Chapter 252 - The

Timothy didn’t like being snuck up on, so when a weird voice spoke to him from the shadows, he was not a fan. He attacked this sneaky man without even turning around, by unleashing his trusty Electro Nerve Splitter ability!

Humans, or intelligent creatures of any sort were not welcome in his universe, not under the current settings, so he attacked, and hoped for the best, however, his attack did not work! He quickly realized that there weren't any physical targets that he could shoot against, but rather, he was shooting at thin air instead! It was confusing.

The man who spoke to him approached afterwards, and when Timothy got a better look at him, he quickly understood what was going on! He was facing a man who wasn't neither physical, nor dead, but rather, he had assumed a gaseous form, as to have a present consciousness in this universe! His power was rather difficult to measure, gesturing that it was immense, so Timothy understood that it was the best idea to attack.

“You’ve taken a solid interest in my needle universe, but it is obvious that you're far away from being its master. My kiss alone overwhelms you!” He spoke.

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Tim grunted, “Are you referring to the Devil's Kiss ability? Do not phrase it like that again, you beardy dick!”

“Cowardly when cornered, yet brave enough to chase the unorthodox… interesting…” He spoke.

Timothy was quite irritated at this point, but he figured that he had to be at least a little bit cooperative, because he didn’t know what he was looking at! The bearded man appeared normal at first, but the more Tim looked at him, the more he came to terms that he didn't know what he was looking at! A normal face shouldn't distort, and it shouldn't appear as if it was melting!

When Timothy started seeing other people around him, he quickly stepped back! These people then turned into monsters, and were attacking him, so he tried to fight back by blasting fireballs against them! However, the fireballs never hit these monsters, and instead scorched portions of the solid stone walls that were around him.

The monsters disappeared shortly after, which made this situation all the more confusing. A strong brain fog that he was experiencing, hinted that his brain was under attack, and when the bearded man disappeared as well, he figured that he was going insane!

As a desperate measure, he grabbed his own head, and started pouring blue mana into it. This was a simple trick for a mage to heal themselves, so if his brain was actually damaged, or under attack, he wanted to reverse as much damage as he could!

A tiny bar at the corner of his eye, kept count of something. As he started feeling better, he understood that the system was the one who was portraying this tiny bar, and once he read what it was about, he was mortified!

[IQ = 89]

[IQ = 112]

[IQ = 121]

[IQ = 135]

[IQ = 149]

This bar kept going up until he recovered his original IQ, which was much higher than the average mammal’s, towering at two-hundred points in this goblin form! The brain fog he experienced was gone as well, so as of now, he could think straight again.

Moments later, that odd man appeared in front of him again, and said. “Neat trick, but I suggest that you keep healing your brain if you’re going to talk to me. You’ve met the minimal intelligence threshold one would need if they wanted to see me, but your intelligence still leaves much to be desired, so it'll decline the more time you spend with me. The common associated inflictions of meeting me, for someone at your lesser power scale, are brutal, so keep your hands up for the sake of your own wellbeing.”

“Brutal, huh?” Tim followed along, as he kept pouring mana into his head. “Brain damage is beyond brutal for someone like me, who really depends on his motherfucking brain!”

“Brain damage is one of the inflictions that I can cause, and some of the other inflictions would be Paranoid Schizophrenia, Demon Face Syndrome, and Schizoaffective Disorder. You experienced all three of the latter, just a moment ago, simply by meeting me, so you should hold on to your brain considering that you use it.” He explained.

“Oh, I’m holding on to it! What are you? Some kind of demonic species?” Tim asked.

“Myself, and my species would take too long to explain the concept of. The name, Devil's Kiss is purely metaphorical, in spite of the ignorance of the common conscious man, and woman. I am not a demon, but let us just say that my presence in three-dimensional universes is so unwelcomed, to the point where I could rip a hole in its fabric if I stay too long! My scent alone almost fried your brain, so let us not get into details about my complicated origins, and let me explain why I’m here.” He said.

“You've taken interest in one of my many universes, Purpureus Mundi. This needle universe was amongst my first projects, an experiment, so to speak, and you can reap the benefits of this experiment as long as you follow the right path! The pleasures of mage-hood pale in comparison to what old Mundi can offer you.” He added.

Finally, as his white, silky clothes disappeared with the rest of him, he promised. “Be vigilant in the understanding of time, and the universe will be yours to keep! I do not care for it anymore, so it could use a new owner, a new god.”

This mysterious figure then disappeared, leaving a lot of questions unanswered, and harrowing! This would bother the average man quite a bit, but he loved difficult questions that seemed like they didn't have an answer, as he thrived in complex matters of this sort! In this case, he was also happy that he got to keep his brain.

“Okay… that prick was either a demon, a super-advanced ghost, or a creature from a greater dimension, potentially greater universe? It’s gonna be hard to pinpoint it, but no matter what that bastard is, I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. This universe was mine to begin with, it became mine as soon as I opened my first portal, so that bastard didn’t have to come here and stink the place up to the point where I get schizophrenia!” He spoke to himself. “What did he mean with ‘the understanding of time’ though? What fucking piece of the puzzle is that supposed to be?”