The bunker screens flickered with static as the external cameras tried to comprehend the monstrosity tearing through the Wall. It wasn’t just a Devil. It was a gluttonous mountain of void-flesh that defied the laws of biology.
[System Identification: Beelzebub Lineage – The Sovereign of Devouring] [Tier: Sovereign (Equivalent to Astral God)] [Status: Desperate / Hungry]
Eschewing a bipedal gait, the Sovereign flowed like a landslide of black sludge. It had no distinct head, just a massive, gaping maw in the centre of its mass, surrounded by thousands of smaller mouths that chattered and screamed with the voices of things it had eaten.
"It’s eating the Wall," Volt gasped, watching the monitor, his face pale in the emergency lighting. "It’s actually eating the hard-light."
On the screen, the Sovereign latched its main maw onto the golden Astral Line.
"Unique Ability: Devour Mana."
CRUNCH.
A section of the golden barrier the size of a stadium vanished. The Devil didn't break it; it drank the mana structure, inhaling the holy energy like soup. The void where the wall stood smelled of ozone and wet rot.
"That's... my cousin," Borg (Gluttony) whispered, pressing his face to the glass. "He eats bigger than me."
"He’s not just eating," Lack rasped, the servos in his Atlas Labour Frame whining as he leaned over the console. "Look at his back. He’s swelling."
The Sovereign’s back rippled. The consumed golden light churned inside its black flesh, turning a sickly, radioactive green. It was a biological refinery, processing the holy mana into a weapon.
[Skill Activation: Spit (Regurgitation)] [Skill Activation: Amplify Devourer (3x Output)]
BLECH.
The Sovereign heaved. From its central maw, it fired the consumed energy back at the Wall—but tripled in intensity. A beam of corrupted, amplified gold-green light slammed into the remaining barrier.
BOOM.
The impact shook the entire continent. The bunker groaned, dust raining from the ceiling like grey snow.
Torin shrieked, diving under a table. "We're going to die! We're definitely going to die!"
"General Valerius is out there," Terra said, her voice shaking but hopeful. "He won't let it fall."
The Exterior Walkway – Sector 2355 Combatants: General Valerius vs. The Sovereign
General Valerius stood on the edge of the shattered walkway. The wind whipped his coat, but he stood immovable, an anchor in the chaos. The blinding white light of the Ascension Phase illuminated the horror in stark relief.
He looked at the mountain of sludge looming over him.
"You are far from home, Glutton," Valerius rumbled. His voice was calm, amplified by his mana to rival the thunder. "The Asmodeus Lineage usually stays in the Deep Void. Why do you run?"
The Sovereign didn't answer. It shrieked—a sound of pure hunger and panic. It lashed out with a tendril of sludge.
"Original Skill: Fortify."
The Sovereign’s skin hardened, turning from liquid sludge to diamond-hard obsidian armour instantly. It swung a massive, armoured fist at Valerius.
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Valerius didn't dodge.
"God Ability 1: Fortress Body."
Valerius’s skin turned a metallic, gunmetal grey. He didn't raise a shield. He became the shield.
CLANG.
The Sovereign’s fist—capable of crushing a battleship—hit Valerius. Valerius slid back two inches. The walkway beneath him shattered into dust, but he remained standing, arms crossed.
"Is that all?" Valerius taunted. "I have eaten breakfast harder than that."
The Sovereign roared. It opened its main maw. It tried to Devour Valerius directly.
A vortex of suction pulled at the General. The mana in Valerius’s aura began to peel away, sucked into the Devil’s throat like smoke into a vacuum.
"He's eating the General's mana!" Rian shouted from the bunker comms. "Valerius needs to retreat!"
"He can't retreat," Lack said, his eyes glued to the screen inside the bunker. "If he moves, the Wall falls. He has to out-logic the hunger."
Valerius’s mana rapidly drained away, violently peeled from his aura by the vortex. "You want to eat?" Valerius grinned. "Then choke."
"God Ability 3: Astral Cubes (Zone Enforcement)."
Valerius didn't fire a beam. He summoned a single, massive cube of hard-light right inside the Sovereign’s open mouth.
SNAP.
The cube materialised, forcing the Sovereign’s jaws wide open.
"Zone Enforcement: Expansion."
The cube grew. And grew. The Sovereign tried to bite down, tried to Devour the mana. But the cube wasn't just mana; it was structure. It was solid geometry enforced by a God's will. The Sovereign gagged. It couldn't close its mouth. It couldn't spit.
"Original Skill 2: Multi-Cast Fabrication."
Valerius raised both hands. Thousands of smaller cubes materialised around the Sovereign’s liquid body. They clicked together, forming a cage.
"You assume you can eat everything," Valerius stated, walking forward on the air using Kinetic Bounce. "But you cannot eat what you cannot touch."
He stomped on the air.
"Astral Art: The Iron Maiden."
The cage collapsed inward. Massive spikes of hard-light erupted from the cubes, piercing the Sovereign’s obsidian Fortify armour.
SKREEEEE!
The Sovereign shrieked in pain. It activated Original Skill 2: Mana Heal. It burned its mana reserves. The wounds closed instantly. The black flesh knit together like restless oil.
"It's regenerating!" Mina cried. "It's invincible!"
"No," Lack whispered. "It's scared. Look at its eyes."
The Sovereign wasn't looking at Valerius. It was looking behind itself. At the breach it had just made. It wasn't trying to fight Valerius. It was trying to get past him.
"It's using Mana Shield!" Volt noted. A bubble of purple energy surrounded the Sovereign.
It curled into a ball, trying to roll over Valerius like a bowling ball made of hate.
"Get out of the way!" Valerius roared. But the Sovereign was too fast.
It activated Amplify Devourer on itself, boosting its own speed and mass by 300%. It slammed into Valerius. Valerius caught the mountain. His boots ground sparks into the air itself. His Fortress Body groaned under the strain. He was holding back a mountain of devouring hunger.
"I... am... the Wall!" Valerius strained, his veins glowing gold.
Inside the bunker, the data readings spiked violently across the monitors. "General!" Lack shouted into the mic. "It's not trying to kill you! It's a distraction!"
Distraction? The Light Devil perked up. Wait... look at the breach.
Behind the Sovereign, through the hole in the Astral Line... something else was coming. Not a Devil.
A ship. Chrome. Sleek. Silent.
The Alien Ship.
The Sovereign wasn't attacking. It was running away from the Aliens. It was trying to use Valerius as a shield against the "Tourists”.
"Valerius, disengage!" Lack ordered. "Let it through! It's a refugee!"
Valerius heard the order. He trusted Lack's vibration sense. He dropped his guard. He used Kinetic Bounce to launch himself sideways.
The Sovereign, expecting resistance, stumbled forward. It rolled past Valerius, crashing through the walkway and tumbling down into the snowy plains of Sector 2355.
It didn't stand up to fight. It curled into a ball and dug into the earth, hiding. Shivering.
Valerius hovered in the air, panting. He looked at the breach.
The Alien Ship—a needle of silver light—slipped through the hole the Sovereign had made. It didn't attack. It simply hovered there, scanning the world with a cold, blue light.
[System Alert: New Faction Identified.] [Faction: The Outsiders.]
"That..." Torin whispered, peering through the bunker window. "That doesn't look like magic."
"It's not," Ratchet said, his voice trembling with terrified awe. "That's tech. Pure, unadulterated science."
Lack leaned back in the Labour Frame, the pain meds wearing off. "The War just got complicated," Lack muttered.
Valerius floated down to the bunker window. He looked at Lack. He nodded once. Then he turned back to the Alien Ship.
"Alert the Council," Valerius ordered over the comms. "The Cage has been breached. And the neighbours have arrived."
? ? ?
[System Record: Character Progression]
- Intel: The Devil Sovereign was fleeing the Outsiders.
- New Threat: The Outsiders (Aliens) have entered Sector 2355.