Chapter 122: Yama Knocks on the Door
Kalpa, leading his two remaining female companions, walked out of the prison. They followed the guards to the armory, where the two women immediately picked up a pair of assault rifles, loaded them, and changed into guard uniforms.
Kalpa himself remained bare-chested, his hands clasped together, his body radiating a golden, Buddha-like light.
His real name was Dorje Tseten. "Dorje" meant vajra, the diamond thunderbolt. He had been special since birth. The grand masters had said there was a strange evil in his eyes. "Tseten" meant "the sun of the next day." From a young age, he had shown an extraordinary talent, a supernatural ability to learn and comprehend all manner of secret spiritual knowledge.
But after turning 18, he had left his sect, faking his own disappearance to leave his homeland. He had traveled to India, where he had begun to use his abilities to indulge in worldly pleasures, eventually making a name for himself. Then, he had been found and brought into this special space, where he had once again risen rapidly through the ranks thanks to his exceptional gifts.
He loved women. He loved them with a pathological obsession, to the point where he needed them at all hours. In the Nexus, he had acquired a mutated ability. As a grand practitioner who had nearly fully opened his [Three Channels and Seven Chakras], he could use his spiritual power to erode the minds of others. Combined with his mutated [Art of the Undead Reincarnation], he could, during the act of love, pour his spirit into his partner's sea of consciousness, completely devouring their mind and soul and turning them into his puppet, his decoy.
And when this decoy died, he would suffer no penalty, and the killer would receive no reward. The Nexus identified a Reincarnator by their soul and consciousness. No matter how you modified your body, changed your lineage, or underwent cybernetic enhancement, your identity and mark remained the same. But if your spirit and soul were completely gone, then in the Nexus's judgment, you were already dead.
"Got the weapons?" Kalpa asked. "Good. Now, you two, go attack the Operations and News departments. Remember, your goal is not to kill, but to tie up as many of The Seven as possible."
The two women, their faces blank, silently followed a hypnotized security guard into an elevator. He had chosen those targets for no special reason, other than that they likely had the most cameras, which would maximize the impact of the attack and keep The Seven busy for as long as possible.
Many did not know that his dead decoys, as long as their bodies were not completely destroyed, could still retain partial functions, like sight and hearing. From the "corpse" he had left on the rooftop, he had observed some very interesting developments.
The Reincarnators in this mission all had the same, singular goal. Not only had his own primary target—that little rat with the [9527] team's legacy—scampered out of his hole to ambush him, but the other two cunning hunters, [Mercenary Tao] and [Bad Kid], had also revealed themselves. At that moment, Kalpa had abandoned his plan of using his Chakra energy to heal the decoy and counter-kill the little rat. Instead, he realized this was the "strong luck" of [The Chosen] at work. The appearance of Tao and Bad Kid would surely spook the rat, sending him scurrying back to Vought Tower.
And his own two female slaves had already been captured by Vought. According to the information from their team space and his own senses, they were being held in a prison, right here in this building.
Kalpa felt that everything was falling into place. Although [The Chosen] were always lucky, and he himself had experienced the Nexus's favor more than once, this coincidence was just too perfect. Tao and Bad Kid had both attacked, and had somehow failed to kill the rat, instead allowing The Seven to rescue him, with A-Train even getting injured in the process.
Kalpa smiled as he walked through the lobby of Vought Tower. The place was bustling, but no one seemed to notice him. He checked the building directory and found the medical floor.
His plan was simple. His slave-women would create a massive diversion, drawing the attention of The Seven. He, meanwhile, would sneak into the medical bay, kill the little rat while he was recovering, and take the [Card] that he was certain to drop. Then he could enjoy this great city for a few dozen days, and let Mercenary Tao and Bad Kid kill each other. Heh…
Kalpa was a grand practitioner who had opened all his Chakras. After acquiring the [Energy] attribute, his power had become strange and formidable. With his [Sea of Illusion] and [Heart Chakra] open, any being within dozens of meters with a Spirit attribute below 10 was subject to his forced hypnosis. Those with a Spirit above 10 would take a certain amount of mental damage, which grew more severe the closer they were.
He followed an employee, who swiped his card, onto the elevator and went up to the medical floor. He wore a compassionate smile, but the thick flesh on his face twisted it into something grotesque and terrifying. A golden light pulsed from him, and the medical staff on the floor all suddenly felt that something urgent had come up and rushed away.
He walked to the room at the far-left end of the hall. He saw A-Train lying inside, still unconscious. Perhaps, he thought, I can kill A-Train on the way out and get a drop card.
He turned and looked at the room across the hall. The nameplate read: [Translucent].
"Heh. Translucent…" he chuckled. "You really are an unlucky little rat."
Kalpa pushed the door open.
SPLAT!
A blade instantly plunged into his chest. At the same time, a hand clamped around his neck.
"You really are unlucky, aren't you, Kalpa?" Kaito Shirogane's voice was filled with laughter. He looked at the spot on Kalpa's chest where the blade had struck. No blood was flowing. He had a few more theories about this man's abilities.
Kalpa raised his hand, and the golden light of his Chakra grew brighter. But Black Noir simply squeezed, snapping his neck, and then slammed him into the wall. Black Noir had an extreme resistance to pain, a powerful healing factor, and because his brain had been damaged, he spent his days conversing with his imaginary friends, which had, as a side effect, given him an incredibly high Spirit attribute.
"To run into me, and a member of The Seven who's a very bad matchup for you… you really are unlucky."
[Heartless] was hiding behind Kaito, an IV still in his arm. He wanted to turn invisible, but Kaito's hand was on his neck.
"Don't be afraid, Mr. Heartless. This is our home turf. We can't let this guy chase you out, can we?" Kaito's voice was cruel. "After all, you still have to give me that card, don't you?" He was channeling a golden ripple of Hamon into [Heartless]'s body, and the man felt his spirit and body slowly recovering.
Kalpa's neck was broken and his heart had been pierced, but he was not yet dead. He frowned, looking at the man who had inexplicably appeared here.
"Mercenary Tao… you're not right." He no longer underestimated this new, vicious powerhouse. No, in his heart, he had already decided that Tao was more dangerous, and more powerful, than [Bad Kid]. His control of the mission, his mindset, and… this strong luck that surpassed his own.
"Are you one of [The Chosen] too?!"
Kaito didn't answer him. He just took a few steps forward, feeling the sting of the golden light, though his Hamon raised his pain threshold significantly. He stood before Kalpa and formed his hand into a blade.
Slice!
He plunged it directly into Kalpa's abdomen and ripped it open, as if with a scalpel.
Kaito crouched down. "Tsk. Just as I thought. No special traits."
"Your ability… it has a main body, doesn't it…?" He looked up, meeting Kalpa's eyes, his meaning clear. You have a main body, which means you have a weakness.
Kalpa was not angry, as if the person being dissected was not him. This body was already dead. He was just using his Chakra to maintain its senses. "My main body? Ha. That thing is still back in the Nexus. Haven't you heard the rumors? That I'm immortal. This is the truth. I can possess others through sexual abuse, and then I just need to pilot them like a video game character to do my missions."
His words were half-truths. Kaito didn't care. If the Nexus allowed a Reincarnator to complete missions with zero risk, the system would have collapsed long ago, flooded with a horde of immortal players.
He stood up. He suddenly raised his right hand, his fingers in a crane's beak, and tapped.
Tok!
A crisp sound as his fingers struck the decoy's forehead. Kalpa was stunned. The force of the blow had destroyed this body's brain. He realized Tao was likely a martial-arts-type, who possessed the ability to bypass some defenses.
"Are you trying to test my ability's weakness? That's useless."
Kaito didn't answer. He just tapped again.
Tok! Tok! Tok-tok-tok…
He struck dozens of times. The decoy's forehead began to crack. He moved on to other parts of the body.
Kalpa suddenly felt his vision go dark, the flow of his Chakra obstructed. He felt a sudden, heart-stopping premonition—a spiritual warning he had only ever felt a few times, when facing an unstoppable, terrifying existence.
I'm going to die…
The next moment, Kaito also felt something. Ever since he had experienced the power of his [Death-Taint] on [Regenerator], he had been trying to recapture that mystical feeling. He felt something cold begin to flow in his soul. He could almost see it: the River of the Underworld, flowing within him. The aura of death from the Myriad Gods was gathering at his fingertips.
His smile was cruel. Kalpa's pupils contracted. He saw a black light gathering on the hand that was tapping him.
It was as if Yama, the King of Hell, was knocking on the door.