Chapter 222: Throne Seed

Chapter 222: Throne Seed

"You needn't blame yourself, Holy Disk."

Her voice was like a nightingale's song, beautiful enough to make one forget all pain: "The real game has just begun."

Holy Disk Master stared at the three Supreme Apostles in confusion, unable to grasp their true intentions for summoning him.

Nas's body, resembling a stellar nebula, drifted forward slowly, its central heart pulsing violently.

"The timeline has manifested. The node of fate approaches."

His voice, like clashing metal, pierced Holy Disk Master's ears:

"That human named Luo Enlalf—his soul possesses unimaginable potential."

Suddenly, "Void Spider" threads shot forward, weaving a complex rune in midair.

The rune spun and twisted, finally extruding a blood-red orb the size of a fist.

The crimson sphere floated before Holy Disk Master, radiating unsettling energy fluctuations.

"This is the Throne Seed", Magus announced calmly.

"I personally infused it with a sliver of Apostle-tier power. Activating it will temporarily enhance your abilities, granting you destructive power rivaling a Dusk Sun Rank mage for a short time."

Holy Disk Master stared at the floating orb, disbelief clouding his mind.

Throne Seed—the most precious gift, typically bestowed only upon potential Throne Holders.

"I... I'm not worthy", he stammered, his mutated half-face convulsing violently.

"Do you think this is for you, this pitiful crawler?" Yi Sha Bei La sneered, her beautiful half-face twisting with disdain.

"You're merely a tool—a vessel. The seed's true purpose is Luo Enlalf."

Nas's heart quickened, the surrounding starlight flickering in sync.

"Deliver the seed to Luo Enlalf", he commanded.

"If the opportunity arises, guide him toward the Awakening Ritual. But don't force it. The seed itself carries its own guiding power."

Holy Disk Master tremblingly reached out, grasping the blood-red orb.

Its surface was warm as blood, with countless tiny lifeforms seemingly swimming within. The touch was both repulsive and mesmerizing.

"I understand, Your Majesties", he whispered. "I will complete this task with all my strength."

Magus's mask, with its nine eyes, flickered simultaneously. The sprawling threads began retracting around his face.

"Now, receive my blessing."

His voice echoed in Holy Disk Master's mind: "This will grant you enough power to cross the Planar Barrier and return to the surface world."

Slender black threads separated from Magus's body, piercing Holy Disk Master's chest like lightning.

An indescribable surge of mana flooded his entire body, igniting every cell, nerve, and inch of his soul.

Holy Disk Master screamed—a piercing wail—as he collapsed to his knees.

His body began expanding and twisting. Mutated parts grew wildly, soon covering most of his form.

Bone blades, once confined to his right side, erupted from his entire body. Black runes beneath his skin came alive, slithering like countless tiny snakes.

Most terrifying was his face.

The left half, previously maintaining human form, began melting into a writhing mass of flesh, sprouting various Perception organs.

His mouth split into three jagged, tooth-filled sections;

His nose dissolved into rows of tiny breathing pores;

His single eye multiplied into seven, varying in size and haphazardly arranged.

The pain lasted about a minute. When the mana infusion completed, Holy Disk Master had become a monster.

He stood, now at least twice his original height, radiating an oppressive aura that choked the air.

Though his appearance had mutated completely, his consciousness had never felt clearer.

A tidal wave of power surged through him, nearly suffocating.

"This... is Apostle power."

His voice was raspy and distorted, each syllable echoing unnaturally: "So... so overwhelming."

Magus's mask, its nine eyes flickering in sequence, seemed to assess Holy Disk Master's state.

"This power is temporary, only activating when you choose."

A cold gleam seeped from his spider mask:

"And even with this power, you'd still be crushed by a true Dusk Sun Rank mage. Prolonged combat would see even a Moonlight Rank peak warrior destroy you."

Yi Sha Bei La's beautiful half-face curled into a cold smile.

"Don't let power cloud your judgment, Holy Disk", she warned softly.

"At your current level, you're still an ant before true powerful beings. Stay cautious. Complete your mission."

Nas's stellar nebula form expanded, engulfing the space.

"Time has come. Fate is set", his voice echoed from all directions.

"Go, Holy Disk. Fulfill your purpose. Become the stepping stone to the Throne."

Holy Disk Master bowed deeply in submission.

He carefully stored the Throne Seed in a special internal sac, then stood, awaiting departure instructions.

Magus's threads extended again, slicing open a rift in the air.

Faint light shimmered within—the portal to the surface world.

"Go", Magus commanded curtly.

Without hesitation, Holy Disk Master stepped into the rift, vanishing into darkness.

After the organic suturing closed, the three Supreme Apostles remained, as if contemplating something crucial.

Yi Sha Bei La's beautiful half-face bore a trace of doubt.

"Magus, sending Holy Disk to bestow the Throne Seed is pointless", she said, her tone clearly disapproving.

"You yourself expended power to extract this Throne Seed from there, plus countless other Apostles' power generating seeds over millennia. We've already scattered over a hundred, yet barely a few became ordinary Apostles—let alone higher-tier beings worthy of becoming our peers."

Nas's stellar nebula form fluctuated slightly, the eyes around his heart glowing with complex patterns.

"I agree with Yi Sha Bei La", he rasped, his voice grating with electric crackles.

"The timeline shows negligible success probability. Why invest so much in this human?"

Magus paused, his black threads trembling slightly.

"You're correct", he finally replied, voice as detached as ever.

"But this time is different. I infused a significant portion of my refined mana to cultivate this seed. This isn't a casual attempt—it's a high-stakes bet on Luo En."

His mask's nine eyes flickered, radiating profound light.

"After all, even with my core abilities, I couldn't observe Luo En's fate trajectory at all."

The words exploded like a bomb in the space.

Yi Sha Bei La and Nas were visibly stunned. Her half-face lost its usual composure; Nas's stellar nebula form violently fluctuated, nearly dissipating.

"This... how is that possible?" Yi Sha Bei La gasped.

"Your 'threads' can see past and future. Even Lich King-tier existences' fates leave traces. How could a mere human's fate remain completely hidden?"

Nas's heart pounded furiously, surrounding eyes wildly rotating as if calculating endless possibilities.

“There are only two possible explanations,” he said, his voice carrying a rare note of shock.

“Either this person is backed by an existence powerful enough to interfere with—or even block—your abilities.”

“Or he possesses some kind of Special Innate Talent that transcends conventional understanding.”

Magus took over the conversation, the nine eyes on his mask flickering one by one. “Or both.”

Silence enveloped the space.

The Supreme Apostles rarely experienced moments of surprise. After all, across their long existence, they had witnessed nearly every conceivable miracle and anomaly.

“If… if he truly has that kind of potential,” Yi Sha Bei La’s voice carried a subtle undercurrent of expectation, “perhaps we’ve finally found the heir to the Fourteenth Throne?”

Magus’s thread-like body expanded slightly, the nine eyes on his mask blazing simultaneously, emitting piercing light.

“That’s precisely why I’m willing to invest so much effort.”

His voice remained calm, yet the power within made the entire space tremble.

“Since the end of the Third Era, when all thirteen of us were formed, the Fourteenth Throne has remained vacant. Perhaps the long-awaited heir has finally appeared.”

Nas’s stellar nebula-like body began to slowly rotate, the heart embedded with countless eyes pounding violently.

Yi Sha Bei La gently caressed her flawless half of a face, her fingertips tracing an almost imperceptible scar.

“I still remember how I became like this.” Her voice carried a tinge of nostalgia, yet it was laced with undeniable resentment.

“I was once a Dawn Star Rank Mage with a decent innate talent. Seeking greater power, I ventured into the Abyss, where I was lured by the seed and chose the path of Awakening.”

Magus didn’t speak further. His thread-like body rippled slightly, as if sighing.

“That’s why we need more of our kind.”

There was no guilt or remorse in his voice.

“Each of us was once a prodigy of the surface world, possessing the potential to reach the Dusk Sun Rankmage—or even higher. Yet we were all lured here, trapped in this prison of the Abyss.”

Nas’s stellar nebula-like form began to dissipate, spreading into the surrounding space. The eyes around his heart rotated uneasily.

“It’s awakening.”

Nas’s deep voice was filled with extreme fear.

“I can feel it—not just us, but all the Apostles can sense it. The Abyssal Chasm itself is awakening.”

“Every new Apostle is a new cell, a new anchor for this vast living entity.” His voice came from all directions.

“The restraints we feel are actually its control and absorption of us. The more it awakens, the more restricted we become.”

Magus added, his voice carrying an indescribable twisted pleasure.

“All we can do is create more of our kind.”

“The geniuses who could become Archmages or even Lich Kings, the potential threats to it… one by one, they’re lured here, transformed into its nourishment and servants.”

Yi Sha Bei La let out a sharp laugh, her perfect half-face twisting into a terrifying expression.

“How ironic. Those most likely to challenge it end up becoming its most loyal slaves.”

She whispered, her silver eyes gleaming with madness.

“And we, the so-called Supreme Apostles, are nothing more than high-level jailers.”

Magus didn’t refute her. The nine eyes on his mask flickered in sequence, as if contemplating something.

“But… the Fourteenth Throne.”

Finally, he spoke, his voice carrying a faint trace of hope. “Perhaps it’s the key to breaking this stalemate.”

Yi Sha Bei La and Nas fell silent simultaneously, clearly shaken by the thought.

“You mean this time, we’re not creating a new prisoner, but…”

Yi Sha Bei La’s voice trembled slightly, her scaled body glowing faintly. “A breaker of chains?”

Magus’s thread-like body expanded, the nine eyes on his mask blazing with blinding intensity.

“I don’t know,” he admitted honestly, his voice a mix of rationality and madness.

“But Luo Enlalf’s fate line is completely invisible to me. That alone is an unprecedented miracle. Perhaps he will become the Fourteenth Supreme Apostle. Perhaps…”

He didn’t finish, but the other two Apostles clearly understood his meaning.

“Since ancient times, all the Throne Seeds have existed solely to lure geniuses into the Abyss.”

Nas’s stellar nebula-like form reassembled, the eyes around his heart glowing with an indescribable light.

“But this time… perhaps we can attempt something different.”

Silence fell once more. The three Supreme Apostles immersed themselves in their own thoughts.

In that moment, they seemed to return to their former selves—rational, calm, and filled with thirst for knowledge.

“In any case, the Holy Disk is irrelevant.”

Yi Sha Bei La finally broke the silence.

“He’s merely a vessel, granted temporary power enhancement, but ultimately just a pawn.”

Magus nodded slightly, the eyes on his mask flickering in sequence.

“And the real game has only just begun.”

He whispered, his voice carrying an ancient anticipation.

“Let’s wait and see what surprises this human named Luo Enlalf will bring us.”

As his words faded, the figures of the three Supreme Apostles finally vanished into the darkness of the Labyrinth Domain.

Only silence remained, and the lingering echo of those words in the air:

“The Fourteenth Throne… the long-awaited heir.”

………………

Abyss, Seventh Layer – “Soul Abyss.”

Unlike the labyrinth structure of the Sixth Layer, this place resembled an endless gray wasteland.

The grayness didn’t come from the ground or sky, but from the omnipresent soul fragments.

Innumerable lives that had entered here and been assimilated had their residual consciousness transformed into tiny gray motes, slowly drifting through the air.

In a certain region of this wasteland stood thirteen colossal thrones.

Each was at least dozens of meters tall, constructed from different materials, exuding suffocating majesty.

The thrones weren’t aligned in a straight line but formed a sinister geometric pattern.

Viewed from above, the shape resembled a twisted eye.

At the center of the thrones floated a massive gray vortex, constantly rotating and emitting a low, thunderous hum.

“It’s starting to stir again.”

A deep voice came from the Third Throne.

It was a humanoid creature covered in dark red scales, its head shaped like a dragon’s, golden eyes gleaming.

“It’s not just here. The entire Abyss is awakening.”

Another voice responded from the Seventh Throne.

A being entirely composed of liquid metal sat there, its form constantly shifting—sometimes humanoid, sometimes beast-like, its outline always blurred.

“Why is Magus so obsessed with the Fourteenth Throne?”

The Tenth Throne’s occupant spoke, its voice like shattering glass.

Its form was even more abstract, resembling a sculpture pieced together from countless broken bones, constantly twisting and reforming.

“Perhaps because this time’s seed is different.”

The Fifth Throne’s occupant answered—a woman wrapped in chains from head to toe.

Her skin was deathly pale, her eyes bottomless black voids, a faint smile lingering at the corner of her lips.

“Or perhaps he’s simply grown weary of this eternal imprisonment and seeks transformation.”

At her words, the gray vortex fluctuated violently again, emitting a terrifying sound like the simultaneous screams of a thousand creatures.

The Apostles on the thrones fell silent, their gazes fixed on the expanding vortex.

Their eyes held both fear and undeniable anticipation.

In this endless imprisonment, any transformation—even destruction—was more joyful than eternal stagnation.

And now, transformation was quietly beginning.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end