In the eyes of the Great Nightmare Creature, what occurred in that moment was something impossible for its limited intellect to understand. At one moment, its prey was all but departed from the world of the living.
In the next, the human was cleaving through him once again.
Caster was exceptionally tired.
He had long lost count of how long it took to accelerate the healing and growth of the Vermin within him.
However, he knew one thing to be true.
In that moment, the Vermin within him were greater than all others combined. Caster was unsure if the number and potency of Vermin within Gehrman was greater, but he couldn't imagine there was a large difference.
The process of cell growth to repair the ghastly wounds he had suffered were supernaturally supplemented within him by Vermin.
The bones that had been blown through were temporarily sustained by Vermin shifting into the material realm. It was unclear how exactly this heightened healing from being a Vileblood worked, but it seemed that the Vermin could also supplement lost bone, which could not be regrown even with a highly accelerated body.
The result of this Vileblood healing taken to the utmost extreme was the following: a total recovery.
Unable to summon the [Prideful Chikage] without waiting for far too many seconds, Caster made his way forward by simply slashing through the flesh with his bare hands. Coated in the [Onyx Carapace] the nails formed deadly weapons in their own right.
With enough room, he returned to Taowu and nearly bottomed out his Essence supply in decelerating the assault upon him. In his transformed state, the living myth tore through what was left of what trapped him.
This whole turn around was so sudden and inexplicable that the Great Nightmare Creature didn't have time to react.
Funnily enough, it was its heightened intelligence (that came from being a higher Class) which was its doom.
A Beast would have simply continued clawing forward, but whatever this thing was had the wherewithal to realize something absurd had just happened.
Furthermore, it couldn't truly realize how absurd the events were until the mighty claws and tail of Taowu reached it and started a merciless assault.
Each swipe left nary a scratch on the decapitated head. However, Caster was letting loose hundreds of attacks in less than a second.
A now familiar phenomena to the Great Creature occurred, as the air around it blurred as the oxygen and everything else around it burned from simply being in the presence of such speed.
It sent out every attack it could, but at this point, nothing could touch the creature roaring above it.
And so, that was the last thing it heard, the triumph of Honor Fell.
…
[You have slain a Great Devil, Scholar of Transgression.]
[You have received a Memory.]
Caster transformed back into his human form and fell to his knees. It took all his will power to not collapse into unconsciousness right then and there.
Fortunately, two things kept him barely hanging on.
The first was indignation.
Are you fucking kidding me? All that and it wasn't even a Tyrant?
It pissed him off, but did put things into perspective. Caster had grown obscenely strong. However, there were still plenty of things that he had to be wary of.
In the future, fighting such a thing one on one was probably a bad idea.
At least, it would have been.
The second thing keeping him awake was that second notification.
A Memory.
Not only that, but a Supreme Memory of the 4th Tier.
Even Gehrman only had a handful of Supreme Memories, and Caster suspected he may be one of, if not the only Saint in the world to have earned such a thing.
In his opinion though, he damn well earned it.
He desperately wanted to take a look at it. He also needed to take a breather before going back up and dealing with the rest of the Arbiters. Besides, for now neither of the other two Saints were at any risk of death.
It was a bit selfish, but he pulled up his runes and selected his newest Memory.
Memory: [Page of All Knowledge]
Memory Type: [Tool]
Memory Rank: [Supreme]
Memory Tier: [IV]
Memory Description:
[An ancient kingdom was ruled by a weak and feeble Sovereign. To all who came to that place, he accepted any plea or deal in order to keep what little power he had. His Domain was built on knowledge, that of the world and the absolute rules decreed by the gods. Sacrificing his people and riches, he maintained that vast keep of information.
The Prince of that kingdom could not stand his fathers ways, and so he became the opposite. Inspired by the tale of a Plague of Steel, the Prince took drastic action. He took it upon himself to slay his father.
Only, as a Sovereign of knowledge, the king had foreseen this and already prepared for the outcome.
He slayed his own son, and descended into madness.
He took upon himself the task of consolidating all information, no matter how insignificant, into one place.]
Caster's brow raised. Memory descriptions were usually vague or succinct in nature. Very rarely was a tale from the ancient past spelled out so thoroughly.
It struck a cord with him though.
I can't quite recall, but is the idea of all knowledge codified in a single place the concept behind the Tower of Babel?
He frowned.
No, the tower was built to reach the heavens. It was then struck down and the cataclysm of the fall caused a split of people. It was that story that explained to the ancients of earth why some spoke different languages.
It was indeed different, but, oddly enough, the idea of a tower being used to house all knowledge seemed quite fitting.
Much like what the Cursed entity was.
"Is that what it is? A crystallization of knowledge? Could that Sovereign have tried to ascend to godhood, only to be struck down and Corrupted?"
It was impossible to say, but it certainly went along with what they knew so far.
The Great Beasts were the "Arbiters of Transgression". This Devil was the "Scholar of Transgression". Perhaps they were each the peoples who served under that mad king and worked to construct and work inside the keep of that Sovereign.
It made sense. After all, what was that tower if not a "transgression" upon the gods' omniscience?
It doesn't matter. Such information may be helpful if anyone ever decides to attack that Cursed being, but right now no one can even get close. There is no point in wondering about hypotheticals.
What did matter was that he had a Supreme Tool at his disposal.
He had been hoping for armor, after all he could still use the enchantments of the [Onyx Carapace] without that armor summoned. So a Supreme armor would effectively double his protections.
Still, Tools were always versatile and useful.
He returned his mind to the runes.
Enchantments: [Omniscient Fallacy].
[Omniscient Fallacy]: This page bonds with the user. Within it, a multitude of great and terrible knowledge resides dormant. It may be used once in order to gain instant understanding of any concept. Then twice more can it be observed to gain mastery of any mundane concept.
Caster blinked.
That was…quite open-ended.
"Any" concept was simply mind boggling. In the past, he would have been more than a bit peeved at having his first Supreme Memory be a bestowal of knowledge, but he knew better now what power this could grant him.
He also knew what danger it could bring.
What if he were to ask the page to understand the Corruption that inflicted Nightmare Creatures.
Surely, he would know the intricacies behind it, but he also may become Corrupted in the process.
Some knowledge was not meant for mortals, after all.
What about "mundane concepts"?
Would the sciences count? Would combat count?
What if I asked it for knowledge of speed? That was more promising, it was a thing grounded in the sciences, but he knew all too well how powerful applied sciences could be when combined with one's Aspect.
It was partially because of that method that Gehrman was so damn powerful.
Caster dismissed the Runes.
I'll ask him about it, I'm sure he'll think of something absurd.