Chapter 290: A Change, Island King Loot
...…
After a moment of inspecting the contents of the instrument, Azmodeus could basically deduce what the purpose of the Cosmic Sealer was.
This understanding put an even more amused look on his face.
"So you wanted to seal me up? Like some sort of devil!? Isn't that too cruel of you??" Azmodeus laughingly spoke these words, various emotions passing through his gaze.
"..."
The Island King took one look at those curved, crescent moon-like eyes of his and knew that he was fucked.
There was no doubt about it…
And it turned out that he was as correct as could be!
"Tell me, old man. How would you like it if I were to seal you up in a cosmic boot for an indefinite amount of time?"
Azmodeus's expression suddenly morphed from an entertained one into something far more evil. His face warped and spiked, leading to the intense fluctuation of both his body and aura.
"Do tell me… How would you like it!?"
The devil's voice increased in intensity by a millionfold as the mere resonation of his words caused the surrounding space to crack and shatter!
"!!!"
The Island King knew he needed to say something, but he didn't know what that something was.
In the end, he turned his face downward and mumbled, "I-I don't know…"
At the mumbling of these words, Azmodeus's violently fluctuating aura went to a complete halt. He asked, "You don't know?"
"I see… You don't know! Hahaha!"
The devil went through a wide array of emotions in quick succession, seeming like no less than a clinically insane psychopath.
"!?!?"
The Island King had no clue what to make of everything he had seen so far. But what he did know was that something had changed within the personality of the Crimson Usurper.
Over the years, many rumors centered around this man spread from one corner of the galaxy to the next. In the end, his infamy reached a level where just about everything was known about him.
The Island King realized it when they first fought.
He realized that the rumors didn't match up to the real thing…
"You're no longer the same aloof person that you once were… Something changed within you…"
Following the murmuring of these words, every ounce of emotion within the Crimson Devil completely halted. His body movements stopped in their tracks, his face became neutrally devilish, and his demonic eyes honed in on the old man.
After a moment of complete silence, Azmodeus broke the silence by saying, "You think that I've changed?"
"...yes…"
The Island King did not fear away from the black hole-like gaze of the Crimson Usurper. On the contrary, he locked eyes with him, not allowing himself to be scared.
"Change… I have definitely changed…"
CRACK—
Azmodeus's grip on the Cosmic Sealer tightened as cracks spread around its outer shell. Only after extending far enough did the cracking come to a stop.
"Yes, I have most definitely changed. But have my goals changed?"
The Crimson Usurper's question dripped into the ears of the Island King.
Such a question made him ponder the most recent actions of this monster, only to immediately understand that nothing about his moves had changed.
His personality; yes. But as for intentions, they were always the same...
"Pandemonium."
SHING!
At the utterance of this singular word, countless lines of blood covered the entirety of the Island King's body. Then, with an expression of unwillingness, his body exploded into a firework of blood mist.
BLING!
[Ding! You have killed a cultivator nearing the very peak of the Half-Step Low-Galactic Traverser Realm. After all boosts have been applied, the reward is 0.2 Galactic Evolution Essence!]
[Ding! You have obtained 0.2 Galactic Power!]
[Ding! You have received a plethora of high-level Techniques and Traits—ranging from the Star Radiance Rank to the Quasar Lord Rank!]
[Ding! You have received 400+ High-Star Laws that you didn't already possess! On top of that, you obtained comprehensions in more than 70% of your other High-Star Laws!]
[Ding! Your High-Star Laws inch ever closer to the Absolute Peak of Level 5.]
[Ding! Through 'Automatic Loot Conversion' and the additional effects of two White Loot Halos, all the items and equipment of this existence have been converted to Loot Essence.]
[Ding! Your Loot God Nourishment Rate has improved to the 14.2% percentile range!]
[Ding! Your Battle Power has tremendously improved!]
After perusing the various system notifications, Azmodeus looked at sparse traces of the Island King's existence.
Of course, he couldn't just leave precious loot to its own devices, so he sucked it all up with what he liked to call the 'Loot Essence Sucker'.
This action of his was followed by the Loot God Nourishment Rate increasing to 14.8%, which was extremely solid for what a tiny loot bag could hope to allot.
However, in spite of what he obtained from this little side quest, Azmodeus still had the most lucrative loot bag to chase down. Thus, he vanished from his spot and reentered the speed stream. Thereafter, he made use of his increased speed in order to gain inches on Starfarer Island.
"If I continue at the current pace I'm traveling at, then it should take no more than a few minutes for me to catch up."
This realization put a maniacal smirk on Azmodeus's face, as he truly couldn't wait to reap all that precious loot!
***
Meanwhile, within the dome-like Starfarer Island, everyone nervously paced around the various landscapes.
"!!!"
While speaking of the impending doom, something changed in the expression of Jing Fu.
His eyes darkened, and his aura spiraled. He looked toward the other high-officials and muttered, "...The Island King… He's dead…"
"!!!" "!!!" "!!!"
Everyone looked toward their newly appointed leader with baffled expressions. Their eyelashes trembled, and their bodies froze in place. As their moods were about to hit rock bottom, the Star Rider snapped them all out of their stupors with his reinvigorating voice:
"Even though our gracious and amazing leader has fallen to the hands of that malicious devil, we must not let his death be in vain! We cannot allow all that he stood for to vanish in a puff of smoke!!!"
For but a moment, life seemed to return to the eyes of all the powerful figures gathered on the luxurious balcony atop the Island King's home.
SHING!
However, without warning or explanation, a giant quadrant-sized sword stabbed into the ground surface of Starfarer Island!
...…