If Oboro wants to conquer the Dark Continent, he will inevitably come into conflict with all the extraordinary beings that dwell there.
He wants to stand at the top!
This is his ambition and desire.
The devil sensed it from his soul and confirmed it through his past experiences in the human world.
"Are you afraid of me?" Oboro's voice cut through the air.
As he spoke, terrifying black soul fog spread out between heaven and earth like a tsunami, with him at its center.
The guide who stood nearby was hit hard by the soul pressure almost instantly. The light in his eyes disappeared as he collapsed to the ground.
Endless black fog spread like a virus. Wherever it passed, the transformed soul creatures seemed to be injected with adrenaline, roaring skyward with newfound strength.
Moreover, as the black fog swept across the vast land, countless spirits that had been absorbed by Oboro appeared one by one, forming a massive army.
Among them were spirits he had absorbed from the human world, led by Meruem, Netero, and others, as well as many life forms that had died by his hand over the years all kinds of strange creatures flying through the sky and running across the ground. From above, the entire surface of the earth appeared occupied by spiritual entities with no end in sight.
A sea of 'dead souls.'
And Oboro stood surrounded at its center.
"We choose to accept you and let you build your home on this land. This is our bottom line," the will above remained unchanged.
"Really?" Oboro's expression darkened.
His body transformed as raging soul fire burned away his flesh and blood, revealing the appearance of Thresh. In one hand, he held the chain of Rig's Lantern, and in the other, he grasped the axe blade at the end of the lantern.
"Since you know that I can evolve infinitely you wouldn't let me stay in the Dark Continent, and you wouldn't give me enough time" Oboro swung the chain gently. "So, you want to confuse me, right? Delay wait for the real masters behind the scenes to come and judge me?"
"Humansare indeed boring, low-level creatures."
As the negotiating will surged, thunder and lightning roared across the sky.
One after another, red and black lightning bolts struck the earth, manifesting as solid entities rather than flashing away.
Then, a gigantic snake head appeared vaguely in the sky, with eyes as large as the sun and moon, radiating murderous intent.
A figure gradually descended from the vastest and thickest lightning bolt.
It was a life form that resembled a sub-human monster.
At first glance, it looked just like a human, but the difference was that while the lower body had human legs and feet, there was no neck or head above the chest. Instead, eight snake bodies extended upward, each with a snake head bearing a human face. Its hands held weapons a dagger and a spear respectively.
"It seems that your evolution to this point is also inseparable from human genes Your intelligence is also due to humans."
Though a vast distance separated Oboro and his opponent one in the sky, the other on the ground their eyes locked onto each other with perfect clarity.
"The only value of humans is to provide nutrients needed for evolution but at this point, they are no longer useful." The snake man spoke coldly, forked tongues constantly flicking from his mouths.
"Stop talking so much. Eat me, or be eaten by me." Oboro's lips curled into a bloodthirsty smile.
He had waited for so long, and finally he met one of the true rulers of this land.
"You are a fish that slipped through the cracks in time and space You don't belong here, and you don't even know your own abilities We have lived on this continent for a long time, and the order of evolution is something you cannot change. Your desires, which you have not concealed, have already foreshadowed your end."
As soon as the words fell, Oboro had already taken the initiative.
Countless spirits shot upward and flew towards the snake man standing on lightning like a swarm of locusts.
Boom!
Almost simultaneously, the violent sea of thunder surged, interweaving between heaven and earth, destroying all souls in its path.
However, the soul energy transformed from these spirits did not completely dissipate. It quickly re-condensed, and the offensive continued unabated.
Rules are imposed and gamified.
Oboro stared at the snake man in the dazzling sea of light, mixing the power of rules into the diffused energy, attempting to change this space and make the battlefield shift through various forms of energy.
His clairvoyance allowed him to see through the physical weaknesses of snake men and deliver critical strikes. He also possessed an attack range beyond common sense The rules that best fit these elements were from games.
Rule judgment, failed!
However, Oboro did not succeed. The enemy also controlled the power of rules and could compete with him.
If you want the power of rules to take effect, there must be a prerequisite that must be completed before the rules can be applied. Otherwise it is just a simple kind of energy.
To put it plainly, if you want to apply the power of rules to actual combat, both sides need to disguise themselves and set traps in advance, waiting for the other to participate.
Then various constraints are imposed.
"If the powerful rules cannot be expanded, then we can only pursue small changes in the details."
For example, calling out the other person's name or making them lose consciousness for half a minute. However, with such small prerequisites, the power of rules that can be applied is also very limited.
The fight between him and his opponent was also a contest of brainpower and observation.
You must not fall into this trap.
Once you are restricted by the rules, you will inevitably fall into a disadvantage and face serious trouble.
Oboro raised the chain, and it immediately penetrated space, falling directly from above the snake man's head and wrapping around the target in circles.
He'd been evolving, and his abilities were always improving not just Thresh's skills, but also Senna's and Ekko's.
This space-breaking move was evolved and developed from his extended attack range.
Click.
The next second, several snake heads bit the chains. It seemed the creature could touch tools in the soul state. Not only did its sharp fangs break the chains, but its venom also melted them.
Violent lightning still ran in all directions, and the densely packed ghosts couldn't get close to the snake man.
The eight snake heads suddenly grew larger and spewed streams of thick venom into the sky. The poison began to spread over the battlefield along with the strong wind, and heavy rain began to fall in a short moment. All of this rain had transformed from the venom.
The snake heads regularly flicked their tongues, making a silver bell sound that echoed throughout the earth.
All living things that heard the sound, including plants and trees, instantly withered and died.
Oboro's soul army gradually collapsed, and the energy he mobilized became difficult to control due to the interference of the sound waves.
"Lightning and sound, two extraordinary elemental powers, and venom is an inherent talent As expected, those who can evolve into a dominant being are no ordinary people." Oboro gently shook the lantern in his hand, swinging it left and right like a clock hand Gradually, the flow of time across the entire battlefield slowed.
Eventually, it stagnated and froze.
Even the snake man maintained stiff movements and expressions
Controlling time was not a rule, but Oboro's ability formed from the development of Ekko's skills.
Oboro suddenly disappeared from his position and appeared before the snake man in the center of the thunder and lightning.
His eyes were cold as he swung the axe in his hand downward to chop at the snake man's head.
Bang!
Surprisingly, the snake man who had been frozen in time suddenly raised his dagger to block the fatal blow. The eyeballs on the eight snake heads moved, and the limbs seemed to slowly regain mobility.
Any ability transformed from energy exists downstream of the power of rules.
The appearance of energy means there is antagonism, and nothing works absolutely.
Whether for Oboro or the Snake Man, at their stage of evolution, it was actually a competition of essence, not just form.
See who possesses the stronger life energy.
The killing move was blocked, and Oboro suddenly opened his mouth. A ball of burning soul fire flew onto the snake man and erupted with a loud bang.
"Ahhh!" The snake man howled in pain.
Oboro was also bitten on the shoulder by one of the snake heads.
The snake man's body suddenly squirmed and swelled, rising against the wind and beginning to grow larger.
It transformed into a gigantic monster standing between heaven and earth, with eight heads and one tail, discarding its human appearance Many monsters and creatures could perform such transformations.
Oboro's body also rose, his Thresh form gathered by his Nen. If Menchi and the others had been there, they probably wouldn't believe it, because even Netero's Hundred-Type Guanyin was as small as an ant compared to Oboro and the snake man.
The next moment, the earth shook violently.
Two giant, god-like creatures began the most primitive fight.
For a moment, heaven and earth were in chaos, with strong winds blowing everywhere.
The souls of the dead floated in the sky as thunder and lightning rolled.
After an unknown amount of time, the noisy, dilapidated, apocalyptic-like space finally returned to peace.
Thresh, standing tall as a pillar of strength, stepped on the corpse of a snake that had fallen to the ground and let out a soul-stirring howl.
The snake man's endless soul power poured into Oboro's body like a flowing river.
The first one!
This would be the beginning of his hunt for all the masters on the Dark Continent!
Thresh's figure disappeared, revealing Oboro's true form. Half of his body was corroded by venom the injury was serious.
Fortunately, tremendous vitality stored in his body could heal him bit by bit, though it might take a long time.
Oboro looked up at the sky, ready to fly up, jump over the door, and see what the "ecology" of the snake people's territory was like.
But before he moved, he sensed something.
He frowned suddenly.
Look behind you.
Whoosh!
A 'thing' emitting terrifying energy waves rushed in at an astonishing speed, falling into the desolate and messy battlefield.
The newcomer was also human-sized but shrouded in soul fog.
Oboro narrowed his eyes. Still furious after killing the snake man, his powerful soul pressure immediately slammed into the creature, dispersing the soul fog around it and revealing its true appearance.
It had two horns on its head, a mouthful of sharp teeth, dark skin, long limbs and several metal rings hanging from its ears.
A devil!
Oboro's heart skipped a beat.
Back in the skeleton's soul fragment memory, he couldn't even glimpse the devil's true appearance, but now he could easily see its true form!
Oboro didn't know how many demon kings existed in the Dark Continent, but the one before him was the same being he had seen before the one who had passed his message to other rulers!
He recognized this soul fluctuation pattern.
The devil hadn't just arrived; it had been there all along, hiding at a distance.
"Hehehe Human, you were able to kill Campisius."
The demon king's voice was harsh, his tone cunning and sinister, completely different from the impression he had once given Oboro.
It seemed that in the soul's memory, the devil had intentionally changed his behavior and aura to seduce him, making himself more in line with the 'devil' in human cognition.
Now, this was his true nature.
Campisius the name of the snake man.
The name suggested that the civilization and origin of humans or intelligent creatures on the Dark Continent were far from as simple as imagined.
The Demon King's appearance and expression made Oboro understand everything at once.
The snake man was just a sacrifice to establish how dangerous he was.
A primitive human breaking the long-standing order of the Dark Continent was a provocation to its superiors.
Not to mention dominant life forms even higher beings would not allow it.
Oboro hadn't replied yet when a golden glow appeared in the sky above.
A creature with three pairs of white wings slowly descended.
Its breath was extremely sacred.
Each wing was like a cloud hanging from the sky. In the center of each wing was a body of human flesh and blood crawling with maggots, and a human face had grown on the abdomen rather than the neck.
Oboro glanced at it, then turned his head to look in another direction.
This time, it was a giant bear running towards them from the horizon. What was peculiar was that the bear's body wasn't made of flesh and blood, but more like a mucus substance.
The threat these three creatures posed to Oboro was no less than that of the snake men.
Obviously, they were all dominant life forms.
"Are you planning to take advantage of my injury and gang up on me?" Oboro's face remained expressionless.
For intelligent creatures, using such tactics was normal.
However, Oboro had no intention of escaping. He had just absorbed Campisius' soul
But these three creatures seemed to have no intention of fighting him. Under Oboro's gaze, the Demon King suddenly knelt on one knee and lowered his head in a gesture of submission.
The angel-like creature also folded its wings.
The giant bear crawled on the ground.
Their gestures were obviously not directed at themselves.
Oboro's eyelids twitched, and he looked up at the sky again.
"Above the dominant demon king are gods?"
His pupils shrank to pinpoints.
The food chain status determined by the system had already provided some foreshadowing.
Furthermore, images in the Bozwa tribe's murals and Kuruta tribe's books showed that human groups living in different areas of the Dark Continent all worshipped certain gods and the existence of creatures like the Demon King spoke volumes.
"To be honest there really is"
When he saw the black and red sky, previously as dark as an abyss, suddenly spread out like the sun after clouds had cleared Oboro's heart shook.
He wasn't amazed by the existence of gods, but was surprised that the life energy nurtured by the Dark Continent including the alternation and evolution of genes could truly reach the level of creating gods.
This kind of deity was definitely not the god known to the human world in his previous life or this life, that kind of supreme existence.
Rather simply through hunting, fighting, and climbing up from the bottom of the food chain, these beings had become 'gods' step by step over endless history and years.
Evolved to the level of a 'God.'