Power of Runes Chapter 461: Assimilation of the Calamity Phoenix

[Gravitational Singularity]

[Energy Devour]

[Assimilation]

[Synthesis]

[Lightning Manipulation]

[False Death]

[Titan Physique]

[Eternal Rebirth]

[Crimson Regeneration]

[Blood Heal]

The moment multiple abilities activated simultaneously, Ash’s consciousness immediately fell into a temporary slumber.

It was the effect of his skill — [False Death].

The entire reason Ash activated this ability was to fake his own death and deceive the Heavenly Tribulation itself into believing that its target had already perished.

At least, that was the plan.

There was a high possibility that doing this would either cause the Tribulation to dissipate entirely or at the very least weaken the power behind the Celestial Calamity Phoenix. And if that happened, then the process of Assimilation and Synthesis would become significantly easier for him to handle.

--

[Energy Devour] — A predatory ability capable of devouring nearly every form of energy and refining it into pure usable power that can be freely stored, controlled, or utilized by the user for any purpose.

[Assimilation] — An absolute assimilation ability that forcefully absorbs and permanently integrates anything the user survives into their own existence, allowing limitless growth without rejection, conflict, or instability.

[Synthesis] — An evolution ability that perfectly fuses anything the user possesses, including abilities, skills, energies, bloodlines, physiques, materials, and attributes, into entirely new and superior forms with limitless potential.

[Lightning Manipulation] — Grants complete control over lightning and electrical energy, allowing the user to generate, shape, and freely manipulate it for offense and enhancement, though special forms of lightning cannot be fully controlled unless personally possessed by the user.

[False Death] — Forces the user into a perfect state of death where consciousness temporarily shuts down and all presence, aura, vitality, energy fluctuations, and Breath of Life completely vanish, making the user indistinguishable from the truly dead. The duration of this state is predetermined by the user before activation.

[Titan Physique] — A supreme physique that grants overwhelming strength, durability, vitality, regeneration, and limitless physical growth, allowing the body to continuously evolve and adapt through battle, damage, and extreme conditions.

[Eternal Rebirth] — A transcendent ability inherited from the Lineage of Undying Birds, allowing the user to endlessly resurrect and reconstruct themselves from death through undying immortal flames unless completely erased from existence.

Meanwhile, the remaining abilities such as [Crimson Regeneration] and [Blood Heal] were both blood-related healing abilities focused entirely on restoring and regenerating his damaged body as quickly as possible.

Although Ash had fallen into a slumber, there was still someone carefully observing everything happening inside his body.

{The energy readings of the Heavenly Tribulation are decreasing slightly. Looks like [False Death] successfully managed to fool the Lightning Tribulation.}

Eva’s cold and calm voice echoed throughout Ash’s Soul Space as she monitored the countless changes occurring within his body every moment.

Although the decrease in the Lightning Phoenix’s destructive activity was extremely small, it was still enough to confirm that the Heavenly Tribulation had partially recognized Ash as dead.

And that tiny opening was exactly what they needed.

{But due to him losing consciousness, his skills are going haywire. They are simply working without proper direction or coordination. If this continues...everything will eventually fall apart.}

Without Ash’s consciousness actively controlling and coordinating them, all of his abilities had started functioning purely on instinct and preset effects.

Some were trying to destroy the lightning.

Some were trying to absorb it.

Others were desperately focused on regeneration.

The situation inside his body had become complete chaos.

There were many things Eva herself was capable of doing, but normally she required Ash’s permission whenever it involved something major directly related to his body, abilities, or soul.

However, this time Ash had already granted her permission before losing consciousness.

{Requesting to gain control and access to the skills and abilities....}

{Processing Request....}

{Request Accepted.}

{Taking control over all the skills and abilities.}

The moment the authorization was completed, the previously chaotic abilities immediately began working together in perfect synchronization under Eva’s control.

[Gravitational Singularity] forcefully attracted and compressed all the raging lightning toward a single point inside Ash’s body.

At the same time, [Energy Devour] continuously absorbed every strand of energy running wild within him and began refining it.

Meanwhile, [Eternal Rebirth], [Crimson Regeneration], [Titan Physique], [Blood Heal], and the remaining regenerative abilities desperately restored Ash’s destroyed body as quickly as possible while simultaneously trying to reduce the overwhelming damage caused by the Crimson Heavenly Lightning.

And throughout all of this, both [Assimilation] and [Synthesis] continuously fused everything together with his body without stopping.

The Crimson Heavenly Lightning.

The Heavenly Will.

The traces of the Calamity Phoenix’s Will.

Everything was gradually being forcefully integrated into Ash’s body, mind, blood, and existence itself.

Eva herself was far from weak.

Under the guise of being a System, her computational capabilities were monstrously fast. She could process and calculate enormous amounts of information simultaneously while controlling every ability with extreme precision.

She was even capable of synchronizing and assimilating the fusion process down to the atomic level within Ash’s body.

While all of this was happening internally, the situation outside was equally chaotic.

As the blinding whiteness caused by the collision slowly receded, everyone present finally managed to see what had happened afterward.

And the scene before them was extremely unusual.

The gigantic body of the Crimson Lightning Calamity Phoenix was slowly becoming smaller and smaller, as though its entire existence was being absorbed forcefully into Ash’s body.

Streams of crimson lightning continuously flowed into him while the Phoenix itself gradually disappeared from sight.

Soon, the manifestation vanished completely inside Ash.

But Ash himself showed no reaction at all.

His body, devoid of even the slightest Breath of Life, slowly began falling toward the endless ocean below like a lifeless corpse.

However, although the Calamity Phoenix itself had disappeared, the terrifying Crimson Heavenly Lightning had not vanished entirely.

A violent storm of Crimson Lightning still surrounded Ash’s falling body, continuously ravaging and destroying him without pause.

His flesh kept tearing apart and regenerating repeatedly under the effects of the raging lightning. It was a strange scene.

-BOOM!!!!!

The moment his body crashed into the ocean, a massive explosion erupted instantly.

Seawater within the surrounding area rapidly evaporated from the overwhelming heat and destructive energy released by the Crimson Lightning.

And as Ash’s body continued sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean, more and more water kept evaporating violently around him, turning the surrounding sea into a chaotic storm of steam, lightning, and boiling waves.

For a few moments, complete silence dominated the Endless Ocean.

Everyone’s eyes remained locked onto the boiling ocean where Ash had fallen.

Then slowly, whispers began spreading among the crowd.

"Did he die...?"

"What else did you expect? How can someone even survive something like that?"

"That was Crimson Heavenly Lightning. Forget Demi God Rank, even many God Rank beings would not dare face such a thing directly."

"He was already insane for even attempting it."

"I still can’t believe the Golden Tribulation evolved into Red Lightning..."

"Was that really an Immortal Seal Tribulation?"

"I thought the heavens themselves were descending to kill him."

Fear and disbelief filled almost every voice.

Many people still had pale expressions on their faces after witnessing the appearance of the Celestial Calamity Phoenix

Some weaker individuals were still trembling uncontrollably from the lingering pressure left behind by the Heavenly Tribulation.

Meanwhile, several people’s expressions became complicated.

"What a pity..."

"Such a terrifying genius died before he could fully grow."

"If he truly survived that, then he cannot even be considered normal anymore."

Far away, Elder Lian silently narrowed her eyes while staring toward the boiling ocean.

"He is not dead yet..."

Her voice was extremely soft, but the moment those words were spoken, the nearby people instantly became shocked.

"WHAT?"

"He survived!?"

"Impossible!"

Meanwhile, Perseus himself remained completely focused on the ocean below.

Although Ash’s Breath of Life had vanished entirely, Perseus still felt that something was wrong.

Or rather...

Too abnormal.

Because the Dark Clouds of Heavenly Tribulation has indeed disappeared.

But the terrifying storm of Crimson Lightning surrounding Ash’s body still continued raging violently underwater, as though something was still happening within him even now.

And that feeling made Perseus increasingly uneasy.

Then suddenly, a deafening sonic boom echoed throughout the surroundings as Perseus saw the Vampire Prince, Kane Wilson, rushing straight toward Ash’s body underwater at terrifying speed.

The ocean surface exploded apart from the sheer force of his movement while crimson energy trailed behind him like a bloody comet streaking across the sky.

Perseus’s expression instantly changed the moment he noticed Kane’s actions.

Naturally, he immediately understood why the Vampire Prince was moving so recklessly.

Blood.

Earlier, after everyone witnessed Kane nearly losing control of himself, many people had already started suspecting that his abnormal behavior was somehow related to the blood of the person undergoing the tribulation.

But now, after seeing Kane directly rush toward Ash without the slightest hesitation, those suspicions were practically confirmed.

Even now, despite the raging ocean waters and the violent Crimson Lightning spreading throughout the surroundings, the rich scent of Ash’s blood still lingered faintly in the air.

And for a Vampire like Kane, that scent was no different from torture.

Every instinct within his body was being dragged toward Ash uncontrollably.

Perseus did not hesitate even for a single moment after realizing this.

-BOOOOM!!!!!

Another sonic explosion erupted as Perseus immediately rushed downward as well, leaving behind a violent shockwave powerful enough to raise massive walls of seawater behind him.

His figure tore through the atmosphere like a streak of light while his sharp gaze remained firmly locked onto Kane’s rapidly descending figure.

Meanwhile, the remaining two Celestial Rank beings quietly looked toward each other.

Both of them clearly understood the current situation.

One of them was moving because of instinctive greed and overwhelming bloodlust.

The other was moving because of caution, concern, and responsibility toward a possible Transcendent genius.

After remaining silent for a brief moment, the two simply nodded toward one another.

For now, they decided to continue observing the situation instead of interfering immediately.

***