Absolute Cheater-Chapter 309: Red Womb III

After some time, Asher opened his eyes. A dark green light—thick and sickly—flashed within them, flickering like a phantom flame.

He had gained 3% comprehension of the Corruption Law now.

Across from him, Valeris stirred as well. She blinked slowly, then gave a small sigh. She had only absorbed two crystals, so her gain was naturally less.

"You done?" she asked, glancing his way.

"Yes," Asher replied, his voice low with mild disgust. "And it's pathetically weak."

Valeris tilted her head, amused. "What, expecting it to rival your Supreme Law of Death?"

He let out a short breath, not quite a sigh. "It barely scratches it. At most, it adds 30% of the force my Death Law already exerts. And that's being generous."

Valeris nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense. A minor Law can't compete with a Supreme one, even if you master it."

"Still," Asher added, his eyes narrowing slightly, "it has... uses. Especially with blood-based manipulation. If I fuse it correctly into my Reaper arts, it could make something... nastier."

"That's more like you," Valeris said with a faint smirk. "Twisting weaker things into weapons."

He gave a half-shrug. "Efficiency."

"Anyway, let's head to the next chamber—or Womb," he said, turning away as his footsteps echoed faintly across the withering floor.

Valeris followed, the glow of the fading Blood Crystals still clinging faintly to her fingers. The Undying Celestial moved behind them, silent as death, its greatsword resting against one armored shoulder.

Together, they approached the spiral staircase of bone and red stone, descending deeper into the next layer of the Red Womb.

As they walked, Valeris glanced at the Undying Celestial with curiosity. "What is his name?"

To her surprise, the Reaper answered in a deep, echoing voice. "Black Tide, my lady."

Asher chuckled at her reaction as he said. "Didn't expect that, huh? Yeah, he can talk. He's not just a husk. He has mastery over Darkness, light, and Cutting Laws—smart and powerful."

Valeris tilted her head thoughtfully. "But… Black Tide? Why that name?"

The Undying Celestial looked at Asher, his hollow crown flickering faintly, seeing this Valeris understood its Asher who have given him this name"Really? You couldn't have given him a better name?"

Asher gave a half-smile. "It's poetic. Black Tide is more of a metaphor than a literal title. You rise like a tide, crush everything, then fade back into shadow."

Valeris chuckled softly as they reached the next Womb.

The chamber was shaped like a massive, grey grotto. At its center pulsed a huge crimson egg, embedded in the ground and beating like a living heart.

"I guess the boss hasn't spawned yet," Asher muttered.

Suddenly, Black Tide stepped forward. "Master. May I handle this one? I sense dense traces of the Darkness Law within it. It would be a valuable fight for me."

Asher looked at him, then nodded. "Alright. Sure. Go for it. Honestly, I've never seen you fight seriously before."

Valeris also stepped to the side with him, both of them taking positions at the edge of the chamber as Black Tide drew his greatsword and stepped toward the egg-like Womb, shadows beginning to swirl around his armored form.

The chamber pulsed with a slow, visceral rhythm, like the heartbeat of some slumbering god. The walls were slick with black ichor, and veins of crimson corruption pulsed across the stone. The colossal red egg at the center shuddered once—then split open with a wet, bone-scraping crack.

From it unfurled a nightmare.

Vel-Skar emerged in spasms of twitching motion—a hulking, semi-humanoid abomination stitched together with tar-black flesh and armored bone. Its limbs were elongated, jagged at the joints like broken swords, and its maw stretched too far across its face, packed with uneven teeth that radiated black vapor. From its back sprouted four wings—two feathered and white, two membranous and void-dark, twitching and jittering in opposition. Its entire body oozed Corruption, and within its shadow beat the heart of Darkness.

Vel-Skar, the Blight of the Hollowed Night

Rank: Peak Blooming World

Attributes: Darkness, Corruption, Void

"Darkness and Corruption... that thing was shaped by the Womb's Darkness and Corruption law unlike previous one Blood and Corruption," Valeris murmured.

"I smell rot in its Law," Black Tide said, stepping forward. "May I?"

Asher nodded, stepping back. "Go."

Vel-Skar screeched, its limbs stretching outward unnaturally, black ichor dripping from the claws.

Black Tide bowed slightly toward it, sword raised diagonally over his chest. The crown above his head dimmed, then pulsed once with solemn light.

Vel-Skar launched first—its winged form blurring into a flash of shadow. It struck with the weight of a battering ram, claws whistling through the air.

But Black Tide did not step back. He flowed.

With preternatural grace, he pivoted—his sword flashing upward in an arc of glimmering twilight. "Veil Splitter"—a signature move. The blade cut not just through flesh but the veil of shadow itself, parting Vel-Skar's darkness and carving a streak across its ribs.

Vel-Skar recoiled, shrieking as its blood, black and luminescent, splattered onto the floor.

Chains shot out again—this time from the ceiling, the floor, even the very walls. Corruption-born spears, they stabbed toward the Reaper in a web of piercing death.

"Umbral Step."

Black Tide vanished—folding into the shadow cast by Vel-Skar's own body and emerging behind it, blade poised in a perfect horizontal slash. "Lightfall Severance"—a technique that combined the speed of Cutting Laws with a burst of radiant darkness. His strike tore through one of the creature's wings in a spray of corrupted ash.

But Vel-Skar was a monster of chaos. From its wound, tendrils of crawling corruption exploded outward, forming a secondary limb that lashed like a serpent.

Black Tide raised a hand—darkness spiraled, and then with a flare of brilliance, a shield of mirrored light formed in his palm. "Equinox Guard." The tendril struck, and the chamber rang with a thunderous clang as dark and light collided.

The ground beneath their feet rippled as Vel-Skar roared—summoning a storm of anti-light. The room dimmed, sound twisted, and the abomination's voice turned into words.

"Endless light… endless dark… you are neither."

Vel-Skar's wings beat once—corruption flooded the air in a roiling vortex. Black Tide remained still. Then—

He leapt.

The shadows beneath him erupted with blinding brilliance as he launched into the air, sword crackling with twin halos.