SSS-Rank Evolving Monster: From Pest to Cosmic Devourer
Chapter 46: Wrath of ten Stage 2 cultivators

Chapter 46: Wrath of ten Stage 2 cultivators

Seraphina’s voice, loud and piercing, cut through the clearing like a sharpened blade tearing through raw flesh. It echoed with urgency, trembling with fury and dread.

Elina’s eyes flickered with alarm, narrowing as her gaze snapped toward the threat. Her fingers, almost on instinct, reached toward the blue gem at her waist—her last resort, a lifeline.

But her warning came a breath too late.

In the next instant, Ricky’s figure flickered into existence, descending like a predator upon Amanda’s pale, unmoving form.

Amanda’s eyes burst open, her pupils shrinking with alarm as instinct flared to life. Her spiritual field surged forward, a reflexive shield hastily conjured to hold back death.

But Ricky’s gleaming proboscis—sharp, glinting, and filled with killing intent—struck like lightning.

The tip trembled violently, almost bending under pressure, as it forced its way through the spiritual barrier. Threads of energy around Amanda cracked and splintered like glass under pressure.

"Die..." Ricky’s voice emerged like a hiss, low and cold.

With the mana in his spiritual field gathering around the proboscis, a soft, sickening tear resounded—flesh giving way to cruel precision.

"Nooooooo!"

Soraphina’s scream rang out, filled with grief so fierce it seemed to shook the trees. But her voice was swallowed by the storm that followed.

...

A warm gush of blood surged into Ricky’s throat, pulsing with vitality, sweet and fragrant like honey infused with spirit essence. It washed over his tongue in waves, and for a moment, he felt drunk on it.

[94 days of lifespan absorbed].

[105 days of lifespan absorbed].

[63 Days of lifespan absorbed].

One after another, the system notifications echoed in his mind. His lifespan ballooned rapidly, the invisible river of time flowing into him like an endless tide.

Amanda, however, wasn’t dead. Not yet.

Her limbs twitched, fingers clawing at the dirt as she struggled to push Ricky away. Her mouth opened in a soundless plea, eyes wide with horror.

"There’s no saving you..." Ricky thought darkly. His gaze was indifferent—no, colder than ice—as he activated his venom gland.

In the next moment, a jet of dark, viscous liquid pulsed through his proboscis, pumping directly into her bloodstream.

Amanda’s body spasmed once before darkening rapidly—her veins turned black, spreading like ink spilled on parchment. Her resistance faded, movements ceasing altogether.

It was at that moment a chant rose into the air.

"Steel in hand, heart ablaze, shadows flee this sacred blaze.

By blood and oath, I stand unshaken.

Darkness trembles, foulness breaks.

Light within, wrath without."

The voice that echoed was chilling—a strange fusion of feminine sharpness and masculine weight, as if a ghost howled through the lungs of both man and woman.

Recognizing the danger, High Priest Ghostly Face stepped forward, his actions swift and without hesitation. The nine other Stage 2 warriors joined him in the chant, their voices layered with spiritual energy so potent the very air distorted.

Chains formed from spiritual force cracked into existence around them, rattling like the judgment of forgotten gods.

"Begone, vile abomination—return to void."

Their chant hit a crescendo.

"Name of flame, breath of storm,"

"I banish thee."

"Let purity reign where you once dwelled."

From behind each warrior—including high Priest—a massive phantom emerged. Each one a towering figure of dread: three heads, six arms, and glowing with a dark aura that distorted the very light around them.

Each hand gripped a colossal metallic halberd that shimmered with crimson energy.

Their many eyes snapped open, and the moment they locked onto Ricky, visible revulsion surged across their ghostly faces. The air chilled. Disgust radiated from them like fire from the sun.

"Evil creature! Die."

Their voices rang in eerie unison, their tone devoid of emotion yet filled with undeniable judgment.

In one sweeping motion, all ten phantoms raised their halberds, aiming their bladed tips directly at Ricky.

Seraphina trembled as she watched, her expression pale and empty. The sight of Amanda’s lifeless body impaled by the proboscis was etched into her memory, too raw to process.

Elina, however, kept her eyes locked on the High Priest. Her expression shifted subtly—respect and fear mixing into one.

She recognized the technique.

The Devouring Evil Formation.

A signature spell of the Abyssal Pact, feared across kingdoms. Its destructive power, when wielded by ten Stage 2 cultivators, could rival even the peak of the stage for a few terrifying seconds.

It was this very formation that elevated the cult’s rise to prominence.

As the realization settled in, Elina silently edged closer to Seraphina, clutching the blue gem tighter.

Escape was her only goal now.

...

Ricky continued to absorb Amanda’s essence, but suddenly, his antennae twitched.

A chill ran through his core.

Those phantoms—those halberds—they weren’t just projections. They were death manifest. Something primal inside him screamed to run.

"I have to move before it’s too late..."

His thoughts grew grim. Sweat dripped from his brow, though his body was cool.

Just as he prepared to flee, the system chimed.

[Holy Blade Technique detected: D-Rank].

[Spend 100 years of lifespan to learn technique?]

Of all times, now?

The timing was absurd, even cruel.

His mind twisted—torn between survival and desire.

He had seen the technique in action. He wanted it.

But was it worth it? Could he even survive the onslaught that was about to fall?

His thoughts spun for a moment too long.

Then, with a snap decision, he grit his teeth and accepted.

I’ll take the gamble.

"Darkness Pulse," he muttered lowly.

The air distorted.

A circular vortex burst into existence around him—a black hole tearing at space itself. Rocks, leaves, even light seemed to bend toward him, sucked into the void.

But the halberds were already upon him.

"Truly an ignorant pest. Witness the might of the Devouring Evil Formation."

High Priest Ghostly Face sneered with disdain.

In his eyes, Ricky’s defiance was little more than a pathetic joke.

Did this insect truly think it could survive?

Newborn calves truly feared no tigers.

That thought had barely passed when his eyes widened.

The halberds, just seconds away from skewering Ricky, suddenly vanished.

The void had devoured them whole.

A moment later, the vortex exploded outward like a volcanic eruption—dark and primal energies surged like tidal waves, flooding the surroundings.

Elina didn’t hesitate. She had been waiting for this exact moment.

"Now!" she cried, grabbing Seraphina and crushing the blue gem in her hand.

A ripple of force erupted, and both women vanished into thin air, carried away by a spatial escape artifact.

"Fuck—"

High Priest Ghostly Face barely got the word out before he was swallowed by the storm.

The explosion spread outward, lighting up the night sky.

Trees were incinerated in an instant, the earth scorched black. Vegetation for hundreds of meters around Ricky vanished, leaving behind a lifeless crater of charred ground.

And in the center, shrouded in smoke and ash, hovered a monster who had just survived the wrath of ten Stage 2 cultivators.