Chapter 26 -battle against the Devourer .
The golden warmth of the initiation hall was still thick with the scent of Han's conquest when the first tremor hit. It wasn't a shake of the earth, but a vibration of the water itself—a low, subsonic groan that made the massive glass domes of the Citadel groan in their frames.
Han Chen stood at the center of the dais, his hand still resting on Anya's shivering, platinum hair. He looked toward the deep-sea horizon. The indigo darkness of the abyss was being swallowed by something even blacker.
[WARNING: ANCIENT ENTITY DETECTED]
[SPECIES: THE ABYSSAL DEVOURER (CALAMITY CLASS)]
[THREAT: PLANETARY EXTINCTION LEVEL]
"Father," a small, steady voice spoke from the shadows of the throne.
Han turned. His four heirs—Kenji, Sulia, Xan, and Miri—stood in a row. Though they looked like young children, their eyes held the ancient, golden weight of the System. They weren't afraid; they were hungry. Their small hands were already gripped around the miniature versions of the Divine Artifacts Han had forged for them.
"The beast wants to eat our home," Kenji, the eldest, said, his Vanguard_Aegis flickering around his small fists. "We should kill it."
Han looked at his sons and daughters. This was the moment the Divine_Lineage was built for.
Into the Indigo
"Mirella, open the pressure locks," Han commanded.
The Siren Queen sang a command to the coral gates. The water rushed in, but it didn't touch Han or his children. They stepped out into the open ocean, protected by a combined bubble of Han's Hydro-Kinesis and Kenji's kinetic shields.
The Devourer was a nightmare of evolution. It was a serpent-like horror, five kilometers long, with skin made of obsidian scales and a thousand glowing, bioluminescent eyes. Its mouth was a swirling vortex of needle-teeth, capable of swallowing whole skyscrapers.
"Xan, find the core. Sulia, keep the blood flowing. Miri, command the currents," Han ordered, his voice echoing telepathically.
The battle was a symphony of destruction. Sulia, the daughter of the Healer, didn't just mend; she used her Life_Overdrive to make the beast's own cells grow out of control. With a wave of her hand, massive, jagged tumors erupted from the Devourer's side, slowing its movement.
Xan, the son of the Scientist, calculated the beast's nervous system. "There, Father! Behind the third ocular cluster!"
Miri, the daughter of the Siren, screamed underwater. The sound didn't just travel; it shattered the water's density. The Devourer's obsidian scales, meant to withstand the pressure of the trenches, began to crack and peel away.
The King's Final Strike
Han watched his children work with a grim, proud satisfaction. But the beast was too ancient to die quietly. It lunged, its massive tail swinging with enough force to vaporize the Citadel.
"Kenji! Hold it!" Han roared.
The boy planted his feet in the swirling water, his small arms shaking as he projected a kinetic wall the size of a mountain. The tail hit the shield with a sound like a thunderclap. The shield cracked, but it held long enough for Han to close the distance.
Han didn't use a weapon. He used the raw, concentrated power of the Eternal_Dynasty. He stepped into the beast's shadow, emerging directly inside its gaping maw.
He didn't just attack; he ignited. He released every ounce of his accumulated mana in a singular, golden explosion. The Devourer's head didn't just burst; it disintegrated from the inside out.
[DING! CALAMITY CLASS ENTITY SLAIN!]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: MASSIVE!]
[SYSTEM LEVEL UP! LEVEL 4 ➔ LEVEL 5: 'LORD OF THE WORLD'S CORE']
[REWARD: SOVEREIGN_REGENERATION — All consorts can now recover from any injury via intimacy.]
The Return of the Conquerors
As the massive carcass of the Devourer began to sink into the lightless trenches, Han and his four children drifted back toward the Citadel. The sea creatures—the krakens and leviathans—weren't just watching anymore. They were bowing.
They entered the Citadel to a hero's welcome. Hundreds of mountain survivors and Han's six wives were there, their eyes wide with disbelief. The children ran to their mothers, their small bodies still humming with the high-voltage energy of the kill.
Han walked toward the center of the hall, his clothes torn, his skin glowing with the golden residue of the beast's life-force. He looked at his wives—Mei, Lan, Xara, Mirella, Kali, and Anya.
The victory had left his blood boiling. The adrenaline of the fight needed a release, and the System was already chiming, demanding he celebrate the ascension to Level 5.
He grabbed Anya and Lin Mei, pulling them both into his arms. "The sea is quiet now," Han growled, his voice a low vibration that made the glass domes rattle. "But I am not. Every one of you... in the chambers. Now."
The "Reward" of a Level 5 God-King was about to begin, and it would be the most detailed, high-temperature night the Citadel had ever seen.
Progress Report
* Heirs: Stage 2 Unlocked (Combat Veterans).
* System Level: 5 (Lord of the World's Core).
* New Power: Sovereign Regeneration (Intimacy = Healing).