I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1200: The Sovereign of the Region of Death

Northern’s gaze locked onto the Apex Belial. Fifty meters tall now—larger than the original. Its abdomen throbbed with raw power. Frost and shadow writhed through the air around it, warping reality in ways that seared the eyes.

”Can it still spawn?”

[Analyzing...]

[Brood Spawning: Enhanced. Can now produce offspring with frost OR shadow attributes. Can produce hybrid offspring combining both]

[The Crimson Weave: Evolved to Twilight Weave. Frost-infused webs that drain heat and essence. Shadow-infused webs that suppress light and sound. Can layer both for maximum effect]

[New Ability Detected: Dual-Nature Manifestation. Can shift between Frost Weaver and Shadow Spinner forms at will, or maintain hybrid state]

A low whistle escaped Northern’s lips.

”So we accidentally created something better than the original?”

[Not by accident. This is what Daemon of Form means. You don’t just copy, you perfect. You don’t just summon, you transcend. The variants merged because that’s what Endless does. It takes one thing and makes it infinite. Sometimes, infinity finds shortcuts]

”Shortcuts that skip entire soul ranks.”

[Apparently]

The Apex Belial clicked its mandibles—a sound that rippled with layered harmonics. Then it spoke, not through psychic projection like the original, but through actual vocalization shaped by precise mandible control.

”Ma...ster.”

Northern’s eyes widened.

”You can talk.”

[It is no surprise that it can. The Broodmother was able to transmit its thoughts through the Catacombs and make you hear them. It is of my opinion that the Twilight Matriarch can perhaps manage even more. However, it does seem like she’d need time]

Northern glanced at Belial. The creature’s head hung low, legs folded in complete submission.

His attention snapped back to Aoi’s interface.

”Is this going to happen with all my variants now?”

[Unknown. This may be a unique interaction between specific compatible variants. Or it may be a fundamental property of Advanced Fusion we haven’t discovered yet]

[But there’s something else you should know]

”What?”

[The original Broodmother sacrificed herself believing her swarm would continue through echoes. She got that. But she also got something she never imagined—true evolution. Through you, she achieved Belial rank. But the only reason she was able to glimpse such evolution was because of her determination before and after death]

Northern stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded slowly.

”So we can say that the Broodmother herself was the main cause for this unique case?”

[Correct]

Northern’s eyes narrowed. Something wild sparked behind them, making them gleam.

”Aoi. If fusion can cause rank evolution...”

[Don’t]

”What if I fused three variants? Four?”

[Don’t]

”What if I fused entire species together? What if—”

[We’re not testing that until we understand what just happened. You could create something unstable. Something that collapses. Something that evolves beyond your control]

Northern grinned.

”But imagine the possibilities.”

[Indeed. But all possibilities must still be within your control. Being limited by rank, there’s no telling what you could birth]

Northern exhaled.

”I guess you’re right in a way... can’t go around breeding horrors that don’t listen to me.”

Northern turned toward the deeper passages of the canyon. The next layer was the sixth, supposedly the layer where the Belial itself had nested for centuries.

”Do you think it would have sensed the presence of another Apex Belial?”

[An Apex Belial instinctively knows when another Belial enters its domain. Yes. It knows]

”Good.” Northern’s smile sharpened. ”I guess we can use this to test Twilight Matriarch and see what she’s capable of.”

He walked forward, leaving behind the shattered webs and the legacy of a spider who had achieved in death what she’d sought her entire life.

”A fight between two Apex Belials. Now this is something I’m really looking forward to.”

The descent to the sixth layer felt different. Like falling through the throat of a dying god. The air thickened—not with heat or cold, but with presence. Northern, even without his extraordinary eyes and perception, sensed something ancient watching from below. Something that knew he was coming.

His footsteps echoed through corridors that had widened, the cramped catacombs giving way to vast chambers carved from obsidian and bone. The walls here weren’t just stone—they were organic. Pulsing. Breathing.

[You have entered the Core Territory]

[Corrupted Domain Detected: The Maw Eternal]

[Warning: Essence drain intensifying]

[Warning: Spatial distortion active]

[Warning: Apex Belial presence confirmed]

”I know, I know, Aoi. Why do you sound like you’re panicking? I’ve fought several Belials before, you know.” Northern’s words came barely above a whisper.

[...]

The passage opened into a chamber so vast the ceiling disappeared into darkness. The floor was a lattice of bone—ancient ribs the size of buildings, vertebrae that formed platforms, skulls that served as pillars. Everything calcified. Everything consumed. Everything digested.

At the center, perched on a throne of calcified agony, sat Maw’Thoraxis.

Eight meters of chitinous nightmare. Humanoid in the way a mantis is humanoid—recognizably bipedal but fundamentally wrong. Black armor plates overlapping like living metal. Gray-white underbelly segmented and deceptively vulnerable. The elongated blade-skull with no eyes, only those massive jaws that split four ways, revealing spiral rows of serrated teeth.

Its clawed fingers—six on each hand, each claw as long and curved as a stiletto—drummed against the throne’s arm. The sound echoed wrong, arriving before it was made.

Northern felt the weight of its attention. Not sight. Not hearing. Pure predatory awareness.

NEW.

The sensation slammed into Northern’s mind. Not words—compressed meaning transmitted through the domain itself. The same method the Broodmother had used. But this one... the voice cut sharper, gleamed with intelligence.

’I can’t be surprised that these monsters are talking. They lived for hundreds of years and probably consumed millions of humans...’

NO HUMAN HAS REACHED ME SINCE HIM. YOU ARE CERTAINLY MADE OF GOOD MEAT.

Northern’s hand rose.

[You’re using Echo Summoning]

Reality tore. The Eclipse Matriarch stepped through—fifty meters of frost and shadow, eight eyes burning with unified consciousness. Where she stood, the temperature plummeted on one side while light died on the other.

Maw’Thoraxis’s head tilted. The clicking of its chitinous plates filled the impossible space.

OH? CERTAINLY YOU WOULDN’T PITCH AN INFERIOR BREED AGAINST A BEING SUCH AS I.

The monster’s thoughts reverberated from every corner of the chamber, its thick, eerie voice surrounding them. Northern’s skin prickled.

The Matriarch’s mandibles clicked—awkward, searching for speech.

”Fight... kill... protect... Master...”

The Maw’Thoraxis stared at the massive spider. Seconds stretched. Then its voice cracked through the chamber with something that might have been disbelief.

IMPOSSIBLE. A BELIAL. HERE? IN THIS... DOMAIN?

”Master... gave. Death. Became... life.”

Maw’Thoraxis rose from its throne in one liquid motion, predatory and precise. Its form began to shift—shoulders broadening, spines extending, body hunching forward into something more bestial.

HOW NONSENSICAL. I’LL JUST... RECONSUME YOU. AND YOUR MASTER.