The Annihilator: Killer Of Gods

A loud explosion erupted from the Soul Ring when it finally fused with Karsha's soul. The energy burst was so powerful that the Shadow Guards had to retreat 10 km to avoid it. They all looked alarmed at the ring behind Karsha. They could sense there was more to it, but since they didn't know what was happening, they just stood there, watching.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

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Suddenly, in the air, 10 red crystals appeared in front of Karsha. The aura emitted by each one was incredibly powerful. Karsha, still unconscious, slowly opened his eyes. In truth, if he had been awake during the sea of consciousness opening and fusing process, he wouldn't have been able to endure the pain. It was beyond him, even though his pain tolerance had risen in the past few days.

<The host is advised to use the Mutant Cores to form the first Alpha Core. This will set you on the path to becoming an Alpha.>

<After the Core formation is complete, the system will undergo an upgrade, which will take 24 hours.>

"No way! I'm going to become an Alpha, and then a Mutant. This is great!" Karsha immediately calmed his excitement and formed a hand seal. The cores around him began spinning as red energy flowed into his body. The ring also faded, but Karsha could still sense it in his consciousness.

But he didn't give it much thought. His sole focus was on absorbing the Mutant Cores. At first, he wasn't sure what the red cores were, since the system only referred to them as "Mutant Cores" without any further explanation. Despite the uncertainty, he knew he would soon find out.

The Book of Annihilation had promised many items, and Karsha had already received several, but now, as he realized he was literally becoming an Alpha, he recognized that these red cores were among the best and most valuable items he had obtained so far.

After the battle, and even during it, the system had chimed a few times. He'd only noticed the notification about reaching the Level 7 Grandmaster Stage as a cultivator. He also saw that he'd become a Grandmaster Swordsman and had unlocked the second level of his divine technique, Dual Swordsman Tiger Strike, along with a new skill called Mad Tiger Swordsman.

Karsha hadn't had time to pay attention to it yet, but he knew he had unlocked yet another overpowered skill. The first skill he'd received was Red Eye Tiger, and though he hadn't fully utilized it during his battle with the Overlord, the domain it formed was anything but weak.

This current domain could easily kill a Saint in seconds. Karsha's recent upgrades to his elements had elevated him to a Tier 5 Human with overwhelmingly powerful abilities.

After the first evolution of his Meridian, he gained a much stronger Meridian, allowing him to channel higher percentages of energy. However, Karsha was still lacking in two key things. These two things were what he needed to become a true monster among monsters.

First, he lacked powerful swords. What Karsha didn't know yet was that, for someone at his level, the highest Tier of skill they could normally learn was Tier 8. Perhaps, if their soul strength and mental capacity were strong enough, they could push to Tier 10. That was the limit for Grandmaster Stage cultivators—at least, this was something he would soon learn.

This limit existed to prevent cultivators from struggling to unleash their full strength. If Karsha's skills were Tier 8 or Tier 10, he would have been able to release 200% of their total damage output without suffering any backlash. It would also mean he could channel more energy without his meridians taking damage.

However, this didn't apply to Karsha. His skills were all in Tiers 13 and 14, making them far too powerful even for him. Fortunately, he had managed to evolve his meridians, allowing him to channel over 80% of his energy. This meant that, even as a Grandmaster, he could unleash attacks that would make even Tier 8 cultivators flee.

But he still lacked powerful weapons. In this recent battle, the highest he had pushed was 40%, and even that had caused his sword to shatter. Even Legendary-grade swords couldn't withstand the power of his Fire Beam skill. He needed higher-grade weapons—Earth Grade would be nice, but Heaven Grade would be far better. To truly unleash his full strength, he required a powerful sword.

Nedin's sword was a high-tier Earth-grade sword, but it had an ice attribute, which made it incompatible with Karsha's fire attacks. He might be able to use it for lightning attacks, due to the conductivity between ice and lightning, but when it came to fire, it wouldn't be effective.

Thankfully, the system would undergo an upgrade once he completed the core formation. This also meant he could finally purchase powerful swords from the Killer Store, thanks to the boatload of Killer Points he had accumulated.

The other issue was his strength. While the lack of a powerful sword was one problem, Karsha's own physical strength was another. He didn't have the power to fully unleash the might of his skills. Had he been just a bit stronger, he would have been able to use Agni Sword during the battle. Wielding powerful weapons effectively was half the battle.

Despite being the most powerful Grandmaster Stage cultivator in all of the world of Quinox, Karsha still lacked the raw strength needed to unleash the full potential of his abilities.

But now, things were about to change. Karsha was the first human to embark on this new path. He was forming an Alpha Core, and if he succeeded, he would become a Lesser Alpha. This transformation would multiply his abilities many times over. His strength would skyrocket, and he would finally be able to unleash if not all, then a much greater portion of his power.

40% of his current strength had been enough to injure a Terror Mutant. Once he broke the shackles and began his evolution, he would become even more powerful than he was now.

=============

While Karsha was evolving to become a Lesser Alpha on Snake Island, an explosion erupted inside a cave many miles from Sunlight City, blowing apart the cave and shattering a section of the mountain. Dense energy filled a 10 km radius.

Inside the cave, Morris opened his eyes and smiled, but behind that smile lingered a hint of sadness. "Mom and Ayarr, I hope you're okay," he muttered.

The aura surrounding him was both regal and arcane. He had broken through to Tier 8, but that wasn't all. Unlike Ayarr and the rest of the Shadow Guards, who had become Great Mutants, Morris was now a Tier 8 Calamity Mutant—just a few steps away from becoming a World Boss.

Calamity Mutants are beings whose appearance on the island would spell disaster; even if the 10 Overlords charged at one, they wouldn't last more than 10 minutes.

Karsha had killed 10 Tier 7 Terror Mutants, but that was thanks to the Book of Annihilation, which had guided him through the process. The only monster he had fought head-on was Khinux, and he had suffered greatly, nearly losing his life in the encounter.

Thus, for such monsters to stand no chance against a Calamity Mutant, only underscored their status as the highest and strongest class in the Mutant hierarchy. Morris was now a Tier 8 Calamity Mutant, a being akin to a Peak Sage or even an Early Great Sage, capable of defeating even a Peak Great Sage.

"Since I can't go through the portal, I need to find a way to return. One day, I will," Morris muttered, but he suddenly sensed approaching danger. Like a shadow, he melded into the darkness and, in an instant, reappeared 10 miles away.

Soon. two people appeared out of nowhere at the location Morris was in. The aura around them is faint but powerful. Looking at them is like staring into a black hole. One of them is the Patriarch of the Varon Great Family and the other is a middle-aged man, physically fit and handsome. If anyone tells you he is over 600 years old, you won't believe it.

"We are too late," the man said, looking at the half-destroyed mountain.

"Yes, we are. It's too rare for Mutants to appear in this area; we could have struck gold by killing it," Axel Varon responded, disappointment evident in his voice.

As soon as Morris broke through, they sensed his aura from many miles away and rushed over, but it seemed they had arrived too late. The Mutant they were after was long gone. Mutants are incredibly powerful monsters, and their cores, blood, bodies, and bones are highly sought after. Many powerful houses engage in bidding wars just to acquire a piece of a Mutant's bone or blood.

Eating their flesh is also incredibly beneficial, so they hurried over to kill it, only to be met with disappointment.

"Let's go. It seems luck isn't on our side today," Axel said, turning away. Within the blink of an eye, they vanished.

Far away, Morris sighed and retrieved a pill from his space ring, swallowing it. His aura instantly diminished to his previous state, although traces of Mutant aura lingered.

"I need to see that old man; maybe he can help me," Morris thought as he took out a badge, gazing at it for a moment before storing it back in his ring. He then melded into the shadows and disappeared.

============

Boom!

Another explosion occurred after another 10 hours. The 10 Mutant Cores were nowhere to be found, but a magnificent yet imposing ring appeared behind Karsha. Inside one of the three holders, a mango-sized red core could be seen, its aura emanating several times more powerful than before.

Karsha opened his eyes and looked at the five Shadow Guards staring back at him from the ground. The aura coming from them made Karsha feel prouder than the fact that he had now stepped into the realm of Beast cultivation.

"Huh, what are those keys hovering above their heads?" Karsha muttered, but before he could delve deeper into it, a system message appeared.

< The system will be undergoing an upgrade for the next 24 hours. All system functions will stop until the upgrade is complete. >

< Time remaining: 23:59:59 >