Died for a Million Times: I can Copy Infinite SSS Talents!-Chapter 72 --The Chosen

Now, all that remained were the spiritual-type talents.

After the effects of Cannibal Devour, Link’s most powerful remaining spiritual-type talent was just one: Soul Order.

It might seem like a small number, but this single talent could accomplish quite a lot.

It alone granted him enhancements in mind power, psychic attacks, control over targets, and influence on their actions.

Among these, the boost to his mind power was a passive effect. He had already noticed the benefits granted by Soul Order when checking his status panel earlier.

As for the control and influence aspects, Link had already decided to keep them as hidden trump cards, only to be used at critical moments.

That left just one remaining function—using mind power to attack his enemies.

However, he had never studied how to use mind power offensively, nor did he know what techniques or risks were involved. So, he could only rely on Lib to search for relevant information.

Lib, ever reliable, quickly dug up information based on the Soul Order talent, detailing several ways to weaponize mind power. Unfortunately, most of those techniques would only unlock once his mind power reached the level of a Tier 3 esper. Being at the late stages of Tier 2 left him in quite an awkward spot.

And just then—suddenly—an unfamiliar talent appeared before Link’s eyes. One that he had absolutely no prior memory of.

[Mutated SS-tier Talent: Chosen of Nurgle]

[The talent holder’s profound understanding of toxins has drawn the gaze of a god from another world. Upon unlocking this talent, the holder becomes immune to all negative effects cast upon themselves. At the same time, the holder will generate a Plague Core within their body, which absorbs and converts all incoming negative effects. These can later be used offensively.]

[Note: If negative effects accumulated in the Plague Core are not used for an extended period, they will be converted into Power Values. The converted effects can influence targets up to Tier 5. As Power Values and the number of negative effects increase, the effective range of the Plague Core will also grow.]

Link paused for a moment, then guessed that this talent was likely a mutation stemming from Child of Poison after it devoured some unknown talent.

The effects were undoubtedly powerful, but what made him uneasy was the note stating that he had attracted the attention of a god from another world.

Weren’t gods supposed to be purely mythological constructs?

But now it seemed that deities actually existed—and not only that, but there were both native and foreign gods.

With that thought, Link instinctively raised his head and looked at the portrait of the goddess hanging on the wall of the empty room. The longer he stared, the stranger he felt.

Suddenly, a new message flashed before his eyes.

[Esper has glimpsed the truth of the world. SS-tier talent obtained: Gaze of the Night Goddess]

[Gaze of the Night Goddess (SS-tier)]

[The holder’s insight into the world’s truths has drawn the attention of the Night Goddess. Upon unlocking this talent, the user will gain two special abilities: Shadow in the Dark and Dark Devour.]

[Shadow in the Dark: The user merges completely with the night and can summon and command a Shadow in the Dark entity to fight on their behalf. The summoned shadow inherits 70% of the user’s original attributes. After it dies, it requires a 10-day cooldown to regenerate.]

[Dark Devour: The user can devour and enslave dying targets, converting them into Shadows in the Dark. Shadows not created from the user’s own soul inherit 50% of the target’s attributes. The number of Shadows created this way is capped at 10.]

[Note: Targets for Dark Devour must not exceed Tier 3. Once summoned, the user can instantly teleport to any of the Shadows in the Dark and gain a stealth effect. The number of summonable shadows and their inherited stats increase as the user’s Power Values rise.]

After reading the talent’s description, Link felt his heart pounding wildly.

What did it mean to "grasp the truth of the world"? Did it imply that the deities of myth were, in fact, real?

And more crucially—he hadn’t just drawn the attention of a foreign god. He had also caught the eye of a native deity—the Night Goddess herself!

And she hadn’t just looked his way. She had actually bestowed him with a tremendously powerful talent!

Link had always fought alone—not because he preferred solitude, but because his unique talent of posthumous replication made it impossible to maintain long-term, stable relationships with others.

This had been apparent even back when he was still attending school.

But now, with Gaze of the Night Goddess, that problem had been solved entirely.

This talent, with its two granted abilities, addressed his greatest weakness head-on.

Not only could Link now summon a shadow entity inheriting 70% of his own power, he could also use Dark Devour to claim dying enemies—turning them into Shadows under his command.

And the most critical part of all? Dark Devour didn’t limit its targets to humans!

That meant even powerful moonfolk could be enslaved by him!

Even at just 50% of their original strength, even if the number was capped at ten—it would still be an unprecedented achievement in history for a human to command the moonfolk.

And this was just the beginning. As Link’s strength increased, so too would the number and power of his shadows.

Realizing this, Link dropped to his knees in front of the goddess’s portrait and offered a devout prayer.

After all, the goddess had given him such a bountiful gift. Wouldn’t it be rude if he didn’t show some appreciation?

Once he finished his prayer, Link stood up and stepped into a corner of the room where the portrait wasn’t visible.

He had a feeling that this SS-tier talent wasn’t even in its final form yet.

Whether it was the 70% inheritance cap for Shadow in the Dark, or the 50% stat copy for devoured targets, or even the limit of 10 shadows—these all hinted that the Night Goddess was still holding something back.

But Link wasn’t worried. After all, he had Cannibal Devour.

If he encountered any summoning-related talents in the future, he could simply have Gaze of the Night Goddess devour them—eventually evolving it into a perfect SSS-tier ability.

And in the meantime, he’d make sure to maintain an outward show of faith toward the Night Goddess.

His previous carefree, indifferent demeanor wouldn’t do anymore.

He resolved to head over to the supply station and ask the administrator for some Night Goddess-themed accessories to wear.

That way, no one would question his identity as a true follower of the goddess.

But before that—he had one more thing to do.

He needed to test this SS-tier talent for himself... and see just what kind of power it truly possessed.