Chapter 458
Android 18 watched this scene, a trace of shock flashing through her blue eyes.
She knew Loren's power far exceeded what this sword could resist, but she had not expected the sword to choose submission so swiftly after sensing Loren's strength.
The sword had judged that resistance was futile, and submission was a temporary survival strategy.
Loren raised the sword before his eyes, his gray eyes studying the dark red patterns along its blade.
He looked at the nearly invisible energy channels flowing deep within those patterns, like capillaries.
His consciousness sank into the sword, not through perception, but through his will directly penetrating its energy field.
There, at the sword's core, at the boundary between the dark red liquid and black metal, he sensed a consciousness.
It was not Gorr's consciousness. Gorr's consciousness was already gone.
At the moment Gorr took his own life, the remnants of his consciousness had been released from the sword and scattered into the universe.
This was a far older, stronger, and deeper consciousness.
It had no form, no voice, no temperature.
Yet its very existence was oppressive, like the dizziness of looking down from the edge of an abyss, like the terror of being unable to find one's bearings in absolute darkness.
The evil god Knull.
An ancient evil god, creator of the Symbiotes, and the true master of the Necrosword.
His body slept in the deepest darkness of the universe, but a strand of his consciousness clung to this sword.
Through this sword, he influenced, controlled, and devoured the will of every wielder.
Gorr was not the first, nor would he be the last.
As long as Knull's consciousness remained, he could continue spreading hatred and slaughter through this Necrosword.
Loren closed his eyes.
His consciousness left his body, transforming