Chapter 514: Chapter 501: Thanatos and PX-4

"The test begins. First ability: Advanced Shadow Travel."

As soon as the words were spoken, the massive Golem before him began to "fade" without any warning.

Its entire body became translucent, like an ink wash painting soaked in water. In less than a second, the Golem vanished into thin air.

Through the Allen Network’s vision, Allen could see that Thanatos hadn’t moved. Instead, it had ’sunk’ into the layer beneath the Material Realm—the Shadow Realm.

A dimensional barrier separated it from the real world, rendering physical and most energy attacks ineffective. Yet, it could peer through this gossamer veil, observing everything in the Material Realm and ready to launch a fatal strike at any moment.

"Second ability: Soul Perception."

Allen closed his eyes, severing all visual links. The world in his mind dissolved into darkness.

The next moment, Thanatos’s perception flooded in.

The world of darkness was instantly illuminated.

Throughout Cybertron, bright white flames flickered everywhere. These were the Control Cores, forged from fragmented souls. The few blue flames marked the artificial souls and living creatures that Allen had cultivated.

Allen’s own soul, however, was a dazzling, deep-blue sun that radiated the very presence of a Law.

This was the soulscape. In this field of vision, walls, metal, buildings—all matter ceased to exist. Only the flames of life burned in the darkness.

In environments where vision was obstructed, Thanatos could provide Allen with a soul-level view of the battlefield.

"Lock onto the test target: High-Risk Isolation Space C-7," Allen ordered.

Thanatos’s ’gaze’ instantly pierced through dozens of kilometers, crossing countless buildings and energy barriers to lock directly onto a fully sealed alloy laboratory.

Imprisoned there was a Level 2 Magical Beast, captured alive: a young red dragon.

It was pacing about restlessly, the flame of its soul burning fiercely above its head.

"Third test: Soul Hook."

’As you command, Creator.’

Dozens of kilometers away, Thanatos remained within the Shadow Realm. It slowly raised its right hand, the one clutching the chain.

RATTLE—

One of the Rune-etched chains coiled around its arm slid down silently, slithering into the gloom like a venomous snake.

Meanwhile, inside High-Risk Isolation Space C-7.

The irascible young red dragon suddenly froze, the scales on its neck practically standing on end. It let out a terrified, mournful cry that seemed to originate from the very depths of its soul.

It saw nothing and heard nothing.

But it ’felt’ something... coming.

In the next instant, a chained scythe shimmering with ghostly green Runes shot out from the shadow behind it without any warning.

The chained scythe seemed to lack a physical form, ignoring the dragon’s surface Magic Shield and scale armor as it passed directly through its flesh.

"RAAAGH—!"

The red dragon let out a bloodcurdling shriek. Its body convulsed violently, but its soul had been hooked fast by the scythe from another dimension.

Back in the hangar, Thanatos gave its arm a slight backward tug.

SHINK!

The chain was yanked out of the gloom, the scythe at its end dragging a violently struggling soul!

In Laboratory C-7, the massive red dragon’s body crashed to the ground. Its life force vanished in an instant, leaving behind a perfectly intact draconic corpse.

Thanatos tossed the red dragon’s wailing soul into the Soul Furnace.

The gravitational pull at the furnace’s core intensified, slowly grinding down and absorbing the soul.

Allen could clearly feel Thanatos’s aura grow a fraction stronger.

Though faint, it was a permanent growth.

’High-level souls really pack a punch.’

’As long as it has enough souls... in theory, it can grow infinitely stronger.’ Allen nodded in satisfaction.

Now *this* is the kind of attack a Level 4 Golem should have. It’s completely unfair, defies convention, and kills with a single strike to the soul.

As for its fourth ability, it couldn’t be tested on Cybertron.

It was an actively triggered domain ability.

Once unleashed, countless dead souls would pour from Thanatos’s body to continuously damage all enemies.

Within a 50-kilometer radius, the air would grow cold, the light would dim, and all sound would vanish. Any enemy within the domain would feel an irrepressible fatigue and despair. Those with weaker wills would have their souls torn from their bodies and collected directly by Thanatos’s lantern.

The domain was ineffective against soul-less constructs, but it was especially lethal to living creatures.

Thanatos was not a Golem skilled in melee or physical attacks; it lacked world-shattering destructive power.

On a complex battlefield, it specialized in dealing with targets that ’other Golems can’t handle’—enemy Commanders, High-tier Casters, and enemies skilled at hiding.

It didn’t need to cross defensive lines. It only had to perceive the target’s soul, and its chains would pierce through any obstacle via the Shadow Realm to reap the target directly.

At its current power level, reaping a Second-level Wizard who wasn’t proficient in soul defense would be effortless.

But given time to grow, it could become like the grim reaper itself, a true nightmare for its enemies.

...

Thanatos stood silently in the shadows of the hangar, like an ancient, unchanging enigma.

It was cool, it was powerful, and it could strike fear into the hearts of its enemies.

But it couldn’t give Allen a true sense of security.

It had no thick armor, no deafening roar, no world-destroying cannons.

’An assassin hiding in the shadows to reap lives is, in the end, just a tactical measure.’

’When facing an overwhelming Beast Tide, or a direct confrontation with an expert of the same level, an assassin can’t act as a shield.’

Allen was a pure pragmatist, and his phobia of insufficient firepower was already terminal.

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