Chapter 128: Myriad Spirits Entwined, The Death of Bad Kid
Hamon was a comprehensive ability. It not only enhanced one's own attributes but also possessed a continuous healing effect. If it had any weakness, it was that a severed limb would render the ability unusable.
Bad Kid's eyes were filled with a cruel smile. He was going to "sever" this Mercenary Tao's limb.
Kaito's muscles trembled violently. The ability known as [Blood Coagulation] essentially worked by causing a target's blood to temporarily solidify, inducing a state of paralysis. At this moment, Kaito's heart was pounding like a war drum, and the immense pressure was forcing the near-solidified blood to slowly move through his veins.
His blood vessels began to rupture, but Kaito, like a rabid beast, his eyes turning white and his muscles swelling to their absolute limit, focused his will, a mental force so intense it felt as if it could tear his own body apart.
I have to move!
I must, right now, MOVE!
His intense will, along with a cloud of white steam, radiated outwards. And beneath that steam, a black shadow, like an ink-wash tattoo, began to spread from his chest, instantly covering his arm.
But Bad Kid was not one to be intimidated by a mere show of force. Just as he had helped his weaker, original personality survive their trial mission by killing all the other Reincarnators, he feared nothing. His claw-knife stabbed down resolutely. In that moment, he could feel his very pores expanding, his entire body radiating a sense of pure ecstasy. Unlike his weaker primary personality, who only enjoyed slaughtering helpless mortals, he preferred to kill these vibrant, powerful Reincarnators.
Thunk!
The blade stopped. Bad Kid's pupils contracted. He looked up at Kaito, who was still paralyzed, and his voice was full of disbelief. "What in the world… are you…?"
A black, shadowy apparition had detached itself from Kaito's arm. Like a second shadow, it had appeared in front of Kaito's body and had caught Bad Kid's claw-knife. The moment it touched the shadow, a fine layer of frost instantly formed on the blade. Bad Kid twisted his hand, and the blade shattered. He immediately leaped backward to create distance.
At that exact moment, Kaito suddenly regained his ability to move.
[You have awakened a new trait: Myriad Spirits Entwined (Scarce)]
[Myriad Spirits Entwined (Scarce): The Underworld within your body nurtures over 33,000 spirits. Under intense mental strain, a spirit will be drawn to possess you, granting additional ability enhancements. The number and quality of the spirits will affect the enhancement.]
At that moment, Kaito felt an icy coldness in his mind. Another will had appeared in his thoughts. Kaito's expression turned grim. He looked at the black, shadowy arm extending from his own body, and he suddenly reached out and grabbed it.
RIP!
He literally tore the spiritual arm from his own body.
SCREEEEE!
A terrifying spiritual wail echoed for thousands of meters. Bad Kid clutched his head, feeling a sharp psychic trauma. Thick, black blood began to pour from his nose.
"I don't need this thing interfering in my fight!"
Kaito roared as he slammed the spiritual arm into the ground. The black arm dissolved into a mist and then flowed back into his body. At the same time, the black markings that had covered half his face receded.
Even if Bad Kid had succeeded in severing his lower limb, even if his Hamon had become unusable, Kaito was still supremely confident that he could have killed him. His intense spirit was now like a raging fire, and the black shadow had completely retreated to the core of his being.
He looked at the boy, who was now bleeding from his nose, and said coldly, "Do you need some time to recover?"
Bad Kid didn't wipe away the blood. Instead, his eyes turned completely black. He shook his head, his expression growing more and more sinister. "Recover?" he laughed, a strange, high-pitched sound. "No. I should be thanking you... for breaking my chains. Ha!"
A powerful sonic wave vibrated the air, washing over Kaito. He felt his entire body begin to tremble, his muscles, bones, and even his internal organs being assaulted by the vibration.
[You have been affected by Reincarnator EB44668741's ability: Sonic Wave. You have suffered minor physical damage.]
Kaito, seeing the boy with the black eyes displaying a new ability, ignored the blood now trickling from his own ears. He had no intention of using his curse mark. He simply charged forward, straight into the sonic wave. As his body began to bleed from a thousand tiny cuts, his heart pounded with a steady rhythm, and golden ripples of Hamon began to radiate from his body, his capillaries and internal injuries already healing.
He spread his arms, his mouth stretched into a wide grin. "Bad Kid. Have you not realized the decisive gap between us?"
Bad Kid slowly closed his mouth, and the sonic wave ceased. His black eyes tilted as he looked at Kaito. Kaito casually wiped his hand across his face, and the wounds there completely healed.
"You can't kill me."
BOOM!
Kaito stomped his foot. The air seemed to turn to a viscous liquid. Before his foot had even hit the ground, his body had already vanished.
Bad Kid's breath caught in his throat. His 18 points of Agility… and he was still caught completely off guard. This Mercenary Tao… is his Agility approaching the first limit break?!
A white, misty breath shot from Kaito's mouth. His right palm rotated only half a turn before he thrust it forward. The golden ripples of Hamon, combined with the twisting force of the technique, exploded into a golden flash.
[Sage Art - Rakshasa's Palm]!
BAM!
The air seemed to vibrate for a moment. Bad Kid's claw-knife had just neared Kaito's chest when he felt a dull impact. A spiraling force pierced his body. The next moment, his sternum shattered, and his internal organs imploded like a squeezed balloon.
SPLAT!
Bad Kid vomited a spray of blood and viscera as he was sent flying nearly a hundred meters, crashing into the burning wreckage of a black SUV and becoming impaled on its broken frame.
He looked down at the steel bar sticking through his chest. He gritted his teeth and pulled himself free from the fire and metal.
"Hah… I haven't evolved into a new human yet. In this form… I can't be killed…"
In the distance, Choi Soo, who had been thrown from the taxi, climbed out from the wreckage. He saw the black-eyed Bad Kid and let out a sigh of relief.
The two of them had, in a previous mission, entered a world called [Sweet Home]. In that world, the insane Bad Kid had been infected by a "curse." All those infected would get inexplicable nosebleeds, and then another will would appear in their minds. If their spirit was not strong enough, they would be consumed by their own dark side and become a mutated monster. At the same time, this cursed state granted the body an incredible healing ability, making them almost immortal. Their only weaknesses were fire and, if they weren't in a fully "berserk" state, they could be killed by destroying their head.
Bad Kid—Choi Si-kyung—had a great evil hidden in his heart. But he had managed to resist the erosion of his inner personality and had returned to the Nexus. He had then paid a Singularity to the Goddess to maintain his cursed state, rather than remove it. He wanted to use its immortality in battle.
Kaito indifferently walked up to Choi Si-kyung. He knew the origin of his opponent's abilities, but at this moment, his entire being was filled with a violent, destructive desire.
He reached out and grabbed Bad Kid's head.
Bad Kid opened his mouth and unleashed another point-blank sonic scream. Kaito's skin and blood vessels instantly began to rupture, but he didn't even flinch.
"See? Your attacks… are nothing to me."
Bad Kid's abilities were strange, and he was extremely fast, but he lacked a finishing move that could kill a truly durable opponent.
Kaito squeezed.
CRACK!
Bad Kid's jaw was instantly crushed, and the sound ceased. Choi Soo, seeing this, knew it was bad. He pulled out two high-explosive grenades, hesitating, but in the next moment…
BOOM!
The ground shook. A fierce wind blew past him. He turned and saw a golden spear of light flash past. He had been so focused on Bad Kid that he had forgotten the other target. He had already been locked on the moment he had shown his killing intent. Kaito's speed was so great that he could cross a hundred meters in three or four seconds. The fifty meters between them was well within his attack range.
Splat!
Choi Soo didn't even feel the pain. He just looked down and saw a massive arm buried in his chest. The next moment, he couldn't breathe. He tried to gasp, but only blood poured out, and his strength rapidly faded.
I really shouldn't have gotten involved with that madman, Si-kyung, was his last thought. But then, he comforted himself. Without him, I would have died a long time ago. This is fine. This damn world... it was awful.
[You have killed Reincarnator HJ20014755 in a Team Arena world.]
[Karma Point +1. Current Total: 5]
[The private space of Reincarnator HJ20014755 has been merged with your private space. You may view it upon returning to the Nexus.]
[You have obtained 1 Crimson Drop Card.]
By the time Kaito reappeared in front of Bad Kid, the crimson card had just finished materializing.
Choi Si-kyung looked at the card, then laughed mockingly. "Shibal. That idiot Choi Soo. He really can't do anything without me…"
He tilted his head, still smiling at Kaito. "Come on. Keep trying to kill me." He loved to kill, and at the same time, he didn't care if he was killed. There was no fear in his eyes.
SPLAT!
Bad Kid's head burst like a watermelon. The next moment, it began to grow back. The new head was clearly mutated, its mouth abnormally wide, its ears sealed shut. He was beginning to be consumed by his dark side, losing himself and becoming a true monster.
Kaito didn't care. He grabbed him, pulled him from the steel wreckage, and held him up by his head with one hand, his other hand clenched into a fist.
A black light surged from Kaito's chest. The cold water of the Underworld seemed to flow through his veins and gather in his fist. For the first time, he could clearly feel the flow of [Death-Taint of the Myriad Gods].
BAM!
He punched Bad Kid in the head. The force of the blow had already dissipated. But this light, gentle tap made the endlessly regenerating Reincarnator completely and utterly cease to be.
Kaito saw it clearly. The moment the black light entered his opponent's body, his very soul seemed to be punched out of his flesh, dissipating along with the black light.
[You have killed Reincarnator EB44668741 in a Team Arena world.]
[Karma Point +1. Current Total: 6]
[The private space of Reincarnator EB44668741 has been merged with your private space. You may view it upon returning to the Nexus.]
[You have killed a Star-Ranked Reincarnator. Your own Reincarnator Rating has been slightly increased (15/100).]
Kaito saw the Reincarnator mark on Bad Kid's right hand dissolve into light and flow into his own. He realized that the Star-rating was another one of the Nexus's incentives for Reincarnators to kill each other. To become a high-star Reincarnator, you had to climb a mountain of low-star corpses.
[You have obtained 1 Crimson Drop Card.]