Stray - Chapter 244

    The Strongest Demon Lord

    Now Nemo remembers everything.

    Like millions of years ago.

    At that time, he picked a relatively soft sun and curled up in the most suitable position. First, it selectively adsorbs the land floating in the void, and then prepares the water source to provide a solid foundation for the birth of life.

    …initially just care.

    In fact, life is not only cultivated by the pillars of the world. In some barren corners of the void, as long as the conditions are right, there will also be life. After a brutal and disorderly elimination, and trying countless absurd possibilities, the final survivor remains relatively stable and evolves gradually – stumbling and groping in the dark.

    Nothing is eternal, those who lack restraint will eventually destroy themselves, or die in the dying sun.

    The Pillar of the World will not create real life out of thin air, all he can do is guide, support and transform. Provide shelter, suitable environment and necessary energy for the confused and ignorant new race.

    The world with the pillars of the world is extremely gentle, and it will not be as desolate and difficult to survive as those borderless lands.

    The embryonic form of civilization began to emerge, and intelligent life continued to expand and develop. Knowledge and intelligence continue to accumulate, quickly reaching a peak, and then the growth rate immediately slows down. Nemo didn’t feel impatient at that time – after all, the surface was developing based on the magic circuit he provided, the foundation was too single, and the lack of changes was reasonable.

    He waited patiently for the other visitors.

    Nemo didn’t wait too long, a floating cocoon floating in the void was attracted by the vigorous life and landed in this world. They strike deals as quickly as their respective ancestors have done for hundreds of millions of years.

    [Finding that he couldn’t beat the master, the weak bard had an idea. He offers the host a deal – “I’ll give you what you want in exchange for a portion of my food. The ones farthest from the table, the ones you don’t like the most”, how clever, right? 】

    Jesse Dillon hinted at him long ago.

    Nemo carves out a part of the race to provide the energy source for this hungry floating cocoon. And the other party will introduce a new power system, which is not only fresh, but also has a small fatal risk—

    The intelligent races taken by the floating cocoon will continue to develop, and they will live based on the foreign power system of the floating cocoon. Completely different theories of knowledge will be born one after another, and they will soon blossom.

    Those unknown fruits do have the possibility of hurting themselves.

    And that’s exactly what Nemo needs. Unfamiliar spell structure, unfamiliar knowledge, unfamiliar stimulation. Controllable damage from the outside world is very necessary, and it accelerates his evolution more than anything.

    Sure enough, the race governed by the floating cocoon flourished rapidly, and then began to explore the abyss.

    Nimo originally placed the bone jade directly at the bottom of the abyss to reward these surface civilizations who dared to challenge the limit. But he soon discovered that their development route was more devastating than he imagined—

     Expeditions on the surface are no longer satisfied with a few resources, and more advanced weapons will always be needed. They began to try to use corrosive surface magic to dig the bottom of the abyss without restraint, looking for more bone jade.

    They made Nemo a little itchy and were quick to watch. If this is left unchecked, maybe one day he will really be eroded by a mutated surface spell, so he will be seriously injured.

    So he changed his plans and stopped asking for anything.

    He began to put a price tag on the bone jade – to obtain this precious resource, please come up with the strongest knowledge that can surpass the previous era.

    And what can represent the top knowledge of civilization is always weapons and war.

    Sure enough, after changing the plan, the life on the surface stopped destroying randomly, and turned to attack the “Guardian”. The commanding races on the surface began to call the strange “life” the devil, and regarded the bone jade as a reward for defeating the devil, and under the deterrence, they no longer demanded randomly.

    The flesh and blood of the separated body is destroyed, filtered and recovered by the body, and new information can be safely obtained.

    The surface powerhouses who died underground will also be dealt with together, providing him with countless knowledge, language and combat experience originating from the surface.

    【Why is there always at the bottom of the abyss… and only such an abnormal life? Since it is claimed that the Demon King will not come to the surface, why do you want to go on an expedition? 】

    The surface is also aware of this.

    Nemo thought things would settle down here.

    Although the pain of being killed again and again will make him slightly unhappy, when the flesh is withdrawn and the emotions are removed, he will become calm again.

    until thousands of years ago.

    He obtained some bad information from the corpses of the incoming expedition warriors-a self-proclaimed gatekeeper organization is trying to “create a god”, and there is not much problem with the theoretical direction.

    This made him extremely vigilant.

    Everything has a price. While the intelligent races are enjoying the comfortable environment, both Nemo himself and the floating cocoon who now calls himself “Jesse Dylan” will instinctively suppress it, bringing an upper limit to the abilities of all creatures.

    [This is not a big deal. To make an inappropriate analogy – when people raise Fuller goats, they must first domesticate them and remove the possibility of them hurting people. All possible damage must be within the controllable range, is it not difficult to understand? 】

     Jesse knew this very well.

    Don’t say that the floating cocoon is not strong, even if it is compared to itself, that creature will have an unparalleled local advantage. By contrast, it is, after all, the true kinship of all life. If in a world without a master, if such a strong man naturally arises, it is very likely that it will become the master of the world.

    Not here.

    If the creature plunders the mastery of other life, it will quickly weaken. Luckily, he still had time to unfold his body and rush towards the sun, burning the existing world to pieces. If you are unlucky, the creature just found the right way and decided to take the initiative to attack…

    He has a high possibility of being killed, just like humans die from unknown diseases.

    If the existing civilization still has high value, Nemo can consider waiting for a while. Unfortunately, both the abyss and the surface, which is happy to destroy each other, have reached the bottleneck of development again and are stagnant.

    It’s time to change your approach again, Nemo decided.

    Then he made a tight plan.

    And now, just as he had speculated at the beginning, under the influence of useless emotions, he was rebelling against his original will.

    The small half of the body was shattered by the shadow blade, and in the process of bone regeneration, Nemo struggled to avoid another attack by Ulysses. The blood couldn’t stop gushing out, and at this moment, he wouldn’t die simply because of blood loss.

    The pain of bone growth is unimaginable, and in order to constantly assess the degree of damage to the body, Nemo dare not give up the pain. He gasped heavily, and the incomplete robe on his body was completely soaked with blood and minced flesh, but before he could adjust his balance, another wave of attacks hit his head with precision.

    Ulysses is like a sophisticated puppet. No hesitation, no fatigue, just a deadly attack that never stops.

    He must be equally calm and attentive.

    Nimo took a half step back, neatly crossed his body, and quickly covered his head with a shadow shield. Sharp limbs with corrupted spells slashed across the shadow shield. After a sour sound, it pierced Nemo’s shoulder directly on the other side.

    Blood splattered.

    Nimo didn’t waste time screaming or gasping, he had stopped breathing and stepped back quickly without a word. By the way, he blasted a series of delayed blasting formations and waited for Ulysses to follow.

    There is no time to shake, no time to despair.

    As he stepped back, Nemo stepped on something, and the sound of metal rubbing sand was heard under his feet. Then there was a familiar smell—

    His counterfeit staff had long been mutilated and horrific during the blasting. But Nemo still picked it up, held it tightly in his palm, and stared straight in the direction of Ulysses in the darkness.

    Just a few seconds later.

    The explosion that shook the space. The explosion was suddenly triggered, and several heavy alien limbs were broken to the ground. Immediately afterwards, there was a sound of sticky flesh and blood, and they grew out of the fracture in good condition. With his perception fully open, Nemo coldly “watched” the newly born limbs shrinking, skillfully avoiding the next few dangling circles, and there was no surprised look on his face.

    It seems that this trick can’t be used too often.

    Ulysses’ attack is not random, and while fighting, it continues to analyze intelligence related to the battle. From moves, spells to attack habits. That selfless body is growing rapidly.

    As he planned.

    Before the arrival of the previous generation of expeditionary forces, when he was still the real “Ulysses”, Nemo attached a deadly magic circle to the teleportation circle in the depths and marked it. As long as the behavior of the visitor is not excessive, the second “Ulysses” he created will subconsciously avoid those two places to reduce the risk of exposure.

    By the way, it can be a stumbling block for the next expedition.

    Under his command, Flint helped him remove the head responsible for intelligence sorting, temporarily suppressing self-awareness. He got a perfect body – close to human, and knew nothing about the world.

    With an instinctive thirst for information, it is only a matter of time before this body leaves the abyss. Even if the luck is extremely bad, a hundred years is enough.

    As for the recycling plan, he also planned it perfectly—

     Nemo swung down his regrown left hand, and countless sharp shadow thorns stabbed at Ulysses, who let out a low growl. Black lightning dots with crimson halo instantly filled the entire space – except for the top part, the end of the lightning bolt touched a certain height in the darkness and disappeared silently.

    Sure.

    The moment Ulysses found him, the abyss was completely closed, cutting off any possibility of reinforcements joining. Just like every expedition battle before.

    A perfect execution ground.

    Despite equal magical powers, Ulysses’ body is tougher than a human’s and better suited for combat. Not only that, its skills are also gradually getting stronger, and it will be exhausted, shaken by useless emotions, and eventually lose hope in the endless battle.

    A battle with zero win rate, he thought so before.

    The icy shadow blade rubbed his neck, and Nemo’s neck was almost cut off by the opponent. The blood spurted all the way, and the side effects of the blood loss made his knees go weak.

    Resist as planned, fail as planned.

    Spit out the silt mixed with blood in his mouth, Nemo put his hands on the ground and barely stood up.

    What is Oliver doing now? Stuck the wound with a wriggling black shadow, and dodged the bombardment of the serial magic circle in embarrassment, Nemo thought a little distracted.

    It’s only been about half a day, the load of splitting the space tunnel is enormous, and Oliver’s physical strength may not be able to recover now.

    Jesse Dillon will tell him the truth.

    Even if he didn’t mention it, Dylan could probably guess what he was thinking – the consciousness of the pillar of the world came to the surface, and it would never be out of pure curiosity.

    If everything is normal, he will slightly shrink his body and change his posture. The crust will be torn apart, and the surface and the abyss will usher in a great natural disaster. But a few resilient beings will survive this catastrophe, rebuilding civilization almost from scratch, creating new intelligence and knowledge.

    If the gatekeeper’s experiment is unfortunate and successful, there will be a mutant who will appear, and the mutant will just keep his mind. Nemo will spread his wings and fly to the sun without hesitation, utterly destroying the whole world and choking deadly danger in its cradle.

    No matter which one he chooses in the end, today’s surface civilization is doomed to perish.

    [You know. 】The annoying voice in my heart reappeared. [You know very well that the disappearance of “Nimo Wright” is only a matter of time, and the closure here will not be opened until the battle is over. 】

    Nemo supported the staff with both hands, and the black shadow condensed the ice cone, directly piercing Ulysses’ chest. And he was also stabbed by several shadow thorns, and one leg was nailed in place.

    [The battle has lasted for hours, and your odds have not changed. After your consciousness returns, you will be the first to destroy the surface, and “Nimo Wright” will disappear. 】

    Nimo didn’t hesitate to use the shadow to erode that leg, and the familiar pain of rebirth began to tear his nerves again. He swayed, then stabilized his body, without any intention of flinching.

    [Even if your feelings allow you to draw endlessly, you don’t have time to find a way to contact the surface. Oliver Ramon will officially attack you for the survival of the surface and your agreement. “Nimo Wright” will disappear. 】

    The blood shed was used by him to draw the formation. Nemo desperately squeezed the new knowledge he learned in his short adventure, mixed with the existing experience, and tried to use the abyss magic to recreate the eroding circle of the Silent Church.

    A blood formation wrapped around the huge monster on the opposite side like a fishnet, and the hissing sound of flesh corrosion was particularly harsh.

    【Even if a miracle happens, Oliver Ramon is unwilling to give up the monster under his feet, he will not be able to come. It takes a lot of power to break this seal, and without plundering from you, he cannot grow to that point before his lifespan runs out. In this case, “Oliver Ramon” will disappear. 】

    Nemo took the opportunity to approach, but only managed to cut off three of Ulysses’ wrists, but failed to hit the opponent’s head. This body is still too small for such a fight.

    Ulysses seemed to have no pain. It folded its limbs like a spider and instantly protected its head, and hundreds of impact circles suddenly pushed around.

    Too close, Nemo took a solid blow in the back. If he were a normal human, the blow would be enough to kill him on the spot – Ulysses nearly slashed his entire body in two.

    Nemo was thrown into the ground, smashing several giant rocks, and finally smashed a giant pit again. Stone chips and sand are like raindrops in a rainstorm, falling down continuously.

    He stood up again, with a bloody, mutilated terrifying body.

    [The so-called feelings cannot change these. 】

     Strange, Nemo thought in the midst of the endless agony. At this moment, there was only a sense of relief in his heart.

    Before this, he had never thought about how desperately he loved Oliver Ramon. He’d read enough shocking love stories, and by comparison, they were just a couple who couldn’t be more ordinary, and at best they didn’t quarrel much.

    Unlike lovers who have been together for decades, they have not even had too long.

     Unlike lovers who live and die for each other and dance on the brink of death, they spend most of their time looking for peace.

    It’s different from the glue at the beginning, like finding another lover, they have so many differences, they just move forward one footstep after another, and try to hold each other’s hands .

    Such trivial and ordinary feelings should have been washed away by his huge memory.

     Incredible.

    Nimo stood up again, and the shadow wrapped around his waist, allowing him to barely move while he recovered. Ulysses’ spell exploded in his ears, blood dripping down his cheeks. There was a burning pain on one side of his head, but he couldn’t help showing a smile.

    “It’s not like that.” He said to the darkness. “Such speculation lacks a very important condition – I believe in that human being.”

    “It’s not that he won’t hurt me, it’s not that he’ll be here the next second. I’m sure he’ll struggle just like me, trying to find a way that doesn’t seem to exist. This way It seems that the current possibility is not complete.”

    Yes, he hasn’t figured out a solution to the current situation. But the matter of “survival” does not continue on the premise that the “answer” must exist.

    Light and flint, in one thought.

    Nimo’s smile suddenly grew wider. He clenched the twisted and broken staff in his hand and chuckled softly.

    “Ulysses.” He called out to the opponent who was desperately injecting murderous aura into the air, even though he knew that the opponent couldn’t understand.

    “I’ve been killed countless times, countless times to remove those little pains and unhappiness. I’ve also been reunited countless times, but there is a problem, a small problem-“

    The wound healed again, and the momentum around Nemo suddenly ignited, spreading at a speed comparable to a quiet explosion.

    “Why do I always remember to feed O’Rouree, since all feelings will be eliminated?”

    The answer may be simpler than he thought.

    The Pillar of the World is constantly evolving, eliminating all factors that are not good for you. He had never had relatives, companions and friends. Get in touch with those negative feelings that disturb you, and exclude nature as it should be. It’s evolutionary, it’s a heartbeat instinct.

    …then that’s it.

    This is enough.

    The ground at the bottom of the abyss was cracking inch by inch, and even the closed black shadow above began to vibrate violently. With the help of majestic magic, Nemo shot himself at Ulysses. He ditched defense, ditched evasion, and let those sharp limbs and spells chip away at muscle and bone.

    The world in front of you is twisting and collapsing. His scouts began to disintegrate, the pain melting his bones and his blood chilling. But the momentum and fighting intent became more and more unreal, as if Nemo’s speed was getting faster and faster in the process of losing his mind.

    As long as the head remains intact, as long as the basic body remains.

    Countless layers of defensive circles were shattered, and countless layers of attack circles ripped away his flesh and limbs. Use shadows to make up for what is lost, even if it seems to be an extremely inefficient, stupid frontal attack—

    Ulysses turned his head and finally concentrated all his energy to deploy the strongest defenses in several directions that he speculated. In an instant, Nemo didn’t change his direction. He rushed directly between the huge heads and slammed himself into it awkwardly.

    The cursed blood splashed into Ulysses’ eyes, and the monster paused briefly for less than a second.

    In this stagnant moment, countless spells wrapped around the shapeless staff, and Nemo lifted it high and stabbed the head below him—

    “Just prove that ‘I am better than you’.” He said hoarsely and calmly, the incantations quickly chewed up the brain in the head, and then the rest of the body.

    “Just show that ‘this relationship is a beneficial evolution.’”

    “Just prove I’m the stronger one.”

    Nemo stood between the collapsed limbs, the seal at the bottom of the abyss was dissipating, and Ulysses’ corpse was turning into a dark and viscous liquid, seeping into the ground.

    “It doesn’t matter if I can’t leave here, it doesn’t matter if I don’t have an answer. It doesn’t matter if this feeling will be the cause of my death after returning to the body.”

    Nemo sat on Ulysses’ remaining head, looking up into the darkness. After the battle, the blind worms began to move slowly again, and those huge eyes looked like tiny stars at this distance.

    Tie the hair back at the back of his head again, Nemo closed his eyes and pressed his hands on the head below him. Using Ulysses’ residual magic power, he tentatively probed part of his consciousness into his body.

    There is no sign of resistance or clearing.

    Very good.

    The “Each Generation” of the Demon Lord will evolve, and every previous one is knowledge, intelligence and combat skills. The intelligence this time is a bit special, and the surface calls it “feelings”.

    Let me wait for you now, Oliver Ramon. It’s good to wait, or not to wait. Whether it was killing intent or love, it was just another possibility.

    “I trust you,” he said.

    The author has something to say:

    Nemo: I’ll give you a lunch, and you’ll give me the vaccine.

    Jessie: Yes, yes.

    ↑↑↑Unpretentious deal.