Myriad Devils-Chapter 101: Grotesque!

The dark cosmic sky bore a crimson hue, gently coating the world beneath it. This blood-red tint enveloped everything, almost menacingly, serving as a constant reminder of the great rebirth. For those who had lived before the apocalypse, it echoed the many changes the world had endured.

For the new generation, however, this was the norm. A world without the crimson sky was one they could not fathom.

The hue clung to the river water, giving it a faint reddish tint. Perhaps it was the red water originating from behind the waterfall that birthed this color.

This waterfall...

In the vicinity of the waterfall, the world seemed to lose its luster.

For a fleeting moment, each droplet of falling water hung suspended in mid-air!

Beyond this waterfall, deeper within the cave, hidden beneath a veil of mystery, lay a flood of red water. Within it, a towering figure emerged, forged from swirling blood and flesh.

As this being stepped towards Anon, the atmosphere in the cave shifted dramatically. Grand and mighty, its presence radiated strength. With each step, its body appeared to split into two: one a walking mass of swirling flesh and blood, the other a still figure, with the pieces of flesh and droplets of blood being suspended in the air as if frozen in time.

Anon frowned deeply as he retreated even faster once seeing that the monster had been attracted to him. At the same time, his spirit immediately immobilize stellar cosmic energy to its limits, churning the power of his principle at max capacity.

"Cursed Ground!"

A golden light shot out of Anon’s eyes as an aura of divine momentum exploded from his body. It was noticeably much more powerful than it had ever been. The golden light shone ever so brightly as the area surrounding him slowly began being shrouded, beginning with the surrounding atmosphere, before the golden light shone on the red water.

But just as it met with the red water, Anon’s expressions turned dark. The golden light flickered momentarily before something rushed up his throat...

Boom!

Anon coughed up a mouthful of blood as the golden light that oozed from his worldly flesh seemingly solidified before it was ruthlessly shattered. A dark, bloodthirsty aura rose from the red water, attacking Anon.

Simultaneously, the towering beast appeared before Anon, slashing its paw made out of swirling flesh and blood. Said paw moved as fast as lightning, and its daunting size was even larger than Anon’s head.

"Victory Manifested!"

Anon gritted his teeth as blood trickled from his nose and eyes. Grasping at the empty air, an illusory golden rod appeared in his hand, and in one motion, he confronted the beast head on, stabbing out against the incoming paw.

For a short moment, there was a pause as the two sides collided. Anon’s illusory staff had previously phased through the bodies of the one-winged monkeys, but as the dark, bloodthirsty aura originating from the red water intertwined with the beast’s attack, meeting the rod, these two forces carrying phantasmal properties confronted head on.

The pause was a result of a stalemate, but this stalemate didn’t even last as long as a blink of an eye before Anon’s staff exploded into golden particles. Although he reacted quickly, retreating away immediately after sensing the shattering of his staff, it was still too late.

The paw continued on its merry way, slashing at Anon and tearing apart his flesh, spilling his blood into the surroundings. Anon glanced at his abdomen where blood spat out of and where his ribs could be made out, groaning in pain at the sight.

But taking up his attention right after was the beast’s movements, or lack thereof. Instead, it merely stood where it last struck Anon, staring at him intently.

’Huh?’

Seeing this, Anon stopped retreating, coming to a halt and staring back at it. At the same time, he was happy to do just this, so as to stall for time. His wounds, though wouldn’t heal in time for another confrontation, would at least, not worsen from here on, healing slowly but surely.

’What’s it doing?’ Anon was still confused by the beast’s actions.

However, he had no time to be confused as more pressing matters suddenly appeared.

Anon glanced down at his wound once again before hissing in pain and discomfort.

What he saw was his flesh wriggling around, taking on multiple different shapes. As if having a mind of their own, his own flesh resisted the urge to heal, and instead began transforming.

The towering bear-like creature made up of swirling flesh and blood... It stood tall, staring at Anon whilst all of its variations left in its trail did the same. And then, the swirling flesh, similar to its other variations, slowly eased the pace at which it swirled around, before coming to a halt, suspended mid-air, followed by the droplets of blood.

Transforming into another one of its variations, the many beastly figures then dispersed into solid, lumpy pieces of flesh that fell into the red water with a flop.

Forged out of Anon’s own body was a chain of squirming flesh that extended towards the water where, from the water, another chain was taking shape.

These two chains approached each other.

’The hell?!’ Anon widened his eyes in disbelief.

At the same time, he attempted to create a distance between it and his own flesh chain. But reacting to his movement, the chain made up from his own flesh squirmed more violently, extending at a faster pace, before latching onto the other chain that rose from the red water.

As these two chains of squirming flesh met, a bloodthirsty aura originating from the red water rushed towards Anon via the chain made from his flesh and blood, making contact with his body and swallowing him whole in the next moment.

Anon reacted violently to its attempt at coating his body, hesitatingly only for a brief second before a light of madness shone in his eyes.

The nails of his fingers lengthened and sharpened as he slashed at the chain made up of his own flesh, spilling blood and detaching the chain from his body.

As he distanced himself, a feeling of weakness drowned his senses, but he bit his tongue and released a beastly growl.

However, from the wound on his abdomen, his flesh and blood began to behave oddly once more, squirming and twisting in uncomforting ways as the bloody aura coating his body seeped into his skin!

Anon immediately felt its effects.

His golden eyes were then surrounded by a bloody red hue whilst sprouting from his arms and legs were sharp, twisting tendrils that extended towards the red water, similar to the fleshy chain before.

Once appearing, they drilled into the red water, constricting Anon’s movements and sticking him in place. His squirming flesh formed another fleshy chain that extended towards the red water.

Similarly, a fleshy chain rose from the red water, reaching towards the chain formed from his own flesh and blood. Soon after, two, three, and even four fleshy chains formed.

Blood oozed from the many wounds that had formed due to the tendrils holding him in place, and gradually, he felt his body weaken. However, this type of weakening, instinctively, he knew that it wasn’t normal.

"Cursed Ground!"

Anon growled as his spirit summoned stellar cosmic energy, but from the initial burst of energy, the amount of power his spirit drew out of his principle was striking to him.

Not that it was powerful, but quite the opposite.

The golden light that leaked from his body flickered only once in his surroundings before dispersing into gold particles that was blown away by the chaotic winds inside the cave.

This scene appeared in Anon’s vision, imprinting itself into his mind. A chill ran down his spine as he constructed several deductions in his head.

’Whether it is these tendrils, or the chains, one of them, or maybe they are both not just absorbing my bodily strength, but they’re also sapping the strength out of my spirit directly. How does this even make sense? It’s directly devouring my will.’ Anon scowled deeply as he thought of this.

The death of the mind was the truest form of death.

Feeding on his spirit, the creature slowly absorbed Anon’s strength, making it its own strength.

And so, with one of the intruders practically dead, ripples slowly formed in the red water near the area where Seth meditated.

As the same process occurred once more, the towering beast in the form of a bear-like monstrosity took shape, staring at Seth with bloodthirst.

But even though Seth’s senses had diluted tremendously due to being lost in meditation, just like the Red Ape which sensed the thick killing intent originating from the swarm of one-winged monkeys, Seth’s eyelids twitched, reacting to the murderous aura focused on him.

Opening his eyes, Seth’s pair of blood-colored orbs had a feral glint to them.

Whether it be a beast’s hibernation, or a human’s meditation, it was never ideal to be disturbed, and so, when one was, the creature, beast or human, usually reacted violently on instincts.

But Seth’s soul was much stronger than this.

He calmed the beastly instincts wanting to burst out of his chest, released a breath of turbid air, and allowed his field of vision to absorb the contents of the real world, choosing to process the happenings before reacting.

Initially, there was a calm expression on his face.

One of indifference.

And yet, this all changed immediately since, covering his entire peripheral vision was an immensely huge paw being driven towards him with vile intent.

Puchi!

Seth’s seated figure was unable to react.

Almost immediately upon awakening, his upper body, chest, neck, and head, exploded due to the immense force that greeted it.