The Rainbow Flashing Stone

The stone was a little larger than my fist.

It held so many different lights inside that the name Rainbow Flashing Stone felt perfectly fitting.

“Beautiful, and yet so complex.”

Nyx murmured softly, sounding intrigued.

Countless gazes from the constellations poured down on me.

That damn Odin. He handed over a flashy reward while pretending to be disappointed. What a hypocrite.

A piece of Bifrost. The option to lock coordinates during dimensional travel was useless on Earth right now.

The core function—projecting “multiple forces”—was also extremely vague.

A catalyst usually amplified a specific type of magic power. But this stone specialized in holding multiple wavelengths; amplification or reinforcement was far from its specialty.

“Actually, that’s perfect.”

It looked like he gave it to me to mess with me, but he miscalculated.

I never expected to obtain the Rainbow Flashing Stone this quickly.

The realm of Completion.

It was the bridgehead that allowed one to step beyond the limits of mortality and enter the same domain as the constellations who had carved their names into the heavens.

I never imagined I would reach the first step so soon.

As expected, accepting the difficulty increase had been the right choice.

“You seem unusually happy.”

“Me?”

“I can tell just by looking at your face.”

I thought I had kept my expression under control.

I smoothed down my twitching lips and logged out of the Tower.

I climbed to the rooftop with the Rainbow Flashing Stone in hand.

Nyx followed and poked her head out curiously.

“You still have one Tower challenge attempt left, do you not?”

“There’s something more urgent right now.”

“Hoo, it must be related to that reward.”

“You really do catch on quick.”

“Hehe, this time too, Yeo shall watch over you.”

I was about to ask her to stand guard anyway. She already knew without me saying a word.

I didn’t want the other constellations to see what I planned to do with the Rainbow Flashing Stone, so I had returned to Earth.

Learning Seon Magic was nice, but I still felt like I was losing out.

“Don’t tell the other constellations.”

I pointed a finger into the empty air.

The answer came instantly.

Well, it wasn’t like Sun Wukong was the only voyeur among the constellations.

Besides, I also had the Shining Trapezohedron attached to the back of my hand. I decided not to worry about it too much.

“By the way, how long must you keep that thing attached?”

“I can’t remove it with my own power.”

Nyx let out a small hum.

Yog-Sothoth’s energy really did feel ominous.

It was also cumbersome.

“It’s not like there’s no solution, so don’t worry too much.”

The Shining Trapezohedron was a stone that contained authority, just like Zeus’s holy relic, the Thunder Stone.

If I tried to Devour it, something bad would definitely happen, so I couldn’t touch it.

“Even for you, Devouring that seems dangerous.”

“Everything has its proper time.”

The Void Jewel.

It was an item I obtained from raiding Grand Duke Nashan, the boss monster on the 20th floor.

I had originally gotten it to trade for void-related essences, but thanks to Yog-Sothoth’s antics, a new use had appeared.

“More importantly, right now I need to eat this.”

The Rainbow Flashing Stone.

It was the catalyst I had used in my previous life to reach the realm of Completion.

“The realm of Completion?”

“Yeah. If I want to fight the Old Gods, I have to break free from the system’s limits first.”

Players.

Those who grew stronger under the Tower’s protection.

At the same time, they were also bound by the Tower of Babel’s rules.

The ones who built the Tower’s system.

That was also why players had no choice but to be helplessly defeated in front of the Old Gods.

“Indeed. Even if one charges at the source of power, they would only be absorbed.”

“Once you reach the realm of Completion, you can escape the system’s limits.”

“Then will you not be unable to use your ability, Devour?”

“I’m escaping its influence. That doesn’t mean I can’t use it.”

It meant standing solely on my own power and ‘karma’ instead of relying on the Tower system’s support.

That was why I had to enter the realm of Completion.

“I see. I understand.”

“So please watch over me properly.”

“Hehe, leave your safety to Yeo.”

I gripped the Rainbow Flashing Stone tightly.

There were many ways to reach the realm of Completion.

In magic, it was completing one’s hierarchy.

In martial arts, it was gaining enlightenment to reach the Mind Sword—the realm where one could wield inner energy regardless of distance.

Beyond that, there were as many paths to ‘Completion’ as there were branches of power.

The small problem was that I couldn’t choose any of those paths.

Because I had accepted all kinds of powers through Devour, reaching Completion in any single field wouldn’t allow me to step into that realm.

Just having enlightenment didn’t mean I could suddenly unleash the Mind Sword.

The answer to advancing toward Completion still lay in Devour.

“I wondered how I would get this. I got lucky.”

The Rainbow Flashing Stone.

A catalyst that could contain multiple forces.

There was no power more suitable for my unique ability than the essence dwelling within it.

“Huu.”

I took a deep breath.

I devoured the reward I had obtained from the mission.

Seven-colored light seeped into my body.

Normally, the absorbed essence should have manifested as a skill.

That was the ‘rule’ set by the Tower system.

The Rainbow Flashing Stone that had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seeped into my palm.

I concentrated the divine power residing in my crown onto my right arm.

My arm glowed brilliantly.

The essence I had just absorbed was caught by my divine power instead of being incorporated into the system.

My arm trembled like an aspen leaf.

It wasn’t my will.

The Tower of Babel system had intervened.

It began moving the essence, trying to destroy my divine power and force my Devour ability to activate.

That wasn’t going to happen.

If I let the essence of the Rainbow Flashing Stone be incorporated into the system here, I would lose this opportunity in vain.

In my previous life, after trying every possible method to reach the realm of Completion, I had discovered this technique.

Collide this essence directly with my unique ability itself!

I transformed the divine power concentrated in my forearm into a net-like shape.

Thanks to handling the power of Polar Night in this life, controlling divine power wasn’t difficult.

Swish!

The essence shining with seven colors was wrapped up and moved above my head instead of into the system.

Colliding another power with the unique ability granted by the Tower to escape the system?

Yes.

This method wasn’t something like ‘enlightenment’—it was a loophole.

A technique to circumvent the system that one of the Old Gods had taught me.

It was a shame I hadn’t seen that bastard in the Tower’s basement.

The moment the essence of the Rainbow Flashing Stone collided with my unique ability, Devour—

Crack!

The ‘limit’ that had been confining me began to shatter.

My origin and unique ability.

If I tried to grow Devour itself, the Tower system would register it as an error.

Obviously, this wasn’t a method I could use often.

It wasn’t common to find an essence that evolved the ability itself rather than creating synergy with Devour.

The Rainbow Flashing Stone was one of those rare essences.

The description of my unique ability had grown enormously.

The second paragraph was the effect created by colliding it with the Rainbow Flashing Stone.

The last paragraph was proof that I had taken one step into the realm of Completion.

“Hehehehehe.”

Laughter leaked out.

That Odin bastard.

He never would have guessed I would use the Rainbow Flashing Stone like this, right?

I had safely taken the first step toward breaking free from the system.

It wasn’t important right now, but later, during the era of destruction, it would become a great help.

With humanity’s current specs, there was no way to win the competition against other races that began after the first Great Erosion.

The result of the Tower of Babel eroding the world could never be avoided.

I had simply taken out insurance in advance.

The only disappointing part was that normally, reaching the realm of Completion brought a dramatic increase in specs, yet I had none of that?

Because colliding the essence to escape the Tower system was itself a loophole, there hadn’t been any major change.

No.

“If there’s no reward, I’ll just make one myself.”

I had evolved my Devour ability with the Rainbow Flashing Stone.

The ability to recombine multiple essences.

It sounded grandiose at first glance, but it wasn’t as amazing as it sounded.

It was basically an extension of body reconstruction.

I observed the body I had reconstructed using the essences of primordial species.

The essences placed throughout my body.

Orc essence was embedded in my muscles, King Slime essence flowed in my blood.

Many other essences had permeated my body and enhanced my physical abilities.

Even though the total number of essences I had devoured so far exceeded one hundred, fewer than ten were synchronized with my body.

That would change now.

The first target for recombination was my legs.

At my current level, the essence of Rapid Dash seemed the most suitable.

I infused the essence of Rapid Dash into my legs.

A burning sensation.

The change in properties and stat increase were things ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had already experienced while reconstructing my body.

The stats increased more, but it was hard to call it a dramatic change.

What mattered here was that I could assign lower essences.

Skill coefficient increase.

And even stats.

There was a penalty of not being able ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to use the skill, but since the synergy effect remained, it wasn’t a big loss.

If I assigned skills I rarely used as lower essences, I could increase the power of my main skills.

From now on, it was time to reassemble the essences.