Chapter 3883: Feed Cores (Part 2)

"It is done." Leegaain said as his inner light dimmed, revealing open shackles where the captured Divine Beasts had been until a few moments before. "Your past research is in my possession, and the people you had turned into specimens are free.

"Aside from the contents of your omni pocket, you have nothing left, Raum."

"That’s not true, Guardian." The Wonderer shifted his aura from his captive to his enemy. "I still have many things, starting from the bountiful meal you’ve so kindly served me."

Dozens of black spheres erupted across Raum’s body like boils from a sudden disease. They bloomed open, revealing the swirling mass of Forbidden Magic they trapped within.

Leegaain recognized them as the feed cores described in the Wonderer’s diaries when it was too late. The Guardian had freed the captive from pain and earthly shackles, allowing their souls to escape the eternal prison that Raum’s body was.

Yet their life forces, their mana, and even the pools of their blood mixed with the world energy were still there, ripe for the taking. The feed cores sucked everything in, even the ashes of the Divine Beast’s corpses, in order to replenish Raum’s strength and increase his mass.

In the blink of an eye, only the Leegaain’s and Raum’s auras were left, the rest of the room as sterile as the day it had been built.

"I only need to kill you to retrieve everything you have stolen and get my hands on countless marvels, Guardian." The Wonderer said as his feed cores closed and withdrew back inside his body.

"You’ve gifted me my omni pocket for my coming of age, and I’ve never forgotten how they work. The stronger their user, the bigger the dimensional space they create, and your strength is formidable.

"Also, you failed to harm my precious little sister. If we join our forces-" Surprise cut Raum short when he turned around and noticed that Xenagrosh’s chains were open as well. "This is impossible! Your aura didn’t breach mine. I’m sure of it!"

"And I really appreciated your efforts." Leegaain nodded as Aryk and Lilax ran out of the lab with Zoreth sitting on a floating chair. "You were so focused on me that you didn’t notice my young friends rescuing my daughter."

"Your friends? Those miserable piles of human garbage?" The Eldritch’s black aura charged like a tidal wave, but it crashed against the white of the Guardian long before it could reach the open door.

"They may be miserable, but they are no garbage. They trusted me to keep you distracted and risked their lives to save Zoreth. They have displayed more courage in a minute than you in your 40,000 years as an Abomination." Leegaain replied.

He released a sudden burst of power so great that it pierced through hundreds of meters of solid ground. It blinded Raum and clouded even his endless hunger, making it impossible for him to stop Zoreth’s escape.

When the Wonderer regained his sight, the room was no more, and with it everything between the underground lab and the surface.

’Father never cared for my answers!’ Raum stared at the small figures of the children pushing Zoreth up and away. ’Everything was just a distraction and I fell for it like an idiot!’

Unless their fall carried a specific mutation, Abominations and Eldritches had no mystical senses. They could see through their eyes and listen through the vibration of the air on their skin, but that was it.

They couldn’t smell, feel, or taste anything. Even their ability to perceive the surrounding world energy was just a byproduct of their eternal hunger. Raum would have hardly noticed the presence of two magicless children if they walked in front of him.

If they walked around him, however, while his eyes were fixated on Leegaain and the Guardian’s aura painted everything white, Lilax and Aryk were as good as invisible to him.

To make matters worse, the immense power of the mana geyser below the lab eclipsed what little energy the youths exuded. As for Zoreth, Leegaain had entrusted Aryk with a cloaking item for her and Lilax with an Eraser for the shackles.

The Blank Slate spell had freed Zoreth while Leegaain turned off the slave array without Raum noticing. Once freed, the Shadow Dragon had followed the youths meekly, trusting them as if they were her father.

"Curse you, Guardian!" Raum activated the power cores in his left and right arms, forming respectively a black shield and blade in his hands. "Yet nothing is lost. I can get her back after I kill you."

"Not if I kill you first." Leegaain shapeshifted into his true form, that of a black scaled Dragon, but kept his size the same as Raum.

’There is no point in offering him the opportunity to attack me and the kids at the same time.’ He thought. ’This way, either Raum focuses on me while Aryk and Lilax bring Zoreth to safety, or he follows them and leaves his back exposed.’

The Guardian refused to dirty his Guardian weapon, Father of Wrath, with a mere Eldritch and conjured a replica out of Spirit Magic. The two blades clashed, and, much to Leegaain’s surprise, the black sword destroyed his Spirit weapon in just three exchanges.

"You may have read my diaries, but you learned nothing, old lizard!" Raum laughed as he pressed forward, shattering the emerald blades faster than the Guardian could conjure them. "While you waste your time weaving spells, mine are all ready to be activated!

"Your makeshift creations are no match for a sword fueled by five power cores." The Wonderer’s right hand, forearm, elbow, bicep, and shoulder each possessed one power core, and together they formed the Soul Cutter sword.

"Five?" Leegaain echoed in disbelief as the black sword came dangerously close to his neck.

He gave up on the conjured Spirit blade and activated a darkness-sealing array to shut down Soul Cutter.

"That’s naïve of you, Guardian." Raum laughed as he channeled his mana into a power core located in the middle of his chest.

Hungry Field, a modified version of the Disarray spell, destroyed the magical formation, robbing it of the darkness element and turning it into an explosion of Decay.

The pristine sparkles of light robbed Leegaain of his strength while feeding the Wonderer with new strength.

"Did you really think no one had ever tried that trick on me before?" Raum asked. "I know my weak points better than anybody else. Hungry Field is the first spell I created after turning into an Abomination and the first enchantment I imbued in my body.

"I didn’t use it against Verhen only because he and his allies weren’t worth it."

Leegaain ignored the Wonderer’s taunt and unleashed the Guardian Tier Mirror Magic Spell, Elemental Curse. The Guardian sent five of the six Cursed elemental pillars against Raum and shrouded himself with the last one.

The Decay from the two spells cancelled each other, while the remaining Cursed elements struck Raum with the violence of as many falling mountains.

The Eldritch crashed against the bare rock of the cave, the Chaos of his body digging through hundreds of meters of solid rock before Raum managed to destroy Elemental Curse with a series of swings of his blade.

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