Overpowered Wizard

Chapter 160: B2: C60: Controlled Darkness 3

Once Zarian finished with the avatar of Sinfeast, there wasn’t much left of the body other than shreds of its life energy and a few scraps of divinity that remained inside. Zarian left the divine scraps to send a message to the version of Sinfeast that existed in God Land.

He let the Star System drag the torn apart, close-to-dead body from the void and back into reality. The body landed on the middle of the bridge, which remained standing despite all the damages the sunken citadel had suffered.

Zarian stood on top of the beaten avatar with his arms folded behind the small of his back, his head held straight. The deepest and blackest layers of darkness from the void draped his body.

Even Para had unfathomable darkness all over her body while back to her cloak form, an eternal drip made from more of the void. The blackened cloak flapped from behind Zarian in an ominous silence.

“I’m hungry,” Zarian said. “I am very, very hungry.”

Zarian looked up. “And the stars. They look tasty. Very, very tasty. I’m practically going to drool.”

“Will Para survive?” Naomi said, making a slow and casual approach. “I guess if she survives, things will be alright.”

Zarian looked down and frowned. He didn’t answer. Para didn’t answer. She continued fluttering with a silent and darkened presence.

Naomi smiled cheekily up at him, showing no fear. “Hm, funny, no response. Hey, how about this? Why don’t you turn that hunger toward something useful and eat me? Eh? Eh?”

Ezda made a squawking sound while still prostrating herself. She looked up, gaped at Naomi, then put her snout back down and continued to worship and grovel.

“You don’t know what you’re saying, Naomi,” Zarian muttered. “I’m on the verge of giving in. You should take this more seriously.”

“Maybe I will when I beat some sense in you.”

The surrounding darkness rippled. The darkness deepened. The darkness drew closer and closer, like the jaws of a great and unfathomable monster.

From all sides, the darkness trapped Naomi and left her with nowhere to go.

“Know your place, little mortal,” Zarian said.

“Where’s my place exactly, huh? The kitchen? Ha, good luck with that. You shouldn’t trust me with access to knives.”

Zarian sighed heavily. “Humility, Naomi. Know your place by finding humility.”

“Never heard of her, Zarian. She sounds boring. Not worth your time. Me, however? I’m a Florida Woman. A Marine. A cocky bitch who doesn’t give a fuck. That’s just how it is, because I am what I am!”

Naomi triggered the First Stage of Aura Ignition, becoming the center of a giant blue-green bonfire.

She hammered her fists down with all of her might on the last remaining heads of the world boss. She finished the scraps of the Greater Boon Avatar with a splat and destroyed the bridge from under them with a massive explosion from the sheer force.

With the world boss defeated officially, and the debris of the demolished bridge hurling everywhere, Naomi lunged forward with all her power and threw a punch at Zarian’s chest.

The darkness closed in on her from her flanks. The edges turned out dull. But the pressure was immense.

Zarian gently but surely pinned her with a force that would’ve crushed a lesser mortal into blood and giblets. Naomi, however, was just tough enough to survive while being pinned and held in front of him.

Zarian shook his head at her and turned away slightly.

He looked up again.

The hunger was too much. It was taking over him. Para was practically a slave to the darkness now, all personality wiped out.

He wanted to give in. He wanted to give in. He wanted to give in.

He wanted to give in.

He wanted to give in.

Give in.

Give in.

Give in. Give in. Give in.

Give in.

Come on, Naomi! Come on, and hit the second stage, Zarian urged, forgetting about his hunger and his dark temptations.

He wanted to see her succeed. He wanted to see the mortal spirit overcome what should be impossible. He wanted to see her grow, and then go see the rest of his friends and watch them grow, too.

Just as he realized that, Naomi’s Aura Ignition sputtered out.

She failed to reach the Second Stage, and Zarian’s heart nearly broke out of his chest. He stopped the dark clamps from crushing Naomi at the last split second.

With a slow and shaky breath, Zarian released Naomi’s slumped and battered body from between the dark clamps. He caught her with his dark aura gently and pulled her close in front of him.

Zarian felt annoyed suddenly. Maybe even irritated. He looked crossly down at Naomi’s slumped body as she floated weakly before him.

“You foolish, idiotic, suicidal, crazy woman. What the hell was that? I could’ve crushed you. You could’ve killed yourself. Your heart could’ve exploded. That was so stupid. You’re stupid. Like, really, really stupid.”

Zarian huffed, feeling a little better after that rant. Naomi’s reactions, of course, left much to be desired.

Naomi coughed, sputtered, got her air back, and grinned at him. “But did I die? No? Better yet, I bet I’m even way stronger than before. So that’s a win in my book.”

Zarian snorted. He shook his head. He got a hold of himself and did what he truly wanted.

He resisted his dark temptations and sealed up Overwhelming Darkness. Then everything returned to normal.

Naomi dropped, and Zarian flung himself forward and caught her with his arms and pulled her into his chest. He ended up off balance with his body worn out and his aura mostly running on empty. Zarian dropped out of the air with Naomi in his arms.

Ezda stopped prostrating and ran in quickly over the destroyed remains of the bridge. She caught both of them and held them easily because of her ten-foot height.

“My alpha! My sigma! You’re hurt and tired again! But don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe and warm!” Ezda unleashed all of her affection, giving them gnoll licks and nuzzles, unable to hold herself back after all the wild things that had happened.

Zarian and Naomi were both too weak to resist. Hence, they got their faces slobbered over, in between Ezda smearing the mess around with her furry cheeks.

Zarian gave in and tried not to fight it. Naomi didn’t seem to care whatsoever. And Para was back to normal, joining in with the cloak wrapping them all up adoringly.

Using their mind spiders, Naomi messaged Zarian directly to his head: Did you wait to see all the gains compiled? If you did, I think the Star System rewarded us hard core.

Zarian smiled at that, ignoring Ezda’s slobbers and nuzzles.

There was a growing theory that was becoming more and more prevalent at these later levels.

It was better to wait on checking notifications until an entire encounter, crawl, or maybe even a campaign, finished. Because the Star System could withhold those rewards until they reached a critical point in their growth or they finished a major event or series of events.

There was a theory that waiting granted more rewards, even if only a little extra.

In the early levels, it was more important to check notifications as frequently as possible. The new power gains and stats could serve an adventurer right away.

But at this late stage, it was becoming more important to grow overall. If it was possible to grow faster by letting the Star System withhold certain progression notifications after some heavy action, then that was the better course.

The further along you go in the Infinita Star System, the more layers peel back. The more the Star System reveals its tricks and mechanisms. So how much more is there?

Zarian snorted weakly. He figured now was the best time to check for himself.

The moment he thought that, he mentally heard a deluge of soft ‘dings’ in the back of his head. He nearly had a stroke from the sheer shock of everything and the implications of some of his most important gains.

Oh shit, I need to go find a few more skill copies. There were some treasure chests waiting under all the castle rubble in the demolished citadel, too.

Zarian directed Ezda to go after the treasure chests. Naomi and Ezda convinced him to have all the rewards and decide what to do with them later. Then Ezda escorted them around the fallen lair to find whatever monsters that might’ve remained.

Zarian collected the skills he could get that he found useful without bloating up his beta section needlessly. Then they split away from Ezda, promising to see her back at the central home of the Blood Prairie Savages.

Reiki was still there, after all, and Zarian needed to go through some blood rites for the official alpha status. Naomi had already done her own to be the official sigma.

With that planned, Zarian and Naomi returned to the lake and finally got to relax. Zarian fell asleep right away, knowing he would review everything when he was well-rested and more clear headed.

Then he would make some major decisions for his profile and among other things.