Chapter 598: Once More
“Pah, pah—”
Satou Shinichi emerged from the smoke and dust stirred up by the battle, his expression noticeably paler than before. He wasn’t in good shape at the moment. His original tanned skin now had an unnatural grayish-white hue, as if some of his blood and vitality had been drained. His short golden hair was soaked with sweat, sticking messily to his forehead, and a hint of fatigue was visible between his brows.
Shin’ichi then coughed forcefully, spitting out a foul, stagnant odor that felt like it had been festering in a sewer for months. Even for someone accustomed to training in harsh environments, the heavy stench made his face twist.
The negative side effects of the ability [Coffin] had unleashed were quite significant for Shin’ichi. The special energy within the monster residing in his body had erupted, and the impact of that violent, rampant energy had greatly affected even his usual combat style.
In the [Undead Frenzy] state, Shin’ichi found it difficult to control his own body, largely relying on instinct and the rampant nature of Death Energy to fight. While this greatly boosted his overall energy, allowing him to eliminate all of [White Bone]’s elemental clones in a short period, he shuddered to think about that fighting method now.
After all, that was how his mouth had become filled with such a foul stench. His mutated body had developed more attack methods, and [White Bone]’s earth elemental clones were literally torn apart by his long, sharp, mutated maw.
“How is it? Can you still fight? We can’t let him absorb the energy of the sealed land so easily!” [Coffin]’s voice came from the Ghost Gate, clearly laced with urgency.
While [Takeru Kamikami] was battling [White Bone]’s clones, Kazumi hadn’t been idle either. However, relying solely on Ash Crow (芦鸦) and the young girl’s own ranged attacks, it was difficult to break through [White Bone]’s current actions. They could only pin their hopes on [Takeru Kamikami] finishing the fight here.
“No problem!”
[Coffin]’s hoarse voice roused [Takeru Kamikami], who was somewhat panicked at that moment.
The primary issue was that Death Energy was akin to poison for flesh-and-blood creatures. Although Little Black was inside him, absorbing the Death Energy to prevent harm to his body, [Undead Frenzy] required Little Black to double the release of Death Energy from his own body to be performed.
If it weren’t for Shin’ichi’s peculiar physique, an ordinary hero would likely be not far from becoming an undead creature after experiencing something like this from within their own body.
Shin’ichi adjusted his breathing for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he forcefully pushed off the ground with his legs, launching himself straight towards [White Bone] in the air.
“Faster than I imagined.”
At this point, [White Bone], who was sitting cross-legged in the air, seemed to sense something. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at the tall figure leaping up through the air with green light, growing steadily closer.
The turbulent hurricane surrounding his body exploded outwards, transforming into countless wind blades that shot towards the dense flock of corpse crows in the sky. [White Bone] straightened his body, the eerie green flames in his eyes flickering wildly, and he raised his right hand into a heavy fist.
“Boom—”
A massive bone hand erupted from the ground, rising faster than Shin’ichi. Its long, slender bone fingers were wrapped in eerie green Death Energy. The appearance suggested it intended to directly seize Shin’ichi in the air.
“Whoosh—”
An eerie green gateway reappeared, snatching Shin’ichi away in mid-air at the last moment just as he was about to be captured. Simultaneously, a green gateway opened in the air behind [White Bone]. Shin’ichi, covered in Death Energy, burst forth from it. Enduring the invasion of Death Energy from passing through the [Ghost Gate], he delivered a heavy punch towards [White Bone]’s back.
A shield made of countless small bones suddenly materialized behind [White Bone]. Each bone plate was etched with strange runes. Shin’ichi’s punch, imbued with Death Energy, smashed fiercely into the bone shield, emitting a deafening roar.
“Crack—”
The surface of the bone shield instantly webbed with cracks but did not completely shatter. The recoil sent a jolt of numbness up Shin’ichi’s arm. Worse still, the runes suddenly lit up with a blinding green light, transforming into dozens of energy chains, like poisonous snakes, that coiled up his arm.
Just as the eerie green rune chains were about to consume Shin’ichi’s entire body, a strange bulge suddenly appeared on his chest. A gray-white arm violently burst from his body, its five fingers spread wide, precisely grasping all the incoming green chains.
“Grrr—”
A grating sound of corrosion rang out as Little Black’s tooth-covered arm fiercely clashed with the Death Energy.
The gray-white armor made of teeth peeled off, only to regenerate swiftly. In the end, Little Black crushed all the chains.
Shin’ichi seized the opportunity to retreat and looked down at Little Black’s half-exposed arm on his chest. The bone armor was covered in corrosive marks but was healing visibly. It was clear that the invasion of Death Energy didn’t have too much of an effect on Little Black, who was also an undead creature.
“Lei, has the arrangement for the territory been completed yet?”
Kazumi, furrowed her brow as she watched the battle in the sky from the distant ground. She mentally queried the Governor in the territory once more.
The current situation was clearly no longer in Kazumi’s favor. Even though they had continuously broken through [White Bone]’s cage and coffin, and its absorption of Death Energy from the sealed land, they were still unable to defeat [White Bone].
[Takeru Kamikami]’s abilities had reached their limit. As someone who relied purely on physical strength, Kazumi believed he had done all he could. However, [White Bone] was too agile. Fighting him, even with aerial superiority, was already difficult for [Takeru Kamikami]. Previously, with Kazumi’s help, he could maintain some initiative. But [White Bone] clearly had extensive combat experience. The materialized bone hand and bone shield he was currently using were things Kazumi couldn’t absorb through the [Ghost Gate], thus preventing her from providing much assistance to [Takeru Kamikami].
Even with Little Black’s help in activating [Undead Frenzy] just now, Kazumi wasn’t optimistic that this level of effort would be enough to completely defeat [White Bone].
The Death Energy emitted by [White Bone] was powerful enough that the young girl could only place her hopes on the arrangements within the sealed land that had begun from the very start of the battle. To truly kill [White Bone], she would have to exert her own strength.
Just as Kazumi anxiously awaited a reply from within the communication device, [Takeru Kamikami]’s calm and confident question came through the miniature Ghost Gate, which had been open as a communication tool.
“Hey, hey, [Coffin], if we use that again, will I be able to avoid getting hurt?”
