SSS-Rank Evolving Monster: From Pest to Cosmic Devourer-Chapter 117: Healed

Three Days Later

Inside the Divine Researcher Saint’s inheritance space, a calm serenity hung in the air like morning mist over still water. At the center of it all stood Ricky, his compound eyes glimmering faintly, mandibles curled into a rare, content smile.

Surrounding him were his most trusted subordinates—each one silent, yet brimming with anticipation.

Boar stood with arms crossed and a patient gaze, his hulking figure casting a wide shadow on the crystalline floor.

Noctyss stood poised and elegant, her arms folded behind her back, dark eyes flickering with their usual cold glint. She said nothing, but even in silence, her presence was as commanding as ever.

Beside Ricky, the most recent additions to his odd entourage—Forty-Two, Crown Prince Darius, and of course, the ever-watchful Guardian Spirit—gathered in hushed observation.

Today was different.

Today marked the end of a long wait.

As Ricky finished consuming his daily spiritual force-strengthening pills, the Guardian Spirit materialized beside him, her voice as ever—cool, ancient, and without urgency.

"They are waking."

Just three words, and yet they echoed louder than a war cry.

After what felt like countless days of waiting, the bodies of Dark Shadow and Alexandria—painstakingly reconstructed by the inheritance space’s miraculous techniques—were finally ready to rejoin the living.

Strangely, Ricky felt no great surge of emotion. No racing heart, no tearful sigh of relief. Only a warm, peaceful certainty lingered inside him—as if this reunion was never in question. As if this outcome had always been fated.

He simply smiled. A soft twitch of his mandibles.

Of course they’d return. How could they not?

---

But while Ricky remained composed, others were far from calm.

Especially the one who had never seen this place before.

Forty-Two’s mouth hung open in disbelief, her usual composed expression nowhere to be seen.

She spun slowly in place, eyes wide as the vast, shimmering sky of the inheritance space seemed to stretch on infinitely above her. The air was dense with spiritual energy—so pure and concentrated that each breath tasted like nectar distilled from the divine.

"Such pure atmospheric mana..."

Her inner voice trembled in awe.

Compared to the dark, oppressive energy of the Undead God’s castle—where she had been raised and praised as the most gifted of her sisters—this place felt like another world. No... another reality entirely.

It was not just powerful. It was sacred.

She looked at Ricky again, who stood as still and unmoved as a mountain. Somehow, this monster of a being had gained access to a place even her former god would covet.

And now she—she who had once been raised as the heir of death itself—was standing inside it.

She still remembered the prideful expressions of the generals—their chests puffed and heads held high—whenever they spoke of the so-called lower worlds, scoffing at their "meager" mana concentration.

They called it a spiritual wasteland.

A crippled realm where no proper cultivation could bloom.

Now, standing in this divine space, where the air itself shimmered with power and the wind carried the essence of pure Amma, Forty-Two couldn’t help but wonder:

What would their expressions look like if they saw this?

This wasn’t just a contradiction to their arrogance—it was a slap to the face of their entire worldview.

The mana density here was so profound, so intoxicating, that even her spiritual seed—which had been cultivated under the direct gaze of the Undead God—trembled in response.

It pulsed eagerly, drinking in the surrounding Amma as if it were starving.

Forty-Two clutched her chest gently, feeling the fluctuations within her. She had never experienced anything like this, not even in the cold marble halls of the Undead God’s palace, where the air was thick with blood essence and shadow.

This space was something else entirely.

---

From the corner of his eye, Ricky caught her reaction and silently scoffed, the edges of his mandibles twitching with amusement. He resisted the urge to chuckle outright.

He had expected this.

After all, the Undead God—this being she had spoken of with such reverence—was, in the end, just a Stage 5 peak cultivator.

Powerful, yes. Far stronger than Ricky, without a doubt. If that being sneezed the wrong way, the mosquito might evaporate on the spot.

But even so... even so... how could a of the fifth stage compare to Divine Researcher Saint Salene?

The inheritance space she left behind was like a divine sanctuary—complete, self-contained, and bordering on the eternal.

And Ricky had full access to it.

---

Forty-Two had shared much in the last few days.

Her information was incomplete and often tangled in rumors and speculation, but it painted a grim enough picture.

The most pressing question Ricky had asked her—the one that sat like a thorn in his mind—was simple:

Why are the undead invading this world?

But even she couldn’t offer a definitive answer.

According to whispers that passed like shadows through the Netherblood Plane, it had something to do with the Undead God’s stalled cultivation.

Something—or someone—was restricting his path forward.

And this world, for whatever reason, was part of the solution.

She didn’t know much more. Even as a so-called heir, there were truths that had been kept hidden from her. The higher-ups within the undead hierarchy were extremely cautious, paranoid even, especially when it came to matters involving the Undead God’s advancement.

"Maybe they fear the world will reject him," she had said once, voice hushed as if the Undead God himself might be listening.

"Or maybe... maybe he’s trying to conquer that rejection."

---

Ricky stared ahead in silence, watching the ambient mana swirl through the space like silver mist.

So the invasion wasn’t just war—it was desperation.

Ambition.

Obsession.

His mandibles clicked softly.

Well, whatever the reason... if the undead thought this lower world would be easy prey, they were in for a rude awakening.

Because now, this "lower world" had him.

And he was done being underestimated.

Before Ricky could delve deeper into his thoughts, a loud, exuberant voice shattered the calm:

"Big Sister Dark Shadow and Alexandria are waking up!"

Boar’s shout echoed through the inheritance space like a thunderclap. He jumped up and down in excitement, the image of a dignified master completely replaced by a giddy child. It was hard to believe that this was the same Boar who had terrified the newcomers into near silence just a day ago.

His outburst immediately drew everyone’s attention toward the front of the hall.

There, standing tall and solemn, were the two crystalline cocoons that encased Dark Shadow and Alexandria.

Now... they were cracking.

Fine fractures spiderwebbed across the surface of each cocoon, glowing faintly with embedded Amma. The room grew eerily silent.

Then—

Kacha!

A sharp, crystalline crack echoed through the chamber. One after another, shards flew outward like glass rain as the two cocoons finally shattered.

Blinding light spilled into the room.

And with it—an overwhelming aura surged outward, pressing down on every soul present. It was not violent, but powerful—like the calm presence of a queen whose mere gaze could silence a battlefield.

Noctys squinted, shielding her eyes. Her senses twitched in alertness.

"Peak Stage 2," she muttered to herself, disbelief flickering in her tone. Her mouth remained slightly agape as she looked at the two emerging figures.

They had both advanced.

Not just healed. Not merely reconstructed.

But transformed.

And now stood as full-fledged powerhouses... both at the peak of Stage 2.

A sudden chill ran down Noctys’ spine.

Her expression turned grim.

Shit.

That meant she was now officially the weakest among Ricky’s close subordinates. While she had comfortably remained at early Stage 2, quietly tending to spiritual fruit trees and pretending to be too busy for cultivation, the others had surged ahead.

And she remembered, vividly, just how merciless Dark Shadow could be. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Especially toward those who slacked off.

Noctys grimaced. She could already feel herself being "volunteered" as a water bucket again for Dark Shadow’s blooming garden...

---

As the swirling smoke cleared, the figures of the two women slowly emerged.

And the moment their silhouettes became fully visible, gasps escaped from the onlookers.

Even Noctys froze.

A single, stunned thought passed through her mind:

How is this possible...?

Dark Shadow and Alexandria were breathtaking.

Their new forms radiated not only raw power but elegance—refined by divine alchemy, carved with perfection. Their skin shimmered faintly like spiritual jade, and their eyes seemed deeper, more ancient, as if holding secrets of the world within.

But more than beauty, it was the transformation itself that shook the crowd.

Wasn’t transformation supposed to occur only after stepping into Stage 3?

That rule—long regarded as absolute in most spiritual traditions—seemed to have been casually discarded here.

And the others had noticed too.

Everyone’s brows were furrowed, their minds spinning with questions.

---

Then, as if having waited long enough, the Guardian Spirit floated forward.

Her voice echoed like a cold wind brushing over still water.

"You underestimate just how incredible the Divine Researcher truly was."

Her tone was sharp. Disdainful, even.

"Everything in this space carries her mark. If you’re going to judge anything by your mortal logic, you’ll miss the true depth of her legacy. Don’t take what she left behind lightly."

A hush fell upon the space.

Everyone instinctively nodded, a silent acknowledgment of just how profound this place truly was.

And indeed, the body reconstruction liquid was not some ordinary restorative—it was a once-in-a-lifetime divine treasure.

A treasure meant to not only restore but elevate.

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