Wizard: Unlimited Profession Slots Chapter 818 - 367: All Lies? (2)

Cracks like veins sprawled across the fossil's surface.

Every time the Chaos Storm's tendrils sought to penetrate, a subtle silver gleam ignited in those fissures, redirecting the raging energy aside.

This bizarre safeguard created a somewhat secure zone right in the platform's heart.

"Less than ten thousand meters away..."

Via the Spiritual Link, Ron perceived the Stand-In Puppet's status, with the resonance sensation reaching an all-time peak of clarity.

The puppet felt encased within a gigantic entity's form, bathed in warm fluid, akin to a fetus yet to be born.

A peculiar fragrance started filling the atmosphere.

This was the salty tang of ocean depths, blended with an archaic, primal life force.

As the scent grew stronger, the whole platform quivered faintly.

Not the wild jolts from the Chaos Storm, but a rhythmic, majestic pulse.

Thump... thump... thump...

Every thump hammered into Ron’s chest like a massive mallet, forcing his blood to pulse in sync against his will.

Seawater started rising from the platform's rim.

Unnaturally pitch-black, this water flowed thick like liquefied midnight sky, dotted with myriad luminous specks.

The tide crept upward gradually, and upon lapping at Ron’s knees, a dread-inspiring form that terrified myriad adventurers surfaced from the shadows below.

"Eye of the Abyss" Nari.

Despite knowing of this creature from numerous accounts.

Seeing it firsthand still sent a deep instinctive shock through Ron.

It defied typical notions of "large", embodying an incomprehensible mode of being.

Like a drifting landmass, Nari’s form slid through the seawater, its hide a bizarre fusion of flesh and stone.

Myriad eyes of all sizes dotted its exterior—tiny as nuts, huge as grand halls—each radiating unique hues of light.

Far beyond mere sight, these eyes formed an intricate sensory array.

Ron sensed that each glance from an eye sent a probe of awareness piercing into his mind's core.

Seeking to plunder memories, feelings, and subconscious ideas.

Most striking was the colossal visage ringed by endless tentacles.

Unlike the grotesque dread of fellow Abyssal Apostles, Nari’s features exuded an instinctually contradictory benevolence.

This wasn’t mortal warmth, but a raw, elemental maternal affection.

Still, an uncanny chill lurked beneath that benevolence.

For the face spanned so enormously, capable of engulfing an entire metropolis.

Such immense maternal warmth from it birthed an otherworldly terror instead.

"I feel it..."

Rather than sound waves, Nari’s voice echoed straight in Ron’s mind.

"I feel that slender thread... connecting my dear... and you..."

With those words, a see-through orb detached gently from Nari’s bulk.

Resembling a giant amniotic pouch, the orb drifted to the platform, cradling the Stand-In Puppet inside.

During this period, the puppet had transformed dramatically.

Its former Rune circuits grew intricate and exact, weaving elegant silver designs across its frame like neural pathways.

Even more startling, it now exuded a lifelike presence, complete with faint undulations of breath on its exterior.

Yet right as Ron moved closer, every one of Nari’s eyes snapped onto him.

That collective stare felt like a barrage of floodlights, leaving one utterly revealed and defenseless.

Beneath this total examination, all pretense or hiding proved futile.

Every eye performed its own unique scan.

Some delved into memories, others dissected feelings, some traced lineages, and more gauged soul hues.

Silence stretched a complete minute long.

In that span, Ron felt utterly vivisected.

Past experiences, character, drives, and prospective paths—all exposed to this primordial entity.

"Unseen traits... no wonder you can..."

At last Nari uttered, her tone laced with layered feelings.

Perplexity, astonishment, and a strange melancholy.

"To be honest, you are much... more interesting than I imagined."

A handful of Nari’s tinier eyes started circling Ron lazily, like inspectors eyeing a priceless oddity:

"I expected to encounter a cunning deceiver, a cold-blooded manipulator trying to exploit my emotions... but you..."

She hesitated, her tone growing heavier:

"Your soul is as profound as the Starry Sky, full of contradictions I cannot comprehend.

"It holds the frigid logic of a scholar, yet yearns for unfiltered emotion... what an extraordinary mix."

Ron let out a gentle sigh, aware that under these circumstances, any effort to hide or justify would prove pointless.

Confronting a being of this caliber, nothing remained but complete candor.

Before excessive deliberation could grip him, another surge of mental impulses arrived from the counterpart.

Nari’s tentacles stirred languidly, every subtle shift unleashing a raging vortex of power:

"My beloved... it lacked genuine awareness... didn’t it?"

Not an inquiry, but a tormented declaration.

An eternal entity spanning millennia, Nari harbored a mind as naively youthful as a child’s, yet her insight into the Essence of Life dwarfed all conventional wisdom.