The Obsession of That Time, the Deal of "This Moment"

Whoosh—

Another one...

Drawing on the resistance to Void Matter he had gained earlier, Mahoraga kept devouring Void Matter Energy inside Void Matter Space.

The Void Matter that devoured all things on Solaris was now being devoured instead.

If the people at Star Torch Academy found out, they would be astonished.

Mahoraga's body could adapt to Void Matter, and he could draw the power he wanted from it.

But one thing troubled him.

The frequencies mixed into some of the Void Matter.

Frequencies left by animals were fine. Devouring them had little effect on Mahoraga's memories or thoughts.

The frequencies left by humans were harder to deal with.

Aleph-1 might have been hailed as the Void Threnodian that devoured all things, but Mahoraga thought his digestion left much to be desired.

Void Matter Space held not only the remains of buildings, but also frequencies that had never been fully digested.

Those frequencies were embedded in the Void Matter like insects in amber, leaving him no choice but to swallow them as he fed.

Like Void Matter, the frequencies gave him strength when he consumed them.

But they also filled his mind with useless memories and voices.

In time, he realized those useless things were remnants of the frequencies' original owners.

How dull.

Yet however dull and useless Mahoraga found them, the frequencies were undeniably changing him as he continued to devour them.

A thousand years in chaotic time and space, compounded by the influence of those frequencies...

When Mo Bai finally came back for him, how much of him would still be "Mahoraga"?

Over those long years of feeding, he had learned how easily an individual could be changed.

If he were still the mindless killing machine he had once been, he would have had no reason to worry.

But