"The abyss is fraught with crises everywhere now, and you’re still troubled by such infantile issues!"
The term "competition" deepened Nari’s dread.
It is the ultimate competition among Abyssal Apostles, where the loser not only loses their status but might also be directly devoured by the victor.
Due to its chaotic thoughts and difficulty in maintaining control over its power, Nari found it easier to bully ordinary explorers with weaker abilities than its own.
Yet in such competitions among equals, it stood no chance unless it relied on Chai Ye’s protection to barely survive.
"Also," Chai Ye’s voice became even more somber:
"Recently, those damn Great Wizards in the deeper regions conducted some forbidden experiments, disrupting the entire abyssal energy balance. Even the rifts connecting to the Otherworld showed unstable fluctuations."
This information filled Nari with unprecedented fear.
Even for apostles, there are countless forbidden areas in the depths of the abyss that remain untouchable.
Those places are inhabited by beings older and more powerful than apostles.
They mostly come from beyond the world’s wall, horrifying entities infiltrating from other dimensions.
"I warn you one last time, Nari," Chai Ye’s threat was like death’s sentence:
"If you persist in slipping into long sleep again, I won’t protect you in the next competition.
By then, other apostles will be more than happy to tear you apart, savoring the energy essence in your body."
After communication was severed, Nari slumped in the corner of the treasury, engulfed by the tide-like loneliness.
Though cruel, Chai Ye’s words were the truth in every letter.
In this openly cannibalistic world of the abyss, the weak have no right to survive, apostles included.
It began reminiscing the "success cases" of other apostles, trying to draw some inspiration from them.
"Mad Biter" Mogron, possesses a legion composed of Mutant Werewolves.
These werewolves not only boast combat power close to Moon Level but maintain absolute loyalty.
Their brains are implanted with Mogron’s seeds, making betrayal biologically impossible.
Nari once tried to emulate this method, but the result was catastrophic.
Its seeds were too mighty, causing the lifeform receiving the transplant to either die immediately or transform into mindless crazy beasts.
Mogron’s success seems simple but actually requires extremely precise power control, precisely what Nari lacks.
Nari envied the success of those young apostles.
"Bloodtear Marquis" Asmond, although born nearly a millennium later than Nari, already established a vast family network.
These family members spread across the human world, collecting intelligence for Asmond, spreading chaos, and seeking new transformation targets.
Asmond’s success secret lies in gradual increments, starting from simple blood parasites, gradually strengthening the host’s body and spirit, eventually completing perfect transformation.
This method, though time-consuming, has a very high success rate, and the transformed "family members" almost retain their original wisdom and personality.
Nari also attempted similar methods but always acted too hastily.
Seeing the slow progress of the experimental subject, it couldn’t help but increase the energy output, hoping to accelerate the transformation process.
Often resulting in failure, with the experimental subject exploding at the final moment of imminent success.
These memories reminded Nari of its failed attempts, each one a painful lesson.
The first attempt occurred five hundred years ago, targeting an abyss exploration team composed of several Morning Star Wizards.
Back then, Nari was still young and had extremely crude control over its power.
Naively believing that merely forcibly injecting its abyssal essence into the explorers’ bodies would naturally transform them into loyal subordinates.
The result was disastrous.
The power of the Abyssal Apostle is too frenzy for ordinary creatures, causing the explorers’ bodies to start uncontrollable mutation the moment of contact.
Their muscle tissues frantically grew, blood vessels ruptured and reorganized, bones twisted and deformed.
Ultimately, five people completely collapsed amid devastating screams, leaving only an unrecognizable heap of flesh and gore.
"Why... why did this happen?"
At that time, Nari looked at the carnage, unable to understand why the transformation that other apostles could easily complete was so difficult for it.
The second attempt occurred three hundred years ago, where Nari learned from the last lesson and chose a more powerful Moon Level Mage as the target.
This time it didn’t directly inject power but attempted a "gentle" transformation through spiritual connection.
Everything seemed smooth initially.
The target mage’s body showed no obvious rejection, and the spiritual connection was successfully established.
Nari excitedly began transmitting fragments of its consciousness, hoping to gradually remodel the opponent’s thought patterns through such means.
But issues soon arose.
Nari’s consciousness essence was too chaotic, triggering fierce cognitive conflicts as its thought fragments entered the mage’s spiritual world.
The rational thought structure of that mage began collapsing under chaotic impact.
Memory fragments scattered, and the personality core teetered on the brink.
Though the body suffered no harm, the mage’s spirit was thoroughly dispersed.
He transformed into an idiot who merely laughed foolishly, occasionally uttering completely illogical words — the remaining fragments of Nari’s consciousness causing trouble.
"You... pig-like thing, what have you turned this precious transformation sample into?"
Upon hearing the news, "Bloodtear Marquis" Asmond immediately came to mock:
"I’ve seen many failed transformations, but turning a Moon Level Mage into an idiot, this is a first."
Nari was speechless and could only watch this now worthless failure.
Ultimately, it had to personally end the mage’s life, simultaneously burying its illusion of "gentle transformation."
The third attempt occurred decades ago, where Nari decided to adopt the "chronic erosion" strategy recommended by other apostles.
It painstakingly selected a mage, confined him in a custom biological cage, daily infusing small amounts of abyssal energy.
This method was indeed more reliable; the target’s body and mind didn’t collapse immediately.
Nari could sense the incremental changes in the other every day.
The skin began to exhibit the abyss’s unique dark purple hue, eyes occasionally flashed chaotic gleams, thought processes subtly shifted.
Nari thought it finally found the correct method and began looking forward to the delightful moment of its first subordinate’s birth.
It even prepared a comfortable residence for this "prospective subordinate," adorned with various collectibles it considered "beautiful."
But disaster still struck.
Though gentle, chronic erosion also provided ample time for the target to adapt and resist.
The mage was an alchemy expert.
During transformation, he gradually understood the cage’s structure and learned to enhance his abilities using the abyssal energy within.
On the seventy-third day of the transformation, the mage successfully cracked the biological lock of the cage, escaping control while Nari was out hunting.
He even deliberately sabotaged one of its extremely precious "music boxes."
The furious Nari immediately began a chase but could not find the opponent’s trace again.
"Why... why do I always fail?"
These three painful failures nearly led Nari to abandon the notion of nurturing subordinates.
Whenever it saw other apostles successfully establishing their forces, it could only silently retreat to the depths of its lair, pretending not to care about such solitude.
However, with the competition drawing near, Nari knew it had no choice.
Just as Nari sank into despair, an unexpected phenomenon appeared in the treasury.
Around the cocoon containing a mysterious puppet, abyssal energy began gathering in an unprecedented manner.
These usually chaotic energies aligned into orderly spiral patterns, like preparations for some ancient ritual.
More intriguingly, the puppet surface started emanating a faint and pure glow.
It wasn’t the abyss’s twisted light, but a gentle radiation that filled Nari with inexplicable tranquility.
"What is this?" Nari ceased its painful reminiscing, intensely observing the unprecedented phenomenon.
Throughout its long life, never had it seen abyssal energy exhibit such orderly behavior.
Perhaps, fate finally delivered a special gift.
In Nari’s fearsome large eyes, the long-lost flame of hope began to burn.