Chapter 241: A New Monster Feast Begins! Devouring Several Bosses! Gaining Immense Power!

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"Alright Shadow, you just watch over the meat and cook the risotto once she wakes up. I’ll use this opportunity, this small window for myself."

Riven had been busy all day without a single quiet moment for himself. He constantly gave attention to his wife or someone else in the household, and the endless demands were beginning to feel a little stressful. Every request, every small need, every worried glance from Elisa had kept him moving from one task to the next since sunrise.

But finally, now that his needy wife who could barely stand being separated from him for even a second was taking a good, deep nap, he seized the chance. He sneaked quietly out of the house, careful not to make a sound that might wake her, and headed directly toward the Spirit Dungeon Realm.

As he stepped into the familiar spiritual space, he felt within his soul two other bubbles floating quietly. These were the two dungeons he had conquered earlier that same day: the Whispering Caves, a D-Rank Dungeon, and the E-Rank Dungeon known as the Abandoned Subway Line.

He had not yet combined them with Giant’s Paradise. He needed to carefully decide where they would fit so he would not disrupt the entire delicate ecology of the Realm. One wrong placement could throw the balance of monsters, plants, and spiritual energy into chaos.

Looking out at the soft colors of the sunset painting the sky in shades of orange and purple, Riven sat down in front of a vast open grassland. The gentle breeze carried the scent of wild flowers and distant spiritual herbs. He opened his Storage Bracelet and began dropping all kinds of corpses he intended to consume that evening.

Among them was the biggest of all — the massive, still-twitching corpse of Genesis-REBIRTH, the mutated Spirit Fox that had once served as the core of the Spiritual Realm called "Spring Paradise." That poor creature had been imbued with dangerous Genesis Cells by that foolish bastard Ryujin.

Aside from that enormous body, he also had the Kobold King and the Mad Locomotive, along with piles of Kobold Soldiers, Warriors, and Priests. All of that was accompanied by a Mutant Rat, the Mutant Rat King, and... a heap of Giant Cockroaches.

"Ugh."

Riven groaned in pure disgust and quickly looked away while pointing his hand at the pile. His Aura manifested with sudden force, taking the shape of dozens of enormous, salivating jaws that plunged downward and started devouring the entire mountain of corpses one after another without mercy.

His Endless Hunger Aura had grown massively since the last time he used it. It now resembled a giant, living amalgamation of everything he had ever eaten, shaped into one colossal being with a gigantic jaw that seemed to lead straight into an endless black void of pure consumption.

Riven had started simply calling it the "Aura of Gluttony." He was already thinking of ways he could employ this power against living foes instead of just using it to eat dead monsters and nothing else. It was still a little difficult without supporting skills to guide it, but he was slowly beginning to figure out new applications.

Jaws of Gluttony seemed to be the middle ground — something that helped him digest larger numbers of monsters while also holding potential for offensive use. However, he was still a long way from reaching the point where he could fully "consume" an enemy’s entire attack or devour a living opponent mid-battle.

CRUNCH.

CRUNCH.

CRUNCH.

CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH!

"..."

Riven’s eyes gleamed with sharp interest as he felt the raw power of all the creatures he consumed begin coursing through his body like liquid fire.

"So it works...!"

A faint, satisfied smile appeared on his face. His theory had proven correct. As long as he possessed his own shadow, he could consume the kills his shadow had made with his assistance.

Genesis-REBIRTH disappeared first. The massive fox put up a surprising fight even in death. Its Genesis Cells rapidly attempted to regenerate in a monstrous last attempt to fight back and reform the body, but the jaws of his aura tore them apart and swallowed them before they could accomplish anything.

The Kobold King’s remains, the Mad Locomotive, and all the smaller monsters vanished much faster. In just under a full minute, Riven finished his entire "meal" — or rather, the heavy appetizer before a normal dinner with his wife and the rest of the family.

BA-DUM.

BA-DUM.

BA-DUM!

"Ugh?!"

Riven groaned loudly, clutching his chest as he felt his heart begin beating faster and harder with every second. The power of the Genesis Cells he had just consumed, the massive amount of pure Spiritual Power from the mutated Spirit Fox, the thick Draconic Blood of the Kobold King, and the Mad Locomotive’s over fifty different poisonous toxins and dense bones — everything, from blood and marrow to spiritual essence — was being absorbed into his body. His stomach worked overtime, synthesizing it all into raw, unfiltered power that flooded every cell.

RUMBLE!

The ground beneath him cracked open into spiderweb-shaped fissures as his muscles suddenly bulged and shifted on their own. Every single one of his cells responded with massive waves of power pulsing through his entire being. His Psionic Aura expanded outward and grew rapidly until his Psionic Avatar resembled a towering giant that loomed over the grassland.

He felt his bones growing even denser and harder than before. His blood flowed through his veins with such intensity that it began to boil, turning his entire body pitch-red and releasing thick clouds of steam into the cool evening air.

Then, as he gritted his teeth and endured the painful process of assimilating everything, burning horns pushed out from his forehead. Red scales spread across large portions of his body, followed by a long, powerful scaled tail that ended in a glowing, burning tip.

And then... silence.

Everything settled down at last. The steam slowly faded. The ground stopped trembling. New Skills and Talents were born within him.

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