Even though Ryuuen's words carried a hell of a lot of information, at this very moment Kars had absolutely zero mood to respond to any of it.
Facing Ayanokoji's sudden assault with both the Parasyte and the Black Sphere Blade.
Kars had nowhere left to dodge to, and could only split his focus two ways.
On one hand, he had to keep manipulating The World to put up a barrage of resistance against the Parasyte's strikes; on the other, he had to rely on his Pillar Man's body to scramble in messy desperation to evade Ayanokoji's Black Sphere Blade.
It wasn't that he didn't want to fight back.
The simple fact was that Kars had already noticed something in that brief earlier exchange.
Although he wasn't sure what that black blade was made of.
If he tried clashing it head-on with the bone-blades on the side of his arm, those would absolutely get sheared off in an instant!
Even more deadly than that was the golden Ripple clinging to the blade — once it slipped through a wound and into his body, even if it didn't kill him outright, it would still cause him serious trouble.
"Damned humans…"
Kars dodged at lightning speed.
Naturally, he had no spare attention to give to how his other two comrades were faring.
And over on Esidisi and Wamuu's end, because Kars had earlier severed the laser ropes—
—the Y-GUN had reverted back to a ready-to-fire state.
Amanatsu Kazuha and Kamuro Masumi promptly fired again.
Facing this bizarre piece of equipment, neither of the two Pillar Men dared to get cocky.
"Wamuu!"
Esidisi let out a furious roar.
Dark-red boiling blood, heated to a scorching five hundred degrees, came showering down upon the area ahead in a sky-blanketing wave.
Wamuu got the message instantly, and swept both arms in motion.
"Divine Sandstorm!"
Two vertical whirlwinds, wrapping Esidisi's boiling blood up inside them, didn't just blow the incoming laser ropes off course — they kept their momentum going and swept onward, surging toward Chris, Ryuuen Kakeru, and the others!
Facing this blood-boiling combo from the two of them.
Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes flashed with a sharp gleam.
This was exactly the moment she'd been waiting for!
The brief window in which the two Pillar Men were locked momentarily in place to pull off their combination move — a window that perfectly fit the conditions for unloading damage on them.
Sakayanagi Arisu decisively pulled the trigger of the Romantic Cannon.
"Bang—!"
The shockwave tore through the dim air and punched a clean, precise hole straight through half of Wamuu's chest!
"What?!"
Wamuu staggered back several steps.
And just as Esidisi moved in to help, intending to assist him in repositioning himself—
"Hahaha! Have a taste of modern technology's iron fist, you old relics!"
Ryuuen Kakeru cackled wildly.
Transparent high-pressure air rounds, blazing-hot laser cannons, and even miniature tracking missiles…
Amid the violent explosions, flesh and blood went flying in every direction.
Caught dead-center in the firepower, Esidisi and Wamuu were straight-up blasted into forty or fifty tiny chunks of pulverised meat, scattering in all directions.
"Nicely done!"
Amanatsu Kazuha couldn't help but cheer.
But Kouenji Rokusuke clicked his tongue and warned her:
"Don't get happy too soon! Ryuuen Boy, don't forget — Pillar Men are just like vampires. Without the Ripple, you can't actually kill them!"
"You've blown them apart into pieces this small — what if those scraps of flesh end up scattering and bolting in every direction in a minute? That'd just hand us a bigger headache later!"
"That much, I'm naturally already aware of."
Ryuuen Kakeru grinned wide. "Which is exactly why… this — the moment they can't bolt away fast — is precisely what I've been waiting for!"
"Kouenji, move it, don't block the light!"
As he spoke, the launchers at the ends of Ryuuen Kakeru's arms gave off a faint transforming sound.
This was him leveraging the built-in technology of the Shishigami template, temporarily readjusting the wavelength of the laser emission.
The next second.
A blinding flash lit the corridor up as bright as broad daylight!
"One hundred percent simulated solar ultraviolet!
"This is way more useful than that half-baked Ripple of yours!"
Under the direct exposure to UV radiation.
Those scraps of flesh scattered across the floor — like winter snow meeting the blazing sun — swiftly turned to drifting ash!
"Esidisi! Wamuu!"
Having just watched his comrades meet a grisly end and feeling the burning sensation creeping across his own body, Kars knew — he could not afford to drag this out any longer.
He had to call on The World's power immediately, this very second!
However, just as his focus was peaking.
Chris had already moved first, scooping up the Soul-Release Blade that Ryuuen Kakeru had let fall to the ground, and pressed in alongside Kars.
"DORA!"
Crazy Diamond's fist slammed into Kars' face at the exact same moment!
"Bam!"
Snapping Kars' entire head right back!
In that split-second delay, Kars couldn't even gather enough focus to trigger Time Stop.
"Now!"
Chris's Soul-Release Blade and Ayanokoji's Ripple-infused Black Sphere Blade carved into Kars' body in a frenzy!
"Pcchh! Pcchh! Pcchh!"
The agony of flesh being torn open, of his very soul being slashed by the blade, ripped a horrible scream out of Kars.
Sensing the approach of death.
Kars simply abandoned every last defense and concentrated all of his willpower into one single point!
At last.
In the very final 0.1 seconds before the Soul-Release Blade was about to split his brain in two — he made it!
"The World!!!"
Time, once again, sank into gray and white.
Kars' face went deathly pale, cold sweat tracing down his cheeks.
'Damn it… if I hadn't obtained this power, I'd already be dead just now!'
Gritting his teeth, Kars' first instinct was to immediately activate his ability and force his way into Ayanokoji's body.
That would let him both avoid the UV exposure and use the man as a hostage to fight back.
But after a moment's deliberation, he forcibly stomped that thought out.
When he'd faced Chris and that cyborg, he'd been unable to force a fusion.
So against this human — one who had fused with Stroheim-style Ripple AND had a bizarre creature living on him as a parasite — Kars naturally couldn't guarantee anything close to certainty either.
If the fusion failed, what awaited him was total, absolute death.
So…
He had to switch targets!
Kars' gaze swept past the two in front of him.
That group of humans being escorted away under protection — if he could just control them…
Thinking that.
Kars made the decisive call.
He forcibly extracted his own brain — along with a length of nerve tissue — straight out of his already-shattered body!
Carrying the Stand [The World] with it, the writhing brain fled in the direction of Amikura Mako and the others!
The seven seconds of Time Stop passed in the blink of an eye.
Fortunately, the on-site environment was cramped to begin with — and even reduced to just a brain, the tenacious survival capabilities of a Pillar Man still held up.
Even with one full second wasted on deliberation, Kars still — by the skin of his teeth — managed to escape the UV-blanketed center of the battlefield.
...
As color returned to the world.
"Pcchh!"
The Soul-Release Blade and the Black Sphere Blade came down at the same instant, cleaving what was left of Kars' broken body into fragments.
Looking at the pulverised meat scattered across the ground.
Chris asked, knowing full well:
"Is it over?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned his head to look at his right hand:
"Zero, share your thoughts."
The Parasyte's eyeball swivelled once, and analysed:
"I can't be entirely certain.
"But I did indeed sense it — something seems to have left very quickly just now. And at extreme speed.
"More importantly…"
Ayanokoji picked up the thread: "If the exam really were over, the Black Sphere would have given a notification.
"No notification means Kars hasn't died yet."
Hearing this, Chris reached out and caught a piece of pulverised flesh still in mid-air, then turned his head and called over to Ryuuen Kakeru:
"Ryuuen, kill your UV for now — don't go and zap the rest of him into nothing too."
Ryuuen Kakeru raised an eyebrow and sneered:
"Chopped up like this and still not properly dead? A Pillar Man's life force really is as stubborn as a cockroach's."
Ayanokoji looked over at Chris, his gaze shifting slightly:
"You're planning to use Crazy Diamond's restoration ability to forcibly drag Kars back?"
"More or less."
Chris answered casually:
"We hacked him half to death, his current condition definitely isn't great.
"Either he's gone to find the remaining vampires to top up his energy, or… he's gone after Ichinose's group.
"That said — I was thinking, Crazy Diamond can take effect on Demon Possession and on a cyborg like Ryuuen, so what about on a soul?"
Chris tossed the chunk of meat in his hand. "Let's run an experiment. Buys everyone some extra time to farm points while we're at it."
Ryuuen Kakeru immediately broke into a grin:
"Perfect — you guys go after Kars. Leave the rest of the vampires to me to deal with!"
Amanatsu Kazuha asked with a hint of worry:
"So those other two Pillar Men… were they really wiped out for good?"
Ryuuen Kakeru raised his arm again, releasing the UV:
"One hundred percent simulated solar UV! Not even ash left behind — there's absolutely zero chance of survival!"
Sakayanagi Arisu chimed in with a reminder:
"Still, let's check the positioning with Chris-kun's controller first — just to be safe."
Chris nodded and opened up the controller on his wrist.
On the 3D map that appeared, the group spotted a fast-moving red dot.
And along the path that red dot was travelling, other red dots kept blinking out, one after another…
Its direction of travel was, as expected, closing in on Ichinose's group!
Ayanokoji looked up at Chris:
"Can you handle this on your own?"
Kouenji Rokusuke teased:
"Hehe… You're not going? Looks like you've got your eyes set on the Stone Masks and the vampires?"
Ayanokoji neither confirmed nor denied it:
"After the exam ends, turning in each Stone Mask to the Black Sphere will get us 4 S Points. That's worth more than converting them into item score.
"You guys can collect some, as appropriate — see if we can bring a few back into the Black Sphere Space."
Sakayanagi Arisu pressed her lips into a small smile:
"Then Amanatsu-chan and I will take charge of collecting the Stone Masks.
"And those vampires who like to bolt around all over the place — those, we'll leave to Ryuuen-kun and Ayanokoji-kun~"
Seeing that Amanatsu Kazuha didn't object, she seemed to have tacitly accepted the arrangement.
Kouenji Rokusuke thought about it for a moment, then walked straight over to Ayanokoji's side:
"I'll come with you, Ayanokoji Boy.
"I'm not pairing up with Ryuuen. My Ripple is in healthy condition, sure — but I still can't out-grab a guy who's gone full mechanical ascension like him."
Ryuuen Kakeru let out a cold laugh:
"Then you'd better hurry it up!
"Or I'm afraid I'm gonna end up clearing this entire damn ruin out single-handed!"
Over on the fleeing Kars' end.
He had already absorbed several vampires along the way, using them to recover the bulk of his stamina.
But what was getting on his nerves was — although he'd been able to regenerate the parts of his body that Ayanokoji's Ripple had cut off, the parts that had been severed by the [Soul-Release Blade] simply refused to grow back, no matter what he tried!
'That blade… actually wounded my very soul?!'
Kars was furious.
"Damned humans…"
Kars simply gave up on this body altogether.
Once again he detached his brain and nerve cluster, scurrying rapidly along the ceiling like a giant spider.
As for the half-body, he deliberately left it behind on the spot to serve as bait.
But Kars' near-grotesque shell-shedding act…
…landing in the eyes of Shiranami Chihiro, who was curled up like a kitten in the corner of the wall, trying to inch herself out bit by bit — definitely scared her half to death.
"Uuuh…"
What was she even watching? A wriggling brain that straight-up melted several vampires, then hatched out of their bodies like a Xenomorph, turning into a not-particularly-tidy half-human form?
And then at the end, because it wasn't satisfied with the patchwork body, just neatly and cleanly threw it away?!
This was way too much SAN damage!
Shiranami Chihiro frantically pulled her body back deeper into the shadows, doing everything she could not to make a single sound.
At this moment, the girl was thinking of the equally timid Yotsuya Miko more than ever.
'If only Miko were here… at least we'd have each other to lean on, and I wouldn't be this scared!'
'Right now, this is just way too terrifying!'
Not until Kars' brain had completely vanished into the far end of the passage, heading off in the direction of Ichinose's group.
Shiranami Chihiro was about to let out a breath of relief and slump to the floor to catch her breath.
And just then.
"Pit-pat."
Chris, who had tracked all the way here, came to a stop right in front of the discarded shell Kars had left behind.
Shiranami Chihiro went rigid all over again — even her breathing came to a halt — and she could only pray furiously in her heart that, please please please, she would not get spotted.
And as for Chris.
He was barely holding back his laughter, sweeping what looked like a casual glance straight across the corner where Shiranami Chihiro was hidden.
He opened up his controller, looked at the 3D map displayed on it, and put on a deliberately puzzled mutter:
"Over here… there's actually a vampire signal too?
"Forget it — let's finish off Kars first, and check this out after…"
Saying so, Chris took off after Kars in the direction he'd fled.
But the words he had deliberately left behind had already had their effect on Shiranami Chihiro.
Because that one sentence carried serious ambiguity.
How could she possibly know whether the 'vampire' he'd mentioned really meant another vampire hiding somewhere nearby?
Or whether… he'd used that device of his to lock onto the position of her, the 'Ghost,' already?!
Shiranami Chihiro didn't dare bet on it.
But at the same time, she was worried that moving too much might pull Chris — who hadn't gotten far yet — back this way, or that she might accidentally run into another classmate.
And so, the girl, on the verge of tears with no tears to shed, could only keep holding her previous posture.
Only this time, her wriggling movements had clearly grown a great deal more cautious — with a slightly comical air of someone fleeing in disgrace.
Over on Ichinose Honami's side.
Just as Chris had said.
Because this particular instance simply wasn't suited to Myriad Soaring Wings being put to full use.
On top of that, with Ryuuen Kakeru, Chris, and Sakayanagi Arisu holding down the front line.
If it really were just a matter of having Horikita Suzune lead the rest — Shiraishi Asuka, Yotsuya Miko, and the others — in a retreat.
Even with Quinque and Black Keys in their hands, and even with Ichinose having lent Leo Knight to Amikura Mako.
Relying on just a few Y-GUNs as auxiliary crowd control was still not enough to fully put Ichinose's mind at ease.
So she'd simply made up her mind to personally escort them part of the way first, and once she'd confirmed they'd reached an absolutely safe area.
She would then use the Stone Masks she'd collected along the way to trade for item score, exchange that for some items from Horikita Suzune, and then hurry back to lend a hand.
However.
Because a great many of the vampires had been driven by Kars' command.
A small squad of vampires, leveraging an overwhelming numerical advantage, had managed to capture the three of them — Yagami Takuya, Housen Kazutomi, and Speedwagon — and were just on their way back to report to Kars.
By sheer coincidence, they ran straight into Ichinose's group on a narrow path.
Faced with the choice between reporting back to Kars first, or satisfying the carnal hunger right in front of them.
This pack of vampires — having starved for who-even-knew how many years — very honestly chose the latter.
After all, they'd already caught their prisoners. Running into enemies along the way and delaying things a bit, just to squeeze in an extra meal in the middle…
…no problem with that, right?
"Heh heh heh… what a sweet, savoury smell of blood…"
Looking at the dense mass of vampires in the corridor ahead — drooling as they came charging at her group.
Ichinose drew in a deep breath.
"Wings of God!"
Her wings condensed into wings of light, instantly slicing the first few vampires charging in clean across the waist!
Immediately after, Ichinose called out to Horikita Suzune and Katsuragi Kohei, who were holding Quinque and Black Keys:
"Mako and I will hold the front line as the tanks!
"You guys hurry up and finish them off! Don't give them any chance to regenerate!"
The instant her voice fell silent.
Amikura Mako had already charged headlong into the crowd of vampires.
With the stat boost from her Combat Suit stacked together with Leo Knight.
Even though Amikura Mako had never undergone any professional combat training, just by relying on brute force as she swung the high-frequency vibration blade around, she immediately hacked several vampires into critical-wound status.
On top of that, because the vampires assigned to watch over the prisoners were all rushing to get in on the eating, Speedwagon and Housen Kazutomi — who had been captives — managed to break free.
From the flanks, they helped take some of the pressure off Ichinose and Amikura Mako.
Honestly, if they'd just gone slow and steady like this, letting Horikita Suzune and the others gradually finish them off.
With one side gradually growing and the other waning, these vampires being completely wiped out would only have been a matter of time.
But of all things.
The most troublesome of them all — Kars — had now set his sights on them!
And so.
While Ichinose and Amikura Mako fought desperately on the front line.
And Horikita, Katsuragi, and the others — armed with Combat Suits and Quinque/Black Keys — were all focused on finishing off vampires or defending against the ones trying to ambush them from the shadows.
Kars had already, in complete silence, made use of Time Stop.
And crept right up beside those few classmates huddled and trembling at the rear.
"Ah… AAAAAAH!"
The moment time resumed its flow.
Accompanied by several blood-curdling screams, a few of the no-name classmates instantly melted away and were absorbed under the corrosion of Kars' tentacle.
Kars licked his lips, the realization settling in his mind.
'Just as I thought — only those few from earlier are the special ones.'
'These ordinary humans can't stop me at all!'
So what he needed to do next.
Was to attempt to possess and take control of those people — the ones, like Ayanokoji and his group, who wore black leather bracelets on their wrists!
This time, the one he'd set his sights on was…
…Ichinose Honami, who had her back to him and was unleashing [Wings of God] against the vampires with everything she had!
Unfortunately for him.
Because the sight of those few no-name classmates being melted alive right in front of them had been just too horrifying.
Kushida Kikyo and Morishita Ai had been so scared they'd screamed out loud, latching onto the equally frozen-in-place Yotsuya Miko and Shiraishi Asuka right next to them, shaking like leaves.
But Kito Hayabusa, who'd been kept back as rear support.
Displayed an extremely high level of mental composure.
He raised his Y-GUN, took aim at the now brain-only Kars, and pulled the trigger without hesitation!
"Zzzh——!"
The laser rope shot out.
Kars had been getting ready to extend the nerve tendrils from his brain — to kill these in-the-way humans first, and leave only a select few alive as hostages.
But his keen nerves suddenly picked something up.
The flow of the air around him had taken on an abnormal direction — some presence was rapidly closing in on him!
A chill ran straight through Kars' heart.
"The World!"
____
👻🔥Walnut-chan in "P" for more!🔥👻
🔥 New history: Homelander: Founding the Hero Association
Help us unlock these community rewards:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone