpha’s back.

There was a bristling of the Alpha’s fur as it sank heavily into the ground. But then its muscles bulged.

Blood still leaking from its muzzle, it growled slightly, its aura growing and shattering the barrier to Second Gold Resonance.

Theron knew that it wasn’t done yet. He didn’t know how it was going to progress before, but it seemed the Alpha knew what to do all on its own.

Now that it had devoured the corpse of a high-tier Gold Mancer with a compatible Gold Core, how far would it grow?

In a way, the heft to Theron’s weight right now was exactly what it needed to digest this overflowing energy.

BANG!

The Alpha shot away. Its destination?

Daggers of the Night.