Chapter 56: The Devil’s Flower (2)
Yoshida Satoru, whose appearance had transformed to resemble a goat-like beast.
The black mana flowing from him had become even denser than before.
It wasn’t just pure black anymore—crimson mana filled with malice and venom was mixed in.
The chilling toxin emanating from the dark-red mana seemed capable of sickening every living thing around it and corroding all matter.
If this were downtown Taiwan instead of a contaminated zone, countless people would rot like zombies while buildings crumbled into decay.
“Ehehehe… Liu Qinglong, it’s not too late even now. Join us. With your talent, the Godfather would bestow upon you unimaginable power!”
Satoru grinned wickedly, trying to tempt Liu Qinglong.
Liu Qinglong furrowed his brow deeply—perhaps because of the malevolent aura pouring from the old man.
The intensity of the wind swirling around him grew even stronger.
The level of toxin protection he had been maintaining against the Creep was no longer sufficient to dispel Satoru’s poison.
“To abandon your humanity in pursuit of a realm beyond human reach—that cannot be called true ‘martial arts.’”
Liu Qinglong looked upon Satoru’s unleashed power with clear disgust and refused to acknowledge it.
Having reached Zero-grade through nothing but his own effort, it was only natural for him to think this way.
As if mocking Liu Qinglong’s opinion, Satoru curled his lip and sneered.
“Tch. How stubbornly righteous. True martial arts is winning by fighting. The dead who lose have no right to speak of martial arts at all.”
Liu Qinglong seemed to decide there was no point talking further. He immediately raised his mana.
Blue mana exploded outward from him, beginning to spiral violently.
Tz-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—
Wrapped in the blue vortex, Liu Qinglong charged straight at Satoru.
Shwaaaaa—
It looked exactly like a single azure dragon soaring through the air.
Satoru also cloaked his body in dark-red mana and met Liu Qinglong head-on.
Kwaaaaaang!
The moment their colossal powers collided, a circular shockwave swept across the area.
Tzzzt-zzzzzt—
A tremendous torrent of energy raged around the two, erupting into a dark-blue explosion.
The hemispherical blast grew larger and larger.
Its destructive force was enough to tear away the Creep covering the ground.
While that happened, Satoru used the giant eye-flower—nicknamed the “Devil’s Flower”—to scan the surroundings.
He was keeping a close watch on the suspicious man in the black suit—Chae Jin-young.
That bizarre tentacle gave off an aura strangely reminiscent of the Godfather, sparking his curiosity.
He wasn’t GODS, yet he possessed such a thing—why?
First, he would subdue Liu Qinglong, then investigate Chae Jin-young and the tentacle’s true nature.
Of course, that assumed Chae Jin-young could survive the enormous explosive energy first.
Pa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—
The hemispherical dark-blue energy, now large enough to blanket the entire area, engulfed Chae Jin-young.
***
Jin-young, who had been watching the battle, explosively released psionic energy.
Tzzzt-zzzzzt—
The dark-blue explosive energy unleashed by Liu Qinglong and Satoru split in two directions, narrowly passing around him.
Jacob, standing beside him, broke out in a cold sweat despite not being directly hit by the blast.
“A clash of literal monsters…”
“Want to go back inside?”
At Jin-young’s question, Jacob shook his head.
“No. Opportunities to witness something this valuable don’t come often. The great existence is protecting me—I won’t die so easily.”
Even though his mana had been completely drained, he was still a hunter at heart.
Having once sought strength so desperately that he pledged himself to the Godfather, he couldn’t bear to miss a showdown between powerhouses.
Jin-young was also observing the clash between two Zero-grades.
The goat-like beast form Satoru had taken exuded a venomous aura reminiscent of the demon king’s army he had seen on the final day in Renard.
It wasn’t as intense as that general he’d faced, but it was far stronger than the average soldier.
The crimson mana mixed into the black gave off a similar power.
Unlike Eun Ji-eun’s red mana, this was far more refined, condensed, and perfectly controlled.
Above all, the venom mixed within it was deeply suspicious.
‘Could it be related to that Experiment Subject No. 78?’
Unless one was at least 1st-grade level, blocking it with a mana barrier seemed nearly impossible.
Liu Qinglong was managing to deflect most of it with skill.
‘Fighting inside a contaminated zone puts Liu Qinglong at a disadvantage.’
Satoru, who wielded the Creep like his own power, received constant buffs.
For Liu Qinglong, it was the exact opposite.
Moreover, he had already expended mana chasing Jin-young all the way to Taiwan.
‘I wonder what would happen if I killed the boss monster and purified the contaminated zone.’
『Not only is that flower the boss monster here, but tens of thousands of monsters have already been fused into it.』
‘Really? No wonder I couldn’t see any monsters around.’
It seemed Liu Qinglong was destined to fight at a disadvantage no matter what.
Eventually, the dark-blue torrent that had blanketed the area dissipated, revealing Liu Qinglong and Satoru once more.
And above them, the Devil’s Flower looked down.
A translucent membrane surrounded the flower, making it appear completely unharmed by the explosive energy.
‘That thing is definitely watching me, right?’
『Precisely—it’s watching us. It’s probably waiting for a chance to absorb us.』
‘You’re saying it could absorb you?’
『That is, of course, impossible. The difference in rank cannot be ignored.』
‘Makes sense.’
The power contained in that disgusting flower couldn’t even come close to touching the tentacle.
If it tried to absorb it, the flower would hold out for a while before ultimately disintegrating.
And since the prophet was linked to it, he would perish along with the flower—making information gathering impossible.
The best option was to sever the connection between the prophet and the flower, so Jin-young continued observing the battle to find any clue.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa— Tz-kwa-kwa!
The earth split open and the air tore apart as deafening roars echoed in every direction.
Kwa-tz-tz-tz-tz—
Every time Liu Qinglong threw a punch, blue gales transformed into tens of thousands of blades that shredded the air as they flew.
Tz-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Whenever Satoru stomped his foot, the ground cracked and Creep surged upward to block the gales.
And occasionally, crimson lightning struck down.
Kwa-r-r-r-rung!
Liu Qinglong dodged the lightning by pulling his body back.
Satoru, clutching black mana in both hands, seized the opening.
Shhhss—
A black tendril shot forward like a beam of light, burrowing toward Liu Qinglong’s head.
Liu Qinglong could have twisted his head to evade it, but he either didn’t see it or didn’t bother reacting.
Since there was no visible physical wound, he continued his assault without pause.
In fact, he began pressing Satoru even harder than before.
Shwa-kwa-kwa-kwa— Pu-kwaak!
Satoru’s arm was sliced clean off in an instant by the relentless barrage of blue blades.
“Kihihihik! This is exactly the taste I wanted!”
But instead of feeling pain, Satoru grew even more excited.
It seemed he had an ability that converted pain into sexual pleasure.
While regenerating his severed arm, Satoru fired black tendrils toward Liu Qinglong just like before.
Jin-young, watching this, tried amplifying Satoru’s sense of pain with Sensory Manipulation.
Tz-kwa-kwak! Pu-hwaak!
“Aaah, more! Hit me harder!”
Satoru deliberately exposed his body to Liu Qinglong, reveling in extreme ecstasy.
His limbs regenerated almost instantly, meaning Liu Qinglong was essentially just wasting mana.
But Satoru wasn’t sacrificing his body purely for pleasure.
Every time a limb was severed, he secretly fired more black tendrils, continuing his covert work.
“……”
As more black mana infiltrated Liu Qinglong’s mind, his concentration visibly waned—his movements growing sluggish and dazed.
“You’ll start feeling it soon. You’ll realize you’re about to kneel before this body.”
Satoru grinned wickedly.
Liu Qinglong ignored the taunt and moved to attack again—
“……!”
—but staggered violently from sudden, intense vertigo.
Satoru’s black mana had burrowed deep into his consciousness, scrambling his thoughts.
At the same moment, the giant eye on the flower glowed crimson.
Kwa-r-r-rung—
Another bolt of red lightning struck down toward him.
In the next instant—
Crack-crack-crack—
The crimson lightning that had been descending toward Liu Qinglong’s head suddenly changed course and veered straight toward Satoru.
“……!”
Satoru couldn’t dodge in time and took the full brunt of the strike.
Kwa-d-d-d-d—
“Grrrrrrk……!”
The old man who had rejoiced at losing limbs now foamed at the mouth and convulsed.
His white fur burned black and his skin charred, but thanks to his extraordinary regeneration, he didn’t die.
“What the hell is this…?”
Satoru stared up at the flower in utter confusion.
But he knew it couldn’t have been the flower’s doing.
Because their minds were linked, he could tell perfectly well.
Nor could it have been Liu Qinglong, who had already lost consciousness.
“Then…”
Only one possibility remained—the person he had ignored until now.
Satoru whipped his head toward Jin-young.
“You… what exactly are you?”
Jin-young curled his lip into a smirk.
“So even when you’re connected, you can still hurt each other, huh?”
If he could force the Devil’s Flower to keep dropping crimson lightning like that, getting Satoru to open his mouth would become much easier.
At that moment, Satoru began actively targeting Jin-young.
Shwaaa—
Black mana coalesced in both of his hands and shot toward Jin-young.
Shwaak!
The tentacle bursting from Jin-young’s chest instantly absorbed it.
“I knew you weren’t ordinary. Now I’m even more curious about what you really are.”
Satoru smirked as he watched the tentacle devour his black mana.
『There’s a power in his mana that dominates the opponent’s mind.』
‘On the other hand, what if we dominate the flower’s consciousness? Like brainwashing it from subspace.’
Jin-young recalled how those who stared at the tentacle for too long had their mental states altered.
Just like Jeon Yu-hwan in the past.
『Hm… It’s not a bad idea, but it won’t be easy.』
‘We have the superior power.’
『But the flower contains countless overlapping consciousnesses. The contaminated zone’s boss monster, tens of thousands of monsters, and even the prophet—all fused together.』
Simply absorbing the black mana was simple enough, but dominating the consciousness was an entirely different matter.
Right now, the Devil’s Flower had swallowed so many minds that it had become one massive collective consciousness.
Jin-young’s powerful mental strength might be able to crush it outright, but doing so would require merging his mind with the tentacle’s mental domain.
Of course, he had absolutely no desire to do that.
Satoru’s attacks continued.
Shwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
The ‘Storm’ ability Liu Qinglong had used earlier manifested again—this time dyed black.
He had copied the ability from the mind he had seized.
And thanks to the dark-red mana, its power had been amplified even further.
“Kiiiiik!”
“Kiaaaaak!”
Screams of countless monsters erupted from within the black-crimson storm.
An attack that struck not only the ears but also disrupted the mind itself.
Yet Jin-young, having dulled his hearing to the extreme with Sensory Manipulation, remained unaffected.
He had no intention of letting some noise dominate his mind, but there was also no reason to endure the racket.
Next, he seized the incoming storm with psychokinesis.
Shwaaaa—
A massive vortex began spinning around Jin-young at its center.
‘Then how about this?’
Shuu—
He summoned a black orb from subspace.
The orb containing the essence of 300,000 monsters from the North Korean contaminated zone—compressed and condensed.
After the Monster Wave ended, he had planned to entrust it to Jeon Yu-hwan along with a 1st-grade boss monster’s manastone for crafting.
But he had been told that turning the orb into a manastone would be difficult.
Its structure was fundamentally different from a heart or brain, and it contained far too much black mana.
Jin-young had simply kept it in subspace, figuring it might be useful someday.
『This could serve as a substitute for consciousness.』
The protruding tentacle snatched the orb.
Tzzzt-zzzzzt—
The massive orb was ground to dust by the tentacle and absorbed completely, leaving not even a speck behind.
Then the dark-red vortex enveloping Jin-young shot straight toward Satoru.
Tz-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—
It bored through Satoru’s body like a drill, shredding him apart.
“Kuhahahahahaak!”
Satoru burst into manic laughter, his face filled with the same ecstasy he had shown while fighting Liu Qinglong.
His entire body was torn into hundreds of pieces of flesh; even his laughter was silenced.
Of course, as long as the flower and the Creep remained, his body would regenerate.
While he was regenerating, Jin-young looked up at the flower.
At that moment, Satoru’s voice flowed from the flower.
『Heh heh heh heh… You wield a mysterious and destructive power. Yet you refuse to kill me—that must mean you have some purpose…』
Because their minds were linked, this kind of communication was possible.
『But you will never achieve that purpose. The fragment of power bestowed by the great Godfather…』
That was when it happened.
Tzzzt—
A small subspace portal opened in midair.
It appeared at the same height as the towering Devil’s Flower.
『What is this cute little thing?』
Shwaak—
A tentacle shot out from the portal.
Compared to the giant eye, it looked no bigger than a toothpick.
『Seeing how the Devil’s Flower is drawn to it… it seems we must become one.』
Shhhss…
Dark-red mana began gathering from the Devil’s Flower toward the eye.
It looked as though it were preparing a single devastating strike.
But at that moment—
Dudududuk—
The tentacle emerging from the portal grew thicker and thicker—until it suddenly stopped, as if stuck in the opening.
Kwa-jik— Pa-jijijik!
Cracks began spreading across the portal’s edges.
Pa-cha-cha-cha-chang!
The portal shattered completely, tearing a massive hole in the sky.
Kwa-tz-tz-tz-tz-tz!
A colossal black tentacle—overwhelming even the giant eye—revealed itself in the heavens.
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