Heaven Breaker: SSS Rank Tiger Evolution-Chapter 42: Celestial Devourer

"The fangs capable of devouring the stars..." Raiden murmured. "The same ones that bastard once had—those are the ones you want?" Sparks ran through his eyes.

The atmosphere in the room grew colder and colder as his gaze became increasingly electrifying.

"Of course. The fangs may have belonged to him in the past, but the power will be mine in the future," I said with conviction. "Why? Afraid I might devour your lightning as well?"

I let out a dry laugh.

"My lightning? You threaten to eat my lightning? Hahaha—I think you’re going insane." Raiden laughed like a lunatic, his madness becoming evident to everyone in the room.

He rose to his feet, lightning coursing through his entire body, ready to explode with unpredictable power.

"Master!" Gravis immediately stood up, thick sweat pouring down his body. "Forgive my foolish older brother! He doesn’t know what he’s saying! He’s just an idiot! Can’t you see how he only says and does nonsense? Punishing him would be like punishing a mentally deficient person—something utterly unworthy!" He quickly bowed, trying to calm his master.

My eyes watched his behavior with renewed interest.

Beside us, Laxus merely swallowed hard, unsure of what to say.

"Mr. Kai..." he murmured. "It would be better to apologize for this offense. Grand Master Raiden is merciful—but he is certainly terrible at controlling his own impulses," he warned me, his voice trembling with fear.

I snorted in response.

’Pathetic, low-aura bastards, bowing their heads over the smallest thing. If Raiden asks, do you all just obey like dogs?’

I calmly looked at Raiden, his lightning scorching the room like powerful whips.

However, I only gave him a superficial glance before sighing and taking a sip of my coffee. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"..."

Silence reigned in the room, broken only by the crackling of lightning and everyone trembling.

"Ha ha haha hahaha!"Raiden laughed, "He really has guts!" the lightning dissipating as he sat down and grabbed his own cup. "It really is just like I heard before. I like it!"

"It wasn’t courage... you were just testing me, and I could tell," I said with a sigh. "The more my aura grows, the easier it becomes to read people."

Raiden rubbed his chin with interest.

"I see you’ve accumulated quite a lot, then. Usually, cultivators only learn to distinguish killing intent from other intentions. These other facets tend to remain beyond our reach."

"Even so," he chuckled softly, "trusting one’s own power is not something everyone does when facing a superior force."

I nodded, then returned to the subject.

"So you don’t mind me wanting parts of your mortal enemy," I said matter-of-factly.

"No. In fact, it’s only natural," he replied cryptically. "Sun Eater follows an ancient and very powerful path. In my time, everyone wanted to be like him—and even more so, like those who went further than him."

He laughed amusedly before adding,

"Those who walked the path of the Celestial Devourer were always popular with women, rose quickly through the ranks, and enjoyed endless luck. Such was their social standing."

I listened in admiration, unsure what to say next.

"In any case, I would do the same. It’s the right choice. Unfortunately, lightning is powerful, but it doesn’t compare to the power of the stars."

Raiden then stood up and looked at Laxus.

"To the vault."

Soon, we rose and headed toward the castle’s freezing basement.

In the basement stood a massive double door covered in inscriptions, surrounded by blue torches and hundreds of skulls emitting the same flames.

"Looks cursed," I said, scanning it from top to bottom.

"Because it is," Laxus added. "It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say there’s enough wealth here to found a medium-sized country. And with that comes the need for unbreakable security."

Laxus gestured to Raiden, who stepped toward a circle in front of the double doors.

Lightning flared around him—black lightning, like death itself.

A shiver ran through my body as I recognized those bolts, and their power.

The entire castle trembled, large chunks of debris falling. It was impossible for anyone not to notice the vault opening.

Around Raiden, seven bolts of lightning connected with seven smaller circles on the ground and matching circles on the ceiling, linking them together.

Overwhelming power surged through the magical circuit—power capable of sweeping away heaven and earth.

Laxus coughed beside us, drawing attention.

"One of the best ways to create a lock is to require extremely high levels of power to open it—along with a unique power unknown to others."

Laxus laughed.

It was impossible to open without alerting others, and the requirements were extremely specific.

"Only Raiden can open it alone. Others need mutual assistance to simulate the required power."

Slowly, the doors scraped against the floor as they opened. A macabre wind snuffed out the blue flames and rushed toward me, nearly pushing me back.

"The path is open. Shall we?" Raiden said, and we nodded.

Before me stretched a narrow corridor, dozens of small alcoves on each side, each guarding something behind bars and magical barriers.

"Each of these items was collected either by me personally or by my disciples," Raiden said, pride swelling in his chest. "Parts of legendary beasts rest in these catacombs. All have learned to fear even the weakest storm—the sound of thunder forever invoking absolute terror in them."

Raiden laughed louder and louder as we approached the end of the corridor.

Golden light filled my vision as an immense tower of gold coins lay before us.

Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and every kind of treasure were piled higher than mansions.

The three of us looked on in awe.

"Tsk! Young ones are so easily impressed by gold," Raiden mocked our expressions. "As long as you keep training and growing stronger, eventually you’ll find this as valuable as grass."

He said before continuing to move forward.

Yet his expression changed as he approached a beast’s pedestal at the center of all that wealth—almost empty.

There was only a single tooth there, but it was strange...

"This tooth has no value in gold," Raiden said with otherworldly admiration. "It was given to me by its owner and is probably the most valuable item in the entire kingdom—if not one of them."

I stepped closer, observing it with interest.

"Why?"

"This tooth belonged to a Celestial Devourer, like Sun Eater. But this one went further... it didn’t devour the sun or the stars."

Raiden took a deep breath before saying,

"It devoured black holes and entire constellations."

"In my day, people were afraid to invoke his name, fearing that he might hear them. A fear that has always proven to be well-founded."

"And what was that name?" I asked.

Raiden stared at me before saying.