Chapter 421: Not Even Gonna Throw a Threat?
If possible, Steven actually didn't want to use that ability. After all, it meant turning back into his pixelated block-man form. Sure, that form didn't need to follow this world's rules and couldn't be restricted by so-called "gods," but… it still felt a bit unpleasant.
Changing just an arm was tolerable. But going full pixel-mode? That meant saying goodbye to his long-lost 'little brother' again. Steven absolutely did not want that. Even if he could revert afterward, it wasn't worth the mental trauma.
Thankfully, after he entirely erased the Seaborn hybrid—and even the HP bar floating in the middle of his vision shattered—the oppressive force in the surroundings didn't intensify.
Maybe, for a moment, the entity watching him did feel a flicker of killing intent. But it suppressed it quickly.
Steven had already typed the command that would essentially turn him invincible into the chatbox, ready to hit enter at any second. As for the so-called warnings from the world's consciousness? He'd already thrown those out of his mind.
Fortunately, after a suffocating period of silence, the being controlling the entire ocean slowly withdrew its power from around him.
The entity Steven suspected to be this world's god of the ocean quietly retracted their influence, leaving not even a ripple behind. Aside from the initial warning they had delivered when it first appeared, it didn't say another word. No dramatic parting comment, no arrogant lines, nothing. As if it had never been there at all.
No threats, no "remember this, human," no ominous foreshadowing. It simply vanished.
But Steven knew very clearly—whatever grudge now existed between them was already set in stone.
Not that he saw it as a bad thing. As a Minecrafter who enjoyed a good fight, someone who'd been fully ready to exchange nuclear warheads a moment ago, Steven didn't consider this a problem in the slightest.
If anything, wasn't this adding some wonderful seasoning to his future daily life? Something to look forward to?
He even felt a little regret—he didn't get to face the so-called god of this world directly. Deep down, he was disappointed.
"How rude. Running away like that? Or maybe… was there some reason it couldn't make a move?"
As the ocean around him returned to normal, no longer thick and frozen solid, Steven felt the last of the restraints fall away. He stooped down, collected the monster's dropped loot, and rubbed his chin in thought.
First, one thing was obvious: the hybrid Seaborn he just killed must have been extremely important to that entity. Otherwise, it wouldn't have risked exposing its presence just to warn him. Of course, what that being never expected was that Steven had already sentenced the creature to death the moment he saw it.
Secondly, the most likely explanation was that either it feared his power or that this world had rules that prevented beings of its level from acting directly.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have left without saying a word.
Compared to the first possibility, Steven leaned much more toward the second. Ever since he descended into this world, besides the Feranmut thing, he'd never heard any rumors about gods walking the earth. If those beings could casually make a move whenever they wished, the world should've long since been carved up into divine fiefdoms. It wouldn't be like now—where, from beginning to end, Steven had only ever seen one so-called fragment of a god.
Maybe that thing could exploit some loophole to secretly take action against him, or maybe it could use a small portion of its true power. But that would mean it was a weakened version—and while he wasn't confident he could take on a real god without switching to Creative Mode, that didn't mean he was helpless against a diluted version.
At least in his estimation, if it were something on the level of Nian—the so-called Fragment of God—even without his Mods, he could beat ten of them without breaking a sweat.
And after seeing that punch of his, the other side had likely realized it too. That was probably the real reason for its retreat.
But the situation had already happened, so there was no point wasting mental energy on it. Steven had learned from Entity 303 in his previous Minecraft world that these so-called gods tended to be far more rational than emotional.
"Well, whatever. We'll meet again sooner or later."
Raising an eyebrow, Steven turned around and headed back the way he came. There would be plenty of chances to run into that thing in the future; no need to rush into a fight right this second.
For now, this was the perfect time to sort through the drops he'd collected. As a hybrid monster, a 1+1 type of creature should've given at least a slightly generous reward.
Unfortunately, the reality was… honestly pitiful.
Aside from a core identical to the one dropped by the Fallingstar Beast—the kind those Church of the Deep members somehow got their hands on—he'd only picked up some rotten flesh and a single vial of blood that flickered with a strange green sheen.
After tossing the extra core to Shoggy, who had been forcibly released from its Pokéball and finally had its long-awaited wish fulfilled, Steven focused all his attention on the drop that radiated that eerie green glow.
[Incomplete Pure Blood of the Sea God]:
A blessing from the ocean that only the purest Seaborn can obtain. However, part of its original power seems to have been eroded by some mysterious force. Even so, the energy contained within is enough to grant life to any object. Unfortunately, mere life is not enough to create a soul.
From that cryptic description alone, Steven could tell this thing definitely wasn't simple. But that last line—the part about granting life to any object—made him instinctively look toward the Yamato in his inventory.
If he remembered correctly… didn't his sword drink blood?
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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