"The power of death… I never imagined I'd ever come into contact with something like this!"
Muria, having decided to commit fully to his audacious plan without any regrets, shifted into his Ghost Form, transforming into a swirling mass of dense black mist. The dark haze hovered and spiraled through the radiant palace as he carefully attuned himself to the once-overlooked power now at his disposal.
Death was an unfamiliar domain to Muria, a force he had never sought to comprehend. Among the Titans, no epic entity specialized in the powers of death.
If one were to stretch the definition, perhaps the only exception was Hades, the Lord of the Underworld, who had ascended to godhood in the world of Erathia. Hades wielded unparalleled mastery over the laws of death, standing at the pinnacle of Erathia's divine hierarchy.
However, strictly speaking, Hades could not be considered a true Titan. He was a being born anew from the corpse of a fallen Titan, a reconstitution of residual power and essence.
"Death…"
The soft murmur from the dark haze carried a chilling, desolate tone, imbued with a natural sense of decay and lifelessness. This was the essence of the Ghost Form, a force that, by its very existence, drained vitality from its surroundings. It instinctively absorbed the life force of everything nearby.
Of course, this power had its limits. Muria couldn't drain the vitality of beings stronger than his Ghost Form. For example, the holy and radiant Mikaela, who stood before him, was utterly unaffected by his presence.
"What's your plan for altering the nature of this death power you've acquired?" Mikaela asked, observing Muria's form with a mix of curiosity and faint distaste. She found his Ghost Form inherently repellent, an instinctive reaction stemming from her essence as a being of pure light and life.
Mikaela was intrigued, though. Muria's ambition to tamper with and modify the fundamental nature of an epic's power was something she had never encountered before. The audacity of his plan was both fascinating and unprecedented.
"I plan to use Hades as a template to reshape my Ghost Form," Muria declared, sharing the vision he had already formed in his mind.
"Hades as a template? And what exactly will that make you?" Mikaela raised an eyebrow in interest. She knew her husband had a relatively close relationship with the Lord of the Underworld, but she couldn't recall Muria ever delving into the powers of death. "Have you gained an understanding of the laws of death?"
"Well… I've picked up bits and pieces, I suppose," Muria replied, his tone betraying a hint of uncertainty.
Technically speaking, Muria's understanding of the laws of death was limited. However, it would also be inaccurate to say he was entirely clueless.
As an epic being, Muria had reached a level where understanding one law could lead to insights into others. Moreover, in Erathia, Hades had once granted him the authority to resurrect the dead, providing him with a glimpse into the workings of death's laws.
Additionally, in every world capable of sustaining life, the laws of death formed a foundational principle, an indispensable part of existence. Muria had observed the interplay of various laws in three different worlds. Although he hadn't focused on the laws of death at the time, he had gleaned enough to form a rudimentary understanding.
This was one of the reasons why ancient epics were so formidable. Their extended lifespans and diverse experiences allowed them to develop a broad, albeit sometimes shallow, mastery of multiple laws.
"So, altering my Ghost Form to reflect the essence of death isn't as daunting as it might seem," Muria said confidently. While creating something entirely new from scratch was beyond him, adapting an existing framework was well within his capabilities.
"If you're confident, then go ahead," Mikaela said, her tone neutral but watchful.
"Alright." Despite his words of resolve, Muria couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache as he considered the cost of his endeavor. The transformation he was about to undertake would demand a significant investment.
Gritting his teeth, Muria drew upon a portion of the source energy he had acquired in the previous world. Tendrils of this primordial energy flowed into his Ghost Form.
Immediately, his shadowy figure began to shift and writhe violently. The dense black mist collapsed inward, compressing under the influence of the source energy.
Within the dense blackness, a single point of white light emerged. This speck of light quickly spread and grew, forming into a crystalline white skull. The eerie skull radiated a chilling aura, shrouded in a halo of black flames.
"Well? What do you think?" The jaw of the skeletal head opened and closed as it spoke, its hollow eye sockets turning toward Mikaela.
"This… is your so-called transformation?" Mikaela asked, her brow furrowing as she scrutinized the skeletal form before her. "Do you realize I have an overwhelming urge to draw my sword and strike you down right now?"
"Uh… yeah, I figured," Muria admitted sheepishly. He was well aware of his wife's usual activities. She frequently ventured into the necromancer-infested depths of the Obysto subcontinent, where her favorite pastime was slaying liches.
His current form, with its stark resemblance to a lich, was likely triggering her deeply ingrained instincts. However, unlike a typical lich, Muria's skeletal form lacked any physical body aside from the skull. It was, in essence, a stripped-down, minimalist version.
For liches, their skeletal bodies were mere vessels for their potent souls, replaceable and often secondary. But Muria's skeletal form was not just a simple container—it was the foundation of something far greater.
"This is just the beginning. Don't be so quick to judge," Muria reassured Mikaela. Only someone of Mikaela's extraordinary stature could remain composed while conversing with a disembodied skull radiating death energy. Most mortals would have been paralyzed with fear at the mere sight of him.
"Well then, get on with it," Mikaela said, crossing her arms.
"You know, I have a bit of a perfectionist streak. I like to take my time and make sure everything's just right," Muria replied, his tone casual.
As he spoke, a segment of spine began to grow beneath his crystalline skull, forming a vertebra. Shortly after, another segment appeared, followed by another. Slowly but steadily, Muria was constructing a skeletal frame for himself.
With each new bone added, the skeletal form became more complete, and Mikaela's expression gradually softened. She was beginning to understand what Muria was trying to create.
"A Titan?" Mikaela finally said, recognizing the familiar structure.
"Exactly," Muria confirmed, his tone carrying a hint of pride as he continued to assemble his skeletal body.
"…" Mikaela found herself at a loss for words. Having merged with Muria countless times, she was intimately familiar with the structure of his Titan form. She could now clearly see that he was reconstructing it in skeletal form.
Although the skeletal structure bore a superficial resemblance to a human's, its actual design had nothing to do with humanity. Muria was creating a Titan Skeleton—a deliberate homage to Hades, who had originated from the remains of a fallen Titan.
"You really are taking the easy way out. Your template for this skeletal form is just yourself, isn't it?" Mikaela teased.
"This isn't laziness," Muria retorted, his tone firm. "It's the optimal choice. It's what suits me best."
"Well, I'll admit this part of your transformation is very much in line with Hades. The rest, though? You're way off," Mikaela said as she watched him complete the skeletal torso.
"Fair enough. I'm not trying to replicate everything about Hades, just the essence of his form. And this skeleton? Its quality is no different from what Hades started with when he first awakened," Muria said, correcting his wife with a touch of pride.
The skeletal body he was constructing wasn't merely a replica. It was crafted from authentic Titan bone, formed using source energy. This wasn't just a matter of aesthetics—it was substance.
Source energy could recreate anything, and even the bones of Titans fell within its scope. With enough source energy, anything was possible. In fact, the founding emperor of the Uralos Empire—a Titan-human hybrid—had used source energy to transform his body into that of a true Titan after ascending to the epic level.
Similarly, a human who became an epic could theoretically use source energy to craft themselves a Titan body. However, few would ever attempt such a thing due to the immense cost and limited practicality. Even with a Titan's body, they wouldn't possess the innate combat instincts of a true Titan.
"How much source energy have you used for this Titan skeleton?" Mikaela asked, her tone curious but also tinged with amusement as she inspected the structure Muria was forming. The skeleton had now taken on a recognizable shape, standing roughly ten meters tall.
For ordinary mortals, a ten-meter-tall body would be considered gigantic. But for a Titan, it was laughably small. Such a diminutive size was unheard of among Titans, save perhaps for newborn infants.
"Uh… not much," Muria replied evasively.
"So you've prioritized quality over size, I see," Mikaela remarked.
"Quality is what matters most," Muria said with a slightly embarrassed chuckle. To an outside observer, though, his skeletal grin would have looked more like something out of a nightmare.
"Why don't you try presenting this skeleton as a Titan body to your father? See how he reacts," Mikaela joked, raising an
eyebrow.
"There's no need for that. This body is enough for now, given the world we're in. Once I return, I'll reclaim all my power," Muria said, flexing his newly constructed form.
As Muria moved, the black mist swirling around him began to condense further. The deathly aura that had previously filled the space now coalesced around his skeleton, forming a suit of pitch-black armor. Six shadowy wings, symbols of death itself, unfurled from his back, completing the transformation.
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