Chapter 1110: Farewell Lacome
Time itself seemed to hesitate for a brief instant before locking into place around Lacome’s body.
The Eternal froze where he stood, his hand suspended halfway toward his robe while layers of spatial restraints folded around him one after another. Time held him motionless. Space imprisoned him from every direction.
He remained fully conscious and completely aware of everything happening around him, but moving even a single finger was no longer possible.
Only after ensuring the situation was properly under control did I finally rise from my seat.
"There," I said while stepping down from the platform. "Now we can skip the boring part."
Lacome’s expression darkened.
I had no intention of wasting the next several hours exchanging threats, pretending to negotiate, or listening to some grand speech about the inevitable triumph of the Eternals. The only reason I had come to Region Four in the first place was standing directly in front of me.
Or rather, resting over his eyes.
My gaze settled on the black visor covering the upper half of his face. Up close, the artifact—or what I believed to be an artifact, appeared even stranger than before. Countless runes moved continuously across its surface, flowing like rivers of living ink.
Every symbol seemed connected to every other symbol, forming a structure so complex that even my enhanced perception struggled to fully comprehend it.
"The All-Knowing Eyes."
The moment I spoke those words, a strange reaction passed across Lacome’s face.
I pointed directly at the visor.
"I want that artifact.."
For the first time since arriving, the Eternal laughed.
The sound echoed throughout the chamber while he looked at me as though I had just said something incredibly stupid.
"You truly know nothing."
I frowned slightly.
That wasn’t the response I had expected. Lacome continued chuckling for several more seconds before finally shaking his head.
"You believe the All-Knowing Eyes are an artifact."
"Are they not?"
The Eternal’s smile widened.
"No."
I stopped walking.
Then Lacome spoke the words that immediately transformed this entire operation from worthwhile into absolutely incredible.
"The All-Knowing Eyes are my talent. Not something you can take if you wish."
I stared at him. Then I burst out laughing.
A loud laugh escaped before I could stop it, echoing throughout the pocket realm while I shook my head in disbelief.
"Oh, that is wonderful."
The Eternal’s expression immediately darkened.
Meanwhile, my mood improved dramatically.
An artifact would have been useful.
A talent was better.
Far better.
A talent could be extracted and could potentially become mine.
By the time my laughter faded, I had already begun walking toward him.
The first step activated my Right to Decay.
The effect wasn’t dramatic. There was no explosion of power or overwhelming display of force.
Instead, an invisible authority spread throughout the chamber and settled directly onto Lacome’s existence. I watched his aura fluctuate almost immediately as the foundations supporting his power began weakening.
The silver force flowing through his body lost stability. His regenerative capabilities slowed. Even the laws attached to his existence started showing subtle signs of deterioration.
The Eternal felt it instantly. I could see it in his eyes.
My second step activated Absolute Destruction.
Silver light erupted and two thin beams fired from my eyes.
The beam crossed the distance between us so quickly that even a Saint would have struggled to react. One moment Lacome was standing there. The next, a perfectly circular hole had appeared through the center of his chest where the destructive authority had pierced directly through his heart.
The Eternal’s body trembled. His knees struck the ground.
Fragments of silver force leaked from the wound while cracks spread through the laws protecting his existence.
By the time he managed to look up again, I was already standing in front of him.
I placed my palm against his head and felt the entire chamber grow silent.
Deep within my Generator Core, the Null Core began rotating faster and faster. Dark silver energy surged through my body while an unfamiliar sense of anticipation rose within me. Until now, every summon I had acquired had originated from beings weaker than myself.
But this was different. This was a Saint.
A genuine Saint-level existence.
A smile slowly spread across my face.
"It’s time I upgraded my collection."
The moment the words left my mouth, an ethereal chain emerged from my chest. Unlike a physical weapon, the chain appeared almost illusory, as though it existed halfway between reality and spirit. Silver light flowed along its surface while countless runes rotated around every link.
Lacome’s eyes widened. For the first time since arriving, I saw genuine fear. The chain shot forward and plunged directly into his chest.
The entire pocket realm trembled. A second later, something began emerging from within him.
A glowing orb slowly separated itself from the Eternal’s body, radiating immense Saint-level Soul Force as it was dragged outward by the chain. The resistance lasted only a few moments before the chain completed its task and pulled the orb back toward me.
The soul orb disappeared into my chest.
Deep within the Generator Core, a new light appeared.
I watched as the orb settled into orbit around the Null Core itself, joining the growing collection of powers revolving within the darkness.
Only then did I lower my gaze toward Lacome.
The Eternal remained on his knees for only a few more seconds before the damage finally reached a critical point. Thin cracks spread across his grey skin, branching outward like fractures in glass.
Silver force leaked from the openings in shimmering streams while pieces of his body began breaking apart and dissolving into drifting particles. There was no dramatic struggle and no final speech. The moment his soul had been extracted, the outcome had already been decided. What remained was merely the corpse of a Saint slowly realizing it was no longer whole.
I watched the process in silence until the last traces of his existence scattered into the air.
"Farewell, Lacome," I muttered.
Normally, this was the point where the familiar vision would begin. Every time I acquired a summon, my consciousness would be drawn elsewhere. I would find myself standing before the Null Door, watching memories and fragments of the summoned being’s existence unfold before me while the system completed the integration process.
This time, nothing happened.
The chamber remained exactly as it was.
The suppression formations continued humming quietly in the background. The pocket realm remained stable. No vision appeared. No pull emerged from the Null Core. Most importantly, I never found myself standing before the massive black door.
I waited for several moments before raising an eyebrow.
"That’s new. Is it because I’m already inside the Null Realm?"
Thinking about it, that explanation actually made a surprising amount of sense. The Null Door was deeply connected to the Null Realm itself, so perhaps whatever mechanism normally transported my consciousness simply wasn’t necessary while I was already here.
A grin slowly spread across my face.
"That’s actually much more convenient."
Closing my eyes, I directed my attention inward toward the Generator Core. Normally I would have relied on the system interface to guide the process, but the strange restrictions of the Null Realm seemed to interfere with many of its functions. If the system wasn’t willing to do the work for me this time, then I would simply have to handle it myself.
After all, Trait Acquisition was ultimately my ability, not the system’s.
Taking a slow breath, I focused on the newly acquired Saint soul orbiting the Null Core and began activating Trait Acquisition manually.