Chapter 395: Absorb

In the next instant, Atlas felt something seeping through his right hand. It wasn’t just life energy. He knew that life energy was connected to the ’Life Force’ he had read about as one of the fundamental forces, but what he was sensing now felt considerably different. There was something else mixed within it, something he couldn’t immediately identify.

’What’s this?’ he questioned.

Before he could examine the sensation any further, a sudden force erupted from the World Core.

BOOM!

The blast sent Atlas’s right hand flying backward. He looked down at his palm and noticed a burning mark left behind by the impact. Surprisingly, there wasn’t even a scratch on his skin, despite the blast being powerful enough to tear apart someone normal at his level. He slowly turned his gaze toward the World Core, his eyebrows drawing together as he examined its surface.

’Main body, I think it’s still resisting because of the remnants of the laws integrated within it.’

The second self’s voice reached him, making Atlas pause for a moment.

’Resisting? But it’s in two pieces now, one with Melina and this with me... How is it still able to respond?’

Atlas couldn’t understand the situation. The World Core wasn’t a living creature, nor did it possess a consciousness that he could sense. Yet, something within it was actively pushing him away, as though it refused to let its remaining energy be taken.

He stared at it for a few more seconds, trying to make sense of the strange reaction.

Eventually, he shook his head. "Why should I even care about the reason for its resistance? It’s not even sentient, and I’m obviously going to absorb it nonetheless."

Without hesitation, Atlas reached out and placed his right hand against the World Core once again. However, he didn’t attempt to forcefully draw in its energy immediately. Instead, he allowed the strange sensation to spread through his palm, trying to understand how the energy was interacting with his body. For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then, the resistance returned.

BOOM!

This time, the impact was considerably stronger. The force travelled through his hand and up his arm, causing the flesh around his palm to distort under the pressure. A small amount of blood emerged as his skin was damaged, but Atlas didn’t withdraw his hand. His eyes widened slightly as he felt the resistance pushing against him with an intensity several times greater than before.

"Just get absorbed already!"

The moment he shouted, the carved lines of Reiden on his right hand began to glow. Their light gradually spread across his palm, and in the next instant, Atlas felt something within his body respond to the World Core. The resistance that had been pushing against him suddenly encountered an entirely different force, one that began pulling everything toward his hand.

The energy inside the Core started moving.

At first, it was only a faint stream, almost indistinguishable from the energy that had previously seeped through his palm. However, the flow gradually grew stronger, and Atlas could feel it entering his body through his veins. It wasn’t limited to the immense life energy contained within the Core; the remnants of the laws integrated into it were being drawn in as well.

The sensation spread through his arm, making him increasingly aware of the tremendous amount of energy being transferred into his body.

Atlas’s eyes snapped open, and his gaze shot upward. His pupils began glowing as the incoming energy spread throughout his body, producing a sensation he had never experienced before. He could feel the difference between the two kinds of energy entering him, even if he couldn’t fully comprehend either of them yet.

For the moment, he focused on allowing the process to continue without interrupting it.

The life energy was the first to reach his body in significant quantities. It flowed through his veins and cells, spreading into every part of him before being drawn toward the Black Hole within his abdomen. Atlas could feel the immense vitality contained within it, but he didn’t attempt to interfere with its movement. He simply allowed the Black Hole to receive what was being absorbed.

Then came the remnants of the laws.

Unlike the life energy, they didn’t seem to flow through only his body. It flowed through his soul as well. Atlas arched an eyebrow as he felt the strange sensation through his soul itself, ’...This feels warm, cold and like a breeze?’

Every fragment carried a different sensation, and some of them appeared to resist being separated from the Core even as they were pulled away. Atlas furrowed his eyebrows, carefully observing the strange energy as it travelled through his veins.

He couldn’t identify the nature of every fragment, but he could tell that they were fundamentally different from the life energy entering his body.

Meanwhile, the World Core started trembling in his grasp. Its brilliance fluctuated several times, growing dimmer before recovering slightly, only to weaken again. The resistance hadn’t disappeared completely, but Atlas could feel it gradually losing its strength as more and more of its contents were drawn into his body.

He tightened his fingers around it, maintaining the connection while the Black Hole continued absorbing the incoming energy.

On that matter, one would ask why did Atlas not use Event absorption here? If he had used it, wouldn’t he have easily absorbed the world core or its event?

The answer to such a question was simple. Atlas didn’t use it because what Atlas was absorbing right now was not an Event in itself. It was a core, a world core. If he had used that ability, he might have literally absorbed the event of the world core ever coming into existence, which would have made him physically stronger, but it was neither his goal nor had he any intention of doing so.

The process continued for several minutes.

During that time, the World Core’s brilliance steadily diminished, and its resistance weakened until there was barely anything left to oppose the absorption. Atlas could feel the last traces of energy and the remaining fragments of laws being drawn away from it. Eventually, the Core had almost completely faded within his grasp.

Atlas watched as its surface began breaking apart, turning into several tiny motes of light. One after another, they drifted toward his palm and disappeared into his body, leaving nothing behind. Within moments, the World Core had completely vanished, and everything it contained had been absorbed into the Black Hole in his abdomen.

Atlas looked at the empty space where the Core had once been. He was just about to gather his thoughts when his second self’s voice suddenly rang out.

’Main body! You need to see this quickly!!! Come inside your inner world!

Atlas arched an eyebrow before immediately sitting in a lotus position and focusing inside him. His consciousness appeared within the inner world as it always did. His eyes snapped open and he saw the endless darkness in front of him. However, this time something was different.

His eyes locked onto the massive tree at the far ahead.

’Those fruits...they have changed?’