Chapter 517: Hungry Authority
Arthur’s Progenitor Authority was what let him maintain the entrance to the Veil, so he could not switch it off, but it was also what was screaming at him to touch the crystal.
’Just a little touch...just the tip of your finger...a tiny tap...just for a second.’
Arthur felt like he could hear voices in his head telling him these things and they were getting louder by the second.
Telling him to touch the crystal in front of him...the Titan god’s Divine Spark.
’The best decision would be to switch it off, but that’d trap us in here.’
The veil they passed through to get to this body was meant to keep things inside, so it was stronger from the inside than from the outside.
Arthur doubted he’d be able to tear open an exit in the Veil if the one he created from the outside was to close.
This situation made Arthur heave an exasperated sigh.
"...dude? You good?"
Evan noticed Arhtur’s strange state and asked with concern in his voice, but Arthur just nodded normally.
"It’s attractive, but I’m fine."
Arthur’s rational mind told him that if he dared to touch that crystal in front of him, he’d die.
"So, this is what Esna felt, huh?"
The others didn’t know who Esna was, so they couldn’t understand his mutter.
Esna had told him about what happened when she first touched a Divine Spark, and how her body had uncontrollably begun absorbing the power within.
Arthur fought the urge and turned around, looking at the smaller crystal fragments on the floor.
"These ones might be okay...right?"
He asked himself this question while Artemisia and Beatrix picked up some of the fragments. Immediately, both of them turned towards him and asked.
"You want to absorb this thing?"
The two goddesses had witnessed Arthur ’eat’ Divine Sparks before, so their first thought was that he planned to do the same to this one as well.
When they told Evan about this, the boy turned to Arthur with a dumbfounded expression but Arthur ignored him and shook his head.
"I might be fine with those small fragments, but anyone a teeny bit big might kill me. This is the corpse of a Deity, presumably a god King...it’s somehow in good condition so not much of its energy is lost.
If I were to try and absorb it, it’d overload me and blow my body and soul to smithereens in an instant."
He casually spoke of the grim fate that awaited him if he dared to touch that big Divine Spark behind him, before holding up his hand and using ’Divine Spark Attraction’ on the fragment Beatrix held.
Suddenly, the entire corpse shook, and Arthur nearly shut off his Progenitor Authority on instinct. He turned around with fear in his gaze, seeing as a geyser of golden blood spurted up in the air behind him.
He then looked at Artemisia, pointed at the big divine spark and asked.
"D-did that thing just move?"
"Yes. Yes, it did."
Cold sweat poured down Arthur’s back upon hearing her reply. He decided that walking over to where she was and collecting the crystal from her hand was the wise decision.
’Didn’t think my Divine Spark Extraction would try to attract the main one and not the fragment I wanted!’
"Arthur, are you sure you wanna absorb that thing? It’s a god’s energy core, right? Can it even be absorbed?"
Evan inquired, his gaze fixed on the Fragment Arthur was about to touch. Arthur responded with an eyebrow raised in question.
"Of course, It can be absorbed. Didn’t you say it yourself, it’s an energy core. Can’t energy cores be absorbed?"
"?"
Seeing Evan looking at him with confusion, Arthur pointed to the forearm guard Evan was wearing and posed a question.
"Those magic stones you embedded inside that artifact, they came from monsters, did they not?"
"Yeah."
"And you can absorb their magic power into your body and use it to cast spells, or use the extracted energy from them as fuel for other things, can you not?"
Evan nodded in affirmation again, prompting Arthur to continue his questioning.
"Then why do you think it can’t be done to a Divine Spark?
Magic Stone, Divine Spark, Dragon Heart...call it whatever fancy name you want.
In the end, as far as they come out from an Existence’s body, then they are ’Energy Cores’. The magic stones you extracted from those monsters were their energy cores."
Just as one can use a magic stone as fuel, godslayers can do the same with a Divine Spark.
The key difference was the refinement process.
When people absorb energy from magic stones, they must first refine it—filtering out impurities. If the elemental or law affinities don’t match, they must strip away the original owner’s energy attribution. This refinement process is intricate and often results in significant energy loss, making it inefficient for many who are not proficient at it.
(Putting it into perspective, it’s just like Cultivators absorbing energy from spirit stones and having to clean impurities.)
But godslayers were different.
They could directly absorb all the divinity in a Divine Spark without any need for refinement, and that divinity strengthened their flesh and bones, nourished their souls and expanded their energy cores.
With their three main Existential Aspects enjoying improvements, one arrives at the end result of their Existence Realms increasing.
It was the same with other Slayer Races.
After his little energy core lecture, Arthur placed a hand on his chin and sunk into his thoughts.
He wanted to absorb a divine spark fragment and use it to boost his strength, but he couldn’t just pick any random one.
"Deity realms are beings who can crush planets in their palms and pluck stars out of the night sky.
Any random fragment of one’s divine spark might have Transcendent level energy...that’s over my limit."
The boy looked at the fragment Artemisia was holding, but after scanning it, he discerned it was too small.
"That might be enough for you but not for me, I need something bigger."
"Enough for me?"
When Artemisia parroted his words with a confused game, Arthur raised a brow and questioned her.
"You don’t want to absorb some?"
"..."
"godslayers can get stronger by absorbing Divine sparks, but so can gods. After all, divinity is the signature energy of the god race.
You and Beatrix should carefully find a fragment you can absorb."
The two goddesses nodded in affirmation at his instructions. While they could absorb the divinity, they would not be able to use it to improve all their Existential Aspects as Arthur could.
At most, their energy reserves would increase and reach the limit of the Epic Realm, so they’d be able to become Legendries.
If they can extract enough energy, then they might be able to achieve body strengthening too.
"What about me?"
Evan’s question reminded everyone that he was the only one who hadn’t found a clear way to benefit from this encounter.
But hearing his question, Arthur’s expression darkened as he warned Evan.
"Never EVER try to absorb Divinity into your Dragon Heart, Evan. NEVER in your life."
Arthur’s voice carried a grave undertone and he surprised them with the way he warned Evan against divinity.
"Why?"
Evan’s curiosity was understandable, but when Arthur heard him, he pointed at Artemisia beside them and asked.
"Is she stupid?"
"...what?’
Confusion clouded their faces but Arthur ignored them and looked at Artemisia before repeating the same question.
"Does she seem stupid to you?"
"...no."
When Evan replied, Arthur nodded to agree with him.
"Exactly, she’s not stupid now and the her of 10,000 years later isn’t stupid either.
Now, I want you to think carefully about why she chose to keep her divinity outside your body and not inside."
He reminded Evan of the fact that the Future Artemisia’s power rested on him.
"She realised that you and divinity are incompatible. Very incompatible. If you try to put Divinity in your body, your body will reject it.
If you try to force it, then it’d be better to jump into a Volcano as that’d kill you faster."
After saying this, Arthur paused for a moment and studied Evan before muttering.
"The current you might survive the insides of a Volcano though..."
"I’d survive WHAT?"
Evan could not hold back his retort at Arthur’s statement and the Progenitor only shrugged.
"You play with flames; lava wouldn’t harm you much."
"Wouldn’t harm me much?! This is a Volcano we’re talking about."
A second later, Evan shook his head as he recalled the true topic of conversation.
"We’re not talking about Volcanoes in the first place but Divinity."
"Oh, true."
That reminded Arthur and his expression darkened once more as he warned Evan.
"Just never try to absorb Divinity, okay?"
’At least until you return to your real body.’
Arthur’s left those extra words unspoken as he stared intensely at the Rogue Hero.
"...okay."
Evan backed down under the pressure Arthur released and responded, returning the usual bright smile to the boy’s face.
Arthur turned around and continued searching for the perfect fragment, spotting one with a finally suitable amount of energy.
This fist-sized fragment had enough energy that he could use it to forcefully break the upper limit of his massive power capacity and expand it further.
"That one seems nice..."
He crossed his arms as he spoke, his open palm facing the ground.
"I want that one."
Arthur was simply vocalizing his desire for that particular fragment and was on his way to pick it up when his Progenitor Authority stirred.
It had been very hungry, and now Arthur said he wanted something it considered food, power flowed from him.
Faster than anyone could react, the fragment Arthur specified levitated and then shot through the air, right into his open palm.
"..."
"..."
Silence.
The two goddesses who saw a light flash in the corner of their eyes turned to Arthur. Evan who was already facing Arthur’s direction saw how something had abruptly hit him.
Finally, Arthur silently looked at the fragment in his palm.
"I was going to collect you...but for later! Why’d you enter my hand now?"
