My SSS-Rank Innate skill: Infinite Adaptation core

Yet even after it had been proven that Nova wasn’t the Slaughter Monarch, he still couldn’t shake the strange feeling that this young man was somehow the same person.

Regardless, Albert spoke. ”At His Majesty’s request, I will fulfill your request. Your friend will soon be released and returned to you.”

”I would really appreciate that, Commander Albert,” Nova said before turning toward Leonis.

”Your Majesty, now that it has been proven that I’m innocent... am I free to go now?”

”Of course, you can go now,” Leonis said before continuing.

”I will immediately have an official announcement made that Nova Valencrest, the new champion of the Empire’s Grand Youth Tournament, has been proven innocent, and all suspicions that he was the Slaughter Monarch have been proven false.”

”And soon, this news will spread throughout the entire continent.”

With that, Nova left the throne hall.

Of course, before leaving, he had secretly left one of his Deadborns within Alaric’s shadow. He wanted to find out who was truly behind this plot.

He also intended to have it remain there because he wanted to know what Korr was going to discuss with the king leonis.

As Nova took off into the sky, he headed toward the Frost Mansion. However, he suddenly received a message from Moonclaw that made him stop.

Moonclaw was currently in Varkhess, the western kingdom of the Human Continent, specifically in the Abyssal Entrance Forest near the gates of the Abyss.

It was the same place Nova had emerged from the Abyss with Nyxara and Velena.

Moonclaw had spotted two figures there.

Azren and Voren—the two Demon Generals of Demon Lord Raze.

Nova didn’t waste any time.

He quickly created several formations around himself to prevent anyone from detecting his spatial fluctuations. He was going to open a spatial Rift, and he didn’t want anyone to sense his movements.

After giving it some thought, Nova had come up with several useful formations.

Although they consumed a considerable amount of mana, Nova had no shortage of it, allowing him to create all kinds of powerful formations whenever necessary.

Of course, he could have used Monarch Transposition to instantly teleport himself to Moonclaw’s location, replacing himself with Moonclaw before summoning him back.

But Nova wanted to make use of his Spatial Traversal for long-distance travel.

He already remembered the coordinates of the area. With that, Nova opened a spatial Rift and stepped through it.

Nova’s formation worked on both sides, ensuring that no one could detect the opening of the Rift. As he emerged from the other side, he found himself surrounded by a dense forest. At least a few hundred kilometers away were Azren and Voren.

Moonclaw approached Nova and greeted him. He was in his humanoid form.

”My Lord, do we clash with them?”

”No. As much as I would like to, we can’t. Azren is a Level 9 Emperor, while Voren is a Level 8 Emperor. I wouldn’t be able to kill either of them without going all out.”

”And that would attract far too much attention. We’re at the entrance of the Abyss. Kharos would detect my aura, and Caelan would probably come as well, if not even more powerhouses.”

”It’s not like I want to kill them anyway. They aren’t my enemies. They’re after their lord’s heart, which is mine now. So, I’ll give them a chance for now, since I’m not capable of dealing with them without attracting attention.”

”I’ll deal with them in the future. If they are willing to serve me, I’ll spare them. If not, I’ll kill them and turn them into Deadborns, so they can continue serving their lord’s heart—as it is inside me now.”

{That’s a good idea.}

Liya’s voice sounded in Nova’s mind. Nova smiled as Moonclaw returned to his shadow. He then activated Void Phantom, and his presence completely disappeared.

No one would be able to detect him now. Nova swiftly crossed the remaining distance until he was only a hundred meters away from the two Demon Generals.

Nova heard them talking.

”You shouldn’t have killed him, brother... Now we have one less informant,” Voren said with a sigh.

”What? That bastard’s information was wrong. We searched all over the continent and couldn’t find either the Slaughter Monarch or those Eclipse Order bastards.”

”Maybe they’re hiding. They’ve already attracted too much attention from the world, and all the powerhouses know of their presence.”

”Especially that boy who calls himself the Slaughter Monarch... I don’t know if it has something to do with the Lord’s Heart, since he disappeared with it, but how is he so strong now?”

”You idiot. That’s not possible. If anyone tried to consume the Lord’s Heart, it would kill them. They wouldn’t be able to refine it, as the heart is simply too powerful, and the Lord’s soul is still locked inside it, slumbering,” Azren said.

And he was right. If anyone other than Nova had attempted to consume the Lord’s Heart, they would have died—even if they were a Sovereign.

Even Nova himself wouldn’t have been able to accomplish it without extraordinary circumstances.

Absorbing that heart was simply too difficult, especially with the soul of Demon Lord Raze still inside it.

Even with his innate skill, Infinite Adaptation Core, and mutation, Nova had needed external help—the wisp of Primordial Energy.

Demon Lord Raze had been born with the blessings of two Divine-level beings: the Demon God and the Dragon God.

That was why, even when all the Racial Emperors had joined forces against him, they couldn’t kill him completely. They had only managed to seal his soul inside his own heart with the help of a powerful treasure.

The seal would gradually weaken him while simultaneously draining his power. Yet even after all this time, Nova was still struggling to completely refine Demon Lord Raze’s soul.

Although Azren and Voren had managed to capture their lord’s heart, they didn’t know that it had been weakened inside the Abyss. Their plan had been to feed it enough life essence to eventually resurrect their lord.

But their plan had failed when Nova absorbed their lord’s heart.

They had no idea that the Lord’s Heart was now inside Nova, and if they discovered the truth, they would do everything in their power to kill him and reclaim it.

Coming back to the present, Nova heard Voren speak again.

”Yeah, you’re right. But how was he able to transform into a true Demon? Wasn’t he a hybrid of human and demon when we saw him?”

”Then he transformed into a true Dragon. It sounds completely illogical. And his power has already reached the Sovereign Realm, making it even harder for us to force information about our lord’s heart out of him.”

Azren didn’t say anything. He understood exactly what Voren meant.

Even though he was a Level 9 Emperor and his brother was a Level 8 Emperor, they were no match for a Sovereign. The gap between the two realms was simply too great.

But Azren would still fight to the death if it meant recovering his lord’s heart, Sovereign or not.

”What should we do now?” Azren asked, as he didn’t know what to do. His brother, Voren, was the wiser one between them.

”We should leave now... and wait for the Secret Realm to open. Maybe that Slaughter Monarch will appear there. We can talk to him then. If we return to the Abyss now, Demon Lord Kharos will kill us.”

”So we can only wait and keep searching for our lord’s hea—”

Voren couldn’t finish his sentence.

Suddenly, both he and Azren felt a chill run down their spines. A terrifying wave of demonic pressure descended upon them.

BOOOM!!

The demonic pressure was so overwhelming that neither Azren nor Voren could move their bodies. The moment they felt it, their expressions changed.

This pressure was on the same level as their lord’s aura. No—this aura was even more primal and dangerous than their lord’s.

They immediately began sweating. Who is this?

They knew Demon Lord Kharos’s pressure and aura very well. He was currently the second-strongest Demon in the world, while the first could not possibly come here.

Then who could possess an aura like this Suddenly, both of them realized something.

A figure emerged in their minds—the one whose aura had even shocked Demon Lord Kharos and Human Emperor Caelan themselves.

”The Slaughter Monarch...”

”THAT’S RIGHT. YOU HAVE RECOGNIZED ME CORRECTLY.”

A domineering voice echoed through the surrounding forest.

The moment they heard it, the nearby Demonic Beasts fled for their lives. Every single one of them was only at the Emperor Realm, and none dared to remain in the presence of such terrifying pressure and Aura.

Azren and Voren lifted their heads and followed the source of the voice. Their eyes soon landed on a figure standing high above them in the sky. He wore the same outfit they remembered from the mana projection, with a mask covering his face.

There was no doubt about it. This was definitely the Slaughter Monarch.

**

[ A/N: I know I haven’t been able to publish two Chapters daily lately due to my hectic schedule, but I’ll soon be back to releasing two Chapters a day!]

Thanks for reading...