As the Death Goddess's avatar was continuously eroded, memories related to Death came flooding in.
Through the Death Goddess's perspective, Rimuru also witnessed a completely different view of Death.
For the Death Goddess, bestowing Death upon all things was Her duty, and even Her instinct!
Just as Devourer replenished his energy by devouring Planets, Death replenished Her energy through the "Death of all things."
The Death of all things was the Death Goddess's food, Her source of energy.
Death had no sense of right or wrong, no concept that intelligent life was superior to all else; in Her eyes, the Death of anything was the same, merely "dishes" of different flavors.
Just as humans do not know or care how much bread they have eaten, Death also did not care how much Death She had caused.
Species extinction, civilization demise, Planet degradation, star explosions, divine fall, dimension shattering—
The Death of all things continuously flowed into Rimuru's consciousness through Death's memories.
Rimuru could even perceive the different colors and tastes of various Deaths through the Death Goddess's perspective.
The experience of an intelligent life's Death was vastly different from the destruction of a star.
If Rimuru's divine soul hadn't been strong enough, and if she hadn't mastered the skills [King of Wisdom] and [Heart King], Rimuru might have been completely brainwashed by Death's endless memories.
But even so, Rimuru still felt a swelling sensation in her head.
If it were an ordinary person, this would be normal.
But Rimuru was a Slime!
As she observed more and more, the image of the Death Goddess in Rimuru's mind became clearer and clearer.
No wonder the Death Goddess's personality was so unpredictable, always finding spokespersons to stir up trouble now and then.
Her memories were simply too boring!
For example, the destruction of a star, which was initially incredibly shocking and magnificent to behold, became mundane after seeing it too many times.
What's more, the Death Goddess had witnessed it from the very beginning of the Universe's birth until now.
There were also interstellar wars, with rivers of blood and countless sacrifices, sometimes even the complete annihilation of all species on an entire Planet at once.
For the Death Goddess, this was merely equivalent to an extra meal!
It was indeed one of the few pleasures, but that was all.
To explain it using human thinking, the Death Goddess was a typical example of someone with extremely abundant material life but an incredibly impoverished spiritual life.
At this moment, Rimuru perhaps somewhat understood why Xiao Jianjian could capture the Death Goddess's heart.
Xiao Jianjian being a chatterbox and knowing how to please women was one thing, but most importantly, the Death Goddess was "inexperienced" and had no choice!
This was like in ancient China, where sheltered young women who rarely left their homes would often fall in love at first sight with a scholar they encountered, even to the point of being consumed by it.
The number of different men they saw was simply too few!
Those who could see Death basically died, and dead lives, for the Death Goddess, were merely food.
Humans might remember the deliciousness of food, but would you fall in love with your food?
And those the Death Goddess actively sought out, like Thanos, were merely pawns found for amusement.
Pawns, mere tools!
Who would carry the boat after crossing the river?
Previously, Rimuru felt she completely couldn't understand Death, feeling that Her thought process was bizarre.
But now, after reading the memories of this avatar of Death, Rimuru instead felt that Death was very easy to understand, and even very simple!
In fact, what Rimuru didn't know was that while she was viewing Death's memories, Death also viewed a part of her memories.
Those vivid scenes of life, that extremely rich material and spiritual life, made Death exceptionally interested.
She even felt as if Her eyes had been opened!
Why had She never felt before that these trivial things were so interesting?
Death had no idea that She hadn't known before simply because She stood too high!
This was like how humans might observe ants moving house or fighting, but would never think of living like ants.
But now it was different; when She viewed that part of Rimuru's memories, it was as if She had experienced it firsthand.
This completely allowed Her to jump out of Her former perspective!
Various different flavors came flooding in, making Death momentarily lost and intoxicated.
And this daze and intoxication also created a flaw in Death's transcendent state of mind.
The moment this flaw appeared, Rimuru's swallowing speed suddenly accelerated.
Soon after, the vast majority of this avatar of the Death Goddess's body was eroded and digested.
And this avatar truly reached the brink of Death!
"Is this what Death feels like?"
At this moment, the Death Goddess felt an inexplicable stir.
She finally understood what kind of existence She was in the eyes of the myriad sentient beings.
This sensation was so profound, like the first time humanity ever looked into a mirror.
While feeling utterly novel, She finally began to understand what She truly looked like, whether beautiful or ugly.
"Rimuru, thank you!"
Rimuru also smiled, even feeling a bit ashamed.
"To be honest, at first I just wanted to bluff you with big words, and later when I devoured you, it was more due to my devouring magic [Lord of Gluttony]. Your thanks make me incredibly ashamed!"
Death Goddess: "I like your honesty. I have no name, but I also have many names. Most people call me Death, but some also call me Death Rider, Death Person, Lady Ramorte, Marcia. Following human customs, if you don't mind, you can also call me by my name!"
Rimuru thought for a moment and said, "Marcia, then I'll call you Marcia from now on!"
The Death Goddess nodded with satisfaction: "Very well, Rimuru, I will come to play with you again in the future!"
"I'll be waiting!"
The Death Goddess vanished, Her avatar completely devoured and digested by Rimuru.
At this moment, Rimuru seemed to transform into the Death Goddess; an indescribable, profound law of Death began to flow within her mind.
Even more mysterious, at this instant, Rimuru seemed to become a part of the Universe's rules; she was the new Death!
She could replenish her energy by "feeding" on Death in the Universe.
At this moment, Rimuru even felt Death was exceptionally delicious!
Even more terrifying, a sudden, uncontrollable thought arose in her mind: she didn't want the deceased Jotunheim people to be resurrected.
This uncontrollable thought was like a child refusing to share candy and snacks with others.
Oh, my God!
The moment this thought appeared in her mind, Rimuru was startled.
God, she wouldn't be turning evil, would she?!
.....
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