Chapter 748.1: Taking Blood Peak
Chapter 748.1: Taking Blood Peak
“NO!” A furious roar exploded through the blood-soaked cavern as the Beast King, drenched in gore, was jolted awake from his berserk rage.
At the same time, he heard the anguished wails echoing through the crimson mist.
The altar! They had reached the altar!
A bead of cold sweat mixed with blood slid down his forehead as he suddenly realized he had focused his attention on a single body for far too long.
After carefully laying every piece of the board, he had desperately wanted to see the expression on that man's face. To that end, he had deliberately selected the finest body from his collection as the vessel through which he would walk the mortal world.
It was precisely because of that arrogance that his flawless plan had developed a fatal flaw. The negative emotions generated by that imperfect vessel had begun to corrode his own mind.
The rational judgment he should have maintained had instead been dragged around by fury, reducing him to a puppet of his own emotions.
During that brief lapse, those humans had reached the Hive itself.
Regret was meaningless. All he could do was hope that the creature’s 200 years of "cultivation" would amount to something.
"... No, my friend! Can you hear my voice? Answer me!" With a mighty swing, the Beast King split apart a soldier firing at him, then let out a deafening roar that forced everyone else back. Taking advantage of the brief lull in the relentless assault, he frantically called out to the Great Lord of Plague in his mind while simultaneously attempting to contact the Plague Monks stationed at the altar.
What plunged his heart into despair was the fact that he couldn't reach any of them.
They had cried out for help, but those desperate pleas had been swallowed by the chaos of gunfire and furious battle cries.
Soon, a weak voice drifted into his ears. It sounded like the dying whisper of someone lying on a sickbed. "... Farewell, my friend. My 200 years of wandering have been wonderful, but... in the end, the world belongs to the youngsters. I really have grown too old. For so long, my footsteps crossed five light-years... yet I never managed to leave this mountain. Perhaps that child wasn't wrong. Maybe my path was mistaken from the very beginning."
"But fortunately... You're still young. By human standards, and by ours. I hope you find that ideal paradise."
It sounded like a final farewell.
The instant those words faded, the last thread connecting his sea of consciousness to the other party was severed completely. Along with that presence, it plunged into the bottomless abyss. The loss would not affect the already-descended Kingdom of Heaven, but he had lost the most important card in his hand.
All he could do was place his hopes in the power of the Kingdom of Heaven, and in whether the Human Emperor's reinforcements would arrive in time.
"Die! All of you... DIE!" The Beast King roared with boundless fury, venting every ounce of his rage upon the enemies clinging stubbornly to him.
Yet it was precisely that rage that filled his attacks with more and more openings, allowing a second syringe to be plunged into his right leg. The injected B strain finally overwhelmed even his incredible regenerative ability.
Immediately afterward, another white phosphorus shell detonated against the right side of his body. Boiling flames carbonized great patches of flesh and the overwhelming pain nearly forced his consciousness out of the body.
He staggered backward, catching his foot on a corpse. The giant lost his balance and toppled onto his back, and not surprisingly, the body beneath him belonged to I'll Die.
True to his name, he had indeed been the first among the hundreds of corpses littering the tunnel.
Not wasting the fleeting opportunity, Lawless Madman caught the syringe tossed to him by a teammate and lunged forward without hesitation, driving yet another needle into the monster's chest.
The instant he felt the resistance of flesh being pierced transmit back into his palm, a massive hand grabbed him around the waist. The next thing he knew, he was lifted clean off the ground.
"AAARGH! Get off me, you filthy insect!" the Beast King roared in pain. His right hand seized the human clinging to his chest before smashing him against the cavern wall with brutal force, reducing him to a bloody smear.
At that very moment, the self-destruct drone controlled by the intelligence type player Wakey Sleepy reached his face.
It activated its self-destruct switch and the explosion slammed the Beast King back down just as he was beginning to rise.
His upper body crashed heavily onto the ground.
In the blink of an eye, Midnight Umbrella darted forward, snatched Lawless Madman's dropped shotgun, and in one fluid motion jammed the enormous barrel directly beneath the monster's chin.
"Go to hell!"
He pulled the trigger and the blast erupted with a torrent of fire and shattered pellets.
The monster's head exploded like a watermelon.
He didn't stop there. Lowering the muzzle, he fired another five shots in rapid succession until the magazine ran dry.
The Plague Champion's body became an unrecognizable mass of mangled flesh as chunks of crimson meat were scattered everywhere.
Among the gore, he even spotted that emerald-green eyeball.
"... Is it over?" He let out a long breath before collapsing onto the ground.
He could no longer tell whether the warmth flowing across his body was blood or sweat. His right hand landed in a slick puddle and lifting it up, he saw only pitch-black sludge. He smiled bitterly before wiping it on his clothes.
If this game doesn't implement a censorship system, it's never getting an age rating...
The entire tunnel was carpeted with corpses.
They belonged to the Death Corps, Plague Monks, Goblins, and the thing lying before Midnight Umbrella, that talking Plague Champion.
That was probably the final boss.
At the same time, the crimson mist filling the tunnels began to change. The rotten stench faded, replacing it with a familiar scent.
Every player immediately recognized it.
"Looks like Little Feather won!" Lapulasi looked upward, glanced around, then turned toward Midnight Umbrella, who was slumped on the ground. He eventually asked, "So what now? Keep moving forward? Or head back and plant the flag on the summit?"
Their mission had been to capture the Hive but in reality, capturing the Hive meant capturing all of Blood Peak.
Once Little Feather completely took control of the Hive beneath the mountain, it would soon produce new sub-entities capable of searching every filthy corner of the mountain for hidden Mutant Humans, and the human survivors they had captured. That was if any were still alive.
"Obviously we're pushing forward." Midnight Umbrella sprang back to his feet, reloaded the shotgun, and instantly shook off his exhausted appearance. "... I'm gonna see what kind of treasure those Mutant Humans hid in their palace. We've come this far! It would be a waste not to."
Lapulasi's expression became somewhat complicated. Looking off to one side, he muttered, "I think it's more likely we'll suffer psychological trauma..."
...
"No... O Great Lord of Plague... please don't abandon your children... We can't live without you..."
Its bloated body curled into itself. Collapsed beside the enormous cauldron, Sodo's face was filled with despair. Even its beloved soup-making had lost all appeal.
Once, countless followers had gathered around it. Now, it was alone.
Every Plague Monk that had once crowded the place had died fighting those humans. No more weak little hatchlings remained, eagerly waiting for its soup.
The surrounding crimson mist was still thick, but it could no longer sense the Great Lord of Plague's presence. Its prayers were answered only by endless silence.
Its evolution had ended here. Nothing new would ever emerge from the countless boils covering its body again.
Lowering its head, it looked like a fat baby as it stared at the folds of flesh piled over its belly and muttered, "... Why?"
A sigh drifted through the gradually clearing reddish mist. Sodo looked up blankly, searching the fog for the source of the voice.
"... Just what kind of creature would finally satisfy you?" The voice asked.
"Something that can eat everything!" Sodo answered instantly. It didn't even need a second to think.
The voice let out a long, weary sigh. "... Such a thing doesn't exist. Even a black hole has things it cannot swallow."
A black hole?
Sodo stared blankly ahead. It had no idea what that meant, but it understood the rejection. Instantly, its already hideous face twisted into something even uglier.
"You're lying! The Great Lord of Plague told us that its mother could swallow an entire planet! As long as we keep evolving... one day we'll be able to as well!"
"Perhaps." The voice interrupted it calmly, clearly no longer interested in listening to its fantasies. "... But if that day ever comes, it will be a disaster for the entire universe."
The voice disappeared and it was as though it had never existed.
Sodo nervously looked around. The sudden silence surrounding him filled it with fear.
Just then, a series of lively footsteps and noisy voices shattered the stillness inside the palace. The footsteps stopped at the entrance.
"Holy shit!"
"That is one huge frog! Wait, does this thing even count as a frog?"
"Good thing we came to take a look. We almost missed the real final boss."
"Alright, brothers! Time to pull the boss’ aggro!"
"WOOOOOO!"
Although it couldn't understand what they were saying, Sodo instinctively knew it wasn't anything good. Standing alone before those humans whose eyes gleamed with excitement... For the first time, Sodo truly panicked.
...