"I only did what any Daoist ought to do."
Uncle Nine more or less knew whom the Holy Lord was referring to. He shook his head.
Compared to Lo Pei—the hero who, in order to save all living beings, led an army against tyranny and struck down the demon Holy Lord—he was far, far inferior.
The Holy Lord parted his jaws to speak, but his expression suddenly changed. From his eyes burst two beams of blazing heat, lancing upward to meet a black ray in midair. After a single heartbeat of stalemate, they detonated, and dust geysered up from the ground.
Without a flicker of hesitation, searing flames welled into the Holy Lord's palms and hurled skyward toward Morong.
Morong sat at ease upon his throne. At a mere wave of his hand, the flames seemed to strike some invisible barrier and rebounded along their path; the Holy Lord simply opened his maw and swallowed the twin streams of fire whole.
"Holy Lord, Demon of Fire—you're not bad."
Morong regarded him and spoke coolly.
"Don't judge me from on high," the Holy Lord snapped. "You're not qualified."
Before Morong could reply, a colossal fist came crashing down from the heavens. He showed no fear; he clenched his own fist and drove it forward to meet the blow.
"Rumble—!"
With a violent report, Morong felt the shuddering might traveling through the opposing punch. His expression shifted; throne and all, he was blasted away.
"What frightening power."
He shook out his hand, disbelief flickering across his face as he looked at Ultraman Tiga.
According to the settings in the memories he had devoured, Tiga shouldn't have possessed power this terrifying.
It was as if he had been amplified hundreds of times over.
But then he remembered: this Ultraman Tiga, like Morong himself, was someone favored by a [Rule-class Item]. With that in mind, such strength was not so strange.
"I'm becoming more and more interested in the [Rule-class Item] that brought you into this world."
"As long as I devour you, everything you are will be mine."
"Let me see the true face of that [Rule-class Item]."
They had appeared in this world at all and even seemed familiar with its Child of Destiny; clearly these three, from different worlds, were backed by some overwhelmingly powerful, faction-type [Rule-class Item].
All-Heavens Marketplace, Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, Chat Group, Myriad Worlds Mercenaries—any one of those was possible, and any one would be an extraordinary opportunity.
He already had a system-like [Rule-class Item]. If he could add another faction [Rule-class Item] on top of that, it was hard to imagine how far he might rise.
As for danger?
He had analyzed enough from the transmigrator's memories: whenever a myriad-worlds faction sent support to another world, there were rules—specifically, the aid sent would not vastly outclass the target world.
These fellows before him—though somewhat stronger than the memories suggested—were only stronger by so much.
At any rate, not enough to make him wary.
Whatever boosts they might squeeze out here and now, he would not fear them in the least!
"Bang!"
In an instant, Morong's body vanished from where he sat; when he reappeared, a thick green forearm was in his hand.
The Holy Lord's face tightened as he glanced to his right. His right arm was gone. Power from the Talismans was already rebuilding his body; in a blink, the limb regrew.
Morong, for his part, savored the stolen arm in bites, a look of relish on his face.
When he finished, a thread of disappointment crossed his features.
"So you've already fused the Talismans' power into yourself. It seems I'll have to eat you whole to obtain that power."
"But before that…"
He extended his right hand. Between heaven and earth, endless grievance and blood-essence converged, coalescing into an enormous sword.
Crack!
In the next instant—before Daigu could react—the greatsword cleaved his body cleanly at the waist. A torrent of sparks fountained from Tiga's midsection and rippled outward. With a thunderous detonation, Daigu's transformation was forced to cancel.
His body was charred from head to toe; the self-healing of an immortal's physique raced to repair the damage. Even so, for the moment he had lost the ability to fight.
"Your strength is decent—but only decent."
At some point Morong had already appeared beside Daigu, looking down on him from above.
He bent, tore open the ruined clothes, and pulled out the device within.
"Too bad this is merely the tool that turns you into Tiga; it doesn't contain Tiga's power itself. Still, if I just eat you directly, the result will be the same…"
"Bang!"
While Morong spoke, the Holy Lord, using the Rabbit Talisman's speed, snatched the device—the Sparklence—back into his own hand.
"You think I'll stand by and watch you eat him?"
His tone was glacial.
"I intend to eat," Morong said. "Can you stop me?"
He gaped wide. A terrifying suction roared forth, devouring everything before him. Within that pull was a powerful suppressive force; for a moment, even the Holy Lord struggled to break free.
Pop.
At that moment, a spherical object went in with the swept-up dirt, leaves, and debris.
Morong, in mid-swallow, sensed something. He wrenched himself to a halt and his expression turned ugly. He swung his gaze toward a black void that had opened at some point—and to the figure who stepped out of that darkness, a figure he recognized from the devoured memories.
"Apologies. I observed a little too long."
Brandon White ignored Morong's look. He walked to Daigu and the Holy Lord, tapped lightly with his index finger, and an energy brimming with surging life force poured into Daigu. In less than a moment, Daigu was fully restored.
"What did you just throw in there?"
the Holy Lord asked, fixing Brandon with a stare.
"A Devil Fruit. Mythical Zoan-type, Human–Human Fruit."
Brandon answered.
"???"
"I've studied him. His devouring works as I expected—he converts anything swallowed into energy, and automatically analyzes any abilities contained within, seizing them for his own use."
"If it were a regular Devil Fruit, then even the demon within wouldn't affect him."
"But the one I used was a Devil Fruit purchased through the chat group."
Devil Fruits bought through the chat group weren't something one could neutralize just by a devouring ability—one could only rely on optimization functions the chat group would unlock later; perhaps its enhancement functions, too.
Only the chat group could nullify the Fruit's drawbacks.
At some point, the thought of a Devil Fruit's uses had struck Brandon, and he'd asked the chat group; he'd received this very answer.
And his reason for asking was just this sort of situation.
Ordinary Devil Fruits could be paired with devour-type powers to reject the resident demon while nevertheless gaining the Fruit's power; though the power obtained would be somewhat diminished, the weakness to seawater would be erased. But the chat group's Devil Fruits didn't work that way.
Only the chat group's own functions could erase that weakness.
(End of this chapter)