Kei glanced at the conversion card he had just received as a reward.
After thinking for a moment, he directly used it on [Ferry Bandit].
From the previous upgrade result of [Star Devourer], it was already clear, the special traits rewarded by the system were fundamentally different from the ones normally drawn, with absurdly higher potential.
There was no way this [Ferry Bandit] was just total trash, right?
---
[Obtained:
- Death Plunderer (Gold)]
[Death Plunderer (Gold):
Tread the long river of death, plundering ancient heroic spirits across time; traverse other worlds, reaping sages and sinners alike. Sail above the river of time in an indestructible vessel, fishing out heroes of the past; observe the rivers of death across other worlds, gathering mighty champions to aid you in the present. Grants immunity to the powers of the Underworld, Hell, the Other Shore, and Reincarnation. Greatly enhances control over the concepts of Time and Death, as well as resistance to both.]
---
"Holy shit..."
He stared at the upgraded trait, heart pounding.
Concept of death?
Aren't these descriptions just insanely exaggerated?
His [Wanderer of Countless Worlds] had only unlocked a few worlds so far, but this golden trait [Death Plunderer] actually referenced countless death rivers?
A sudden thought flashed through his mind.
If one traced the river of death upstream to its origin, could it perhaps lead to the original dimension of that world?
Activate it. Now.
Without any hesitation, he immediately activated this utterly unreasonable trait.
Buzz~~
An overwhelming surge of information flooded his mind.
The Labyrinthian Circuit roared to full power, absorbing the massive data influx.
A powerful aura of the Death Concept emanated from his body.
Yvraine, Taldeer, Lelith, and the others' wraithbone cores immediately issued frantic warnings, making them instinctively retreat several steps.
No matter how powerful a lifeform was, faced with the purest concept of death, even the soul would tremble.
In front of Kei, the death river from the Warhammer World slowly manifested, enhanced by the concept of time.
It appeared boundless, without end in sight.
And within that river, countless beings, some ferocious, some majestic, rose and fell endlessly in its current.
"Cegorach, Vect, Malys," Kei softly uttered the three names, conjuring their images in his mind.
In the temporal death river before him, the figures of all other beings instantly vanished.
At the current timeline, Cegorach, Vect, and Malys's souls had already been completely annihilated, there was no sign of them in the death river.
Even in the past timelines, their traces were nowhere to be found.
With the intention of testing out [Death Plunderer], he shifted his thoughts to those who had already died in the Warhammer world.
Watching soul after soul flash quickly before his eyes, he raised his hand and pulled out Yvraine's ancient Phoenix Lord companion, Karandras.
His dazed soul quickly regained clarity after being extracted from the river of death.
He looked over his faint, illusory form with some confusion.
Before he could ask anything, Kei transformed his soul into a flickering mote of spiritual light and temporarily stored it inside the Primordial Realm.
He then exited the River of Death and elevated his "field of view."
Countless Rivers of Death, dense and endless, near and far, thin and wide, unfolded beyond the one in the Warhammer world.
Just how many worlds are there…
He sighed inwardly and exited the state of [Death Plunderer].
---
[Synergy link detected:
- Wanderer of Countless Worlds (Rainbow)
- Primordial Realm Lord (Rainbow)
- Death Plunderer (Gold)]
[Death Concept Control enhanced. Time span of the Death River extended.]
---
The system notification chimed again.
He glanced at [Death Plunderer] still hanging at the end of his list. He felt the concentrated Death Concept stars within the Primordial Realm, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"Is it over?"
Yvraine finally spoke, seeing the terrifying aura that had shaken her to her core now dissipating from his body.
"Yeah."
"What was that just now?"
"The conceptual power of Death, the force that brings true, total death to all things."
"To all things?"
"Energy, matter, data, soul... anything you can think of," Kei explained with a soft chuckle.
Even ignoring the additional effects of [Death Plunderer], just the concept of Death alone made this trait absurdly powerful.
Not only life, everything dies.
Buildings, vegetation, land, weapons, armor, clothing... Even planets, dimensions, entire worlds!
Moreover, when Death was paired with Decay, the destructive force of the two escalates dramatically.
Take, for instance, Dormammu, the master of the Dark Dimension, also a dimensional demon god.
Previously, if Kei fought Dormammu without relying on system power, he could only barely contend by using concepts like space and time, relying on [Galaxy Devourer] to continuously eat away at the opponent's power.
But now, with both Death and Decay under his control, he truly had the ability to defeat, or even kill, such an opponent head-on.
"…The God of Time and Space will probably come looking for you soon."
Yvraine frowned slightly.
Now that Death had become a concept one could control, she could no longer imagine what kind of terrifying and overwhelming power that implied.
"He won't. I haven't used death to threaten the operation of any world."
Kei waved his hand and continued, "Just now, I pulled a soul out of the River of Death. Want it?"
"A soul? Whose?"
"Karandras, the ancient Phoenix Lord of the Striking Scorpions."
"He died many years ago…"
Yvraine's sentence cut off halfway.
According to the wraithbone traditions of the Craftworlds, a soul was supposed to eventually return to the Infinity Circuit over time, reintegrating with the collective consciousness.
But Kei's powers clearly surpassed the limits of traditional Eldar mysticism.
Time, space, death, decay, love…
All these mysterious conceptual forces were now manifesting through him. Bringing back Karandras's soul… might not even be surprising anymore?
Recalling her time with Karandras, bit by bit, a trace of nostalgia appeared in Yvraine's eyes.
"Karandras was a steadfast defender of the Path. If he follows you now, he'll probably just be a thorn in your side. I'll revive him. The survival path we Eldar believe in… Perhaps it's time we redefined it."
As soon as Yvraine spoke about wanting to redefine the survival path, the younger Aspect Warriors all raised their heads to look at their Emissary, their expressions filled with confusion and incomprehension.
However, the older Phoenix Lords showed little emotional reaction.
To the young Aspect Warriors, they revered the greatness of the Path, sang praises of its nobility. The Path was their faith and conviction—something not easily changed.
But for the older generation of Eldar, what they had always believed in wasn't the Path, but Yvraine herself. The so-called "survival path," at its core, was merely a management system that she had implemented millennia ago to ensure the stable and orderly development of the known galaxy.
Since the Emissary said it needed to change, then so be it!
Kei handed over Karandras's soul to Yvraine without asking how she intended to change the survival path.
No matter how much the path changed, as long as the Eldar wouldn't oppose him or create trouble, that was enough.
Yvraine carefully protected Karandras's soul using the soul protection magic from Kamar-Taj, which she had analyzed through the Black Library.
The survival path governed half of the known galaxy.
The resources under the Eldar's control were far beyond what civilizations like the Drukhari or the Frateris Templar could compete with.
The Black Library still held Karandras's data, and reconstructing a peak wraithbone body for him wouldn't consume much at all.
"How are you planning to deal with the Dimensional Aperture?"
Lelith's gaze remained fixed on the magical portal that had yet to be closed.
Her eyes stared intently at the Dimensional Aperture located beneath the Webway Core.
While the Webway Core was undoubtedly the pinnacle of Aeldari intelligence, managing all webway portals in the known galaxy and acting as the psychic backend of Aeldari genetics, it could not move and was difficult for individuals to make use of.
In comparison, the Dimensional Aperture, as the most powerful psychic computer in the known galaxy, had a much higher practical value than the Webway Core.
When Lelith brought this up, the expressions of many Eldar immediately became serious.
The Drukhari already had the computational support of their Torture-class Raiders, making them difficult enough to deal with. If they gained the Dimensional Aperture as well...
"Since the original vision of the ancient Eldar was for the Dimensional Aperture to promote the shared advancement of all civilizations, then let it truly serve all civilizations."
Kei chuckled, immediately seeing through Lelith's hidden intentions.
His Labyrinthian Circuit had already begun copying the data recorded in the Dimensional Aperture. But aside from that data, the Dimensional Aperture's computing capabilities were useless to him.
But just because it was useless to him didn't mean it wasn't powerful.
To maximize its value, the best solution was to make it public property for all civilizations.
Shared access.
With a wave of his hand toward the pile of equipment Cegorach had left behind, he duplicated over a thousand sets of the remote connectors for linking to the Dimensional Aperture and the short-range data interface terminals, distributing one to everyone present.
With Cegorach's research as a foundation, whether it was Eldar, Drukhari, or the Steel Legion, their combat effectiveness would all improve significantly in a short period of time.
"Heh~"
Yvraine looked at Lelith, whose expression had turned particularly interesting, and gave a knowing, faint smile.
Trying to use the Dimensional Aperture to help the Drukhari catch up to the Eldar in research?
Wishful thinking!
"Damn it!"
Lelith glared back at Yvraine fiercely.
Seeing this, Kei waved his hand.
Vect and Malys's bodies instantly disintegrated. After removing the corrupted genetic data, they were condensed into two pure energy sources, one given to Lelith, and the other to Yvraine.
Creating divine-grade wraithbone bodies required an enormous amount of energy, and the energy conversion rate in the Warhammer Universe was, frankly, not that great.
He didn't care much for this energy himself, but for the Eldar and Drukhari, these two energy clusters represented two enhanced wraithbone bodies.
As for the pile of remaining items left behind by Cegorach, Kei waved his hand and directly tossed them into the Primordial Realm.
Warp apertures, anti-psychic devices, soul strike devices, dimensional connectors, reality controllers, these things were all recorded in the Dimensional Aperture's database.
Unlike the connectors and link terminals of the Dimensional Aperture, they weren't particularly hard to manufacture.
Anyone who wanted them could freely research and build them.
Once [Arena of the Gods] was deactivated, all the Eldar, Drukhari, and members of the Steel Legion, who had originally come from various parts of the galaxy, were instantly teleported back to where they had come from.
There was no need for discussion among the Eldar, Drukhari, and the Imperial forces.
They all began sweeping assaults on the remaining enemies: the Drukhari of Vect's Kabal remnants, the survivors of the Hrud and Kroot tribes in the outer systems, the fragmented xenos civilization, and those bounty hunters and mercenaries who had joined Vect's group.
With all their top-tier combatants gone, these remaining forces were no longer a threat. Even the members of the Steel Legion led by Celestine could easily wipe them out!
Many, seeing the tide turning against them, tried to run.
But with the Dimensional Aperture linked to the Webway Core, there was nowhere in the known galaxy they could hide.
Inside a luxury hotel suite.
Kei lounged on the sofa, enjoying a shoulder massage from the charming Drukhari warrior Shyish.
Eyes closed, he glanced at the system interface in his mind.
System, use the color trait extraction. Rainbow.
---
[Obtained:
- God of Abundance (Rainbow)]
[God of Abundance (Rainbow):
When aligned with the light, you bring harvest and prosperity to all things; when your heart turns toward hell, you command desire and corruption. Mastery over the concept of abundance allows for bountiful harvests, fertile lands, flourishing civilizations, and thriving life. Mastery over desire and reproduction enables life to multiply and the future to grow, or desire to run rampant and evil to spread.]
---
I swear I'm a proper god, seriously!
He rubbed his temples in frustration.
It sounded incredibly powerful with its triple concept, sure, but as a male god… was he really the best fit for this?
Behind him, the ever-observant Shyish noticed his reaction and smoothly switched from a shoulder massage to a head massage.
Her perfectly controlled pressure and soft, delicate fingers, made him sigh internally again. Now this… was a real Drukhari!
And that Lelith… what the hell even was she?
"Hey! I'm still a queen, okay? What kind of look is that supposed to be?"
Lelith, holding a glass of amasec and crossing her legs, had been happily watching the chase scene outside the Sol System.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kei staring at her.
She turned around quickly, expecting to see desire, greed, or heat in his gaze.
Instead, it was raw, undisguised contempt.
It nearly broke her on the spot!
What the hell?!
What was that supposed to mean?
Was she, the mighty Drukhari Queen, really that lacking in appeal?
"Time, space, abundance, love, charm, decay, death, desire, reproduction, contradiction... Out of all these, the ones most compatible with you are 'pure love' and 'chaotic contradiction.' Tch~"
A Drukhari who was an Eldar deep down, was that even a real Drukhari?
Now take a look at the girl behind him.
Her highest compatibility was with charm, followed by desire, reproduction, decay, and death.
A textbook succubus!
"...Chaotic contradiction is pretty Drukhari, okay?"
"A contradiction that contradicts itself."
"Ugh, I don't care! I am the Drukhari Queen! And the seat I was in earlier, that was 'Decay,' right?!"
"You mean rotten, literally and figuratively."
"...Is this how you treat your old allies? You diss me so gleefully?"
"You're only figuring that out now?"