Fenrir's Journey : I Shall Devour The Heavens!

Without taking notice of the passage of time, Fenrir continued to meditate in isolation. The shroud of devouring energy continued to grow around her, now reaching beyond the 2km mark as it slowly ate away at the surroundings with impunity.At this point, everything else that had comprised Fenrir's being seemed to have faded away. Her only anchor was the image of her Master's smiling face, something she would never relinquish, even at her lowest point.Using the memory of her Master like a Captain navigating through a storm with a compass, Fenrir slowly regained some clarity of mind. There was a lingering and insatiable hunger welling up from inside her but, just as she had kept it bay in the past, Fenrir repressed the urge as she began to pull in the surrounding shroud, absorbing it into her body.As she retracted her aura, Fenrir felt like her existence itself was inflating like a balloon. Her senses were able to extend outward far beyond her previous limits and, by the time her shroud had been completely retracted, a strange runic pattern had appeared on her back. It took on the form of a wolf with its head tilted toward the sky, its mouth open to form a gruesome maw that could devour everything.No longer seeing the need to hide her features, Fenrir no longer maintained the transformation that made her appear to be human. Rather, as a result of her previous feral state, her previously silky hair now formed a wild and spikey style as her claws extended from her paws, no longer restrained.The only thing Fenrir bothered to do was dress herself as, no matter the circumstance, she would not allow just anyone to see her naked figure. Then, with her eyes glowing a fierce scarlet, Fenrir flew up through the massive chasm her isolation had formed...---Having never given up on his search, the Enforcer of the Searing Sword Palace, alongside a group of his own disciples, had made camp near the abyss that had formed in the wilderness. This was the last direction anyone had seen Fenrir flee and, after checking all the surrounding settlements, they had determined that the abyss nearby had been formed during her escape.The only thing that prevented the Enforcer from entering the abyss was the fact that a void of sorts had appeared that made manifesting Qi externally impossible. He would be forced to climb down as, without being able to project Qi, it was impossible to maintain flight. Since this was not something he looked forward to, he settled by securing the area and having his disciples periodically probe the interior to investigate.Much to the Enforcer's surprise, the abyss progressively widened the further you went down but, at specific intervals, massive caverns that opened to veritable treasure troves of resources could be found. This had been a tremendous boon for the Searing Sword Palace as, by descending around a thousand kilometers, an endless expanse of crystals, precious medicinal herbs, and exceeding rare Demonic Beasts could be found.The Enforcer had no idea what purpose the abyss was supposed to serve but, as it had essentially become a second Spiritual Land for the Searing Sword Palace, they were in the process of building a branch to protect the area. He had even been elevated to the position of Grand Elder, granting him the right to govern the Spiritual Land in exchange for providing resources back to the Main Branch.All-in-all, things were going exceptionally well for the Enforcer-turned-Grand-Elder so, while he was determined to one day capture Fenrir, it wasn't the most pressing matter for him to deal with. If she never appeared, he didn't particularly mind as, with the abyss that had been formed in her wake, the Searing Sword Palace would become even stronger...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Master, give me strength...')

Even with her incredible speed, it still took nearly a full day for Fenrir to reach the surface once again. She had to pass through several layers that appeared to be worlds of their own, one of which was even filled with massive creatures that looked like living mountains.Fenrir realized that the world she now resided in was much bigger than she had expected as, under the feet of people that set their sights upon the heavens, entire worlds existed. She imagined that, if he were here, her Master would explore each of these worlds, uncovering their secrets and saving as many people as he could...Unfortunately, her Master was not here and, though she wanted to be a good girl for him, it wasn't easy to do so. The negativity in the world influenced her too much and, without anything to balance it out, she would only get sadder and more frustrated every time something bad happened. While it may be possible to find a source of happiness, Fenrir didn't want to as, deep in her heart, the thing that had always mattered the most to her was her Master.---After ascending to the surface, Fenrir noticed several buildings that had been erected around the large pit she had formed. Since she didn't know how long she was gone, it was a very strange sight to see a small community had formed. They even seemed to be building a cover to seal off the large hole she had created, bringing Fenrir to a momentary pause as she considered their intentions.Without having to ask, it became very clear that these people were hostile towards her as, upon seeing a figure with animalistic features fly up from the abyss, a loud bell began to sound as one youth screamed, "A Demon has risen from the Abyss! Inform the Grand Elder!"Accompanying the youth's shout, several depots around the hole aimed black metallic ballista toward her, each fitted with fierce-looking projectiles that were nearly 10m in length. They did not even try to identify her before they started their attack, causing Fenrir's face to darken as the aura she kept at bay began to seep out from her pores.Despite the monstrous momentum they carried, the projectiles fired by the defensive team, which could have even pierced the hide of a weaker Dragon, simply ceased to exist upon contact with the strange aura surrounding Fenrir's body. This didn't deter them, however, as one senior member of the team shouted, "Load the Sacred Silver Bolts...!"While the teams began to carry out the man's order, Fenrir's ears had twitched in response to his bellow. Before he could even drop his arm, the area where the man stood was now a spherical void. It had happened so quickly that the surrounding disciples hadn't even seen Fenrir's shroud devour the man. In fact, they couldn't even see her figure any longer...To the horror of the defensive team, they noticed that the depots around them would randomly vanish into thin air, leaving behind no traces of the people that once manned them. Some tried to flee upon seeing this but, just as their flight response kicked in, all thoughts ceased as, in an instant, they too joined the departed.In less than a minute, Fenrir had killed the entire defensive team but, rather than move on from the scene, she was waiting for the arrival of the so-called Grand Elder. It wouldn't have taken her much effort to seek him out but, in order to restrain her destructive urges, she did her best to remain as calm as possible by entering into a reactive state rather than proactively destroying everything...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'This world never changes...')

Noticing that her powers were quickly growing beyond her control, Fenrir had been forced to find an isolated area to try and calm herself. She was still determined to destroy the current system but, with her power beginning to affect innocents, Fenrir had no choice but to try and calm down before she could continue her purge.Now, in an area several thousand kilometers from the closest settlement, a massive abyss had appeared where a mountain once stood. It seemed to stretch down into eternity but, if you allowed yourself to free-fall for nearly three days, you would eventually find yourself face to face with a large black star that was illuminated by blue light.At the very center of this star, which had spread nearly 500m in diameter, a figure could be seen floating in the air. They were seated in the lotus position, completely naked as the energy around them devoured everything that came into contact with it.In the beginning, Fenrir had been unable to calm down, no matter how much she tried to focus on her cultivation, so she had resorted to just letting her energy flow freely as she did her best to seek comfort. This was fueled by the memories she had of her Master and, by the time she awakened from her frenzy, she had already carved a massive swath of destruction through the planar world, passing through hellish landscapes and icy planes along the way.Fortunately, due to the inherent nature of Devouring Laws, they could not be sensed through normal methods as the energy would simply devour anything attempting to probe it. Thus, unless you knew what you were looking for, even the most perceptive practitioners wouldn't be able to sense Fenrir's presence in her current state.This wasn't exactly Fenrir's intent but, if it allowed her to be left alone, she didn't mind letting her energy continue to run rampant. Her strength was rapidly increasing along with the size of her aura so, in order to obtain enough strength to wipe out all her enemies, she continued to devour the very environment around her with impunity. This included various precious resources and, in some cases, her energy even discovered powerful figures who had been sealed away and forgotten by time.The only downside to allowing her Devouring Laws to run rampant was that, alongside her increased reserves of energy, Fenrir's hunger had continued growing. She was able to keep it at bay but, the more her shroud devoured, the larger her appetite became. Her instincts told her that, if she could not gain full control over it, the energy would eventually expand to devour everything, including the very heaven's themselves.In order to prevent this, Fenrir was repeating a custom mantra within her mind. This was the same as the Activation Key for her Magic and, without an anchor to rely on, Fenrir could only repeat, "Master, give me strength..." in her mind. She had even stopped thinking entirely as, if her focus drifted even slightly, the shroud around her would cause her to sink further into the planar world as it absorbed an ever-greater amount of energy...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Master, give me strength...Master, give me strength...')

Chapter 95: Clarity : Ascent