The place where the black haze once existed now had an unconscious boy.
The boy was alive, but if someone said he was dead, no one would protest — the injuries all over him were simply too severe.
But suddenly, something happened…
Skin began to knit, pale tissue threading over open wounds with a wet, deliberate precision. Blood, once freely spilling, withdrew into channels unseen, replaced by fresh warmth.
Bones aligned audibly, tiny cracks and pops echoing through the still air as fractured limbs slid back into their natural positions. The rib that had threatened his heart retracted, the dent in his chest smoothing as muscle and sinew layered over the repaired bone. Fingers straightened, toes uncurling, each joint snapping into perfect alignment with mechanical exactness.
The severed hand began to fuse at the wrist, tissue filling in with a seamless, almost liquid motion. Crushed fingers reformed, nails and skin emerging whole and intact. Even the boy's skull, fractured and splintered, reconstructed quietly — the cracks closing as if drawn together by invisible threads.
His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, the heart no longer impinged, the brain swelling subsiding as fluid drained and tissue reabsorbed. Every tear, every rupture, every broken element of the body returned to its intended form.
By the end, the boy lay on the floor, whole and undisturbed, his body a perfect, living form once more. The room remained empty, silent — a witness to the impossible restoration that had taken place.
The minute cracks invisible to the naked eye, shaped like a spider web, were also healed as though they had never existed.
This all happened within half an hour.
However, the boy remained unconscious a little longer.
---
In the adjacent room, the Claw members took high-level potions and looked around.
Raven asked,
"Where is he?"
Lucas replied,
"Like hell I would know. He teleported away. How can he even do that in that… condition?"
Emma said hesitantly,
"Even if we have elixirs now… I don't think he can survive."
Brock nodded.
"Apart from the injuries we saw, the use of Apocalypse must have torn him apart from the inside. This time the use was much more... violent"
Emilia stood up and said,
"He was looking for the ruin… so he must have gone inside."
Everyone stood and rushed toward the room where the reconstruction was in progress.
Emma gasped, shocked.
"T-This is impossible…"
Raven muttered,
"Nature Force that heals?"
Lucas, hearing him, laughed in disbelief.
"Heal? That's basically rebirth."
And after some time, the process was completed. But the boy still remained unconscious.
---
Adrian Lewin's POV
"...My body!!!"
I looked at my body, and relief washed over me.
If I had died, then I wouldn't have healed. So it was a matter of what happened first — the Nature Force kicking in, or my death.
By now, anyone could guess what this does — it regenerates.
And at an unbelievable pace.
If I don't die instantly, then I survive.
Also, it makes my body a little stronger each time. Now I can handle using Apocalypse — but not massive bursts.
The previous injuries were because the tentacle held more power than Apocalypse, and thus a little power bounced back and a little shockwave hit me. Otherwise, Apocalypse wouldn't hurt me, at least not externally.
And now, I can even handle internal wounds… unless I die outright.
The name?
The Devourer's Gift.
Why did the previous owner name it so?
He didn't. There's a spell on the Nature Force itself, tied to how it was formed.
It informs the one who absorbs it — and it did so to me as well.
I'll explain that later.
First, a little payback.
There's something you should know about Apocalypse — if I absorb Nature Mana for a minute and use Apocalypse, then absorb it for two minutes and use it again, the force won't simply double.
With more time, the force increases exponentially.
And now… I'll gift that Kraken something special.
I continuously absorbed Nature Mana for thirty minutes.
---
Meanwhile — an hour ago
When the Kraken attacked me, it was again restricted by glowing symbols.
Angry, it ignored its prey and began destroying the symbols instead.
After an hour and a half, it was done.
---
Adrian Lewin's POV
I had absorbed Nature Mana for thirty minutes. I used Sixth Sense, and also activated The Devourer's Gift — yes, it can be used passively and actively.
Then I teleported beside it, my arm already aimed at the beast.
It noticed me and sent a tentacle toward me, already annoyed from breaking the symbols.
"Apocalypse."
---
On the beach of Stormbarrow
At first, there was only silence. The sea withdrew unnaturally, pulling away from the shore as if the world itself had drawn a deep breath. Wet sand stretched far beyond its normal reach. Fish writhed helplessly, and the air grew dense — heavy with salt and foreboding.
Then came the sound — a deep, rumbling growl that rolled across the horizon, growing louder with every heartbeat. Eyes turned upward, and fear froze every face. The ocean was no longer calm — it had become a rising wall, an impossible mass of water clawing toward the sky. It swallowed the horizon, shimmering and furious, sunlight breaking across it in fractured brilliance.
The wind screamed ahead of it, tearing through trees and snapping banners. The very ground quivered — the sound so vast it seemed to shake the bones.
And then — a hill. The Hand of God.
A dark, jagged mound stood between the sea and the land — nature's last defense.
The monstrous wave struck it head-on. The impact thundered like the sky splitting apart. Water exploded upward, spraying clouds of mist that blotted out the sun.
The hill shuddered but held, splitting the wave and breaking its wrath. In return, its height was reduced by half.
By the time the water reached the shore, it was still fierce — but no longer death itself.
The land had survived.
---
Adrian Lewin's POV
The impact was huge, but the result shocked me.
The Kraken survived — with only four tentacles missing. Even they were already growing back.
Though it was pushed back more than half a kilometer.
Looks like I underestimated Powerhouses.
So I teleported.
I quickly teleported everyone to the beach as soon as I could. Maybe the Kraken overestimated me and didn't try anything.
And so, I escaped.
I was injured internally, but healed in seconds — I didn't even cough up blood.
Then I looked around… damn, Apocalypse was facing the city.
I almost destroyed it.
I headed back and returned to my room.
Everyone else was exhausted — but not me.
The Devourer's Gift also removes exhaustion as it heals me.
Well, it's about time I explain the name.
I mentioned how forty-five years used to mean death for Powerhouses in ancient times — though some tried to escape it. Everyone hunted those who did.
The only one who escaped and lived was the one who created The Devourer's Gift.
Let's call him The Devourer.
He escaped, but he knew what was coming. So he began to search for a way to avoid his death — which, ironically, would now come from Nature Mana itself.
After two years, he knew no normal method would work.
So he created a spell — but this spell was different.
He carved it into his own skin, using his body as the medium unlike when generally used of Nature Mana causes slow formation of patterns.
But to combat Nature Mana, the spell had to be extreme.
To complete it, he used over a billion living sacrifices. That's why the spell carried such immense regeneration — it was practically a Nature Force, though not a pure one, and it still had side effects.
After a decade, he realized he was slowly losing his mind. He tried many things to stop it — but nothing worked.
In the end, Nature Mana was winning.
He understood that he would eventually lose his sanity, and the spell would turn him into a walking corpse.
Then he tried everything to die — but he regenerated every time.
Once, he regenerated just from a single hair.
Finally, he used the corpses of those he had sacrificed — only a million remained — and made one last spell.
It allowed those souls to "claim" what they had lost, weakening the regeneration slightly.
Then, using his own soul, he sealed the power and left a message:
"Whoever claims this should consider it a gift."
Hence — The Devourer's Gift.
---
The next day, I told the Claw members that we were departing.
Emma said,
"I thought you would rest a little."
I replied,
"What happened yesterday must have surely attracted the attention of some Powerhouses — maybe many. So we're leaving."
Raven asked,
"Isn't leaving more suspicious?"
I replied,
"After seeing that visual created by Apocalypse, many will leave. We'll be just one of them."
Everyone nodded.
And so, we departed toward my final Nature Force.
Remember how I said the continent was like a clock?
We're going toward fifteen — almost.
And this time, we're going straight.
No more detours.