The spikes continued growing until they trapped Loren within, but he simply took a few steps back and easily escaped, effortlessly neutralizing Valentina's final desperate counterattack.
"Alright, now you should be completely incapable of struggling. Ti to watch perform."
To Valentina's surprise, Loren didn't deliver the finishing move. Instead, he turned and went toward the altar.
"So many illicit materials - opportunities like this don't co often."
Loren looked at the precious materials on the altar, considering them nothing short of wasteful extravagance.
While offering sacrifices to Outer Gods didn't require particularly elaborate rituals, that only applied to surface-level offerings. Exchanging for so power and blessings was feasible, but obtaining anything truly important required specific ceremonies.
"Wailing Stones - using these as a base can enhance ritual effects, especially when the ritual target is an evil god... Outer Gods are similar enough, and the God of Greed certainly qualifies as evil."
Loren kicked away the original black stone serving as the base, replacing it with six Wailing Stones that were originally ant as offerings, perfectly forming a hexagram pattern at the altar's corners.
"Void Crystal - this thing doesn't belong to this world and is closely connected to Outer Gods. Only by utilizing this can one formally contact Outer Gods."
A stone with indescribable colors resembling the starry sky was placed by Loren on the largest Wailing Stone at the highest point of the altar.
"The other four materials aren't as strict in requirents, let see... Sandworm eggs, Abyssal Octopus tentacles, Elephant-eating Snake molted skin... and a dragon's tooth. This noble truly lived luxuriously..."
After arranging the four materials, only the bottom position remained empty. Loren brutally severed his own arm and placed it on the Wailing Stone, not wasting the flowing blood either. He first used pre-prepared rope and gunpowder to forcibly stop the bleeding, then used the spilled blood to complete the altar's runes.
This series of operations made Valentina's scalp tingle with horror. What terrified her most was that Loren hadn't killed her. She felt certain that given Loren's cautious nature, he wouldn't commit the classic villain mistake of dying from excessive talking - unless... she was also part of the sacrifice!
As a high-level player, Loren had always maxed out pain sensitivity in gas for imrsion. Losing an arm ant nothing to him.
Loren stood before the altar, deliberately overflowing so sacrificial treasures beyond the altar's edge, pressing his hand against the Void Crystal:
"God of Greed Pluto, the Void Crystal connects us. I am nad Loren. I offer you symbols of four greedy creatures, treasures, and my own limb. Here I form a contract with you - grant your mouth."
A beam of light suddenly descended from the sky, ultimately landing on the Void Crystal before spreading out. The six Wailing Stone altars were connected by the light beams into a hexagram, trapping Loren in the center.
The pillar of light descending from the sky dissipated, and the items placed on the altar vanished completely. But the light beams on the altar remained, converging above Loren's head before finally falling upon him, instantly enveloping him in radiance.
A great sword flew from the distance but was deflected before reaching the altar, rendering Valentina's final attack completely ineffective.
When the light faded, Loren looked at the palm of his remaining hand. A black hole floated above his palm, constantly devouring the surrounding light.
As Loren clenched his fist, the black hole disappeared. Maintaining it for just a brief mont had consud fifty points of his mana.
But its effect was worth every point.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Valentina."
Loren, with only one arm remaining, was covered in blood like a devil crawling out from hell. Valentina, who had aspired since childhood to beco an angel, felt fear for the first ti.
"Don't be afraid, it'll be over soon."
Loren pressed his hand against Valentina's head. Her head began twisting, gradually being sucked into the black hole, followed by her body. Ten seconds passed before Valentina completely disappeared, consuming two hundred points of Loren's mana.
Clothes scattered across the ground, but Valentina didn't even have ti to scream.
[Devouring successful, Strength 2, Constitution 3, Intelligence 2]
Using Pluto's Mouth to devour creatures directly increased attribute points. Only leveling up normally provided attribute points, yet devouring Valentina had given him seven points total - equivalent to gaining seven levels.
Simultaneously, after killing Valentina, Loren's level reached 14. The rewards for defeating a late-ga BOSS during early stages were indeed generous, providing Loren with five additional attribute points. Loren opened his status panel:
Na: Loren
Level: 14
Strength: 9
Constitution: 21
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 16
Mana: 4750/5190
Remaining Attribute Points: 5
Accessories: None
Blessings: [Truth Discernnt] [Pluto's Mouth]
Talents: Awaiting Unlock
A new section had appeared on the panel - the reward for breaking through level 10. Every ten levels unlocked one talent, with many options available, such as [Proficient Spellcasting] to accelerate magic incantation speed, [Master Blacksmith] to increase forging success rates and quality...
Loren decisively chose [Sensitive Heart]. This talent had both advantages and disadvantages - it greatly enhanced the owner's inspiration and perception, allowing danger detection, but simultaneously made them more likely to attract certain entities, more susceptible to corruption, and more easily influenced by others' emotions. Compared to the positive effects, these negatives ant little.
His reasoning was simple: this talent combined with The Tower equaled Observation Haki plus void-walking. If Obito had possessed Observation Haki back then, he wouldn't have gotten blocked.
Moreover, increased inspiration wasn't necessarily bad for Loren. Since he dealt with Outer Gods daily, while easier corruption risk existed, communicating with Outer Gods also beca simpler.
Closing the status panel, Loren began inventorying his spoils.
He rummaged through Valentina's leftover clothing, eventually retrieving a golden tarot card depicting an obese pope. She stood at the highest point, backlit, making her features indistinguishable, busy writing the character for "sin" on an emaciated person's face.
[Tarot Card: The High Priestess]
Effect: Reverse curses on yourself or blessings on others.
Description: "My sins are all righteous, your purity is all defilent."
With the tarot card obtained, Loren stuffed both The High Priestess and The Tower into his inner pocket. Having acquired the most important item of this journey, Loren had no reason to remain here any longer.
As for the offerings originally ant for Pluto, Loren planned to keep only a portion for himself, using the remainder to silence certain people's mouths.
Clutching his severed arm, Loren struggled outward. Regardless, he'd lost an arm and shed considerable blood, feeling sowhat dizzy.
Even in this world, severed arms were difficult to heal, so many players who obtained Pluto's Mouth remained disabled for extended periods. Yet even so, it was worthwhile - the extra attribute points allowed players to overwhelmingly dominate nurically.
However, Loren didn't need to worry about this. One curse of the Weeping Blood Wedding Ring was "body can never naturally heal," but when reversed, the effect beca "any body part can regenerate, with greatly accelerated healing speed." Within days, Loren's arm would regrow completely.
Tarot Card: The Tower was the specialty of experts, while Pluto's Mouth was the wheelchair. Loren was an adult - he chose to have both.
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