Transmigrated to Game World with SSS Wife

'Not exactly?' Nick asked while simultaneously almost bleeding out.

A strange sound entered his ear, one that sounded almost like a cross between a machine switching and someone screaming from torture. It was an unsettling sound that chilled him to the bone.

"Hesta?" Nick whispered, his already feeble voice only made infinitely more shaky.

[S-Rank Boss: Asmodeus, the First Archon, defeated]

[Reward...]

[Loading...]

[Assimilation Feature Unlocked]

'Assimilation?' Nick wondered just as soon as a light shone above him—Asmodeus's soul.

The dark blinding light expanded above him, seemingly covering the entire throne room and beyond. Unlike most lights whose brightness forced those viewing it to cover their eyes, this one made such an idea seem impossible. Even if the ultimate darkness was cast upon it the light would still shine through—there was no escaping it.

Nick gasped as the light which had expanded suddenly collapsed into a singular ball and shot into his chest. The next second, he felt rejuvenated but at the same time suspicious.

That action seemed eerily similar to another that had occurred long ago. Back when Nick had first entered the game world, before he even ended up in the goblin cave.

There had been a bright light that had talked about the system and how he was 'chosen' by the gods to wield it.

'Hesta?' Nick asked, making an educated guess. Of course, she didn't respond. It was probably related to that unsettling sound—something was blocking her more human attributes, forcing her into the role of a system.

He didn't exactly know how it would work, but he made a promise to himself to find a way to save her.

For now, she was forced into telling him about this Assimilation stuff.

[Assimilation is a process that occurs when the [King of the Cosmos] kills a divine being, be it a [God] or [Devil]. Every divine being has a spiritual core within them, which holds their power. By assimilating their core into yourself, you both gain a huge increase in stats as well as a unique skill. This skill will not need to be equipped, and rather is something that can be activated by using soul points.]

[Soul points are similar to mana but do have a few key distinctions. First, it is much harder to regenerate soul points. This is because they do not replenish by leveling yourself up, there is no potion that replenishes soul points, and there is no way to naturally regenerate them. Instead, the only way to gain more soul points is by killing other [Divine Entities] or by leveling up the soul core]

[Loading Soul Core interface...]

+– Soul Core –+

- Level: 1/100

[The strength of your own soul core dictates the strength of others that assimilate with you, as well as how many you can contain. This cannot be leveled up by traditional means, such as grinding dungeons or killing bosses. Instead, a soul core can only be upgraded by killing other [Progenitors]]

- Assimilated: 2/5

[As you level up your own soul core, you will be able to assimilate more and more soul cores of other [Gods] and [Devils] even if they are already dead. In essence, once you max your soul core and become the true [King of the Cosmos], the soul of every [Divine Entity] will be confined and controlled by you.]

–Hesta {Click to view profile}

–Asmodeus {Click to view profile}

[By clicking on an assimilated soul core, you can view their profile. Click Asmodeus's profile now to explore this concept in further detail.]

Nick watched as Hesta's button grew darker, indicating it would not even be allowed to be selected. He didn't understand much of what was going on, but he did know a few things.

First, he was now receiving a huge power-up, unlike any of the other ones before, even transcendent level-ups. Second, he learned more about what these Progenitors are. Or, more accurately, he had formed a theory now that he knew what they weren't.

Since they were distinctly separate from [Divine Entities], he knew that they weren't gods or devils. When he had talked with Ethos, he had learned that Nick had been chosen specifically to come into this game world as a Progenitor of Destruction.

Moreover, this was probably how that second Juliana came to be. Like in a gacha game, a Progenitor would end up obtaining an army of Valkyries. For Nick, so far he had Juliana and Amelia—though he was sure Elise would join soon.

Therefore, his theory was simple and yet huge: Progenitors were essentially players like himself. The only thing that was different that he could tell was the whole [King of the Cosmos] ordeal. From what he could tell, only he had that perk.

And a key part of leveling up his soul core was to kill these Progenitors, who, if he was right, were just ordinary people thrust into this crazy world just like him.

'So be it.' Nick thought has he clicked to view Asmodeus's profile. He knew that there were asshole Progenitors, like whoever was the master of Fake Juliana. There would be more as well.

Reservations created by a false sense of innocence had led him to delay the death of Yck already. If he had just trusted his gut and killed him from the get-go, none of this would be happening right now. So, in the future, he was going to kill first and ask questions later when these Progenitors reared their ugly heads.

This is because he never wanted to feel as hopeless as he had just before luckily defeating Asmodeus.

'Eh, no time to think of that. Let's just see what he gives me.' Nick thought as he clicked to view the profile of [Asmodeus].

{Asmodeus}

-Title: The First Archon

—Due to being the origin of the sins of Bravery, Trickery, and Nihilism, the master of this soul core is far less likely to be subjected to fear, deceit, or attempts at manipulating his emotions.

-Resonance: 1/5

[By battling with Asmodeus's core inside you, the resonance will increase. This boosts the level of their skills while simultaneously increasing the stat boost they give you.]

-Unique Skill: Devourer of Blood

[By consuming the blood of another, you can heal to full health if the amount of blood consumed exceeds 5% of their total blood. Additionally, you have a chance of uncovering traits of their bloodline and inheriting them for yourself]

'Huh, that's rather strong.' Nick thought as he overlooked this new path of power.

Basically, he just gained a passive skill, resistance, and stat boost. Though he didn't know exactly where to look for that stat boost just yet, at least not within the soul core menu.

He didn't have much time to figure it out either, as his Fang began glowing white and was hot to the touch.