"Conception notification…" Szayel Aporro forced the words out in a cold rasp as the black liquid writhed and sprouted, tentacles snapping forth and binding Nilu in an instant.
"Whoaaaaa!" Nilu's frightened scream broke into sobs.
"Nelo!!" Peixue and Dondochakka's expressions twisted in horror as they cried out together, but before either could move, a sharpened tentacle extended from those that coiled around her. Szayel's lips curved faintly into a smug sneer.
As long as conception succeeded, he would have a new body. So what if Su Li tore his current one apart? Rebirth meant escape, rebirth meant ascension. Even shredded to pieces, he could rise again. This was his hidden technique, one the boy could never predict. Notification of conception required only the tentacles to pierce the abdomen and plant the seed; the victim's own body would nourish a new Szayel until he emerged. Even if the girl were killed, he would still crawl free from her corpse.
Smug pride filled him as he prepared to transfer his consciousness the instant the egg took hold. The sharpened tip lunged straight for Nilu's lower belly.
"Ahhh!" Nilu's shriek tore at the air.
"Nelo!!" Peixue and Dondochakka shouted again, paralyzed by despair. The tentacle tip hovered a hair's breadth from her abdomen when a sudden gust cut the tension.
"Tsk, tsk…" Su Li's voice slipped in, faint and low, tinged with irritation. "Where there should be a hole, you don't have one. Where there shouldn't, you grow like a weed…"
The tentacle froze, caught effortlessly between his fingers. Though mere strands of flesh separated it from its target, it could move no further. Szayel's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed into a feral glare as he poured his hatred into one last frenzy.
The coils around Nilu multiplied, erupting into a writhing storm of countless tentacles. They descended from all directions, suffocating, their grotesque density enough to numb the scalp. This time Szayel did not limit his target to her abdomen—the girl's entire body was enveloped, even her legs and feet pressed beneath their assault.
"As long as I can lay the egg inside her!" he roared, dragging his broken body upright on sheer will. His spiritual power flared in desperation.
"Nelo!!" Peixue and Dondochakka's faces twisted in terror. There were too many. Su Li had blocked one, but against this endless flood—how could anyone stop them all?
Su Li didn't answer. His response was simpler than words. He drew Nilu tightly into his arms and enclosed her fully within his own body.
A piercing clang rang out as the first tentacle struck him—then shattered into dust. Szayel's pupils contracted. His tentacles were the hardest weapons of his body, yet they disintegrated uselessly against the boy's skin. Horror surged through him. What was this body made of?
Peixue and Dondochakka's faces froze in disbelief. Their shock was not only at Su Li's defense but at his choice. This boy, a stranger they had only just met, had without hesitation shielded Nilu with his own body. Who would dare risk death so recklessly for another? Who in this world could embrace danger in such a way?
The tentacles didn't stop. Blow after blow hammered against Su Li, the air filling with deafening clangs like iron drills on stone. His white clothes were riddled with holes, fabric shredded into tatters, while the ground piled with powder from shattered tentacles.
Nilu heard each piercing impact, every strike thundering against the boy's body. But louder than that was another sound, steady, resonant, filling her ears. Thump. Thump. Thump. His heartbeat pressed against her. His warmth enclosed her. It wasn't meant as a hug, yet to her it was the warmest embrace she had ever known—the warmest in the world.
Her tears blurred as she listened. She could even hear her own heart racing within her chest. The two beats overlapped, life and death intertwined. She didn't know how long he could endure, only that she could pray. Her whisper was faint yet desperate. "Don't die, Su Li. Don't die…"
Perhaps her prayer touched the heavens. The tentacle storm slowed, strikes weakening. Szayel's face drained of color, spiritual power spent to its limits. No matter how he forced them, none pierced the boy's defense.
Peixue and Dondochakka's eyes turned red. Su Li's once white robe was shredded, his skin flushed scarlet, his back marked by thousands of impacts. Even if none had broken through, the pain was real, the blows heavy. Yet he didn't flinch, didn't loosen his arms even once. They wept openly, unable to speak.
Finally, with one last brittle clang, the tentacles collapsed in exhaustion. Szayel sagged, his breath leaving him in a hollow sigh as his eyes dulled with despair.
Peixue and Dondochakka clutched each other and fell to their knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Those few minutes of resistance had felt like a lifetime. The tension inside them shattered, tears pouring freely.
Su Li slowly straightened, still holding the girl. He looked at her gently, not at himself. "How is it? Are you hurt?"
Nilu's eyes overflowed and she wailed, clinging tighter.
"Looks like not hurt," Su Li said with a warm grin, spinning her lightly in reassurance before setting her back. His eyes softened once he confirmed she was unscathed, though his own body trembled faintly from the beating. "Phew… it's been a while since I felt something like that. Thought I'd lost the sense of pain…" He smiled to himself, strangely refreshed.
Peixue and Dondochakka collapsed into fresh tears. "He even jokes like this?! His back is red—red all over!" Their sobbing voices broke apart as they stared at his battered frame.
Then Su Li stepped forward, standing over Szayel's crumpled body with a solemn expression. His tone rang out like a judge delivering sentence. "For violating the Law on the Protection of Minors, I hereby declare you stripped of all rights, all property confiscated, and sentenced to immediate execution."
Without hesitation, he raised his foot and brought it down.
The sound cracked sharp. Szayel Aporro burst into a spray of blood, his existence obliterated in an instant.
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