Chapter 447: Satan

The ground has already been scorched by countless lightning strikes, and the corpses of all kinds of animals scattered everywhere have been burned into black charcoal.

Flocks of crows swirl, occasionally turning into a flash of electricity that guides the thunder from the sky to strike somewhere; the massive swamp maze has now been leveled by lightning fire.

Murphy, now in his demon form, lifts a stone slab; suddenly a burst of music comes from behind the slab, causing his mind to haze, but he quickly blocks it, and he sees the deity lying beneath the slab with one of its goat hooves already severed.

Kernunox's vertical flutes in both hands are broken, no longer able to emit the mind‑confusing sound, and his followers have all been annihilated by Murphy's lightning; he has no other means left.

At this moment, his pair of goat eyes stare blankly at Murphy, "Who exactly are you? The power of lightning—does it come from Odin or Zeus? Yet you look like my offspring…"

But before it can finish speaking, Murphy grabs one of its goat horns and lifts its head.

"I see, that piece of goat skin was yours after all." Murphy says, having felt a strange attraction from the other, as if its Magic Power shared something in common with his.

He immediately understood: the goat skin he had found in Joachim's village was used for an AnimaGus Transformation, integrating into his body, which is why his demon form displays goat horns and hooves.

He did not expect that the goat skin actually came from Pan.

"What a coincidence,"

With this connection, seizing the other's divine power becomes more certain.

Murphy raises his hand, and a spear of lightning materializes in his grasp; he thrusts it forward, piercing Kernunox's heart.

In an instant, a massive surge of Magic Power leaks from the opponent's body and automatically rushes toward Murphy.

He analyzes that Magic Power; amid flashing lightning, his brain races again, just as when he performed the AnimaGus Transformation, calculating how to readjust his AnimaGus form to fully remedy the defects left then.

In the years after the High-level AnimaGus Transformation, although he avoids further transformations to prevent his body from collapsing, he never abandons his study of transformation magic.

Regarding the three creatures that compose his AnimaGus form, he has conducted extensive analysis; with Magic Power analysis tools and genome sequencing tools, both Thunderbird and Petrified Giant Lizard have had their Magic Traits, genetic traits, etc., fully deciphered. Only the third, a goat‑type creature, he has gleaned some insight from sequencing his own genome, but lacking original material, he cannot fully decode it.

At this moment, the prototype creature stands before him, and Murphy naturally will not miss the chance.

Kernunox—whose eyes, once the square pupils of the god Pan, stare at Murphy—watches as the opponent undergoes metamorphosis amid blazing electric fire; the goat horns atop his head grow thicker and more ferocious, curling outward, while a second pair of asymmetrical, branch‑like antlers sprout from his crown.

Kernunox understands that the opponent has absorbed his divine power and is evolving similar traits.

But in places he cannot see, a deeper change is occurring.

A probe is thrust into Kernunox's chest; in an instant, cells are shredded, DNA is sliced by ultrasonic waves in the probe into countless fragments, then passes through high‑throughput nanopores on a polymer membrane, where motor proteins unwind it at high speed, generating electrical signals that Murphy detects.

Kernunox's genetic information is being read by Murphy at thirty to fifty megabases per second, and after a minute and a half, Murphy completes the Whole Genome Sequencing of Kernunox.

Simultaneously, another Magic Power spectrum analyzer is analyzing Kernunox's Magic Power.

Whether a genome‑sequencing probe or a spectrometer, both are precision Magic Power detection devices; after Murphy resolves the Magic Power Chip, he can connect to and control them directly with Magic Power, as if they were extensions of his own limbs.

A few minutes later, Kernunox is on the brink of death, most of his divine power having surged into Murphy's body, and at the same time Murphy has finished analyzing his genes and Magic Power spectrum.

Now that all basic data are gathered, Murphy glances at him, "Any last words?"

"God is immortal," Kernunox says, a calm expression appearing in his hollow eyes. "As long as those who believe in us exist, the god will be reborn. You can take my divine power, but you cannot take the faith in me. The power you gain is merely a stagnant pool; I will return again."

Murphy gives an indifferent smile, waves his hand, and decapitates him.

He seeks this divine power not to replace anyone as a god, but merely to use it as fuel for a time reversal; even if it is entirely consumed, he feels no regret.

However, the Magic Power the opponent possesses is truly massive; before the time reversal, he doesn't mind using it to repair his body.

A thought flickers in his mind, and the massive Magic Power is summoned, seeping into every inch of skin, tendon, and bone as he envisions, until his entire body is saturated with Magic Power. Then he sits cross‑legged, pulls various substances from the seamless expanding Ring, tosses them before him, and Magic Power whirls out, enveloping each item in turn.

They are hundreds of different chemical reagents and dozens of Magic Potions; then he cuts a piece of flesh from Kernunox's body, also wrapping it in Magic Power.

At this moment, hundreds to thousands of non‑interfering Magic Power bubbles separate those substances, and under the massive Magic Power they are processed, mixed, and transformed.

First, Kernunox's body tissue is minced, specific genes and various enzymes extracted; after tedious processing, they are combined with Cas9 protein and various chitosan, liposomes, gold nanoparticles, etc., forming different gene delivery vectors.

He swallows these delivery vectors, and transports them throughout his body via Magic Power.

He then begins to retune his own Magic Power.

With Kernunox's genetic and Magic Power data, Murphy can merge them with his own original genes and Magic Power spectrum; comparing the two, he calculates the most stable and superior combination, and using it as a blueprint, he performs a second repair of his AnimaGus form via gene‑editing tools and Magic Power retuning.

Accompanying the violent shift of Magic Power, Murphy's physical form also changes: the previously irregular scales and feathers gradually disappear, the two pairs of horns on his head become more orderly and harmonious, and two additional pairs of small black wings sprout on his back—an expression of the original six‑winged Thunderbird trait now manifesting after his genetic disorder is repaired.

"…Sa—dan…" the decapitated Kernunox utters at this moment.

"So that's it… they said I would become an evil god, so those angels kept hunting me… they killed me once on Parker Island, stripped my hide, forced me to flee from the Greek forest to this place, but I never understood why I was linked to that evil deity—so that's why… it's you…"

"Ha ha, so that's it…"

Amid the laughter, Kernunox's eyes lose their luster, and he finally dies completely.

More than ten minutes later, a sudden burst of thunder roars; Murphy exhales, regaining human form and feeling a long‑missed ease.

Although viral therapy quickly repairs the various abnormalities caused by his genetic disorder, and he seldom suffers from them now, at this moment he experiences a euphoria akin to recovery after a long illness, as if his body has become much lighter.

From now on, he no longer worries about any side effects from his transformed AnimaGus form.

With this matter settled, Murphy shows no intention of lingering; he produces a Time Converter and pours the massive divine power obtained from Kernunox into it in one gush.

In the next instant, the deep temporal tunnel reopens before him.

And this time, he will continue to flow upstream until before the birth of the gods.

(End of Chapter)