Within mere seconds, the underground safe house, which had just moments ago been filled with terror and vitality, became eerily silent. Everyone else had someone else's limbs or their own flesh in their mouths, feeling the rapidly weathering flesh blocking their windpipes.
They could only whimper, utterly unable to speak.
Then, after struggling for a few seconds, these miserable individuals completely lost their lives, leaving only their rapidly weathering corpses.
Only Kira Yoshikage stood alone, in the center of the room, savoring this ineffable elegance, watching the fine dust, representing what once was, and the dripping blood rapidly settling in the air around him.
"Now, it's much cleaner," he murmured to himself, adjusting his tie, which had become slightly askew from his rapid movements. Finally, he cast a satisfied glance at his handiwork, ensuring they were all thoroughly dead.
He cast a final look around the empty, silent room, confirming there were no longer any living things, then turned without hesitation and departed along the passage he had carved out.
Kira Yoshikage, holding the newly acquired insect arrow, burdened with yet another layer of bloody sin, continued his pursuit with an unperturbed heart.
He had successfully "eliminated" potential threats, eradicated possible future enemies, and perfectly satisfied his desires.
Now he had seven packages on his back, and he could use a chain reaction explosion three more times. After that, an explosion of super-nuclear bomb level would erupt. Coupled with the insect arrow in his hand, he felt he was now qualified to challenge Made in Heaven.
Furthermore, he truly needed to eliminate Made in Heaven, because if he didn't, and if Made in Heaven truly completed a cycle, then it would genuinely be a predetermined fate, a destiny reinforced.
Although the power of the insect arrow had been developed by Kira, he could protect these insect arrows with his own flesh, ensuring these five insect arrows could be brought to the new world. But he couldn't guarantee that one insect arrow that had gone astray… and once in the new world, who knew if he could still revive Shinobu?
By then, if destiny was reset, he wouldn't be able to find this perfectly compatible lover.
Therefore, Kira Yoshikage, carrying the newly obtained insect arrow, left the facility he had easily destroyed, calmly but swiftly, like a gentleman who had completed his shopping.
He did not return to his temporary hideout but instead walked a few steps around and casually walked into a nearby factory that had suffered an accident due to accelerated time.
The rusted steel framework groaned faintly in the rapidly passing time, and only dust danced in the distorted light within the empty factory building.
This place was quiet enough, hidden enough, perfectly suited for the long-awaited metamorphosis he desired. Kira Yoshikage drew out the ancient-looking insect arrow, imbued with mysterious power.
The four insect arrows within him vibrated, seemingly resonating with each other, emitting an imperceptible hum. Especially the one he had just acquired, the attraction was even more pronounced when it converged with the other four.
"Finally… only one last step."
Kira Yoshikage murmured, his eyes gleaming with uncontrollable desire and a hint of obsession. He no longer hesitated, carefully bringing the five insect arrows together.
The next moment, an anomaly suddenly occurred!
The insect arrows, as if alive, directly pierced into Yoshikage's heart, releasing a terrifying energy.
This surge of energy, before Kira Yoshikage could react, lunged at his chest like a shark smelling blood—not a physical impact, but directly merging into his Stand, Killer Queen.
"Ugh ah—!"
Kira Yoshikage let out a suppressed groan of pain, his body trembling violently. He realized this insect arrow was not what he had thought; he had assumed it was just an ordinary insect arrow.
But now, it seemed this insect arrow also had some unknown special effect, though he probably wouldn't be able to investigate it… He felt as if his soul had been thrown into a furnace. A torrent of power, far surpassing anything before, second only to the insect arrow, so vast it almost seemed to burst his consciousness, was furiously pouring into and transforming his Stand.
Killer Queen: Bites the Dust's appearance began to undergo drastic changes once again. His pink body became more slender and refined, with flowing lines full of power. His cat-like ears extended backward like the spikes of a crown, and his teeth became sharper.
The skull emblem on his chest became deeper, as if connected to the other side of death.
Most notably, his hands, capable of triggering silent explosions, were covered with a layer of metallic armor, sharp as an insect arrow and gleaming with cold light. Ancient and mysterious patterns were etched on the armor, and several jet nozzles grew from his back.
But this was only the beginning.
Kira Yoshikage felt his perception being infinitely stretched and expanded.
"This is… Killer Queen: Bites the Dust's x-ray vision… No, more than that…"
He groaned, struggling to maintain his consciousness. He saw many things, he saw himself just now and himself flying away like a jet with nozzles on his back. In that instant, he saw everything that happened within a radius of several tens of kilometers, one minute in the past and one minute in the future.
The massive flow of information almost drowned him, but his resilient mental strength withstood this impact, and he began to try to understand and control it.
Then, the control failed. His head felt as if it had been struck twice by a heavy hammer, and bright blood spurted from his nose and ears, but under the healing of dull energy, it recovered in an instant.
However, the time acceleration suddenly stopped, and even twisted backward. The time of the entire world directly rewound by one minute, but Kira Yoshikage showed no change, only remaining on the ground in pain.
Only the few small cars he had summoned earlier seemed to be anxiously scurrying around, circling Kira Yoshikage.
"Indeed… just as I felt… the acceleration of time, the pull of destiny…"
Kira Yoshikage's thoughts raced through the torrent of information. "The ability I awakened seems to just happen to counter Made in Heaven…"
He recalled the first time he awakened the ability of Bites the Dust, which was a reversal of time and destiny.
And now, after merging five insect arrows, in such a nearly complete state, this connection became even clearer. He seemed able to directly manipulate time through his Stand, but due to the missing final insect arrow, this ability was somewhat uncontrollable.
The pain gradually receded, and Killer Queen's new form stood silently behind him, exuding a suffocating pressure. It was no longer a mere killing Stand, but more like a nascent deity presiding over time and destruction.
Kira Yoshikage's face finally showed a heartfelt, almost perfect smile. He propped himself up, coughed up two more mouthfuls of blood, but it was instantly healed. His voice was a little hoarse, but very excited.
"Soon… Shinobu, just be patient a little longer. Once I get the last insect arrow, nothing will ever disturb our peace again."
He stood up, feeling the new power surging within him. Killer Queen possessed him, and instantly several thick jet nozzles grew from his back, propelling him into the sky like a jet plane.
"Soon, very soon. I'll go see that damned priest first, to prevent him from creating any new world. Then, I'll go back and take out Kishibe Rohan, and you can be revived."