Chapter 138: Aggregate (2)
Chapter 138: Aggregate (2)
Creeeeeak.
As The Enemy’s fist collided with my angled Pry Bar, the sound of bone crushing and flesh tearing echoed sickeningly in my ears.
Shreds of meat flew toward me along with Black Slime, but I didn't look away, keeping my eyes fixed on The Enemy.
It had been a while since I’d faced an opponent like this.
One that fought with pure physical might, devoid of any special abilities.
I used to see them often in the early days, but at some point, enemies with complex, multifaceted powers became more common.
To deal with such a foe, it would be only right for me to wield my hammer instead of this Pry Bar.
Look at that, even now.
Crunch.
I swung the Pry Bar to block The Enemy’s kick, but I was the one who lost the contest of strength.
Though the impact against the solid Pry Bar caused The Enemy’s foot to split open, scattering disgusting chunks of meat, my light body was sent flying, unable to withstand the sheer momentum.
Tsk.
Floating through the air, I shook off the now-familiar stench of rotting corpse fluid and steadied my posture for the landing.
I know. I know.
I know well enough that I should be using The Hammer.
Even this Pry Bar, which is nothing more than a stupidly hard piece of metal with no special functions, can mangle that flesh so easily.
If I used The Hammer, that body would be torn to shreds even if I lost the struggle of strength.
In a normal battle, that would be the correct choice. However, this is no ordinary battle.
"Right?"
"Clack."
Perhaps by coincidence, the Corpse Monster rattled its teeth as if answering my question.
It began reattaching its burst hands and split feet using that Black Slime.
Yes. That Black Slime is the problem.
A mass of resentment, saturated with Otherworldly Power. As long as that substance exists, this Corpse Monster will rise again.
Whether that will be in ten years or twenty, I cannot say.
But when that time comes, will there be any Heroes left to strike them down?
Will there be any Heroes left capable of completely annihilating these things?
Of course, sealing them might be possible.
Like that O-Rank entity in the Atlantic.
However, the problems arising from that would be astronomical.
The Asian region boasts the largest human population on Earth.
An O-Rank Monster sealed right in the middle of it?
To a humanity whose living space has already dwindled, that would be nothing short of a catastrophe.
As if to cut off my train of thought—
Thump. Thump.
Fists and feet continued to fly at me.
It was a mindless assault, pushing with pure strength like a child throwing a tantrum.
That made it easy to deal with.
Creak.
My posture broke, but I could easily deflect the blows.
Normally, a monster like this shouldn't be this strong.
But it was too fast, and too powerful.
Thump.
Before I could recover my stance, The Enemy’s foot came flying in. I had no choice but to block the attack from my unbalanced position.
Once again, I was kicked away.
I tried to right myself in mid-air as before, but the creature seemed to have learned; it threw a fist toward me while I was still airborne.
Evasion was impossible.
I quickly spun the Pry Bar, pressing it against my ribs where the fist would strike, and curled my body.
Boom.
The fist and the Pry Bar collided.
I wished the attack had stopped there.
Squelch.
The Enemy’s squishy fist deformed against the Pry Bar and slammed into my body.
"Urgh."
Though the impact was dampened by the Pry Bar, the attack from a monster far stronger than me still hit home.
My vision spun violently along with the bone-wrenching shock.
After a brief moment of flight—
Crash.
My curled body smashed into a wall.
Gasp...
Perhaps because the intense blow had rattled my entire frame, a sharp breath escaped me and my posture almost gave way.
I barely endured it and straightened my body.
Crack.
The stones that had caught me shattered as I pushed off The Wall, and my body plummeted through the air, losing its support.
Maybe the pain was just too intense.
For a fleeting second, a thought completely unrelated to combat crossed my mind.
That stone wall. It's damn hard.
It was probably created by the influence of the Otherworld. Or it might be the space itself.
That meaningless thought was cut short as a pink flash streaked over my head.
I hadn't intended for this to happen.
A barrage of countless punches grazed past my head. It seemed the monster wanted to crush me against The Wall.
I had already slipped away, but if I had stayed there, I really might have died.
Regardless, I finally had my chance. The Enemy was so busy pounding The Wall that it seemed to have missed me falling downward.
Now, it was my turn to attack.
Falling through the air, I rotated my body from its parallel position to The Wall and stood vertically.
Thump.
I kicked off The Wall and lunged into the embrace of the monster as it reached out.
The creature's incredibly soft, mushy body drew close in an instant.
The monster reached for me, seemingly reacting to the sound of me kicking off The Wall, but—
I was faster.
Creeeeeak.
My Pry Bar was faster at tearing through The Enemy’s flesh.
It was impossible for it to swing its fists toward its own chest. As long as it held a human shape, it had unavoidable weaknesses.
Its body, which was far too soft compared to its strength, got caught on the sharp tip of the Pry Bar, scattering flesh and slime into the air.
And I accepted it.
For this was Otherworldly Power that I had to take in.
As I absorbed the energy—
"Clack."
The monster clicked its teeth and backed away, as if afraid.
It made sense.
If an enemy that should have died was instead eating its body and constantly recovering...
It had to feel something.
Whether it was fear, confusion, or calculation.
However, it was an inappropriate reaction.
Because of that, an opening was created.
Thanks to that, I could continue my interrupted thoughts.
I must annihilate all of this Otherworldly Power at its source.
There are several ways to do that.
There are the special abilities of the Yellow King.
Or a forced banishment using Macbeth’s Great Elemental Magic.
Perhaps even Calavera’s soul-returning techniques.
But their emotions are far too black to use those methods.
Maybe it's because I read their thoughts.
I felt a sense of empathy for their situation.
Their memories were similar to mine.
Outcasts swallowed by The Society known as Nanjido.
Therefore, I must accept it all.
Only I, who can understand them best.
The Pry Bar for that purpose.
The black dress for that purpose.
The Requiem Ritual for that purpose.
That is what this fight is.
Whoosh.
A fist flew toward me.
I lunged forward to meet it.
Upon collision, flesh and slime splattered.
I devoured it all.
* * *
The corpse stared at me.
Even though the Black Slime had been drained and other parts of its flesh had been torn away and scattered.
The corpse remained alone, glaring at me.
"Clack."
Or maybe not...?
It wasn't so much that a single corpse remained, but rather that the massive bulk had shrunk as the flesh fell away.
Humans aren't that small, nor are they that simply constructed.
In fact, at some point, I stopped being afraid of The Enemy. Every time I absorbed its power, it grew weaker.
What was bothering me now was something else.
A headache that felt like my skull was splitting.
Perhaps because I had taken in all that power, their memories kept surfacing as hallucinations, and they whispered to me.
'Go up and kill them.'
'A body, a living body.'
'Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me.'
Shut up, all of you.
How can things merely stuck to my clothes be this noisy?
Though the clothes themselves aren't in great shape either...
Bubble, bubble, bubble.
As if reaching a limit, small bubbles kept forming on the surface of the fabric. I couldn't even tell how many bizarre tentacles or wings had sprouted by now.
The only silver lining was that these grotesque protrusions didn't hinder my movement.
Since they were plastered all over me, I couldn't see my overall appearance, but from the outside, I probably looked like some piece of modern art.
It doesn't feel like I'm going to explode, though...
Worry welled up, so I took my eyes off the monster in front of me and looked over my body.
Tentacles here.
Wings there.
I reached out and rubbed them slightly, but they didn't mush or explode.
It seems my clothes generate these bizarre things whenever they absorb Otherworldly Power beyond a certain point.
It was like this during the Great Barrier incident too...
They usually disappear on their own once the power is spent.
But how do I spend all of this?
If I just fire it off recklessly, I might blow something away.
While I was lost in thought—
"Clack."
The sound of teeth chattering came from the monster, and I looked back at it.
For some reason, it had just been glaring at me without attacking for a while now.
I'll think about it later; let's just finish this first.
Maybe this headache will get better once I get some fresh air.
Creak.
As I dragged the Pry Bar along the ground and tried to approach The Enemy with my cumbersome body—
"...It is not the end."
I heard a voice.
A voice carrying intelligence flowed from the monster's mouth.
Surprised, I turned my head, and the corpse began to collapse.
Slither.
Flesh and muscle tore away from the bone and flowed down like slime.
The weakened corpse slowly fell, kneeling upon the rotten slurry of flesh it had created.
And then, it melted away.
All that remained where the monster had stood was a pile of rotten meat equivalent to one human and the bone fragments that had been inside.
"...What?"
It was an incomprehensible act.
It wasn't performing a technique,
Nor did the Otherworldly Power explode.
It simply collapsed, scattering all its remaining strength into the surroundings.
There were Otherworldly enemies that contaminated their surroundings by self-destructing.
But the concentration wasn't even that high.
What on earth was that?
I moved toward the corpse to find out what had happened.
Thud. Thud.
I was able to approach the corpse, which lay barely thirty paces away, without any interference.
The place was filled with an emptiness that made it hard to believe a massive battle had taken place just moments ago.
In the middle of the cavity, cracked in various places by the Corpse Monster's punches, lay the rotting remains.
I poked and prodded the corpse with my Pry Bar.
The thin pink membrane on the surface tore away, and the contents spilled out.
An impossibly foul stench of rot wafted up, as if it had been decaying in this spot for years.
The internal flesh had turned black, and sticky residue clung to the Pry Bar.
...I've rarely seen it this bad.
But it was just a corpse.
Aside from the fact that it had decayed for an incredibly long time.
I don't get it.
Should I leave?
"Clack. Clack."
I moved slowly, my teeth chattering.
Clack. Creak.
In the silent cavity, only the sound of teeth clicking and the Pry Bar dragging echoed back to my ears.
For some reason, my head felt clear.
Perhaps it was because the headache that had plagued me throughout the battle had vanished.
Thinking that, I walked a bit further and finally returned to the original vertical shaft.
A place with an endless floor and ceiling.
What was up there again?
....
Ah, right. Nanjido was there.
I have to go back.
Why?
Why did I have to go back to Nanjido?
"Clack."
Ah, right. To kill the people...
Creak.
Hmm? No. People come later.
There was something I had to do first.
Right. To kill the people.
I have to make sure the people don't die.
I have to stop the bombardment.
Having reached that conclusion, I slowly gripped the cliffside.
At a glance, it looked flat, but I grabbed the various protrusions and began to climb up bit by bit.
I climbed like that for a moment, but soon realized the flaw in my actions.
It's in the way.
The Pry Bar in one hand was hindering my return to Nanjido.
I should send it back.
Whoosh.
With a short wave of my hand, I sent the Pry Bar back and gripped the cliff with both hands.
I grabbed the protrusions and moved quickly toward the top.
Submerged in Black Particles, within the dark vision.
To see the light.
To breathe the air.
Hmm...? No, to kill the peo—
A brief headache flared up.
No, I have to protect the people. Right.