Shrouded Seascape

"Edikth, long time no see." 005 addressed the three identical spindle-shaped monsters before her with a casual tone of voice, as if she were speaking to an old friend whom she hadn't seen for many years.

Edikth's bright yellow eyes showed no reaction to her greeting, but they ceased their attacks.

"You can communicate with him?" Charles immediately noticed something amiss. The god version of himself ought to have completely abandoned anything human, and it was evidenced by how his attempts at communication were ignored.

"Yes, I remember it now. You can indeed communicate with Edikth. When the Light God was born, you were there with Him and the other gods to seal the Light God!

"Talk to Him. What are His thoughts upon becoming a god? What does He want?"

Charles had been resisting the idea of becoming a god, but if the god version of himself could still remember his goals, Charles would decisively absorb every piece of knowledge around him.

005 looked down at the writhing flesh and remarked, "No, I cannot do that just yet. Perhaps when you become Edikth, I can do it. After all, we're from the same plane."

"The ones who sealed the Light God a thousand years ago were the both of us rather than the Edikths from other planes. If you want to know what he's saying, perhaps you should ask the version of myself from his plane.

"You might be able to understand him by then.

Charles' thoughts came to a halt upon hearing that. He felt like he understood something, but at the same time, he understood nothing at all.

005 ignored whatever Charles was thinking and said, "By the way, I cannot deal with these three Edikths. As I mentioned, I can only grant wishes that are within my capabilities."

"What about two of you?" another Charles interjected from a different mass of flesh. The next moment, a tunnel leading to another plane appeared, and a white ball emerged from it, along with another 005.

It seemed that another Charles had the same idea as Charles and made the same wish as him.

The two 005s exchanged smiles, nodded simultaneously, and spoke in unison. "We can try, but I believe the most reasonable course of action here is to retreat."

"Retreat? Where can I even go? And we're all running out of time!" Charles exclaimed. The flesh all over him writhed and lunged resolutely at the distant Edikths.

"Very well, since you've made your wish, we'll help you fulfill it." The bandages on both 005s unraveled, and a torrent of what looked like pitch-black snowflakes rushed out of them. In no time, the snowflakes that looked darker than the abyss transformed into a huge cloud of mist that shrouded even the deep sea.

Upon getting hit by the pitch-black mist, Charles instantly understood 005's plan to tackle the three Edikths.

Wrapped in black mist, Charles charged at the three Edikths.

A mass of flesh stretching hundreds of miles collided heavily with the three colossal spindle-shaped monsters, creating ripples in spacetime. At the same time, spatial rifts flickered in and out of existence around the battlefield.

Upon contact, the pitch-black mist attached to Charles latched onto the Edikths, attempting to engulf them.

The Edikths attempted to teleport away or travel to other perspectives, but their efforts were futile in the face of 005's massive, pitch-black cloud of mist.

005 seemed to be greatly restricting the Edikths' abilities, while Charles could move freely within the black mist. Under these circumstances, Charles clearly had a huge advantage.

The opponents were being suppressed, but suppression alone wasn't enough.

However, killing them remained impossible. With that in mind, the Charleses changed strategy and began attempting to devour one of the Edikths. If they could devour even one Edikth, their goal would essentially be achieved.

Despite 005's assistance, the task remained extremely difficult. Edikth's special abilities were being suppressed, but suppressing three Edikths at the same time was proving to be quite a challenging task.

Furthermore, they couldn't allow any Charles to be captured, or new Edikths would appear on the battlefield.

Amidst the chaos, the Edikth being devoured by the Charleses was starting to weaken in the face of their relentless assault. In no time, seventy percent of its flesh was devoured.

The remaining two Edikths sensed the threat and broke free from the encirclement. Then, they fled into the distance, eventually vanishing into another plane.

Charles neither stopped nor chased after them. Instead, he focused on dealing with the remaining one. After all, their goal was to thoroughly understand what it meant to become a god rather than fight Edikth to the death.

They had only one enemy—the impending end of the world.

When what remained of Edikth's flesh was completely devoured, the Subterranean Sea fell silent once again.

The bodies of the Charleses had swollen significantly, and there was something constantly writhing beneath their flesh. It was an unpleasant feeling. Despite being devoured, Edikth was still alive; fragments of His flesh were incessantly attempting to reunite with each other.

The pitch-black cloud of mist receded and transformed into two 005s. With their own cat in their arms, their figures gradually became illusory as they got ready to leave.

"Wait, don't go just yet. I still have some questions to ask."

"Hmm... When you made your wish earlier, you didn't say that you were going to ask questions later on. One wish means one wish." With that, the two 005s disappeared into thin air.

It was still unclear what exactly 005 knew about Edikth, but the good thing was that they still accomplished their goal.

"Everyone, return to your own plane. Keep Edikth's flesh as far away from each other as possible, and you must be careful when dissecting it."

The massive mass of flesh separated into multiple Charleses, and it seemed to be collapsing on its own until it disappeared into thin air.

Upon returning to his own plane, Charles saw that the pool of flesh blocking the entrance to the Core had grown a mouth.

"How did it go?" the pool of flesh asked.

Without a word, Charles absorbed it. The two consciousnesses merged as Charles began dissecting and digesting his own portion of Edikth's flesh. It was but a tiny fragment of Edikth, but dissecting and assimilating it completely was exceedingly difficult.

The knowledge it contained was so vast that it seemed boundless. To ensure that he wouldn't become Edikth, he had to discard some of his past knowledge.

The sorting and selection process was exceedingly difficult. Charles had to carefully maintain the balance. Otherwise, Edikth's flesh would end up assimilating him rather than the other way around.

"Daddy, where did you go? You could have taken me with you. My juvenile phase is about to end, and I'm about to enter adolescence," Sparkle asked, but her questions went unanswered.

To prevent any accidents, Charles had to fully concentrate on the task at hand.

Sparkle transformed into a cluster of fluorescent tentacles and anxiously crawled all over her father. Then, she used her suction cups to gently stroke the pulsating blood vessels across the ground. Afterward, she carved open a massive wound in the ground and buried her tentacled figure within to feel her father's warmth.

Just then, she noticed something and cast her glowing, luminous eyes skyward.

Sparkle's pupils instantly constricted to needle points. Edikth was in midair, and His colossal, bright yellow eye was fixed on her father.