Support Me: https://ko-fi.com/arcaneyes123
"Then you should understand that it is an extremely dangerous force. It is uncontrollable and difficult to deal with." Luke patiently persuaded him as if he was thinking about Barbatos.
But in Barbatos's eyes, Luke's words and actions only made him feel that the abyss was indeed a very powerful force, so powerful that Luke was unwilling to hand it over! The inexplicable greed in his heart suddenly rose again.
Got it!
Greed screamed in his mind. His other personality didn't oppose him at this moment, as if suppressed by the greedy emotion, and fell silent again.
"Leave it to me!" Barbatos' tone carried an urgency that he didn't notice. He didn't even realize that his reason and thinking were now quietly dominated by certain emotions.
"This is your choice!" Luke heard the deafening roar of Barbatos, and seemed helpless. At Barbatos' urgent request, he stretched out his hand and pulled out a piece of hell parchment burning with black flames from the void.
"Come, sign a contract." Luke spread out the parchment and handed it towards Barbatos in the void.
The parchment that stretched out to about three meters in Luke's hand was no bigger than a fingernail in Barbatos's hand. But this didn't prevent Barbatos from understanding the contract from the energy fluctuations on the parchment.
After all, for him, his observations and insights are more profound than those of humans who believe what they see.
For example, right now, in the eyes of Bruce and the others, it was just an evil parchment, but in his eyes, he could easily understand the energy fluctuations and runes on the unencrypted parchment, and ultimately know what role it played.
"Why can't you just give me the abyss, but let me find it?" Barbatos was a little dissatisfied with the terms of the contract.
"Once you find it, it's yours," Luke answered simply. "Once the contract is signed, a door to the abyss will open for you. You can consume as much of the abyssal power there as you wish. You can do whatever you wish within."
"Then the contract is established!" Barbatos was a little cautious about Luke's words, but his inner greed and restless emotions were constantly interfering with his thinking, causing him to develop a fanatical possessive desire for the power of the abyss that was so close to him.
He imprinted his power onto the contract, becoming his soul's signature. The very material of the contract also perfectly supported his power. As the contract suddenly burned and turned to ash, Barbatos sensed a strange dimension calling to him.
The call was hazy and vague, like a soft whisper deep in one's mind.
Barbatos knew that at this moment, he had connected with a certain dimension, a dimension that was calling him, welcoming him. Barbatos could sense that if he simply released his power along that inexplicable connection, he could easily blast a passage to the other side. This proved that Luke hadn't deceived him, wasn't playing any tricks on him.
"You're very honest." A sinister and sarcastic smile appeared on Barbatos's lips. He bent down and tried to look Luke in the eye. "I didn't expect you to truly believe me and guide me to the dimension where the power of the abyss resides. A powerful dimension that can allow me to escape ultimate destruction. I've always wanted to find such a place! How lucky! Isn't it?"
"I can see that you are showing signs of turning against me." Luke easily sensed what was in Barbatos' mind. He just calmly looked at Barbatos' face, which represented the dark animal nature, and said softly.
"We have signed a contract! So I can tell you that the World Crucible is in this world. But you need to find it yourself." Barbatos smiled maliciously, and the black thunder lingering around his body gathered into a beam at that moment, bombarding the void somewhere in the hall. A black hole was blasted open by the powerful dark force, forcibly connecting a bit of the other dimensional world to this world.
An extremely dark force, so powerful that it was as condensed as substance, slightly shone through from the other end of the void. The heavy feeling of oppression and the higher pollution instantly cast a thick shadow over the hearts of everyone on the field.
Bruce even felt that a catastrophe like the collapse of heaven and earth would happen at the next moment, which made him feel so depressed that he could hardly breathe.
This was their second time [contacting] the abyss. The last time it was just a projection, but this time, it was like they were facing it head-on.
Without thinking, Stephen hung several rune contracts on himself and Bruce. Although these runes could not completely resist the erosion of the power of the abyss, they could still provide short-term protection.
To put it in a more vivid way, it's like walking in a radiation zone fully armed with protective clothing. As long as the concentration does not exceed the standard, their personal health and safety can be temporarily guaranteed for a certain period of time.
At the moment, the weak pollution radiated by the power of the abyss can be tolerated temporarily.
"It's this kind of power! But why is it a little different from what I imagined?" Barbatos was surprised at first, but immediately realized something was wrong.
He coveted the power of the abyss, that was true. But why could he sense its covetousness from the fluctuations of the abyss's energy?
Who is the prey? Who is the food?
Why does the abyss have a will? Isn't it equivalent to another self?
Barbatos forced his attention away from the abyss, but found it difficult. Even though the power radiated from the abyss was minimal, it seemed as if it were solid, locking onto him firmly. Barbatos could even sense several slippery and disgusting invisible tentacles in the void, silently surrounding him, snaking along his ankles and torso.
He could move, but the inexplicable feeling of restraint and heaviness appeared so clearly in his senses.
Under the switched energy vision, Barbatos discovered with horror that his soul was indeed wrapped up by cold white tentacles that looked like they had been soaked in the deep sea for a long time. The layers were stacked one on top of the other, getting tighter and tighter, like prey wrapped in spider silk.
The dark power represented by Barbatos struggled bravely, and it did have the effect of delaying and hindering it, but the tentacles of the unknown creatures, although slow, were still tenacious and firm, and bound him little by little.
The dark forces want to break free from the tentacles' restraints, but most of them, after a period of resistance, will in turn be swallowed up and assimilated by the power represented by the tentacles. In the end, the more they struggle, the stronger the tentacles' entanglement force will be.
When the tentacles wrapped around most of his soul, leaving him almost without the strength to struggle, Barbatos felt a fear he had never felt before. This feeling was so new, so bizarre, and once it appeared, it penetrated deep into his soul.
Barbatos felt as if he had made a wrong decision in the previous transaction.
Before, his connection to the Abyssal Dimension was only tenuous. He could sense its coordinates, but the distance between them was immense, or perhaps it wasn't enough to describe the separation between them. Back then, as long as he didn't initiate it, this connection could safely continue for a long time. Without tampering with the contract, he wouldn't have come into contact with the Abyss for at least a billion years.
But that was only the most ideal result before he opened the coordinate channel.
After the coordinate channel was opened, his connection with the abyss instantly went from intermittent to full signal. Now, as more and more tentacles entangled his soul, his soul became heavier and darker, and the connection signal between the two was almost off the charts.
He probably won't be able to escape from the abyss in the future.
Before his close contact with the abyss, Barbatos looked forward to this moment.
After his close encounter with the abyss, Barbatos hated the arrival of this moment.
He jumped from a deep pit into an even deeper pit.
And the instigator was the guy who led him to this point step by step!
Thinking of that guy, Barbatos controlled his numb body and looked at Luke who was like an ant below. Now that his emotions became richer, he could even clearly see the smile on Luke's face that he hated so much.
"Deception!" Barbatos's furious roar resounded like thunder. He felt the tentacles gripping his soul tightening, his body and consciousness growing heavier. His connection to the abyss grew ever closer, and he unconsciously drifted toward the abyssal dimension. The void within was being diligently expanded by the abyssal dimension, unleashing a massive, black hole-like suction upon him.
He was like a star captured by a black hole, and could only merge with it step by step.
"How can you say it's cheating? I only reminded you of the existence of the Abyss. It was you who took the initiative to ask me for its power. I was kind enough to remind you that the Abyss is very dangerous." Luke spread his hands, completely shrugging off any responsibility and blame: "I gave you a choice, but your persistence moved me!"
Barbatos nearly exploded when he heard Luke's words. Who had given him all those chaotic emotions and clouded his judgment? Although there was no evidence to prove Luke was responsible, Barbatos, his soul now in turmoil, immediately identified the culprit and firmly believed him.
But he couldn't care less about arguing with Luke now. He was being swallowed bit by bit by the Abyss. Literally, the hollow suction twisted Barbatos' body and soul, swallowing him bit by bit.
Bruce and the other man watched helplessly as Barbatos' huge body was pulled into abstract thin strips and slowly submerged into the living void, their faces solemn.
Time seemed to have passed for a long time, but also like a blink of an eye. By the time Bruce and the others woke up from the extremely shocking scene, the void had been forcibly closed and erased by Luke.
Only at that last moment, Bruce and the others seemed to hear some kind of satisfied sound after being full.
Without Barbatos' towering figure, the entire hall suddenly felt vastly emptier. Stephen hadn't removed the protective runes from their bodies, but had instead reinforced and updated them. The Abyssal Dimension had departed, but not all of the previously emanating power had left with it. The essence of Abyssal power is mysterious, devouring, and expansive. If nothing unexpected happened in this area, the power of the Abyss might be even more intense in eons.
The three of them rushed towards Luke, and when they approached him, Bruce asked.
"Is he dead?"
"How could he be dead?" Luke looked back at Bruce, and they both knew who he was talking about.
"Hasn't he been swallowed by the abyss?" Bruce's heart tightened. After all, Barbatos was the mastermind behind the Laughing Bats and his group, known as the Dragon of Darkness and Destruction, who had ravaged countless universes. If he reappeared, Luke might be safe, but those who came with Luke would likely be targeted by Barbatos. What was Barbatos's weakness? Should they prepare for it?
"Being swallowed and assimilated by the abyss does not mean death in your understanding." When Luke's goal was about to be achieved, he didn't mind telling Bruce some secrets.
"The Abyss is no different from other energy dimensions, except that it's more extreme and more like a living being. But this is also due to the characteristics of its energy. If there's life in other dimensions, there will naturally be life in this dimension as well.
As the Dragon of Darkness and Destruction in your universe, Barbatos's energy level isn't as high as the Abyss', but he won't be instantly consumed by the Abyss. It should be a long, drawn-out tug-of-war.
"That..."
"Are you asking if he can still come out of the abyss?"
As Bruce opened his mouth, Luke, prescient about what he was about to say, took the initiative to ask. Seeing Bruce nod, Luke patiently explained, "Unless something unexpected happens, it's nearly impossible to release a life swallowed by the abyss without completely digesting it. Even I can only summon a life that has been fully transformed by the abyss. It has its own will!"
If you're lucky enough to meet him again in the future, he won't be Barbatos, the embodiment of darkness and destruction, but Barbatos, the Dragon of the Abyss. I don't recommend meeting him again. Although he might not remember you by then, given his size, if he were to transform into an Abyssal species, once he appeared, all universes within sight of him and his presence would inevitably be quickly contaminated and captured by the Abyss. You and your companions wouldn't even stand a chance in a fight to the death.
"Abyssal species generally do not appear in the outside world. Luke locked it up. I can't imagine who else, except Luke and my teacher, can summon Barbatos, who has transformed into the Abyss Dragon, out of the abyss." Stephen comforted the two.
He'd had quite a bit of experience with the Abyss, but it was nothing more than borrowing the shallow power from its edge. Who would pull those creatures from the Abyss, other than to disgust and completely destroy them? They'd long since been distorted beyond recognition, and even a glance at them was a sign of extreme soul pollution. Even if Barbatos truly reappeared, it was doubtful Bruce and the others would be able to recognize him.