The Dark Devilgod Tiger roared in anger as it felt its immense power being siphoned away. Its body began to shrink, the once terrifying spirit beast regressing in age and size until it was reduced to a mere shadow of its former self, now possessing the equivalent of only a few thousand years of cultivation.
Yet, even in this weakened state, it remained a formidable foe. With at least fifty thousand years of cultivation at its peak, it had once contended with the two overlords of the Star Dou Forest's inner region, the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python—behemoths compared to its mere tens of meters in height.
Mubai wasted no time. While the Dark Devilgod Tiger was startled, angry, and confused as to how a human could open the Life and Death Arena, Mubai charged forward with incredible speed. His newly fused spirit—a blend of the Evil-Eye White Tiger and Dark Devilgod Tiger—enhanced his physical strength and agility beyond his previous limits. His muscles coiled and released like springs, propelling him across the battlefield with precision and power.
The Dark Devilgod Tiger noticed this and lunged at him, its diminished but still formidable presence coming down like a hammer. Mubai met the assault head-on, his claws, now as sharp as razors, slashing through the air and clashing with the Dark Devilgod Tiger's own in a flurry of strikes. Sparks flew as their claws collided.
Suddenly, Mubai twisted his body, narrowly avoiding a swipe from the Dark Devilgod Tiger's scorpion-like tail, and countered with a vicious uppercut to the beast's jaw. The impact sent the Dark Devilgod Tiger reeling backward, its eyes flaring with both rage and desperation.
In retaliation, the Dark Devilgod Tiger unleashed a blast of dark energy, followed by a surge of evil and lightning power, aiming to overpower Mubai with sheer force. Mubai reacted instantly, crossing his four wings in front of him to shield himself. The dark energy blast collided with his wings, the black and white membranes absorbing and dispersing the force. The lightning crackled around him, but his defenses held firm, leaving him unscathed.
Seizing the moment, Mubai launched himself into the air with a powerful flap of his wings. He grabbed the Dark Devilgod Tiger while it was still recovering from the aftermath of its reckless use of spirit power, which had drained nearly half of its remaining reserves. Using the momentum, he slammed it into the ground from a great height, the impact cracking the earth beneath them. The Dark Devilgod Tiger roared in pain, struggling to rise, but Mubai didn't give it the chance, pinning it to the ground with his foot on its chest.
Channeling his spirit power, Mubai unleashed a devastating finishing blow—a concentrated beam of energy that intertwined light and darkness, mimicking the Dark Devilgod Tiger's previous attack. The energy engulfed the Dark Devilgod Tiger, piercing through its defenses and searing its flesh. The beast let out one final, ear-splitting roar before collapsing, its body disintegrating into dust.
As the Life and Death Arena dissolved, returning the surroundings to the familiar landscape of the Star Dou Forest, Mubai looked down at the spot where the Dark Devilgod Tiger had fallen. The remnants of its energy condensed into a black spirit ring, ready to be absorbed. Unexpectedly, a pair of black wings—an external spirit bone—also dropped from the Dark Devilgod Tiger.
Mubai sat cross-legged on the ground next to the ten-thousand-year-old spirit ring, taking a moment to recover his spirit power and stamina in preparation for absorbing the ring. While doing so, he checked his status.
———
NAME: DAI MUBAI
AGE: 11
SEX: MALE
SPIRIT POWER: 30 — SPIRIT MASTER
SPIRITUAL POWER: 3000 — SPIRIT SEA REALM
—
SPIRIT: TWILIGHT OVERLORD TIGER
ATTRIBUTES: [SPIRITUAL] [LIGHT] [DARKNESS]
SECONDARY ATTRIBUTES: [WIND] [LIGHTNING]
EFFECTS:
• GRANTS THE CONSTITUTION OF THE TWILIGHT OVERLORD TIGER.
• ENHANCES ALL PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL ATTRIBUTES BY 300%.
• INCREASES THE POWER OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS ATTRIBUTED ATTACKS.]
INNATE SKILLS: [LIFE AND DEATH ARENA] → Creates a domain where the opponents are temporarily regressed to their younger selves. [TWILIGHT OVERLORD'S THORN] → Unleashes a powerful strike with the tail, significantly boosting piercing force. [TWILIGHT OVERLORD'S PROTECTION] → Envelops the body with wings, providing absolute defense against attacks up to two realms higher.
———
During his battle against the Dark Devilgod Tiger, Mubai utilized two of the innate skills from his Twilight Overlord Tiger spirit: Life and Death Arena to gain the upper hand, and Twilight Overlord's Protection to shield himself from the Tiger's devastating dark energy wave.
The battle proved relatively easy thanks to these innate skills, combined with his naturally strong body, spirit power, and spiritual power—all amplified fourfold by the Twilight Overlord Tiger spirit. Even without relying on additional spirit ring skills, Mubai was able to mimic the Dark Devilgod Tiger's moves with his own unique touch.
Now, it was time to reap the rewards. Mubai summoned his Twilight Overlord Tiger spirit and guided it toward the black spirit ring. The ring was naturally drawn to the spirit and seamlessly melted into it without resistance.
The absorption process was smooth and uneventful, with no resistance or spiritual attack from the remnant soul of the Dark Devilgod Tiger. This made it easy for Mubai to integrate the spirit ring and spirit bone into his own spirit and absorb the remaining spirit power within them.
Although his spirit power rank did not increase, its density and potency improved significantly. Mubai speculated that he might now have a chance against a Spirit Emperor. However, a Spirit Saint would still pose a challenge due to their Spirit True Body skill, which greatly enhances their combat abilities.
Still, the true gain lay in the skills obtained from the spirit ring and the external spirit bone.
—
◉ 1ST SPIRIT RING
SKILL: [ETERNAL DARKNESS]
EFFECTS:
• SHROUDS THE BODY WITH AN AURA OF DARKNESS.
• ENHANCES ALL PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL ATTRIBUTES BY 300%.
• BOOSTS DARKNESS ATTRIBUTE ATTACKS BY 300%.
• INDUCES FEAR IN OPPONENTS.
• EFFECTS STACK WITH OTHER SKILLS.
SOURCE: DARK DEVILGOD TIGER — 60 000 YEARS
—
—
◉ EXTERNAL SPIRIT BONE: WINGS OF DARKNESS
SKILL: [BLACK BLADES]
EFFECTS:
• UNLEASHES A FLURRY OF BLACK BLADES MADE OF DARKNESS, WIND, AND LIGHTNING ATTRIBUTES.
• INJURIES INFLICTED BY BLACK BLADES WILL NOT RECOVER EASILY.
SOURCE: DARK DEVILGOD TIGER — 60 000 YEARS
—
Mubai stood up from his spot, and the Twilight Overlord Tiger spirit came to life. His body grew taller, muscles expanding with a surge of power. His hair turned entirely black, and the ink-like glyph for "king" (王) appeared on his forehead.
His nails extended into sharp claws as three sets of massive wings sprouted from his back. Four of the wings looked organic, covered in white feathers tipped with claws, while the remaining two were skeletal, with a blackish membrane stretched between the bones. A tail was hidden amongst those wings, the tri-forked tip crackling with lightning and swirling currents.
A black spirit ring rose from his feet, hovering just behind him.
"Eternal Darkness!" Mubai's voice rang out.
The spirit ring flared, releasing a dark, misty aura that enveloped his entire body. As the darkness settled around him, Mubai felt his strength and spiritual power surge to new heights, significantly amplifying his already formidable qualities.
Mubai concentrated his spirit power into the palm of his hand, channeling the darkness attribute. A sphere of pure darkness formed, small at first, but dense with energy. He hurled it forward, and though it initially moved slowly, the ball began to pull everything in its path towards it, growing in size and gaining momentum.
What started as a tennis ball-sized sphere quickly expanded, becoming as large as two stacked elephants, its speed accelerating to a blur. With a snap of his fingers, the massive dark orb, now nearly a kilometer away, imploded.
The force of the implosion drew everything in its vicinity into the void, reducing it all to nothingness. Thankfully, there were no spirit beasts left nearby—most had fled earlier, sensing the danger.
The only one that had approached instead of fleeing was the Dark Devilgod Tiger, and it had already paid the ultimate price for its defiance. It had learned the hard way of what happened when it dared to challenge him. Now, it existed only as his spirit ring.
Even as that thought crossed his mind, dozens of spirit rings, mostly white and yellow, floated up from the center of the implosion.
"Ah, the plant spirit beasts..." he muttered, sighing as he realized what had happened.
He hadn't considered them before unleashing the attack. Now, the damage was done and there was nothing he could do to change it.
Although he had modern values, the experiences of his upbringing had numbed him to the realities of death and killing. Yet, he still held a slight aversion to excessive and unnecessary slaughter.
"There's no use dwelling on what can't be changed," he thought. It was pointless to regret the past. Instead, he needed to focus on the present and the tasks ahead.
"I should start absorbing my second spirit ring and then head back," he decided. The ring's power was crucial for his progress, and he needed it to move forward. He'd think about the third spirit ring during his journey to that place.
With that, he began the process of absorbing the spirit ring. First, he considered the spirit beast it would come from. "My first spirit ring is dark, so I should aim for a light attribute for the second one to balance them out," he thought.
He already had a particular beast in mind. Although it didn't exist in this world, it didn't matter. The spirit ring could be customized to fit his needs.
After a short while, a red spirit ring floated in front of him. Mubai summoned his spirit, and the absorption process for this ring went even smoother than with the Dark Devilgod Tiger's spirit ring.
In just half an hour, he finished refining the excess spirit power from the ring, boosting the quality of his spirit power once again. Thanks to this solid foundation, he could absorb spirit rings one after another with minimal delay.
════════════════
Title: Twilight Overlord Tiger (Part 1)
References for Twilight Overlord Tiger: