My SSS-Rank Clone Talent: I Level Up Endlessly! novel Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Hell!? Trouble!?

"Hehe, if you want to suck me, then suck me dry. Let’s see how much you can endure."

With a maniacal laugh, Eryke the Third just supplied more Death energy into his form.

This Death energy was being constantly devoured by this bigger ghoul, and he was happy to oblige.

Maybe because he was stronger, or now that he had a sense of time, it didn’t take long for the ghoul before him to self-destruct.

So he instantly devoured the core of this ghoul in front of him.

The moment he did, his form grew again, with his core going through another round of change.

But there was no system prompt, which caused him to be disappointed.

However, he didn’t give up.

"There are still a lot of ghouls around these parts."

Eryke the Third travelled from one place to another, devouring one ghoul after another.

Anyway, wherever he went, somehow all of them attacked him, which was even better for him.

For now, he didn’t have any way to attack them. The simple method of killing them was by overloading them with his Death energy from the endless Death energy that he gets from his own core.

After chasing the fifth large ghoul until it got fed to death,

Eryke the Third went through another round of evolution almost instantly.

At the same time, a system prompt appeared in front of him:

[You have absorbed the core of a Runner Ghoul again]

[Evolution successful! You have evolved from Youngling to Runner Ghoul]

Even without seeing it, he felt the change in his body. The faint death energy that shaped him had grown denser, more solid.

It wasn’t just a change in appearance, his strength had increased too.

He landed on the ground but phased right through it, hovering just above the surface. He tried moving his fingers, toes, and brows.

Everything a normal human could do, he could still do.

"I still can’t touch the ground. I’m ethereal, like always... but I have gained perfect control of my body."

He tilted his head thoughtfully, then shook it with helpless resignation.

"I still have a long way to go."

And so, he floated onward, drifting further and further, almost aimlessly.

"It’s time to see if I can do it."

Eryke the Third followed the magma river’s seabed, drifting behind a large rock.

With careful precision, he settled into place and peered around it.

Ahead floated a small straw boat, guarded by two towering specters, each with the head of an ox and the body of a man.

Seated calmly within the boat was what appeared to be an ordinary old man.

At that moment, two rows of twelve guards each approached in synchronized, watchful strides. They advanced with sharp focus until they reached the boat.

One of the guards stepped forward and extended his hand. In response, the old man raised his calloused hand, revealing a small birdcage, and handed it over.

The guard took the cage with utmost respect, nodding its oxen head, then turned and walked away.

Its comrade followed suit, both vanishing into the distance.

Suddenly, the old man turned sharply in a specific direction, a grin spreading across his weathered face.

He raised his wrinkled hand, and the sky above churned with clouds. A thunderclap boomed, and a bolt of lightning struck in a peculiar direction.

"What happened, my lord?"

The two ox-headed guards returned, their deep voices tinged with concern, now speaking in a clear, human-like tone.

"Nothing," the old man replied, shaking his head. "We still have more souls to bring."

With that, the straw boat turned and glided across the magma, drifting effortlessly over the molten river, untouched by its heat.

The piles of rubble were all that remained after the lightning strike.

But after a while, the debris began to shift. Slowly, a small core emerged from the center.

Crackling arcs of lightning swirled around it in a volatile dance.

The death energy wriggled, coiling around the core and gradually forming a human shape once more.

"I survived," Eryke the Third muttered.

"I honestly thought that would be the end of me. But thanks to my skill that lets me absorb lightning, and this seed that generates an endless supply of death energy, I managed to hold on."

He let out a long, relieved sigh.

Zhh!

A sharp crack of lightning echoed as the energy swirling within Eryke’s core surged violently, nearly tearing his body apart.

"Ahhh—!"

Eryke the Third screamed in agony. He struggled to contain the wild lightning, but it clashed with his death energy, it’s very bane, leaving him powerless.

But...

"It’s not so easy to defeat me," he growled through gritted teeth.

Activating his skill, Raijin’s Body, he began manipulating the lightning. Though this lightning was completely different from ordinary lightning, he could still exert some control over it.

Bit by bit, Eryke separated the lightning strands from his core, weaving them apart with tendrils of death energy.

It was a strange and haunting sight: arcs of lightning wrapped around him like a shell, while within it, his true form, made of death energy, stood tall, vaguely human in shape.

The lightning now orbited him like a protective sphere, surrounding him.

Looking at the scene before him, Eryke the Third was momentarily stunned, then his lips curled into a grin.