Chapter 383: Greed Overcomes Fear

Inside the arena, a doomsday-like scene was unfolding.

The void essence that escaped after Magnus's clone was squeezed to death was spreading rapidly in the air like an invisible plague.

Those black energy threads carried the source traits of a supreme apostle, which was no different from the deadliest poison for creatures with weaker strength.

"Ahhhhhhh..."

A bat-type awakener who had just escaped near the exit suddenly began to convulse violently.

The blood vessels on its wings swelled like they were inflated, and countless tiny tentacles began to grow from its originally ink-black fur.

These tentacles extended crazily, trying to grab any target they could touch.

But what was even more terrifying was that during this process, the bat awakener still maintained a clear consciousness.

It could clearly feel every change in its body, the strange pleasure brought by every newly born tentacle, and the terrifying process of its reason being gradually twisted.

"Kill... kill me, I beg you!"

It made a plea with its last shred of reason.

But the other refugees around had long been scared out of their wits, and none dared to approach.

Soon, the bat completely lost its original form, turning into a mass of black flesh constantly squirming.

Countless tentacles stretched out from this mass of flesh, crazily grabbing all creatures around it.

Anyone touched would be dragged into its body without any resistance, becoming nutrients for this twisted monster to continue expanding.

But strangely, although these tentacles swayed crazily, they never extended toward the direction of Nari in the center of the arena.

As if there was some kind of forbidden line there, even the deformed bodies that had completely lost their reason instinctively avoided it.

Similar tragedies were unfolding in every corner of the arena simultaneously.

But all the chaos had a common feature.

No matter how out of control the deformity was, it would instinctively bypass Nari, who was at the center of the storm.

A group of demons who were originally fleeing together began to fuse with each other under the erosion of void essence.

Their bodies stuck together like melted wax.

Bones rearranged, blood vessels intertwined, and finally formed a deformed giant beast with more than a dozen faces.

Each face maintained the expression from before death—fear, despair, anger, pain, like a living hell painting.

What made people's hair stand on end was that these faces could still think and speak independently.

They began to accuse each other of their sins, condemning the other party for being responsible for this fate, their voices rising and falling, like mental patients in an asylum singing in chorus.

"It's all your fault! If it weren't for you saying you wanted to grab the front row seat..."

"Shut up! It was clearly you who insisted on coming to watch this damn competition!"

"We are all going to die... we are all going to turn into monsters..."

"Who will save us... who will kill us..."

In the spectator seats, those awakeners with slightly stronger strength did not escape either.

A spider-type awakener with six arms was originally trying to use spatial teleportation to escape the scene.

But the erosion of void essence caused its spatial perception ability to undergo a fatal twist.

The teleportation portal did open, but it connected to its own internal organs.

Six arms reached into different teleportation portals simultaneously, then drilled out from its chest, abdomen, and back.

It began to tear itself into pieces from the inside, each piece of flesh maintaining a bizarre connection with other parts through the teleportation portals.

This process of self-decomposition lasted for more than ten minutes, during which the awakener kept making strange cries like laughter and weeping.

Finally, it turned into a three-dimensional labyrinth composed of countless pieces of meat and teleportation portals.

Any creature entering it would be lost in an endless spatial loop.

In this ocean of chaos and distortion, Abyss creatures displayed the most primitive malice and desire.

Some strong ones who were lucky enough to escape the erosion of void essence did not help those victims, but instead began to loot during the disaster.

"Hahaha! These idiots!"

A demon awakener covered in bone armor was crazily harvesting those victims who had fallen into deformity, while letting out an excited wild laugh:

"Thanks to the supreme apostle for the gift! These essences are dangerous, but for existences of our level, they are the best strengthening materials!"

The surface of its armor began to grow more bone spurs, and every time it absorbed a deformed body, its strength would be significantly improved.

In its view, this disaster was not a tragedy, but a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

On the other side, several awakeners of different forms formed a temporary hunting squad.

They specifically looked for those victims who had fallen into a semi-deformed state.

These victims retained their original abilities, and devouring them could also obtain the enhancement of void essence, making them the most ideal prey.

But throughout the process, their movements were extremely cautious, not daring to make too much noise, and even less daring to approach the central area of the arena.

"That one over there! The guy with three heads on its eyes!"

The scout in the team pointed excitedly at a victim who was struggling, lowering their voice:

"Its degree of deformity is just right; after devouring, it will neither completely lose control nor possess enough power essence!"

"Surround it! Quick! While it hasn't completely mutated!"

"Move fast, while Nari-sama is too busy to bother with us..."

"Remember the distribution rules, I want its heart, you can divide the rest!"

In the Abyss, this exploitation and plunder of the weak is a matter of course.

The strong have the right to obtain everything, and the weak only deserve to become nutrients; this is an iron law of survival.

As the situation became more and more out of control, some deformed bodies even began to show aggregation.

That multi-faced giant beast fused from more than a dozen demons added new faces to itself every time it killed a new victim.

Its body size continued to expand, and its intelligence was also improving at a terrifying speed.

"More... need more faces..."

The giant beast spoke with dozens of mouths simultaneously, the voices overlapping to form a bizarre chorus:

"Only by collecting enough memories can we understand the meaning of this pain..."

"Join us, become a part of us... so you won't be lonely anymore..."

It began to selectively hunt those awakeners with higher intelligence, trying to obtain more valuable memories and experience.

Every time it fused a new individual, its understanding of the surrounding environment deepened by a point.

The entire arena turned into a twisted laboratory, where countless deformity forms were born, grew, and devoured each other.

The erosion effect of void essence was still spreading, and even the architectural structure of the arena began to undergo mutation.

Those living stones began to grow autonomously, forming organ structures such as tentacles, eyeballs, mouths, etc.

The ground turned into a huge mouth, constantly devouring the blood and remains falling on it.

The walls grew dense sensory fibers, monitoring every movement in the field in real-time.

The most bizarre was the ceiling.

It began to simulate the shape of Magnus's spider mask, nine huge eyes opening, overlooking the chaotic scene below.

These eyes sometimes shed tears, sometimes were angry, sometimes showed a sick smile, as if commenting on this tragedy.

In the center of the arena, Nari's countless tentacles turned into strange straw shapes.

She was carefully sucking up the void essence produced when Magnus's clone burst.

What Nari collected were the purest, most essential core parts.

As for those other low-quality residues that had dissipated into the air and begun to fuse with the environment, she didn't even want to look at them.

"Mother, are you..."

Luo En's voice came through the consciousness connection.

"Of course, I am collecting the good things left by this old guy."

Nari answered while working, her tone carrying satisfaction:

"The quality of these void essences is very high, containing the source power of the supreme apostle level. Collecting them will be good for both of us."

She paused, her eyes turning toward the secondary essences that were spreading in the air simultaneously:

"As for those scattered residues... they have been diluted beyond recognition.

Once absorbed by those low-level creatures, the purity will further decrease, and they will become pure garbage."

Luo En observed the situation around him through the puppet's perception.

He could see those deformed Abyss creatures instinctively avoiding Nari's direction, and could also see some bold awakeners taking the opportunity to harvest their own kind.

"Mother, I have an idea."

His voice became lower:

"Those greedy plunderers are now devouring a large number of deformed bodies polluted by void essence. Although they think they have taken advantage, in fact..."

"What do you want to say, baby?"

Nari keenly sensed the hint in her "child's" words, and countless tentacles paused slightly.

"Void essence has already made the energy structure of those deformed bodies extremely unstable."

Luo En's analysis began to become deeper:

"If in this unstable state, some... extra catalysts are mixed in, such as your chaotic aura, then when these plunderers ingest a large amount..."

He didn't finish, but the implication was very clear.

Nari understood immediately, excited light shining in her eyes:

"My child is really too smart... this idea..."

She began to separate several strands of special chaotic essence from her body.

These essences presented a deep purple-black color, each drop containing high-concentration native chaotic aura.

Under the cover of various energy disorders caused by void essence, Nari began her precise operation.

She injected these high-concentration chaotic auras into the bodies of those monsters with the highest degree of deformity and the densest residual void essence.

These chaotic auras looked inconspicuous, and the aura was completely covered.

But in reality, it was a carefully designed delayed trap.

When two opposing high-level energies reached a critical point within the same carrier, it would trigger a catastrophic chain reaction.

And the trigger condition was greedy, massive devouring.

"I have already guessed which guys will eat the most leftovers. Thinking that by eating some leftovers while I'm away, they can take advantage?"

Nari sneered in her heart, while continuing her collection work:

"Since they like to eat so much, let them eat enough."

Luo En felt Nari's satisfied emotion through the consciousness connection, and a smile also appeared on his lips.