Chapter 903: White Devil
Immediately, all seven of the Nightmare Eye Devils lunged at the corpses of Zialath and Loatan. Their bodies warped mid-motion, mouths distending into monstrous maws lined with fangs like jagged saws. They devoured with ravenous speed, their hunger bottomless, their movements grotesque. Bones cracked, flesh tore, and in moments not a single drop of blood nor shred of tissue remained of the two fallen Sector Masters.
But the feast was only the beginning. Their forms began to tremble violently, skin bubbling and splitting apart as their bodies mutated further. New bulges of blood-red muscle swelled obscenely beneath their skin, sprouting bone spikes, clusters of eyes, and gaping maws. They were horrors born of devouring power—grotesqueries twisted into something far worse than devils.
The True Depravitas and Overlord, however, did not flinch. Their expressions remained cold, sharp, and watchful. Rather than fear, there was only interest and solemn attention in their eyes.
Overlord wasted no time. His jaw split wide, and from the depths of his body, the Nightmare Universe itself was released. A tide of writhing flesh, eyes, and infinite maws poured into the throne room, its very presence making reality groan. Immediately, the Nightmare Eye Devils surged into it, merging back into their origin.
The atmosphere grew heavy as the fusion began. The True Depravitas and Overlord observed in silence, scanning every flicker of psychic force with their sharpened senses. Their gazes were like blades, dissecting every shift and pulse of energy. And then, at last, wide smiles crept across their faces.
They could feel it.
Inside the Nightmare Universe, a new psychic imprint was forming—a mind, faint but undeniable. And it belonged to Overlord.
It was far from strong enough to override the original core consciousness of the Nightmare Universe, but it was a step forward. Proof that his plan was working. Piece by piece, Overlord could graft fragments of himself into the entity until one day, inevitably, his consciousness would replace the original.
The Nightmare Universe would become his.
Overlord focused, eyes glowing as he controlled the process. He released the Seven Nightmare Eyes once more, each floating like dark stars. With deliberate precision, he manipulated tendrils of flesh and soul within the Nightmare Universe, extracting copies of the seven Superior Legend Devils that had been consumed.
When the Nightmare Universe was sealed back into his stomach, the copies stood there, bowing obediently.
"They are forged using the souls and bodies of the assimilated Superior Legends," Overlord explained in his detached tone. "Though their true strength is little more than that of weak Legends, no one will be able to tell the difference unless they engage them directly in battle. I have absorbed all their memories and bound their minds to my will. They will act as though they were the originals, flawlessly."
Vlad’s cold smile widened. He was satisfied. With a nod, he ordered the False Superior Devils to return to Sector 76, to maintain the illusion that the fallen Legends were alive and serving as commanders.
Then, with a flicker of thought, Vlad issued another command through the space ring he had taken from Zialath. It was not long before the seven strongest surviving Superior Legends of Sector 53 arrived at the tower.
They came smiling, anticipation in their eyes. The message they had received was simple: their new Sector Master wished to help heal their wounds and allow them to benefit from the Origin Force of the Monolith.
Such an offer was rare, but not unthinkable. Devils had no true concept of friendship, but they lived for self-interest. To them, it made perfect sense that their new master might strengthen his greatest warriors, ensuring they were fit to defend his rule.
Yet the moment they stepped into the throne room, their confidence shattered.
What they saw froze their hearts.
At the far end of the chamber stood a man with four burning eyes upon his forehead, carrying within him the vast pressure of a universe. Around him floated seven malevolent eyes filled with hunger and malice.
The weight of the world pressed down on them before they could react. Their bodies buckled, slammed into the ground as if crushed by invisible mountains. There was no chance to resist, no hope to run.
The Nightmare Eyes advanced.
The throne room filled with screams—agonized, shrill, and raw. For a few seconds the air trembled with the tortured cries of seven devils as the Nightmare Eyes burrowed into their skulls. Then silence.
When it ended, seven new abominations stood. Their bodies had been reforged, their eyes mutated with writhing tendrils of abyssal flesh. They were Superior Devils no longer, but Nightmare Eye Devils, bound utterly to Overlord’s control.
"I will keep these seven as the core of our operations here in Sector 53," Overlord said matter-of-factly. "The rest of the surviving Superior Legends will be stationed at the borders or in positions with minimal interaction with us. That will make maintaining our cover far easier."
His efficiency was absolute, his foresight clear.
Vlad had already released his fusion state—the strain was too immense to maintain longer than a few seconds without risking backlash—but even so, his lips curled into a victorious grin.
"Thanks to the rising power of my Red Sun of Wrath," he thought, "I am drawing closer to the point where I can fuse with all four True Depravitas without backlash. When that day comes, my battle power will surpass normal Lords."
His grin widened further. Yet the moment of triumph was short-lived.
A deep frown spread across Vlad’s face as his gaze turned toward the horizon. A new aura had entered the sector, so powerful that it crushed the Superior Legends stationed at the borders and swept them aside like insects. A streak of infernal light tore across the skies, approaching with impossible speed.
Then its figure became clear.
A fiendish being cloaked in flowing white, embodying the deception of false purity. Its hood concealed a void-like face, save for a single piercing star of light glowing within the darkness—an eye, but one warped into something sinister. A blazing halo of cracked brilliance crowned its head, intersected by a spear of searing radiance, as if mocking holy symbols. Its tattered robes writhed like restless flames, blurring the line between spirit and flesh. Shadows and smoke curled around it as it descended upon Sector 53.