Waves crashed onto the beach, washing over the giant snail's feet.
The entire coastline shimmered, as if veiled in silver gauze.
A seabird slowly descended, seeking a shellfish.
The moment it touched the sand, its feet became stuck, causing it to lose its balance and fall, its entire body becoming stuck to the beach.
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
The seabird struggled desperately, but the more it struggled, the more it became stuck.
Suddenly, a translucent tentacle swept past at an invisible speed.
Splash!
The seawater surged back up, but the seabird had vanished, as if it had never been there.
Aoki and Kurohime stood outside the beach, watching this scene from afar.
"That must be its attack method," Kurohime said.
"I'll leave the backup to you."
Aoki nodded, his bat wings unfurling as he flew towards the giant snail.
The giant snail remained motionless, its tentacles twitching unconsciously, seemingly oblivious to the commotion around it.
Aoki didn't let his guard down. He quickly approached and punched the giant snail's head.
Whoosh! The giant snail's head retracted, hiding inside its shell.
Clang! Aoki's fist struck the shell, making a crisp sound.
The giant snail didn't even flinch; his fist was stuck to it instead.
Simultaneously
, tentacles suddenly shot out from the small holes in the snail's shell, flying towards Aoki with the speed of a black shadow.
"Its defense is ridiculously hard; one touch and you're stuck. Not only are there many tentacles, but they're also incredibly fast. How can anyone fight this? Is this some kind of cheat?"
Aoki forcefully flapped his wings, yanking his fist away from the snail's shell. The flesh on the surface was completely torn away, revealing the stark white bones. He quickly retreated.
The tentacles missed their mark, and the giant snail poked its head out, opening its mouth.
Ha!
A glob of "thick phlegm" spurted out.
To the giant snail, this was just a massive blob of slime, over two meters in diameter.
Not only was it incredibly fast, but its timing and angle were also extremely precise, leaving him no time to dodge.
"Third day without 'space travel,' I miss it."
Aoki sighed, opening his palm and aiming at the slime. His flesh suddenly expanded, forming a fleshy shield.
*Slap! * The slime stuck to it.
Aoki cut off his slime-covered hand, creating distance between himself and the giant snail, observing from afar.
The giant snail remained motionless.
"A super dangerous species. At least these few in this secret realm, if they have a profession, their level should be above level 30." Aoki's eyes flickered slightly.
In other words, if super dangerous species were a profession, their quality should be at least three stars.
Of course.
If he obtained the super dangerous species profession, at level 30, he would definitely be stronger than the giant snail.
Just like how an Oni (demon) is a two-star class, yet at max level he could easily defeat Muzan Kibutsuji.
In other words, the class he acquired was actually an enhanced version of its corresponding power.
But that's not the point.
The point is that the "Super Dangerous Species" class might actually exist.
The leader of the recently risen religious sect of Anningdao (Peaceful Path) in the Empire is actually a hybrid of human and Dangerous Species, possessing abilities such as photographic memory, precognition, reading minds, and healing wounds.
This indicates that humans can also possess Dangerous Species bloodlines.
Furthermore, fundamentally, most of the power of Imperial Arms actually comes from Super Dangerous Species.
Prolonged use of Imperial Arms can even corrupt and assimilate humans,
especially transformation and armor-type Imperial Arms.
"Demon Possession" has this ability.
Although a thousand years have passed, the muscles of Tyrande, the Super Dangerous Species who created "Demon Possession," are still alive.
This is not a good thing. Humans are corrupted, gradually turning them into dangerous species, essentially resurrecting former super dangerous species within them.
But this is also a way to obtain the bloodline of a super dangerous species.
Aoki stopped thinking.
This idea still had many problems.
Dangerous species weren't necessarily stronger than Teigu users.
At least, the giant snails, to him, didn't seem as powerful as Esdeath.
Besides,
he left the Demon Slayer world to become a human; if he became a super dangerous species, wouldn't that take him even further away from his goal?
Aoki's attention returned to reality, staring at the giant snail.
"Let's try, see if I can get past it!"
The range of spatial fluctuations couldn't be infinite; as long as he left the interference range, he could perform "spatial travel."
Aoki flapped his wings, flying towards the giant snail.
The giant snail didn't move at all, like a dead object.
Approaching, Aoki flapped his wings, increasing his speed.
The giant snail still didn't move.
However, upon reaching above the giant snail, Aoki's expression changed, and he abruptly stopped.
Pfft! Suddenly, countless tentacles erupted from the giant snail's body, weaving a dense, impenetrable net in the air.
If Aoki hadn't stopped, he would have crashed directly into the net.
"Luckily, there's the Transparent World."
Aoki retreated without hesitation.
The giant snail didn't stop; the net woven from its tentacles enveloped Aoki.
"No, I can't escape!"
Aoki immediately realized.
He was too deep.
These tentacles were incredibly fast and covered in slime; if even one touched them, escape was impossible.
Whoosh! Aoki abruptly changed direction ninety degrees, soaring upwards like a spring breeze, finally escaping the tentacles' attack range before his escape route was locked.
Before he could relax, he heard a sharp whistling sound from above. Looking up, he saw
countless pterosaur-like dangerous species converging, forming a vast "dark cloud" that blotted out the sun.
Among the pterosaur horde, a colossal creature with a wingspan exceeding fifty meters stood out conspicuously.
"They're really here! But why were they so quiet just now?"
Aoki sensed something and glanced at the forest below.
"Is it because they're higher than the forest's height? So, the giant snail is in charge below the forest, and the super pterosaur is in charge above?"
Whoosh! A wind blade swept past, slicing Aoki in half. He dared not delay any longer and swooped down diagonally.
The giant snail and the super pterosaur were relentless.
Aoki plunged downwards, dodging countless tentacles and wind blades, finally returning to the ground.
The super pterosaur glanced at them, turned, and flew back into the forest. The giant snail also stopped moving.
"Are you alright?" Kurohime looked up at him, her eyes filled with worry.
Aoki shook his head: "I'm fine, but it's probably impossible to leave without fighting."
"Then let's fight!"
Kurohime gripped Yafusa tightly.
"Alright! Let's set off now, to the other side!" Aoki didn't waste any more words.
Now that he had figured out the pattern, there was no need to hesitate any longer.
For him, this snail was actually easier to deal with.
However, for Kurohime and her doll, this untouchable enemy was simply impossible to fight.
Taking everything into consideration, the dangerous creature in the gray mist was much easier to deal with.
The two turned and left.
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(End of Chapter)