Liquidation: From Big Boss to Bloody Demon Sauce Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Nova-Grade Spirit Stone

Read chapter 36 of Liquidation: From Big Boss to Bloody Demon Sauce by Magic on NovelPedia.

"You’re gonna eat these?” Grimora was pointing at the incandescent crystals jutting from the cavern floor. Her finger was trembling slightly. “Really, master?" “Demons and I are made of the same stuff. Ether. It was a gamble for me to eat those Sulphur Ghasts back there, but doing so made me undergo some sort of change," I explained, waving my newly formed hands for effect. The bipedal, humanoid shape I had acquired from consuming the ghost was a massive structural upgrade from my base slime form. It gave me a sense of physical anchoring I hadn't realized I was missing. "I can sense a similar power vibrating in these crystals. It's a gamble, but one I'm willing to take." At first, Grimora seemed entirely unsure and uncomfortable about my idea. She eyed the jagged formations as if they might violently detonate at any given second. But I needed her fully on board with the corporate strategy. "Look at it logically, Grimora," I reasoned, tapping into the managerial mindset that had built my empire on Earth. "We just negotiated a highly volatile, life-or-death lease agreement with an ancient dragon. We desperately need tangible capital to secure this sanctuary long-term, and this entire cavern is an unexploited goldmine. If we can safely remove these, we could create a new demon kingdom powered entirely by these crystals. We fulfill our contract, and we gain the monopoly." She finally gave me a reluctant nod, understanding the potential power and economic necessity we could harness through this risky decision. "Interesting. But the Sulphur Ghasts might come back," she reminded me, a heavy look of concern masking her beautiful face as she scanned the dark tunnels. I nodded, knowing that Grimora was right. The cavern was far too quiet, and nature abhorred a vacuum. "That's why I need you to hold them off long enough for me to consume several of these crystals. I still don't know what raw crystal ether is going to do to this new body, so I might not be able to do anything for a bit," I explained. Suddenly, the ground shook violently beneath us. The grinding sound of shifting tectonic rock echoed around the cavern, and a massive horde of Sulphur Ghasts lunged at us from the shadows of three different directions. Reacting quickly, Grimora threw her hands up and formed a dense magical wall of pressurized air. The opaque barrier swirled around us, kicking up dust and barely containing the highly acidic touch of the rushing Ghasts. Every time one of the monsters slammed into the wind, the smell of rotten eggs and burning ozone filled the air. From her pale face and the sudden beads of sweat forming on her forehead, I could tell that she was swiftly burning through her magic reserves to maintain the wall. “Quickly, Master!” she cried out. Her voice was filled with sheer desperation, yet it still held a stern, seasoned command. "I won't be able to hold them for long." Despite the crushing pressure of the swarm, I found a strange sense of peace in her command. Without a moment to spare, I stepped forward and extended a newly formed, humanoid hand toward the nearest crystal. But before it even reached the radiant energy mass, a sudden, violent pang of hunger enveloped my core. It was so intense, so primal, that I momentarily lost focus, my knees buckling as my internal structure spasmed. The lapse in my presence caused Grimora to falter slightly against the Ghasts' relentless attacks, the wind wall flickering. Regaining my senses, I pushed through the phantom pain and managed to touch the jagged surface of the crystal. As soon as my bipedal form made contact with it, an intense rush of unrefined energy flowed up my arm. My humanoid structure simply couldn't handle the raw input of the ether. Every part of my form went into an overloaded state. My arm instantly destabilized, melting into a thick tendril of slime. I collapsed entirely, my body forcefully reverting back into my base gelatinous blob form to handle the massive consumption. The crys