Chapter 80: Unholy Abomination

Chapter 80: Unholy Abomination

Neave stood before Astrador, unsure how to react. The god looked distraught by something Neave had done, likely related to his experiment.

Astrador yelled at Neave.

“You’re a moron. I do not know what you’ve done or how, but I promise you, you will regret it if you don’t stop immediately.”

“Alright, alright, old man, you know the drill, soul oath time. If you tell me under soul oath that ‘I will regret’ doing what I’m doing, I will take your word for it.”

Astrador looked miffed at that, “Alright then, soul oath it is.”

Neave felt the restraint of the soul oath envelop him, and Astrador spoke, “If you continue with what you’re doing, you risk the annihilation of your entire realm.”

This was far from the thing Neave expected to hear. Astrador took an angry step forward and continued.

“I will, under soul oath, promise you anything you want if you swear to undo what you’ve done and cease doing so in the future. I will tell you important information about your mother, who is very much so alive. I will teach you hundreds, nay, thousands of qi techniques, prevent my messenger from going anywhere near you, and if you please, I will send a divine heavenly treasure your way. You’re playing with forces far, far beyond your comprehension and powers that not even the divine is meant to possess. I will beg you on my damn knees to stop and listen to me, and if you don’t, I will find a way to force you to.”

Neave was caught off guard. He didn’t expect this from the arrogant, high, and mighty Astrador.

What exactly was Neave doing that would cause such a reaction?

Don’t listen to him.

Neave grabbed his head.

He is telling the truth, but it is for selfish reasons that he desires you stop.

Astradors eyes widened, and he strained. He gripped something intangible in the air, and Neave felt the influence cut off.

“How did you do that?”

“Kid, please, just listen to me.” Astrador offered his hand to Neave, “Anything you desire, but you have to stop!”

Neave felt his blood rushing through his body. With every muscle, he wanted to say no, refuse Astrador, and keep going, but what was he supposed to think? Neave grabbed his head and pulled his hair. Who was he supposed to listen to?

The god? Or the manipulator?

It was a choice between two evils, and it wasn’t a choice Neave wanted to make. He wanted the choice to be his own, but how could it even be? Would he continue for his selfish reasons, even though the god had told him, under soul oath, that it would risk destroying the entire realm?

If so, wouldn’t he be reduced to another destroyer, wrapping his chains around the fragile and pulling until it shattered?

Neave screamed. He groaned and fought with himself, unable to tell right from wrong. What should he do? What was the right choice? Was there a right choice to begin with?

It should be simple. If he did the math, what option would result in most lives being spared?

He didn’t know. After all, he didn’t even know what he was doing.

He gripped his hair harder but couldn’t pull it from his scalp.

“... Uh?”

This definitely wasn’t how it used to behave. It almost felt as if the plant was... Intentionally absorbing the life force.

He continued feeding it and felt like he was dropping his life force into a bottomless pit.

After a while, the plant suddenly started growing. It was a slow change, its branches extended bit by bit, but even if Neave had no special powers, he could still easily see the process happening.

Neave kept feeding the plant for hours, and its branches extended unceasingly.

Eventually, the plant grew taller than him and kept increasing further. After quite a bit of feeding, Neave felt something behind his back. He turned around and spotted a tiny glass shard poking from the ground.

Neave grinned.

“I suppose that counts as a success.”

Neave kept feeding the plant life force, and eventually, several smaller shards popped up all around the cavern.

“Hmmm...”

Neave wanted to know how the plant would grow if he left it to its own devices now, but there was something even more important than that. Neave tracked down a slime and brought it before the plant.

The slime squirmed, trying its hardest to escape Neave’s grasp.

Neave had no idea why the slime reacted like this or what it was trying to do. So he brought it closer to the plant. Its reactions grew increasingly violent until, eventually, it stopped moving.

The slime fell apart in Neave’s hands and dripped down his robes, covering him in goop. The monster core inside the slime cracked and began dissipating.

“... What?”

Neave was bewildered. Why would that happen? Could the spirit of this plant crush crystallized spirit in its surroundings?

Neave needed these plants to propagate, but he also required creatures capable of feeding on them. If merely being in its presence killed slimes, then it would be a massive pain in the ass trying to create a compatible monster species.

Neave got a headache just thinking about it. What the hell was this plant anyway? Had Neave inadvertently created something far more dangerous than he thought he did? Even then, why would Astrador react like that?

Even if Neave created something terrifying, it was contained within this nightmare realm. So why would the god react the way he did?

Neave stood there, pondering the plant for a while. Suddenly, his spirit senses picked up something unusual.

Neave froze.

The plant shimmered. Golden mist appeared at its roots and gently enveloped it. The fog seeped into the plant, turning it even more transparent, granting it a faint shimmer deep within the branches.

This shouldn’t be possible. Plants developed and grew differently from humans or spirit beasts. They developed gradually, one bit at a time. Even when granted a monster core, all that would change was that the plant could produce partial sapience, but how they grew remained the same.

What happened before Neave’s eyes was different, however. The plant had just done something that should only be possible to humans or spirit beasts.

The glass shrub had reached the foundation realm.