Poison Human Realm
I was heading back to the heart of the city. That place where the Monster Flower lurked. It was like jumping headfirst into Dragon Lake Blood Pond, but what choice did I have?
'This is the only way.'
When Pill Seller first told me the method, I was half-doubting, half-believing. I straight-up asked if he was for real, and his response was just one thing.
I nodded, instinctively sensing the kind of treatment he'd gotten when he first joined the gallery.
And now, with the secret sauce recipe he'd passed down crammed into my head, I was launching a counter-counterattack back to the spot I'd fled from earlier.
"Kraaangaaah!"
"Keaarrgh!"
The welcome party was fierce. Maybe they'd figured out my intentions. The mutants showing up were on a whole new level too. Past 1.7 variants, now 1.8s and 1.9s were popping up way more often.
'These little shits. They grab you when you're trying to leave, and now that I'm coming back, they're like "stay out."'
Tsundere much? In subculture, tsundere characters might be moe bait, but in reality? Total bitchdere. Nah, fuck that—just punch-happy elf-hating bastards.
I swung Hope like a madman, pushing forward until I reached the spot with the Monster Flower's massive flower stalk in view.
From there, the Monster Flower had its petals spread wide toward the sky again, just like when I'd first seen it. Its thick stem stretched straight up, so none of the viciousness from when it swallowed the Devouring Splitter lingered.
'What the hell? On cooldown or something?'
Here I was, staring at a monster's ahegao face. Ridiculous, but not exactly a laughing matter. Because unlike the main body that had vanished, mutants were still pouring out from behind it.
Practically Mingnyun Jinsa-level variants, damn it? I love infinite refills as much as the next guy, but not this kind!
That's when a DM from Pill Seller hit.
Ready? "Yep."
Of course I was. I nodded vigorously.
But surprisingly, Pill Seller expressed some concern.
The guy who'd been hawking pills until the last second was getting cold feet now. I wanted to hit him with an ice hammer, but I held back. I could feel the warm, gallery-style concern in his words.
"Don't worry, Master. I told you—lately, every day's a life-on-the-line gamble. I'm already at the point where the fifth and sixth loan sharks are bawling their eyes out over my collateral scam."
Alright. With the buff from my cool, oriental tigress beauty mentor, I felt tiger energy surging as I charged ahead.
"Keaarrgh!"
"Kyaaarrgh!"
The closer I got, the stronger the mutants became. Beyond 1-variants, now even 2-variants were showing up.
Why weren't these around last time? One simple answer hit me.
'This whole city is that monster's giant farm.'
Suddenly, the familiar sights from every trip here flashed in my mind. Flesh draped over building walls and streets. No one was shoveling that horror around on purpose—who mashed it all together like that? I'd been too busy surviving to notice, but now it screamed that fucker's handiwork.
Shwick—!
A sharp slicing sound grazed my cheek mid-thought. My Heaven's Mechanism Calculation-honed instincts jerked my head aside as an ultra-compressed flesh blob turned dagger zipped past.
'Ew. Ugly as sin.'
Its head was a toad-predator mashup. Arms sold off somewhere, replaced by massive bone scythes like prosthetics. Cutest compared to rubber mutants, but those reverse-jointed legs meant it was the type that rocketed in at projectile speed for melee once its ranged hit landed.
"Kyak!"
Its shout echoed, and whoosh—whoosh—whoosh! Two bone scythes whipped wildly. Pure frenzy. Dazzling blade work clanged in my ears.
I matched the frenzy, swinging Hope. I'd eaten enough blade rice to spot it even in this chaos.
'Three exchanges, and it's paste.'
No need for a long fight. Three more clashes, and I'd turn that ugly mug into cute confetti.
But the problem was—
"Kyahaak!!"
It wasn't alone. A spike erupted from the ground on my left. I yanked Hope back and retreated, but psshk—! Fire lanced my thigh.
"Guh…!"
Meanwhile, the mutant—now missing an arm to Hope—scrambled back, biding its time for death.
Letting opportunity slip and retreating clean meant—
"Uwoooooh!!!"
Suddenly, a bull-like mutant barreled from the side, filling my vision. One thought: 'Fuck, can't dodge that.'
I slammed my sword sideways like a shield. Then—
Boom!!
Vision flipped. I flew like a cut puppet string, tumbling across the ground.
"Kuhak…!"
Hellish pain wracked my body. Not one spot—everything hurt evenly. Joints grinding everywhere. Yet Heaven's Mechanism Calculation didn't trigger.
Meaning one thing: 'Shit… tanking it costs less than half my inner energy?'
Tanking raw was cheaper than the auto-defense eating qi. Body wrecked, how was this profitable? No time to puzzle. Three mutants, recovered, lunged from three directions.
'Ha, you little shits.'
Normally, I'd crush them. Mere 2-variants. Old me? Maybe not. Now? I'd julienne a dozen into skidasi set.
But now? I'd soul-fought the 3-variant Devouring Splitter, then wheeled through endless 1.x variants. Stamina trashed, body fucked. Absorption Great Law topped me up, but fatigue was maxed—I could've sprawled flat and no one'd blink. So these scrubs thought they could take me.
'This the end?'
I felt my limit. Wanted to thrash more, but normal breakthrough stopped here.
So, "Time for the emergency method."
I retracted Hope's dangling blade. It shrank to dagger length in a flash. Reverse grip, tip to my heart.
Squelch—!
Eerie flesh-ripping sound. Charging mutants froze in shock. Fair enough—I'd just stabbed my own heart.
But this wasn't suicide. The opposite. The one forbidden monster art from Pill Seller to survive this.
Reverse Blood Great Law: Poison Human Realm.
Thump—!
Impaled heart pounded wildly. Blood that should've flowed out poured in, and vice versa.
Psshk—!
Kiiiiing!
Pulling the blade, Hope—tasting its master's blood—howled savagely.
"Wait long?"
That roar made even instinct-only mutants flinch back in primal fear.
But don't worry, folks. "Peekaboo!"
I'm way faster than your retreat!
Shwick—!
I closed on the one-armed toad-head, swinging. It swung back in panic, but my blade had already arced through its wrist, right thigh, left calf.
"Kieeek!"
Limbs sheared clean, torso sprayed blood-fountain pinwheel.
Stabbed the trunk to finish, then rocketed opposite.
"Grrrk?!"
Bull-head power brute. Last time, it homer'd me away. But,
"Kraaaah!!"
High power means low speed, usually.
"Slow."
The gap was infinite now. My diagonal slash grazed its neck—
"Keur… guh…!"
Foam boiled, head rolled perfect platter size.
Last: "Die too."
Sstab!!
Hope plunged groundward. Elongated blade churned earth, sprouting dozens of sword-prongs like noodles.
Ground heaved, but Absorption Great Law sucked it dry quick.
"Hoo…"
Deep breath. Handfeel's different. Tried recovering stamina and qi—only half normal. Rest snatched by that flower fucker?
Felt like shit anew when—
"Urghhheeeek!"
Sudden blood-vomit. A mouthful hit ground, mingling flesh, melt-snow, my puke in nightmare collab.
'Ugh, fuck.'
My sturdy-only body screamed. Time short.
"Got it, going."
Forced screaming body forward. Toward Monster Flower.
Whether it finishes digesting or I collapse—
Time's running out either way.