Chapter 346: The Secret Desired by the Lord of Dawn

Some say that the Mind Devourers are not originally demonic beings but life forms from other worlds. The first world they arrived in was the Abyssal Plane, where the barrier between it and the many worlds of the multiverse is weak.
After arriving in the Abyss, influenced by its forces, the Mind Devourers evolved once again to become what they are today.
These terrifying and evil creatures, skilled at controlling the minds of other beings and feeding on the brains of intelligent species, exist only in the dark regions beneath the surface of the main world, aside from the Abyssal Plane.
The dark regions are the parts of the main world’s structure closest to the Abyssal Plane, so they are affected by the leaking Abyssal energy and demonic creatures. Gradually, these areas come under the dominance of the evil faction. This situation was further strengthened after the Spider Queen took control of the dark elves, the largest intelligent race underground.
If it weren’t for the complex and varied terrain of the dark regions, with numerous branching caves, even the powerful dark elves could not fully dominate them; their influence only extends to about one-third of the entire underground world.
With the Mind Devourer clans, who are adept at controlling and enslaving the minds of other intelligent beings, it is likely that no other factions of intelligent beings can survive underground anymore.
Transformation is a terrifying process by which Mind Devourer tadpoles become adult Mind Devourers.
In human terms, it can be described in one word: parasitism!
This is a ritual strictly guarded as a secret by the Soul Suckers. At the beginning of the transformation, an adult Mind Devourer implants a fully developed tadpole-like larva into the ear of a helpless humanoid being.
The tadpole penetrates the victim’s brain, quickly consuming its main control centers and replacing them with its own filthy bodily tissue. Eventually, the juvenile Mind Devourer fuses with the unconsumed parts of the victim’s brainstem, erasing all remaining personality and soul. Once these elements are completely gone from the body, the larva can use it as its own.
Within a day, the victim’s body also begins to change in shape, until the transformation from larva to adult Mind Devourer is complete.

During the transformation process, the host’s own body tissue is replaced by the Heartflayer that has parasitized it. Once the transformation is complete, the original host no longer exists. Neither “eradicating diseases,” “lifting curses,” nor powerful spells such as “reviving the dead,” “restoration magic,” “complete resurrection,” or similar divine arts can reverse this process. Only by finding the victim’s soul or soul fragments, killing the parasitic Heartflayer soul, and then using wish magic, miracle magic, or even more powerful spells capable of altering reality to restore the host’s body is it possible to revive them. However, to accomplish this perfectly requires at least a legendary-level spellcaster or a being of even greater power, such as a true god. Thus, aside from a very few lucky individuals, those who are enslaved by Heartflayers and become hosts ultimately cease to exist! Additionally, after transformation, the Heartflayer does not inherit any traits from the victim, such as habits or personality, nor does it acquire their gender characteristics. In other words, the reproductive organs and other related structures of the original human-like host become useless. Adult Heartflayers pay close attention to selecting human-like hosts suitable for parasitizing in their young, as not all human-like races are suitable for creating new Heartflayers—this is limited by specific height and weight ranges, as well as the host’s internal neural and physiological structures. Among human-like races, humans and elves are the most suitable choices, while most intelligent races such as merfolk, dwarves, and goblins are entirely unsuitable for Heartflayer parasitism! Heartflayers usually select the healthiest individuals from their slave camps for transformation—but they prefer to attack dark regions or other forces in the surface world to capture slaves, ensuring they always have the best and freshest “raw materials.” Among ordinary Heartflayer larvae, a very small number take about twenty-five years—twice the standard time—to develop to the stage where they can transform into adults. If given the opportunity, they will become Soul Devourers, powerful beings that surpass ordinary Heartflayers.

Out of roughly twenty thousand Heartflayer larvae, only one Soul Devourer tadpole manages to reach full maturity. Ordinary Heartflayer larvae die in large numbers, serving as food for other larvae and the main brain; out of a thousand tadpoles, only about two succeed in surviving long enough to undergo metamorphosis. In other words, the chance of a Soul Devourer appearing among those that survive in the same batch is one in forty.

Each Heartflayer can lay eggs twice in its lifetime, about a thousand eggs each time. Therefore, the number of Heartflayers laying eggs in the same batch must reach twenty, with roughly forty larvae surviving, before a Soul Devourer might emerge.

Fortunately, the relatively low reproductive rate of the Heartflayer species forces them to live in the abyssal planes and deep underground caves; otherwise, the intelligent beings of the main world would likely suffer greatly.

Soul Devourers are much taller than their weaker counterparts, standing nearly seven and a half feet tall—more than two heads taller than ordinary humans. After birth, they can quickly rise to the top of the entire Spirit Siphoner race, surpassing ordinary Spirit Siphoners and becoming the pride of their species.

In addition to their size, they also have two extra tentacles, bringing their total to six. This earns them respect from most of their four-tentacle counterparts.

This respect stems from the Soul Devourers’ formidable strength. Ordinary Heartflayers only reach bronze-level strength as adults, able to exert combat power beyond their rank due to their peculiar mental abilities. In contrast, Soul Devourers generally achieve silver-level strength after metamorphosis and have the aptitude to rise to gold level in just about ten years.

The lifespan of Soul Devourers is also twice that of ordinary Heartflayers, lasting at least 250 years, often even longer before they merge with the main brain.

Typically, they serve as the leaders of Heartflayer organizations, heads of hunting parties, or liaisons between their gods and the main brain, with abilities similar to those of high-ranking priests. Many even hold all three roles simultaneously.

In any case, the appearance of a Soul Devourer is extremely rare. Its birth means that the Heartflayer colony can boast having a Soul Devourer elder—one that appears only once every ten colonies.

And Donald knew that the Heartflayer before him was the powerful and unique individual of that colony: a Soul Devourer.

After birth, there is an extremely small chance that some uniquely gifted and powerful Possessors might mutate during their transformation. They can take over the bodies of human-like creatures without altering their external appearance or even most of their internal structures, becoming Possessors that retain a human form to 99%. This allows them to more easily infiltrate human society and acquire more slaves and food! Some advanced Possessors with powerful magical abilities also use transformation spells to disguise themselves and infiltrate intelligent races like humans in order to get food and slaves! As for these humanoid Possessors, which are extremely rare throughout history, they are usually trained by the main brain as future successors. Once they meet the requirements, they can transform again to become new main brains and give rise to new groups of Possessors, thereby strengthening the overall power of their kind. That’s why Donald wasn’t in a hurry to deal with this humanoid Possessor, who had been captured by the Prison Wardens and imprisoned in the Glorious Purgatory. It would be strange if this guy had no secrets! Just by seeing that the Church of the Three Glorious Gods sent the Prison Wardens—led by a legendary warrior wielding a powerful secondary divine weapon, along with two golden-level experts and nine silver-level experts—to capture him, it’s clear that something important must have happened. So Donald decided to interrogate this humanoid Possessor first; killing him could wait. Seeing the human mage’s appearance, which concealed immense power, along with the space that confined him, Possessor O’Neill felt a surge of intense greed. Whether it was the opponent’s strong body, perfect as a host for breeding superior offspring, or this powerful half-plane that could be used to expand the kingdom of Possessors, all of these were highly tempting to O’Neill. Although Possessors shared a collective memory and had extensive experiences, they didn’t recognize the legendary divine kingdom—after all, it was too distant. Clearly, they regarded the space before them as a strange and vast half-plane. Most powerful mages and demigods spent considerable effort searching for half-planes, as controlling one would greatly benefit their strength and future development!

Of course, only a few succeed in the end. These lords of the demi-planes are undoubtedly among the strongest and most elite beings in their respective worlds. Yet, not a single member of the Heart-Thief Demons in their worlds or even in the Abyss has ever mastered a demi-plane; even the most powerful mainframes cannot create one on their own.

As half-owner of the Kingdom of Truth, Donald sensed the evil intentions of the Heart-Thief Demons the moment they arose, through the rules of the divine kingdom. He glared at them coldly.

Heart-Thief Demons are usually beings with high intelligence in certain areas. Upon seeing the cold intent in his gaze, they immediately understood their situation and instantly became humble.

“Die or live—it’s up to you. I want to know why the people of the Church of the Dawn Lord are after you. If you tell me, you might have a chance to live!”

Donald’s tone was icy, devoid of any other emotion. He didn’t say another word, treating them as worthless scum who could be abandoned at any time, with no use at all.

“My lord mage, I escaped from the Forbidden Prison. They want to capture me because I possess information that the God of Dawn desires!”