179 Evolution

"You don't hold back, do you? I don't mind it rough, but we are in the middle of a raid..."

Though they hadn't gone at it for very long, Kishirika felt as though there was a fist-sized globule of magma in her womb. Paul's semen contained a lot more Mana than usual, so much so that she found it difficult to believe he was actually human.

Feeling a lot more relaxed after blowing his load nearly a dozen times, Paul adopted a casual smile as he replied, "You're the one who told me to 'take' what I wanted. Besides, I didn't hear you complaining a few minutes ago..."

Adopting a smile of her own, Kishirika mused, "Fair point." before hopping to her feet and stretching loudly. It had been a few thousand years since the last time she had sex, so she was feeling pretty refreshed.

Sensing Paul's gaze on her butt, Kishirika gave her left cheek a firm, crisp-sounding smack as she said, "No need to restrain yourself. We're basically married now, so feel free to touch, kiss, and lick me as much as you want. Hell, I'll even let you bite me..."

As tempting as Kishirika's offer was, Paul managed to restrain himself and respond, "Once we finish retaking the castle. For now, we should probably return to the others."

"Hoooo~? Not going to contend the fact we're married?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Paul replied, "You're the Great Demon Empress, Kishirika Kishirisu. I wouldn't have fucked you if I wasn't willing to accept responsibility. I already learned that lesson the hard way."

With a broad smile on her face, Kishirka gave a thumbs-up and shouted, "Good answer~!" in a high-spirited tone. She knew Paul would probably relapse once he returned to his hellish training with Atofe, but it was good to hear him speaking confidently.

Spreading her arms and legs, Kishirika willed her previously discarded bodysuit to return to her as she said, "Speaking of taking responsibility, we can expect Badi to show up within the next couple of days. I doubt he'll attack you outright, but you should be ready to seal him even if he pretends to be cordial."

Though she still had a fondness for the six-armed brute, Kishirika knew how vengeful and conniving Badi could be. If she told him she was the one to approach and seduce Paul, he would probably laugh it off and, at least on the surface, pretend to be okay with it. In reality, his fury would only be assuaged once Paul had experienced incomprehensible suffering.

As he had already anticipated such a reaction, Paul just nodded his head and replied, "Unless he teams up with Kalman III or arrives in the Fighting God Armor, there's not a lot he can do against the combined powers of Ei and Zhongli. I would have liked to defeat him personally, but it'll probably be a few decades before I can rival a God..."

Catching Paul a little off-guard, Kishirika countered, "Eh, I'm not so sure about that. There are people with less Mana than you that have managed to obtain the title of God. Dragon God Urupen is a good example. He was a pure-blooded dragon, but he was born with a defective heart. Even near the end of his life, he could barely cast a handful of Intermediate-Ranked Spells before utterly exhausting his reserves. Despite that, he was widely regarded as the strongest of his era."

Having donned her bodysuit, Kishirika turned toward Paul, extending a hand to help him up as she added, "The only reason you're stuck at your current level because you focus all of your efforts on mastering techniques taught to you by others. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that, but you'll never become the strongest by emulating people who've only glimpsed the peak from atop their pedestals."

Though he could see where Kishirika was coming from, Paul still viewed himself as a relatively average person. He had only gotten to his current level with sheer determination and tremendous support. Just like when he struggled to cast even the most basic of Spells, there was a tremendous difference between knowing something was possible and understanding how to achieve it...

Noticing the doubt in Paul's eyes, Kishirika surprised him by grabbing his half-flaccid cock and adopting one of her characteristically shark-toothed smiles. Then, while squeezing it just enough to get him to tense, she said, "You possess an extraordinary ability, the power to absorb the essence of others. Combine those essences, and there is nothing you can't do."

Releasing her hold on Paul's penis, Kishirika raised her hand to her face and gave it a whiff. It had a rancid and extremely pungent aroma, but instead of scrunching her face or gagging, she adopted an even broader smile and said, "Even if it can barely be called a trace, you've managed to absorb a fraction of my essence. That includes the heritage of the original Demon God. I'm not sure how it will manifest, but so long as your desire is strong enough, you should be able to evolve those eyes of yours into something far more powerful. You sure as hell have the requisite Mana for it..."

Blinking in surprise, Paul asked, "Already? Shouldn't it, I dunno, take a few years...?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Kishirika casually replied, "Only if you believe it. That's one of the interesting things about Magic. So long as your belief is strong enough, you can do just about anything. With your Mana capacity, you could transform lead into gold or convert a perfectly ordinary sword into a weapon comparable to the Longsword of Light. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that your reserves will permanently decrease in proportion to the power you manifest. The stronger the power, the greater the cost."

"..."

Though it was now a very distant memory, Kishirika's cursory explanation reminded Paul of the Nen abilities from Hunter x Hunter. As for the images that came to mind when he thought of powerful eyes, the most prominent were the Rinnegan from Naruto, the Sharingan from the same series, and the Rikugan of Satoru Gojou...the question was, could he actually recreate such a ludicrous power?

Since the Rinnegan was both hideous and likely beyond him, Paul decided to focus on the Sharingan and Rikugan. The Sharingan was probably the better option as they started relatively weak and evolved according to the user's desires. On the other hand, the Rikugan was unquestionably one of the most visually appealing Dojutsu. The additional processing ability they provided was also beyond broken, allowing the user to perceive the world around them in super slow motion when they concentrated...

Recalling that the Rikugan was so sensitive that Gojou needed to wear a blindfold to avoid overtaxing his mind, Paul shook his head and decided to go the most cliche route. The Sharingan was one of the most heinous and overused ocular abilities in the fiction of his previous world, but there was a good reason for it. The abilities they provided during the later stages of their evolution were simply busted.

Just to be safe on the safe side, Paul met Kishirika's curious gaze and asked, "Is it possible to create a set of eyes that can evolve over time?"

Returning a broad smile, Kishirika replied, "Sure is. My personal Demon Eyes are the evolving type. I call them the Kaleidoscopic Demon Eyes, and, as the name implies, they allow me to mix and match different eyes at my leisure."

Hearing Kishirika mention the word 'Kaleidoscopic,' the image of an old man with red eyes and silvery hair appeared within Paul's mind. He had completely forgotten about it, but there was a treasure trove of powerful ocular abilities from the Fate Series. The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and the Empyrean Eyes of Musashi, in particular, came to mind...

Though the Empyrean Eyes' reality-altering ability made them even more broken than the Rinnegan, the power of Mystic Eyes of Death Perception was relatively straightforward. They allowed the user to perceive death in the form of lines, lines that, once struck, would result in the 'death' of the target. Most of these lines would exist over known vitals and structural weakness, but they also revealed hidden weak spots that even the target might not be aware of.

Recalling how badass the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception looked, Paul mulled over his decision for nearly a full minute before meeting Kishirika's gaze and asking, "What do I need to do?"

Regaining her smile, Kishirka explained, "It's pretty easy. Just channel Mana into your eyes and focus on the form you want them to take. You'll know it's working if you feel like thousands of ants are crawling around in your eyes."

"..."

Trusting that Kishirika knew what she was talking about, Paul closed his eyes and began to channel his Mana while the image of a fierce-looking woman with striking blue and pink eyes appeared in his mind. As cool as the Sharingan was, Paul wasn't sure how effective they would be without chakra. There was also a chance he would go blind in the later stages of their development, so he ultimately cast them aside in favor of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. More specifically, he formed the image of Shiki Ryougi's Mystic Eyes, which, at their highest level, allowed the user to kill even abstract entities and concepts.

Feeling a burning sensation in the back of his eyes, Paul was forced to grit his teeth and clench his hands into fists. Rather than feeling like ants were crawling around inside of them, Paul felt as though someone was trying to rub away his cornea using rough sandpaper. The urge to rub his eyes was so intense that, were it not for Kishirika abruptly hugging him, he wouldn't have been able to resist.

With an uncharacteristically soothing tone, Kishirika pinned Paul's arms to his sides as she softly whispered, "Whatever you do, don't stop...it'll all be over soon, I promise..."

Though Paul was unaware of it, quite a bit of blood was pouring from his closed eyes. The impression that his corneas were being eroded was far more accurate than he realized, as, without an ability similar to Kishirika's, the only way to obtain a new pair of eyes was to 'discard' his existing set.

Fortunately for Paul, the transformation only took a minute or two before the pain abruptly ceased. Those two minutes felt like ten, but the feeling of relief that followed compelled him to exhale a deeply profound sigh.

Opening his eyes, Paul noticed that his vision was obscured by a layer of red. It cleared away after a few blinks, but his face, neck, and chest were covered in an alarming amount of blood.

Distracting Paul from his concerns, Kishirika grabbed the sides of his face and remarked, "Wow...great choice on the design. I wasn't aware that pink and blue complimented each other so well..."

After admiring Paul's gem-like eyes for several seconds, Kishirika asked the most important question, "What do they do?"

Instead of immediately answering Kishirika's question, Paul looked around to see if he could glimpse the infamous 'Lines of Death' the original Mystic Eyes of Death Perception were known for. What he saw immediately made him reconsider his decision, as, rather than a few lines here and there, the interior of the treasure room was covered in tens of thousands of glowing red cracks, each giving off the unnerving sensation one might experience when witnessing a toddler playing near a ledge...

"Holy fuck..."

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