Chapter 429: 99 Things You Can Do as a Human (4)
Chapter 429: 99 Things You Can Do as a Human (4)
Perhaps the taunt worked a little too well.
The bastards, who had been flapping their gums incessantly even while fighting, were now glaring at me with genuine murderous intent.
Usually, the point of a taunt is to narrow The Enemy’s focus to a single target or to cloud their rational judgment, but the effect was so potent it actually made me, the one who threw the taunt, feel a bit flustered.
In truth, I didn't actually know if those guys were real doctors or if they really were from a diploma mill like I said.
Since I’d heard they were friends of the AO Director, they must have at least a bachelor's degree, but whether they were PhDs, Masters, or just undergrads was beyond my knowledge.
The AO Director might have mentioned it once, but there was no way such useless information would remain in my brain.
I don't know what a degree is to them that it strikes such a chord, but since I’d found their sore spot, I might as well use it.
"Hey! The AO Director told me your graduation theses were plagiarized! No wonder you haven't made a single thing with your own hands. I knew it the moment you started using her Nuclear Fusion reactor as a weapon!"
Of course, the AO Director never said such a thing.
And even if she had, there was no way I, who couldn't even remember their names properly, would recall a detail like that.
"She, who shared the same dream as us, would never have evaluated us like that!"
Cr-cr-crack.
Along with his voice, which was thick with rage, the sound of crushing flesh echoed across the battlefield.
The source of the sound was the flesh sprouting from the arm of The Bulky One, who was now rampaging in a fit of fury.
As if to replenish his mass, he extended flesh from his legs into the ground, anchoring himself like a tree, and thrust a massive, twisted arm of clumped meat toward me.
The arm moved fast and its reach was wide.
However, the attack was still far too simple.
He possessed power and ability, but he was someone who had never actually fought using them.
Therefore, I evaded his meaningless attacks with minimal movement.
It was a linear strike that could be dodged with a simple step to the right.
"Tsk!"
When I easily evaded the attack, The Enemy clicked his tongue and began to lift his left hand, but...
Too late.
I was already running.
When a massive attack misses, it naturally leaves an equally massive opening.
Furthermore, the attack The Bulky One had just unleashed involved generating an arm hundreds of times larger than his own body.
No matter how fast the attack was, it would take time to retract that right hand. Once I dodged the next strike from his left, nothing would be left to stop me.
Just as I was about to accelerate further, eyeing the left hand aimed at me—
"Calm down, Kapustin."
A cold voice rang out, instantly chilling the heat of the battlefield.
Squelch.
Along with the sound of something being severed.
I suddenly felt an immense presence manifest to my left.
It was a presence so overwhelming that, before I could even judge if it was a trap, I instinctively threw my body in the opposite direction.
As I leaped to the right, a bizarre sight unfolded in my vision.
Of the two entities, the slim man called Coffin...
He had transformed his hand into a sharp blade and sliced off The Bulky One's right arm.
Once the severed right hand was separated from the Main Body, it began to morph into a grotesque shape.
"...Ugh... Ah... Ah..."
"Please... at least the baby..."
"How about some meat pie?"
"Science. Science. Yes. It's for the sake of science."
"The Awakened made us like this... Monsters... They are devils."
"My soul... Give me back my soul... It's empty..."
Humans were clumped together.
If you were to take dolls made of clay and mash them back together to return them to a single lump, they would look like this.
The fine details that allowed one to recognize a human as a human remained, but they were stuck to one another, fused into a single mass.
Even in that state, they seemed to be alive, opening their mouths and reaching out their hands.
"Mama..."
A child appeared atop the mound of flesh.
Perhaps ten years old?
The sight of The Child, shedding tears of blood from non-existent eyes, was shocking enough to make me freeze for a moment.
"Recovery."
Crunch.
The Child vanished, snatched away by a pair of red lips that darted across my vision.
Chomp. Chomp.
The mouth before me began to chew.
Crunch. Crunch.
Teeth clattered, and thick, dark red blood and bits of flesh splattered between them.
Gulp.
A massive sound of swallowing echoed through the area, and the mouth concealed itself once more.
The individuals who had been asserting their existence vanished just like that.
"Do not waste the flesh, Kapustin. Keep your head. We are moving to achieve a Great Feat."
"...Right. My apologies, Coffin. I lost my reason for a moment."
"As long as you understand. They are all martyrs who sacrificed their bodies for science. We cannot waste their refined blood and flesh like this."
"Though we still have plenty left!"
The Bulky One laughed as he sprouted a new arm.
He chuckled, and amidst his boisterous laughter, thoughts began to mingle.
Martyrs.
There was no way they had offered their bodies willingly.
Whether it was the influence of the drugs these bastards had spread or through sheer coercion, I didn't know.
But they were all the results of what these madmen had done.
And they were still alive.
Whether they were truly alive or simply playing back memories through some method, I couldn't tell.
But they moved, and they spoke.
They asked me for help.
Martyrs.
That is what those two called them.
And the way they treated them was...
Consumption. They devoured them.
Like meat pies.
Was that treatment befitting the word 'martyr'?
Rage began to boil within me.
Among them were my enemies.
The Regressionists.
Those who despised Heroes and condemned the Management Bureau.
But did they really commit crimes so heinous that they deserved to end up in such a state?
My emotions accelerated endlessly amidst the enemies' laughter.
My heart caught fire to the point where I could no longer control my feelings.
"You goddamn pieces of shiiiiit!"
Boom!
I charged straight at The Enemy.
Rage consumed my body, and my vision began to narrow.
But because that much power was now coursing through me...
And because I could still control my body for now...
I simply threw myself at The Enemy.
I would absolutely finish these two pieces of human trash right here.
Last time, the problem arose because I didn't shift my gears up fast enough.
This time is different.
Thoroughly. Certainly. I will erase them from this world.
With that resolve, I sprinted across the battlefield.
Pshhh. Pshhh.
Snap!
Spears of flesh erupted, and mouths appeared to tear at me.
Nevertheless, I threw myself forward.
It wasn't that I was uninjured.
Unlike before, when I hadn't allowed a single scratch on my body, this was different.
My flesh was torn by the spears, and my clothes were shredded as they caught on teeth.
But I didn't stop.
With every single step, I shattered the earth and tore up the surroundings.
The closer I got to the two pieces of trash, the more flesh appeared.
But I pushed forward, splattering my own blood in their place.
A moment ago, I had defined a taunt like this:
It narrows the target of attack to one or prevents rational judgment.
I had been thoroughly baited by their taunt.
Looking at what those bastards had done so far, it probably wasn't a conscious act of taunting.
However, for me, their actions were something I absolutely could not tolerate.
And above all, what made me angriest...
Was myself, for letting such malicious entities loose upon the world.
Throwing my body like this likely stemmed from that feeling as well.
But my purpose would not be swallowed by self-deprecation or self-harm.
I knew what I had to do.
Deep underground, in the heart of the Regressionists' base...
I was simply finishing the duty I had failed to complete there.
"He's much faster than the estimates!"
"No matter. There are still walls left."
I could hear their voices as they continued to scatter flesh, scurrying toward the Pillar in a panic.
It didn't matter.
I was faster than they could run.
I adjusted my grip on The Hammer.
I hoisted it onto my shoulder, pouring strength into it so I could swing the moment they were in range, and crouched low to increase my speed even further.
Now, there was truly very little distance left.
Five steps.
In just a fraction of a second, I would be able to crush those disgusting beings.
Just as I thought that and was about to take the next step—
Squish.
Along with the sound of distorting flesh.
Snap.
Along with the sound of teeth clashing together.
They blocked my path.
Flesh monsters.
They weren't the giants currently fighting the Lord of Infinite Castles.
But they were elite flesh monsters capable of withstanding at least one of my attacks. Three of them erupted from the ground to bar my way.
My cognition accelerated.
I began to search for an answer in my head.
I couldn't swing The Hammer.
My joints and muscles were already twisted and coiled with the power intended to end The Enemy in one blow.
If I unleashed that power here, I would have to gather it all over again, meaning I wouldn't be able to strike those scumbags immediately.
I couldn't dodge.
That would mean losing the acceleration I had maintained even while taking injuries.
As I narrowed down my options one by one...
I soon found the answer.
I wouldn't stop.
I wouldn't dodge.
I would simply charge.
I ducked lower, moving faster.
Stronger.
Speed is power.
Weight is power.
The Hammer, heavy with gathered strength, was already a cannonball in its own right.
And my body was the one carrying it.
I kicked off the ground and threw my weight forward.
Bang! Splat!
Pain flared through my entire body.
It felt like my head, my shoulder, or something else had been wrecked.
Redness consumed my vision.
Blood and flesh.
The remains of the enemies who had exploded upon impact with me.
Since the enemies who popped like balloons left behind a salty liquid...
It tasted terrible.
Ptui.
I spat out the iron-tasting 'gum' that had entered my mouth.
It turned into liquid in mid-air and vanished.
Through my bloodshot eyes, I saw The Bulky One and The Slim One staring at me.
With wide eyes, with expressions that said this couldn't be happening.
'Impossible.'
Their mouths moved soundlessly.
They stared at me.
The only thing that's impossible is your mental state.
Creeeak.
I tightened my grip on The Hammer.
The joints and bones that had been damaged during the collision screamed in protest, but it didn't matter.
Because I only needed one hit.
This time, I would finish it for sure.
And so.
I swung The Hammer.
There was no sound.
The air didn't even split.
There was no shockwave.
No, they must have existed.
But all of it vanished together.
Along with space itself.
Spatial Destruction.
A strike that reaches the limit of physical force to destroy the world itself.
Those bastards had been hit by this attack a few times before.
But back then, my gear hadn't been this high.
And the range hadn't been this wide.
It was a strike that shattered a space large enough to swallow both human-sized targets several times over.
It slammed into the enemies in their entirety.
Only a world shattered like a glass window remained in that spot.
Even the impact created by the attack was swallowed along with the world.
Immediately, the world sought to repair itself, devouring massive amounts of energy from the surroundings.
And from that, an impact was born.
Not a shockwave that spread outward, but one that pulled everything in.
It tore flesh from the Pillar, bit into the earth, and even ripped away parts of my own body.
And then, nothing remained.
In the place where I had swung my hammer, the world sat as it always had.
Just like that, the enemies were annihilated.
"Ugh... I'm gonna die."
Perhaps because I had unleashed an attack with too much power, a fresh wave of fatigue swallowed my rage and cooled my head.
I really might die.
Muttering that to myself, I gathered my battered body and looked toward the Pillar.
The two culprits were gone, so now if I just do something about this Pillar...
Thinking that, I took a step toward it.
Tapping The Hammer resting on my shoulder, I began to calculate how to destroy the Pillar.
Let's see, it doesn't look that sturdy.
The problem is the height.
It can't possibly be this tall physically, so some kind of peculiar effect must be involved...
Crunch.
Crunch?
I heard a strange sound.
From my stomach.
I stared down blankly.
A mouth had formed on my stomach.
The mouth had bitten into my own flesh.
What the hell is this?
My mind was reeling with shock, but my body was already moving.
I formed a hand-blade, stabbed my stomach, gouged out the mouth, and threw it into the air.
It felt like some of my innards came with it, but it didn't matter.
My body was already a mess.
As I clutched my bleeding stomach and took a combat stance, prepared for whatever might happen...
"That was a close one."
"Indeed. Truly."
Their voices echoed in my ears.
The source of the voices was the mouth I had thrown into the air.
"It's a good thing you got covered in our blood and flesh."
"If not for that, we would have died."
They pointed out my mistake.
"No, didn't our main bodies actually die? Coffin."
"Yes, their lives have come to an end. R.I.P. A pity."
They continued to speak.
"However, the will and memories endure."
"Yes, a person's dream survives through succession."
I leaped up and struck the mouth.
I trampled the mouth that fell to the ground.
But the voices didn't stop.
"The dream does not end! We shall reach the heavens!"
"As long as the personality and memories are passed on, our dream will not be distorted."
Mouths began to chatter from the Pillar.
"I am we."
"We are I."
Squish.
They walked out of the Pillar once more.
"Let us continue the experiment."
Looking exactly as they had before.