NOVEL WEB Chapter 296: Devouring The Heart!
His stomach growled silently as he looked at the demonic beast of terror.
An ordinary sane person could never feel an appetite looking at the dead body of a giant monstrous creature—however, Oliver was almost drooling at the sight of it.
Not with hunger, but with anticipation. Something primal stirred inside him.
Of course, it was not because he was going to eat its flesh, but rather something inside the serpent.
He climbed on its body and started walking toward its head. The serpent was giant and long; he walked in a brisk manner, slowly reaching its top.
Each step bounced faint echoes across the cavern, his boots pressing down on dead, rubbery flesh.
Tap Tap Tap
Only the sound of his footsteps and occasional breaths could be heard in the silent cave.
He reached the place just below the serpent's head and looked down at the scaly and thick skin.
"It's around here… what a strong smell," he whispered as he keenly scanned the area.
The scent of sealed power, waiting to be harvested.
His hand shot forward in an arc and plunged straight into the beast's skin, penetrating all defenses.
'My hand hurts…' He could feel a numbing pain in his hand. Although he crushed the scales in one go, they still hurt him.
'I could have never defeated this demonic serpent alone had it not been for the Abyss Energy.'
Oliver moved his hand, plucking out any nerves or thick muscles that came in his way.
He continued searching until his hand felt an oddly shaped thing, something tougher than ordinary muscles.
"Here it is…" Oliver smirked as he finally found what he was looking for.
He pulled out his hand, extracting the thing with him alongside.
A purple object glowing ominously from time to time as it throbbed like a living organ—contracting and expanding in his palm.
The Heart of the Demonic Serpent
Despite the serpent being dead, its heart contained quite the potent aura.
Oliver felt a strong hunger as he held the demonic heart. It would be the first time he consumed the heart from a demonic beast.
"This is going to be painful…" He smiled wryly.
He could tell beforehand due to certain indications.
While his hand was inside the body of the demonic serpent, he felt numb, barely feeling any sensations.
And now that his hand was holding the heart of the creature, he felt a stinging pain in his hand.
It was due to the venomous nature of the serpent—its poison had seeped through the pores of his skin.
He had tough skin, way higher than his peers, and yet the poison managed to seep in, albeit to a shallow level. It was impressive.
He would not have put his hand so carelessly inside if the serpent was alive or a bit stronger. The poison could have harmed him.
"Time to eat!"
Squelch!
The heart gave a low, wet squelch as his teeth pierced its surface—not dead tissue, but warm, resistant, and… breathing.
Veins writhed beneath the translucent purple skin like trapped eels, pulsing with every bite he took. It didn't bleed—
it bled smoke.
Schlurp!
He schlurped the seeping fluid as it leaked from torn chambers, the vapor hissing against his tongue like acid. His lips blackened where they touched it, blistering, yet he drank deeper—not out of obedience, but hunger.
Need.
Instinct.
Evolution.
The room stank of metal and rot, sweet like death dressed in perfume.
Smack!
His jaw moved slowly, rhythmically, grinding the fibrous muscle between his teeth. He was smiling now—but not like a man.
Not anymore.
His eyes were wrong. Too wide. Too still. The kind of stillness that only follows when the last heartbeat in the room isn't yours.
And on the floor, the serpent's corpse twitched for the last time.
His throat burned as the dense venom stored in the serpent's heart washed down, but he was too dazed to feel the pain. He was just completely focused on eating the heart.
Changes started to happen as he was immersed in the pleasure of eating the delicacy.
His porcelain-white skin flushed faintly, and his visible veins flickered; instead of red or blue, they shifted… a faint purple began to thread through them like ink in water.
His espera fluctuated, and for some reason, it was dimmer than before, lesser than before.
As if the serpent's demonic nature was resisting the natural espera, his espera started to plummet slowly, decreasing minute by minute until it had been reduced significantly.
Yet, the Abyss energy inside his body flooded more than ever. It was turbulent— even more so compared to the moment he had consumed the Demon King's soul.
"Ha…" He sighed in delight, his fingers twitched slightly as he closed his eyes, savoring every moment.
It took him minutes to settle down. He came back to his senses.
Clutching his hand, he felt the new power inside him.
'I can sense something…'
He closed his eyes and focused for a few seconds.
"It's there!" He exclaimed excitedly.
Instantly, he assumed a meditative stance and sat on the rocky ground without caring for anything.
The air responded like it had been waiting for him.
Espera around him started to fluctuate intensely as he assumed the stance.
His insane talent for espera, obtained from a genius, came into action…
As if he was a vortex, the espera from the surroundings started rushing toward him.
However, he did something unexpected—he rejected the espera floating to him.
The pure espera gathered around him simply stayed still, close to him, ready to enter his body.
Although low in quantity as compared to human territories, the espera was still there.
But…
He did not accept the espera. Rather than that, he did something dangerous.
Something forbidden for a human…
Something irreversible.
He started drawing in the dark espera present in the air around him.
That's right, the espera used by demons!
He was accepting the dark espera into his body.
An action that, if performed by a human, could seriously injure them, mess up their espera veins or channels, poison them—and worst case, kill them on the spot!
But he wasn't sure he qualified as "human" anymore.
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