Overfed

"Make no mistake, mage."

He continued with a smile, "Do you truly believe you can save the world? You are merely a very lucky cross-dimensional mage. If you stand your ground, then, for the sake of the White Tower Council, we shall spare you."

He Shenyan's face remained devoid of emotional fluctuation. The magic he had been preparing for some time erupted from his hands, but instead of unleashing an attack spell that would have been useless against the entity, he cast a portal that the vague figure deemed extremely low-level.

This portal transported He Shenyan directly above the entity's head.

Immediately after, his soul drifted out of his body, leaving the physical shell to crash into the ground and kick up a cloud of dust. The black soul leaped, diving straight into the entity's body.

The entity let out a shrill scream. Its originally pristine, vague form shuddered, and at a speed visible to the naked eye, it began to stain black from the center outward, turning its entire being into pure darkness within seconds.

The entity's kin stared in uncertainty; several had already raised their hands, white light beginning to bloom bit by bit.

"You are quite interesting, pure energy beings, so you are immune to magical attacks, is that it?"

He Shenyan's voice emanated from the massive, blurred black humanoid. He manipulated the colossal frame, moving with agility to dodge the incoming beams of light. Two long, ink-black blades of soul energy ignited in the humanoid's massive hands.

He Shenyan's voice now rolled like thunder: "What about soul attacks?"

"Madman! How dare you use your own soul as a weapon?!"

One of them cursed in rage, only to be run through the heart by He Shenyan, who had appeared behind it—if it had a heart, that is. From the point of impact, the blackness began to rapidly consume the white.

In the next second, dozens of white beams bombarded the being currently being converted, causing it to vanish into ash amidst a scream. They were ruthless; even if it meant killing their own companion, they could not allow the mage to grow stronger.

However, their actions made He Shenyan, hovering in mid-air, laugh: "So you cannot immunize yourselves against energy attacks from your own kind? I see."

He retracted the blades formed from his soul and clasped his hands together. Beams of pure black energy erupted from between his fingers, carrying the exact energy signature of the entities, striking each of their heads with precision and leaving them in a momentary state of paralysis.

But it wasn't over. Beneath He Shenyan's feet, a massive black shadow he had been preparing for some time took shape. Dozens of thick, giant tentacles lashed out, binding the nearest one and dragging it into the abyss.

"I must say, you taste absolutely wonderful."

As He Shenyan spoke, he even let out a burp. The fate of the vague figure dragged into the shadows was self-evident. It wasn't as if he hadn't eaten energy beings before, but he had never eaten ones this large; feeling stuffed was inevitable.

With so many still left before him, it seemed he would have to play the role of a glutton today.

"Stop! Mage! We can share this world with you! It is the truth! We can trade with you under the witness of the White Tower Council!"

One of them, bearing a rapidly healing hole in its forehead, said anxiously.

"Tell me what the White Tower Council is first."

He Shenyan knew it was trying to stall for time, but wasn't he doing the same? A person who has eaten their fill always needs time to digest before engaging in strenuous activity.

Terrified that He Shenyan might eat another one if the conversation soured, the entity spoke at a rapid-fire pace: "The White Tower Council is an organization composed of many cross-dimensional mages like yourself. They provide protection to all mages who have traveled across dimensions within the Star Sea."

"As long as you stop! We can share this world with you. We cannot violate the contract of the White Tower Council, believe me!"

The anxiety in its tone did not seem feigned, but He Shenyan had no interest in this mysterious White Tower Council at the moment.

He raised his massive black arm, and a beam of light flashed, cutting the speaker in half at the waist. Tentacles reached out once more, dragging its severed body into the shadows amidst its screams.

He Shenyan said nothing; he simply treated this as a buffet.

These beings, who had been so arrogant only moments ago, were now like stray dogs. The halos above their heads still shone brightly, and their bodies still radiated white light, but whether they resisted or fled, it was all in vain. One by one, they were dragged into the shadows beneath He Shenyan's feet by the giant black tentacles.

This peculiar buffet lasted from late night until dusk, a full day. The people of Hogwarts remained in a deep sleep, and those who had been brainwashed returned to normal once the source of the influence was removed.

To them, this brief moment wasn't even enough to understand what had happened.

He Shenyan floated above the Earth. The black humanoid shell he currently inhabited had grown to the size of a city after absorbing twenty-three of his kin.

He struggled to mobilize the volatile magic within his body and cast an invisibility spell. Although there weren't many satellites above the Earth in the nineties, one had to be cautious. He didn't want to leave behind any strange, unsolved mysteries.

This was a risky endeavor, but the harvest was bountiful. Not to mention the mysterious White Tower that they feared so much, the memories of these energy beings were stored within their own bodies.

After devouring them, he learned, unsurprisingly, that they did indeed come from Heaven—but not the Heaven in He Shenyan's imagination.

It was the "source of all Heavens, the Eternal Heaven."

The title was grand enough, but the name was common to the point of absurdity—even a bit bizarre. In most cases, wasn't Heaven supposed to be eternal by definition?

It wasn't as if every world had a group of rebellious mages from Kamar-Taj.

The mage learned from their memories that the Eternal Heaven had a great reputation in the endless Star Sea, though not a good one.

They would cast information about Heaven out through message disturbances, much like throwing a message in a bottle. If an undiscovered world picked up this bottle and used the spells within, they would be tracked.

These angels were the ones sent to bring that world into their fold.

This behavior was what they called "discovery."

Discovery?

He Shenyan laughed. You discover a world that is already inhabited; what kind of discovery is that? By their logic, if I go to a parking lot after dinner and find a car that belongs to someone else and drive it away, that counts as a discovery too?

You could certainly try telling that to the police when they arrive.

But discovery was only the first step. Once they arrived, they would brainwash everyone, turning them into loyal believers of Heaven, spending their entire lives generating light and heat for Heaven through their faith, contributing energy. Even after death, their souls would be harvested to serve as fuel.

When he reached this part of the memories, he could no longer suppress the cold smile on his face. A strange sense of humor reminded him of a stand-up routine he had once seen. It was a bit by George Carlin.

He Shenyan remembered the white-haired old man he had seen in the theater, standing on stage with a comical expression, performing in a humorous tone.

"So, you want me to believe that there is an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do every minute of every day, and this man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever till the end of time."

"But he loves you."

What an ironic joke.

He Shenyan twitched his fingers, and the body he had left on Earth flew upward toward him. As it reached his front, his soul drifted out and returned to his own flesh, incidentally consuming the black angel shell as well.

Ignoring the magic power rioting within him from being overstuffed, he cleared his mind of all complex thoughts and began to meditate.

He had to digest all this magic, or the consequences for a mage would be fatal. You might only intend to cast a minor spell, such as conjuring a glass of water or a piece of bread, but the result could be a violent fireball that roasts everyone within a hundred miles into charcoal.

This was not an acceptable outcome—he was extremely demanding of himself, otherwise, he would never have achieved his current level of power.

The promised extra updates are here, and the trial promotion has arrived as well. I'm in a good mood, so let's do five chapters tomorrow too.

I write everything in real-time, so it will be a bit slow. I'll throw up two chapters first, then grab a bite to eat and keep at it.

Continuing to shamelessly ask for votes, thank you everyone~