I! Cleaner!-Chapter 982 - 901: The Cauldron
Why… how are you here?
Seeing Leon suddenly appear in form and break the craftsman's arm with a kick, the director of the Scorpio Bureau widened his eyes in surprise.
"Didn't I send you…"
"What you sent away was an empty coffin."
After glancing at the miserable director of the Scorpio Bureau, Leon pointed to his heart and quickly explained:
"I just stirred your Heart Lake a bit, causing you to loosen the sealed coffin, from inside… hmm."
As his right foot suddenly lifted to avoid a muddy hand grabbing from below, Leon gazed sharply at the six figures obscured by black mist inside the Gate of the Deceased and said expressionlessly:
"You actually ambushed me… so you're not confident in defeating me? It seems your condition isn't as good as it appears, is it?"
"Indeed, it's not great."
Facing Leon's obvious probe, the Six-faced Elephant Deer didn't choose to hide, but nodded, admitting frankly:
"Your Bureau of Cleansing people have indeed caused me a lot of trouble."
As the Six-faced Elephant Deer answered, the black mist surrounding it dispersed automatically, revealing the body previously hidden. The Overlords of the Dead Realm that the Six-faced Elephant Deer had "assimilated" were covered with various bizarre means all over their bodies.
The most miserable among them was the Mortician, forever entwined with a shroud. It seemed to be clenched by an invisible large hand in the center, its entire body twisted into a ball, turning into an indiscernible mass of bloody waste, from which a large amount of foul blood and minced flesh incessantly oozed.
Grandma Crow-eye's iconic crow eyes had been gouged out, replaced by numerous baby mouth-sized slits all over her body. Countless cold eyes were opening from these slits on her corpse, gazing maliciously at the world around.
The Concealing Master and the Yellow Worm of Ditch Valley, though "alive," had grotesque demonic forms. One's body was crawling with ant-like demons, and the sound of teeth gnawing at flesh resonated by its ears, while the other was split in two, its lower half completely hollowed out, leaving only half of a shriveled worm skin.
"So, would you be willing to step aside?"
After showing his state, the Faceless Man, whose face was sealed by a bronze mask, looked at Leon from behind the mask and negotiated calmly:
"Though now severely injured, nearly two-thirds killed by you all, as long as I remain in the Realm of the Dead, these shattered parts will not truly die. Just one sunrise and sunset will suffice for a full recovery.
And if you let me through the Gate of the Deceased, allowing my return to the living world, just a trivial sacrifice would be enough to cut off support from the Dead Realm, offering a chance to completely solve my issue… What are you prepared to choose?"
How should I choose? I have no choice.
After listening carefully to the Six-faced Elephant Deer's response and obtaining the information he wanted, Leon nodded slightly, then tightened his grip on the Cutting Silver Dagger in his hand, making an air slash towards the six figures in front of him.
You're actually using my own thing against me?
Seeing the familiar little dagger in Leon's hand, the Faceless Man couldn't help but let out a wry smile, then temporarily let down his guard, preparing to send the craftsman, who wielded the "Face Cutting," to reclaim his initially lost powers. However…
'Actually… dying like this doesn't seem so bad.'
"?!?!?!?!"
Upon sensing the will coming back from within the craftsman, the Faceless Man's eyes behind the mask abruptly widened, immediately forcing restraint on the craftsman's body, dragging it out of the Cutting Silver Dagger's range of attack.
However, Leon's attack was never aimed at the craftsman from the start, nor did he launch any actual attack—it was merely a mere gesture of lifting his hand, and only now did the real assault begin.
Seizing the opportunity caused by the dissonance within the Six-faced Elephant Deer's muddled will, the silver short dagger in Leon's hand suddenly enlarged, transforming into a slobbering three-headed hellhound. Each of its heads grabbed one of the three Overlords of the Dead Realm, lifting their necks to swallow them whole.
"Stop!"
Realizing there was something wrong with Leon's kick, the Faceless Man shouted angrily, disregarding the bizarre tearing sensation in his soul, forcibly unifying the wills within the six bodies using pure strength.
Under the command of the Faceless Man, the three Overlords of the Dead Realm swallowed by the three-headed dog immediately began to struggle with all their might. The dog head that swallowed the Yellow Worm of Ditch Valley whimpered in pain and then burst apart on the spot, spitting out the half-swallowed Yellow Worm of Ditch Valley.
However, the Mortician and Grandma Crow-eye, having already "died" in battle with the Bureau of Cleansing, merely struggled slightly before being forcefully pressed down by the pale-faced Leon, and were swallowed whole.
[Through despicable ambush and cunning schemes, you successfully disrupted the soul of the Six-faced Elephant Deer and cruelly devoured two of its avatars.]
[The number of True Gods of the Netherworld devoured currently is 5, specifically including the "Guardian Death Hound" and the "Wailing Puppet"...]
[Detected that the two avatars you swallowed each contain the powers of another True God of the Netherworld, updating the devoured count—the current count is 7.]
The remaining undevoured True Gods of the Netherworld count is 8, specifically including the "Craftsman," "Faceless Man," "Yellow Worm of Ditch Valley," "Concealing Master," "Lantern Elder"...]
[After devouring all True Gods of the Netherworld, your hidden gold-level badge "Food God Demon" will advance to the hidden variety badge "I Am the End of Death," current progress is 7/15.]
…
How could this be?!
Ignoring the heartache of Leon devouring two of its avatars, upon retrieving the will within the craftsman, the tranquil, calm, even a bit philosophical mindset left the Faceless Man feeling an inexplicable chill running from its spine to the depths of its heart.
As the only Overlord of the Dead Realm who reached death and then successfully "transcended" it, its willpower was so strong that even death couldn't obliterate it, but just being lightly kicked by the Food God resulted in a complete transformation!
"What did you do!"
Seeing Leon, pale as a sheet, the Faceless Man, while attempting to cleanse the corrupted mind of the craftsman, asked suspiciously:
"You can forcibly alter the will of the deceased? That kick you made just now, is that the anomaly forged by the bureau chief from three generations ago?"
"Hehe."
Facing the Six-faced Elephant Deer's question, Leon silently hesitated for a moment, then suddenly managed a grin at him… and vomited a large amount of soul residue with a loud retch.
Despite possessing a collection of strange badges, without the Heart Lakes of countless deceased for maneuvering, Leon ultimately remains a "false" True God with only 59 points of Contamination Value, and though Grandma Crow-eye and the Mortician have been "killed," the quality of their souls still remains genuinely at the deity-column level.
In the circumstance where a quarter of his soul was originally missing, forcefully swallowing the souls of two column-level deities is undoubtedly an extremely hazardous act. Leon's soul, overfilled and riddled with cracks, was almost at the limit of what his current state could bear.
Unfortunately… if it had come a little slower, I could have stayed a bit longer in the coffin, repaired a bit more of my missing soul, and maybe avoided almost bursting myself from the inside.
With a slightly regretful sigh, Leon wiped his mouth, then, under the watchful and abruptly widened eyes of the Faceless Man, he pulled out a large pot both were immensely familiar with, clanging it down onto the ground.
"That kick just now was my own ability."
After catching his breath while holding the pot's edge, Leon reached into the cooking pot of the third generation elder and spoke flatly:
"This is what he left for me."
