Chapter 300 The Price of Madness
On the trashed rooftop of the television station, Yuz stood there in a daze. The weapon sheathed behind her back and the bloodstains on the ground were proof that the previous battle had concluded.
However, this veteran hero, who had seen many battles, was uncharacteristically standing there, lost in thought, as if pondering something.
“Beep—beep—beep—”
A sudden ringing broke the silence. Yuz, snapping back to reality, reached into his bosom and pulled out an earphone-like communicator, placing it on his right ear.
“Lord Yuz, I’ve already rendezvoused with Haku and the others. The other sealed location wasn’t attacked. However… Kito, who was supposed to contact the Association, still hasn’t found a way to break through the black fog.”
Asuna’s voice came through the communicator. The news made Yuz, whose expression was already not very good, even more solemn. However, he replied with his usual calm demeanor.
“Mm, you bring your people to take over the sealing array here. Bai Ma Huidu will continue to guard that side. The enemy here has been dealt with, but there’s still a possibility of their return. As for the black fog, I’ll handle it.”
“Understood, Lord Yuz!”
As if finding a pillar of support, Asuna’s voice on the other end of the line became more spirited, and he quickly agreed to come over immediately.
“Wait, Asuna.”
Just as Asuna was about to hang up the communication, Yuz called out to him.
“Is the data network within the area still usable?”
“Yes, it’s just that we can’t connect to the Association’s main network. Communication between areas is still normal.”
“Then, on my behalf, upload the updated information on the opposing organization. It might be useful later.”
Looking at the viscous, entangled flesh and blood fragments in front of him, Yuz squatted down and used his energy-formed finger to pick up a piece, placing it into a transparent pocket he held in his other hand. After carefully putting the collected remains into his personal pocket, Yuz continued speaking to Asuna on the other end of the line.
“Organization Dark, codename [Black Robe] renamed to [Coffin], original abilities unchanged, personality now tagged with [Calm] and [Strong tactical ability], capability level five stars.”
“Attach question marks to the parasitic ability. The host’s appearance is about 1.58 meters tall, with short hair, but it cannot be considered a regular form of appearance.”
“Finally, add the key information: the host is not human!”
…
On the other end, on the skeletal throne in the graveyard hall, an indescribable bloody scent, accompanied by horrifying chewing sounds, echoed throughout the entire hall.
The young girl sat on the highest throne as usual, but the surroundings were filled with blurry flesh and blood fragments, as if some monster was devouring something.
When the perspective shifted from the girl’s left side to the front, the reason for all this strangeness could be understood.
If Kazumi could still be called a young girl in her current state, seated on the throne.
The entire upper right half of her body and cheek had disappeared, replaced by a slender skull covered in teeth, and a disgusting arm with exposed muscles interwoven together!
Kazumi’s current state was very bad. Strange undead energy was constantly impacting her half-brain, and her damaged body had been sending distress signals to herself without stopping. This caused her already chaotic brain to never cease its operation, constantly emitting bizarre and disordered information.
Manipulating the long, gray-white arm covered in teeth, she picked up a Corpse Crow placed to the side and stuffed it into her mouth. The slender right half of her skull gnawed at the rotten flesh in her mouth with large bites.
Viscous fluid, mixed with corrosive saliva, dripped onto the Human Skin Cloak she wore, emitting a constant “sizzling” sound of corrosion.
At this moment, Kazumi paid no mind to the deterioration of her cloak, let alone the changes in her appearance.
The moment she was restrained by Spiritual Energy, Kazumi knew she had lost that encounter.
The combat experience of a top-tier hero was something she, an outsider, could not possibly match. After only a few exchanges, Yuz had discovered the weakness in her abilities.
At the same time, by taking advantage of unequal information, or rather, traps set with exposed information, he had successfully tricked her.
Using the binding ability of Spiritual Energy, he had directly sealed off all pathways for Little Black to emerge from her body, even turning Little Black’s existence into a disadvantage.
In that situation, if Little Black were to forcefully emerge from her body, it would be like continuously injecting pressure into a sealed container, with the only outcome being the explosive demise of her body, the container itself.
And Kazumi chose precisely this kind of insane, impossible response.
Perhaps it was because Kazumi was unsure whether a severed head exceeded the fatal injury range of [Substitute Doll], or perhaps in that situation, the young girl preferred to believe in the method of ability usage she had deduced.
But more likely, it was the madness and resolve emanating from the depths of the girl’s bones.
At that moment, with extreme calmness, Kazumi decisively ordered Little Black to forcefully break out from her body using the right side as the breakthrough point. Simultaneously, she compressed the Death Aura on her right side as much as possible to the left to create a weak point sufficient for the breakthrough.
The girl’s half-head, chest, and arm exploded into a shower of mangled flesh, like a balloon. In their place emerged Little Black’s terrifying physique.
And, seizing the moment of the opponent’s surprise, Kazumi directly manipulated her body to evade Yuz by half a body length. Utilizing the immense explosive power of the body dominated by Little Black, she retracted the Black Coffin and leaped from the rooftop dozens of stories high.
Under the contingency plan of the Corpse Crow swarm she had previously arranged, she successfully escaped the rooftop and returned to her Black Coffin territory.
[Undead Parasitism], Little Black’s core skill obtained after consuming an elite emblem and successfully being promoted to an elite unit.
Another skill, [Undead Frenzy], could, while parasitizing, also mutate the host, making it more powerful.
The combination of these two abilities resulted in Kazumi’s current appearance.
The lost half of her body was completely replaced by Little Black’s flesh, and a mild [Undead Frenzy] continuously converted her own Death Aura into a strange vitality to sustain the girl’s current actions.
In fact, this skill combination was an escape method conceived by Kazumi during her deductions for when she might be seriously injured. She hadn’t expected to actually use it at a time like this.
However, it had to be said that perhaps due to the excessive damage to her physical body, Kazumi’s own body was already beginning to undergo some changes beyond her control.
Although Little Black’s control was in her hands, even she herself could not perform self-control at the cellular level.
Surviving with such a damaged body was already a miracle. Thus, the body’s self-preservation mechanism began to spontaneously absorb energy from her other half, trying to maintain her survival.
And the consequence of this was only one: complete undead transformation.
Kazumi had thoroughly considered the drawbacks of complete undead transformation a long time ago.
But in the girl’s heart, there was also a peculiar feeling that if she truly abandoned everything and became an Undead Creature, she would lose something very, very important.
Perhaps it was just a lingering obsession from her original body?
Confused thoughts flashed through her mind, and Kazumi once again grabbed several Corpse Crows from the nearby pile of corpses and stuffed them into her mouth, the disgusting chewing sounds echoing incessantly.
For the current Kazumi, even eating was no longer enough to counteract Little Black’s influence on her body.
But if she dispelled Little Black’s parasitic possession, with only half of her body remaining, she would likely die in an instant.
The brutal and chaotic desires accumulated in her mind, causing even the whites of the girl’s eyes to slowly transform towards the characteristic white of undead creatures.
Knowing that her condition was not right, Kazumi used her human left hand to pick up the mobile phone placed beside her and directly opened it to the lock screen.
The young boy’s sunny, somewhat憨厚 (honest/simple) smile appeared in Kazumi’s eyes. At the same time, the deathly stillness in the girl’s eyes was dispelled, and she regained her usual calmness and clarity.
“Hoo— No, this guy’s effect is also gradually fading. Just looking at the chat history is no longer very effective.”
She let out a long sigh, and the restless Death Aura within her body was once again suppressed by Sato Shinichi’s憨厚 smile, buying Kazumi a few more minutes.
In reality, Kazumi herself didn’t know why her body, which was rushing towards undeath, had stopped so abruptly upon seeing her silly dog’s face.
It made no sense! This kind of thing couldn’t even be explained by metaphysics!
However, the girl’s brain resources were no longer sufficient to ponder these issues. Just fighting against the transformation within her body had consumed all her energy.
Taking advantage of the brief moment when her senses recovered, she slammed her right arm, covered in teeth, onto the throne, and the girl shouted heavily towards the door.
“Lei!”
“Lord, there are still a few minutes until the setup is complete, you see…”
Lei, with only half his head remaining, floated in cautiously from the doorway. Even the stubborn Lei, after having half his head blown off by the agitated Kazumi, had become careful.
“I can’t wait!”
Reaching out and directly pushing aside the Lich blocking her path, the girl picked up her phone and looked deeply at the screen, as if wanting to engrave the content into her heart.
Then, she walked out of the hall without looking back.
At this moment, in the open space in front of the Great Graveyard, a large box was constructed from square death ice crystals.
Inside the box, tens of thousands of thumb-sized, tender white grubs writhed incessantly. Pale green mucus was secreted little by little from the grubs’ mouthparts, eventually forming a pool of green liquid.
Looking expressionlessly at the sea of grubs in the green mucus, Kazumi took off her cloak, revealing her disgusting body, like a patchwork monster.
Then, she stepped into the large bathtub filled with countless grubs, bit by bit, until her entire body was completely covered by the grubs and mucus.
When the last trace of light in front of her was filled with dirty green, she released Little Black’s parasitic possession.
(Ps: Thanks to all the brothers for the monthly votes, there are so many! I rushed to write one on my phone!)
(Ps2: The plot written on the phone feels a bit strange.)
(Ps3: I can’t find the skill names for Little Black anymore. If I’ve written them incorrectly, please feel free to point them out.)
