Chapter 458: It’s All Shinomiyai Mai’s Fault
Finally, I’m back.
Kazumi pushed open the door to her rundown bedroom and placed her bag on the desk beside her, letting out a slow sigh before sitting down.
The conversation with Satō Shin’ichi had truly given the girl a headache. She didn’t know what kind of mindset he had, but even in this situation, Satō Shin’ichi still wanted Kazumi to bring her home next time. It took Kazumi a lot of effort to convince the stubborn, foolish boy to take a car home and rest first.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Kazumi picked up her mobile phone and replied to a few messages with the designated sun emoji. Only then did she feel like she had completely resolved the sudden incident of Satō Shin’ichi being injured.
“Speaking of which, it’s clearly *he* who loves you, so why am I the one left so exhausted?”
Looking at the assurance phrases the young boy had sent on her phone screen, Kazumi let out a long sigh and muttered to herself before closing the screen. She could finally start taking care of her own condition.
[Little Black? Little Black?]
There was no response to her calls within her sea of consciousness, which made the girl’s brows furrow slightly. She tried to sense it using energy, pinpointing Little Black’s location within her body.
A vast amount of Death Energy converged towards Little Black’s location. Kazumi intended to awaken the seemingly unconscious Little Black using energy.
…
Immense amounts of energy flowed towards it, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea, causing no ripples. If Kazumi, as the owner, couldn’t sense that Little Black was indeed inside her body, she would have almost thought this guy had run off somewhere else.
“Hiss— this is a bit of a serious problem…”
In Kazumi’s consciousness, Little Black was at least supposed to maintain its parasitic state within her body, meaning it shouldn’t be too severe. But given the current situation, it seemed like it would be difficult to even pull him out.
…
“No choice, I’ll have to drag him out the hard way.”
After thinking for a long time, Kazumi could only come up with this less-than-ideal method. Even if Little Black had lost consciousness, the [Undead Parasite] state was still active. As long as she used the energy within her body, she could drag him out bit by bit. However, doing so would consume a rather large amount of energy. But for Kazumi, who had her entire territory as a backup, such a restriction could be completely ignored.
…
“Hoo— finally got him out.”
In the girl’s rundown bedroom, Kazumi sat upright in the chair beside the desk. A faint blush colored her fair face, and her soft bangs were now damp with sweat. Beside her, the [Black Coffin] stood tall. An invisible, green thread connected to Kazumi, continuously supplying her with Death Energy from the territory.
Even with the territory’s energy supply, the consumption of her own body was immense.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Kazumi lowered her gaze to look at the result of her efforts after working on it for more than half an hour.
Little Black had already lost its former vitality. His limbs were stretched out, and the sharp teeth on his body had retracted, revealing only countless small holes. His once plump muscles had also shriveled considerably. At first glance, he now resembled a large piece of dried, rotten jerky.
“Little Black, Little Black?”
She couldn’t help but reach out and prod him. However, the Little Black on the ground remained completely unresponsive, like a piece of dried salted fish.
He was easily flipped over by Kazumi.
“?????”
The strange touch finally made Kazumi feel that something was amiss. She crouched down, pried open Little Black’s largely decayed mouth, and looked inside.
Pitiful, utterly unbearable.
Seeing Little Black’s mouth condition, Kazumi could only come up with these few adjectives to describe it. If Little Black’s original body could be described as a disgusting corpse, then her current Little Black could have the prefix [Rotten] completely added before that.
But the problem was, Little Black was a Ghoul, not a type of unit like a [Rotten Corpse]. Adding such a description wouldn’t make him stronger.
If she had to make an analogy, it would be the tragic state of a normal person who drank a can of highly corrosive liquid.
Yeah, maybe even worse.
After all, the loyal Little Black’s sole thought was whether he could let that tea water penetrate his body and harm Kazumi. In that case, he wasn’t just using his body as a container; Little Black was desperately using his body and energy to try and neutralize or digest that incompatible power.
And then…
“Undead Psychic…
…Shinomiyai Mai. I’ve made a note of this.”
After a two-second silence, Kazumi realized the seriousness of the matter. Little Black’s tragic state seemed to linger in the girl’s mind. Now, with her heart cooled, Kazumi naturally added this account to Shinomiyai Mai’s tally once again.
(Shinomiyai Mai: ???)
Completely disregarding the fact that she was the culprit herself, Kazumi silently moved Shinomiyai Mai higher on her kill list. She then tapped the diminutive Little Black, which was like the sole of her foot, and sat back down in her chair.
Regarding Little Black’s current state, Kazumi didn’t have a strong Emotional Fluctuation. This wasn’t because the girl was cold-blooded. She had raised this pet so diligently for so long, and she wouldn’t be reluctant to part with him.
By the nature of Undead Creatures, they generally didn’t have significant weaknesses, unless they were directly crushed into dust by a powerful force, or dissolved by a counteracting energy. It was very difficult to completely kill an Undead Creature, as they were, after all, dead things to begin with.
Although Little Black’s current situation was indeed caused by being harmed by a restraining Life Energy, thankfully, the power wasn’t strong enough to dissolve his entire body. The internal damage was severe, but in all seriousness, for an Undead like Little Black, a Ghoul, there wasn’t much difference between the inside and outside of his body. What mattered most were the intense Life Energy and his own will.
“I remember the Repair Coffin should still be around, I wonder how Reid is doing with it.”
Tapping her chin, Kazumi recalled the Repair Coffin that had brought her back to life. Although the medical fluid was no longer produced after she sacrificed Bai, the pool of Repair Fluid still contained some energy. Coupled with Reid’s constant replenishment of Undead Energy, it should have some medical effect.
Thinking this, Kazumi didn’t dwell on it any further. She stood up, reached out her slender right hand, and grabbed the greatly shrunken Little Black’s mummy due to corrosion. Like dragging a dead dog, she walked towards the open door of the Black Coffin in front of her.
(PS: Exams are over. I should be able to resume updates around this time after the New Year.)
(PS2: The Repair Coffin should be within the territory, right? It’s been too long, I don’t quite remember. If there are any other plot bugs, please point them out, readers, so I can fix them in time. Thanks, orz.)
