Neraxis pressed "Yes," and, like all the previous times, his vision shifted, and he soon found himself in a palace.
Only this time, it felt more cutesy.
Evangeline had decorated the corridors with all the different dresses he had bought her.
Some jewelry was scattered around as well, but not too much as Evangeline didn't like fancy things.
Earrings were fine, rings too... but anything beyond that was an automatic no from her.
He made his way across the halls and finally reached a particular room.
It was the same room she always stayed in; just this time, he felt like it would be slightly different.
Therefore, Neraxis swung open the door and was greeted by Evangeline lying comfortably on the bed, stacks of cookies scattered around on the floor.
"I know how it might seem..." Evangeline trailed off as she scratched her head. "But I swear, some of these are the ones I bought."
"Right..." Neraxis rolled his eyes as he sat on the bed beside her. "Wanna do it later?"
"I'd want to do it now... But I think now's not the best time..." Evangeline replied with a sigh as she stood up and looked worriedly at him. "Your bloodline is blooming."
"I don't feel anything though?" Neraxis remarked with a tilt of his head. "...Am I supposed to?"
"Yep..." Evangeline nodded as she brought her hand forward, all five of her fingers outstretched.
Then, one by one, she began bringing them down, until finally, the final finger was brought down.
In the very next moment, Neraxis felt a piercing pain enter his skull and seemingly pass through it.
But that was not all, as he felt like all of his blood was flowing in reverse, making his heart beat at an unnatural rate, almost like it was about to burst.
"B-bear with it... It's going to hurt a bit," Evangeline said as she sat down and placed his head on her thighs, before gently brushing his hair. "Good luck."
It's going to hurt? Neraxis thought with a groan. It already fucking hurts—!
His thoughts were cut off as he heard his bones cracking, breaking into thousands of fragments that embedded themselves into his flesh, tearing it apart.
But that was not all, as all of a sudden, Neraxis felt all his blood halt, and his body turn cold.
He tried to force it to move with mana, but it didn't do much aside from increasing his sensitivity to pain.
[Damn, your hearing has already disappeared,] Evangeline commented inside his mind. [It's around the halfway point now, so don't pass out. Once you're back, I'll give you a skill.]
Neraxis nodded, gritting his teeth through the pain.
His consciousness was waning, but he persevered, until finally, he felt his blood flow restore itself slowly.
It was still flowing in reverse, but it was better than nothing.
Nonetheless, a few more minutes later, the pain slowly started going away, and with it, his bones regenerated—then, gradually, his hearing returned too.
Finally, his blood was back to normal, and aside from the dull pain he felt, it seemed like it was over.
"Uh..." He groaned, trying to stand up.
However, he wasn't able to, as even trying to move his arms seemed impossible.
"Rest a little," Evangeline said softly as she caressed his head. "It must've hurt, but I'll let you suck on my breast later—Ow!"
"Don't ever do the mommy roleplay while I can't move..." Neraxis said with a grin as he let go of the nipple he just twisted.
It took him all he had just to do that, and now he felt even weaker than before.
"You overexerted yourself... But it's fine..." Evangeline trailed off as she planted a deep kiss on his lips.
The moment she did, a popup appeared, making his eyes widen.
[Skill Description: A transcendent technique that allows the user to integrate, merge, or reconstruct compatible skills into evolved forms.]
Skills Merging Limit per Attempt: 4
Holy fuck. Neraxis glanced toward Evangeline, who still had the same wide smile on her face.
"This was one of my favorite skills back when I was fighting every day. I could absorb the skills from the enemies I kill, and then combine their skills into something overpowered," Evangeline commented.
Neraxis gulped. "Can it...?"
"It can combine main skills, yes," Evangeline replied steadily, and the moment she did, he felt relief wash over him.
Eve of Ruin was like an anchor that tied him together with the Eternal Sin, so if he could somehow get rid of that skill, then all the better.
After all, his body compatibility had reached 20%, which might not seem like a lot, but Neraxis had already begun feeling impulses he hadn't before.
It was almost like every 20%, it increased in tier.
So, Neraxis prepared to combine them, but stopped as he noticed his skin, which was much paler than before.
The same went for his hair, which he could just barely see, its white ends were outlined with golden strips.
"Evangeline... My eye color didn't change, did it?" Neraxis asked.
She shook her head. "Your eyes are fine. They got a bit darker during your time on the 10th floor, but now, they're back to their usual bright purple selves."
"I see... at least that's fine." Neraxis let out a relieved sigh as he slowly felt his body healing up again.
"Where do I check the bloodline again?" he asked.
"Wait a bit, it should still be initializing in the system; at least that's what happened for me," Evangeline explained. "You'll feel different, but since you're a full-blown progenitor now, you'll be able to do practically anything you want. Your lifespan is at the very least a couple million years, and your strength should've increased as well."
Neraxis nodded. "Do you think I'm SSS- ranked yet?"
"Hmm... I'm not sure." A smile tugged at her lips. "You can always check though."
"Pfft... True," Neraxis replied with a chuckle.
However, just as he was about to open the status screen again, a pair of red and golden notifications appeared in front of him.