Chapter 127: Origin Spirit: Pharaoh Knight! Combining Plasma Nuke and Holy Disintegration.

"You put up a great fight, Menes," Caelus said. He stood quietly before the headless knight.

Then, he raised his hand and used his SSS-Rank Extraction ability.

Ding!

[Extraction Successful.]

[You have obtained the Talent: Solar Manipulation (D-Rank)]

[You have obtained the Skill: Solar Beam (Epic, 2-Star)]

[Solar Beam (Epic, 2-Star): Shoot a concentrated beam of solar power at an enemy. The more you charge power into it, the more it will scale. Each charge boosts the power by +1 Base Damage. Max charges: 4 (Limited by D-Rank Mana Affinity).]

[Cost: 5 CA per charge.]

Caelus’s lips twitched. A skill restricted by his affinity rank? That was entirely new.

Then, a sudden notification chimed in his mind.

Ding!

[Origin Reflection is now available.]

"Origin Reflection, huh?" Caelus nodded.

It was finally time to test this power. He had just acquired the powerful soul of Menes, making it the perfect candidate.

ORIGIN REFLECTION!

Ding!

[You have initiated Origin Reflection.]

He stretched his hand toward the knight’s mangled corpse. A shimmering, glass-like mirror materialized in the cold air. It angled downward, reflecting a blinding light directly onto the fallen boss.

BOOM!

A terrifying pillar of light erupted from the corpse. A brand new spirit rose from the ashes, bathed in holy energy.

Ding!

[You have obtained the Origin Spirit: Menes, The Pharaoh Knight (SS-Rank) after returning it to its most primordial powerful state.]

[Would you like to grant the Origin Spirit a true soul by consuming 10 Origin Shards?]

"Yes," Caelus nodded without hesitation.

The Origin Shards vanished from his inventory. Pure, dense light flew straight into the Pharaoh Knight, wrapping its armor in a majestic blend of gold and deep blue.

....

Ding!

[Your Origin Spirit has gained a soul.]

[It has awakened the Origin Ability: Origin Sword Will (Mythical).]

[The Pharaoh Knight will possess 50% of your total Combat Score.]

[It will rank up automatically alongside your own rank.]

....

[Origin Spirit]

[Name: Menes, The Pharaoh Knight]

[Rank: Bronze I]

[Combat Score: 3.04 (Bronze III)]

....

The massive Pharaoh Knight immediately knelt onto the stone floor, bowing its head in deep reverence to Caelus.

"Am I fated with knights?" Caelus sighed.

He already had his retainer, Prime. Now he had Menes. From historical records, Menes was the ancient Pharaoh of Egypt. Now, that legendary ruler had become his personal knight.

Speaking of Prime, he needed to upgrade his robotic assistant soon. Its rank was lagging behind. Once Prime reached Bronze, it would undergo a massive evolution since it was part of the Knight race. He was really looking forward to it.

Suddenly, a heavy stone door opened at the far end of the chamber.

Caelus knew exactly what this was. This door led straight to Anubis, the judge of the underworld and the operator of the scales.

Caelus stepped through the doorway. His vision blurred for a split second.

When his sight returned, he was standing in a vast, dimly lit judgment hall. Right in the center stood a massive golden scale. Hovering above it was a giant, ethereal dog head with glowing red eyes.

Ding!

[Please step onto one side of the scales.]

[If the opposite scale, holding the Feather of Maat, proves heavier than your soul, you will be permanently erased.]

Caelus fell silent. In the old Earth mythologies he knew, the trial involved placing one’s heart on the scale. If the heart was as light as the feather, the person crossed into the afterlife.

Here, the rules were flipped. He needed his soul to be completely heavier than the feather.

Taking a deep breath, Caelus stepped onto the cold golden plate. If the feather weighed more, he would die without a doubt.

CREAAAK.

The massive scale began to move. It was equally balanced at first. Slowly, the heavy gold shifted, tilting downward on Caelus’s side.

Caelus’s expression brightened significantly.

’Does that mean my soul is already heavy enough? I do not even need the soul of Menes?’

However, his brief moment of hope was instantly shattered.

The heavy golden plate beneath his feet suddenly jolted. The scale began to rise. The side holding the glowing Feather of Maat sank lower and lower. Inch by inch, Caelus was lifted higher, slowly crossing the balancing threshold.

"..."

Caelus’s expression darkened completely. Was he really going to die here? Erased in some Ancient Domain belonging to the Kemetist Faction?

But just before the scale tipped entirely...

FWOOSH!

A brilliant golden light erupted from Caelus’s chest.

Ding!

[The Soul of Menes is assisting you in breaking the threshold.]

BOOM!

The phantom image of the old knight materialized right in front of Caelus. It gave him a crisp, respectful salute. Then, surprisingly, it turned into a streak of light and shot directly into his newly summoned Pharaoh Knight.

CLANG!

The golden scale slammed downward on Caelus’s side, completely overpowering the feather.

Ding!

[You have passed the Trial of Osiris.]

[Your Origin Knight has permanently gained the consciousness of the Ancient Pharaoh you defeated.]

[Your Knight has acquired the Skill: Solar Beam (Epic, 2-Star) and the battle experience of the Ancient Pharaoh.]

Following the notifications, the giant Anubis head above the scale blinked its red eyes once. A warm golden light cascaded down onto Caelus.

Ding!

[You have obtained the following rewards:]

[1. Chaos Awakening Stone]

[2. Skill Evolution Card (Mythical, 2-Star)]

[3. +5 Levels]

[4. 50x Reputation Tokens]

[5. +1 Ancient Hex Paper]

[The acquired levels have been stored.]

[Current stored levels: 6]

"I got the Chaos Awakening Stone!" Caelus was absolutely overjoyed.

He also received a Skill Evolution Card, something he had been hunting for a while.

"With this, I can upgrade my Plasma Nuke."

He loved Plasma Nuke. It was his most destructive AoE attack.

Ding!

[You have used the Skill Evolution Card.]

[Plasma Nuke: Mythical, 1-Star -> Mythical, 2-Star]

"Now that I think about it... Can’t I use the Hex Paper to merge Holy Disintegration and Plasma Nuke to create a brand new spell?"

He quickly pulled out the Ancient Hex Paper. This was not a normal crafting material. It was an old, crumbling brown parchment that pulsed with ancient energy.

[Ancient Hex Paper: An extremely rare material. When used, it can connect the user to an ancient, complex power to formulate a unique spell.]

Caelus immediately gave it a try.

SPELL CREATION!

He funneled the complex structures of both Holy Disintegration and Plasma Nuke directly into the old parchment. The paper began to shine with a blinding, deep orange light.

Ding!

[Searching for the most compatible power to connect these two skills and convert them into a Spell.]

[Match Found!]

[The ancient power of the Dragon of Destruction has been summoned forth.]

ROAAAAR!

A phantom roar shook the judgment hall. The parchment trembled violently as a highly complex magic circle burned itself into the paper, before shooting straight into Caelus’s mind.

Ding!

[You have obtained the Special Spell: Volcra (Mythical, 2-Star)]

[Spell: Volcra]

[Details: A terrifying, explosive AoE Nuke. Created by fusing Plasma Nuke and Holy Disintegration while drawing upon the power of an ancient dragon. This spell deals +12 Base Damage above your Combat Score. It applies the absolute debuff: Destruction. Everything caught in the detonation radius will be destroyed without fail. Deals 100% True Damage.]

[Cost: 50% of your Total Mental Power / CA.]

[Due to the extreme complexity of the spell structure, initiating this cast requires exactly 50% of your energy. This calculation includes the efficiency of your Divine Calculation skill.]

Caelus stared at the spell description in pure silence.

He would never be able to spam this. But as a final trump card? It was unrivaled.

Its effectiveness was terrifying. Dealing 100% True Damage meant no armor or shield could stop it. Even if an enemy used a conventional skill defense like a barrier, the massive +12 Base Damage modifier would instantly overpower and shatter it.

Then, his eyes fell onto the stack of Reputation Tokens. A wide grin spread across his face.

DIVINE DUPLICATION!

He targeted the stack of 50 tokens and began rapidly pushing his duplication talent to the limit.

Ding!

[Duplication Failed.]

[Duplication Failed.]

[10x Duplication Successful!]

[You have received 10 Tokens.]

[10x Duplication Successful!]

[You have received 10 Tokens.]

[1x Duplication Successful!]

[You have received 1 Token.]....

He kept going until he exhausted his raw materials.

Ding!

[Reputation Points: 50 -> 160]

"Damn," Caelus laughed. "Out of the initial 50 points, I managed to more than triple it to 160."

The Divine Duplication talent was hands down the best thing he had acquired in a long time.

Finally, his eyes landed on the ultimate prize. The glowing, chaotic gem resting in his palm. The Chaos Awakening Stone.

It was finally time for his second racial awakening.