588 Degree of Madness
Mr. K shifted instantaneously, tapping into the Grazed Traveler’s soul. His eyes took on an otherworldly glow, as if concealing doors to different realms.
His form faded, and in an instant, a luminous white column surrounded by flames emerged, shrouding him within its fiery embrace.
In the ensuing moment, Mr. K, stripped of his Devil guise, materialized in a corner of the metallic beehive. His form liquefied, his flesh resembling dripping candle wax.
The Secrets Suppliant pathway symbolized corruption, its influence curtailed by the Sun pathway’s capabilities.
Half-melted flesh and blood cascaded onto the metal floor, seeping into it in a bizarre manner. Soon, it was absorbed by the spaceship Mad Lady had earlier detailed. Even Mr. K felt the weight of an unseen force, as if an invisible hand pressed him down. His attempts to extricate himself from the metallic floor proved futile, and he continued sinking gradually.
Mad Lady, with grayish-green eyes gleaming, teleported near Mr. K.
Despite his blood-colored wax-drenched visage, Mr. K faced Mad Lady without a trace of fear. His focus remained fixed on the evil god’s aura emanating from the metal hive—his ultimate target.
He switched the Grazed soul to an Arbiter pathway Beyonder, with two bolts of lightning gathering in the depths of his darkened eyes.
Psychic Piercing!
Mad Lady refrained from teleporting. The illusory book within her eyes flipped open, revealing the kaleidoscope of colors on Mr. K’s body and the shifting hues of light during his Grazed soul transitions.
Excitement illuminated Mad Lady’s face. Raising her right hand, she prepared to delicately twist it clockwise.
Steal!
This was an ability she had Recorded from Bard.
A sudden, intriguing notion captivated Mad Lady’s thoughts—she yearned to witness the aftermath of stealing the Grazing ability from a Shepherd.
It was crucial to understand that her Steal ability was limited to just one from a target, devoid of any connections to the abilities that came with it. In essence, after snatching the Grazing ability, the soul, characteristics, and powers under Grazing’s influence would persist within Mr. K’s body.
In this state, Mad Lady pondered whether Shepherds would grapple with internal conflicts, the fusion of characteristics, or a loss of control akin to the switching between non-adjacent pathways.
Excitement bubbled within Mad Lady as she deliberately Blinked near Mr. K, compelling him to switch Grazed souls. She observed keenly, eager to discern which light aligned with Grazing.
As for Mr. K’s reaction, she cared little.
You continue your fight; I continue my steal. Whoever dies first loses!
Simultaneously, the metal floor, saturated with Mr. K’s flesh, quivered unexpectedly. A previously concealed door within the metal hive withdrew, unveiling a passageway that hinted at a silver metallic hall beyond.
A formidable suction force emanated from that direction. While her attempt to steal Mr. K’s Grazing ability was underway, Mad Lady—lacking the strength—was propelled into the air. Dark-blond hair whipped around wildly as she soared toward the origin of the anomaly.
Meanwhile, Mr. K remained “locked” to the metal floor. Though his body swayed precariously, on the verge of being pulled away, he held his ground, unsteady yet resilient.
The face of the blood-colored wax-streaked Aurora Order Oracle betrayed an anxious expression.
The enemy was on the verge of escape!
The source of the evil god corruption had revealed itself!
Mr. K swiftly switched back to the corresponding Devil spirit, summoning a broadsword forged from crimson lava and pale-blue flames. Targeting his body adhered to the metal floor, he executed a slashing motion.
Beneath his calf, flesh promptly separated from his main body, the incision undergoing a mesmerizing melding of half-melting and half-reforming.
Having relinquished a portion of his flesh, Mr. K allowed pale-white, moist, and freshly-formed limbs to squirm out from the severed stump. Concurrently, he harnessed the formidable suction force to pursue Mad Lady and draw closer to the source of corruption.
In midair, he witnessed Lumian, disguised, clutching the door frame in a struggle against the menacing suction. He observed the motionless silver-
white full-body armor seamlessly blending with the floor.
Mad Lady surged ahead, on the verge of “flying” past Lumian.
With a wave of her right hand, she emitted a greeting-like “hello”, her face radiating excitement and anticipation.
Lumian’s pupils constricted. Disregarding his precarious state, he harrumphed.
Two beams of white light shot forth from his nostrils, accurately aimed at Mad Lady but influenced by the tangible and enigmatic suction force. They bent and “plunged” deeper into the tunnel.
At that moment, Lumian’s grip on the silver metal door frame neared its breaking point, blood seeping from the strain.
Faintly, he sensed an abundance of flesh and skin deep within the tunnel, intertwining to shape a colossal structure resembling a pear-shaped bird’s nest.
Suspended in midair, fleshy ropes, as thick as two or three adult arms and covered in a translucent membrane, extended, linking the distant wall, the ceiling above, and the metal on the ground.
Within these flesh and blood tendrils, specks of starlight and a mysterious dark substance flowed into the massive pear-shaped object.
The bird’s nest-like structure was contracting inward, its various parts deeply sunken, delineating lines that hinted at a substantial disk.
The terrifying suction force, capable of manipulating both reality and mystery, emanated from this pear-shaped object composed of skin, flesh, and blood.
At that moment, the outlines on the pear-shaped object quivered, and all the indentations bulged and expanded.
With this transformation, fragments of starlight spilled from the fleshy bird’s nest, rushing into every cabin within the spaceship.
This event resembled the prior two releases of the sea’s power, yet lacked the grandeur and vastness, lacking the potential to rend apart anyone obstructing its path.
Lumian could already envision the repetitive expulsion, understanding that the silver-gray behemoth had amassed a power capable of threatening the seal. Year after year, it required the extraction of this accumulated pressure.
As the abundance of starlight scattered, the formidable suction force dissipated.
With two thuds, Mad Lady and Mr. K collided with the ground. One found herself in the tunnel leading to the fleshy “bird’s nest,” while the other lay in the silver hall where Lumian and Ultraman had previously battled.
Lumian released his grip, landing on the ground. His gaze swiftly fixated on the April Fool’s key member, adorned with clumps of flesh and blood on her face.
Mad Lady sprang up, exclaiming to him and Mr. K, “Did you see that? Did you see that? That’s an incubating deity. Yes, it should be a deity!”
Despite the intense fluctuations in Mad Lady’s emotions, Mr. K discerned no sincerity in her tone.
Her mention of “deity” sounded more like “powerful and terrifying monster,” a mere description.
In the next instant, Lumian materialized behind Mad Lady, who promptly vanished on the spot, “Blinking” closer to where the starlight had scattered.
Lumian, sensing danger instinctively, felt his heart quicken involuntarily.
He hesitated to delve too deeply into the tunnel, avoiding proximity to the flesh and blood “bird’s nest” he had vaguely “seen” before. Unimaginable horrors were certain to unfold.
However, Mad Lady sprinted in that direction.
Let her venture deeper and potentially meet her end? Lumian’s thoughts raced, torn between decisions.
Another second passed, and Mr. K teleported in front of Lumian, fervently pursuing Mad Lady.
In that moment, Lumian, who had often considered himself a bit eccentric, found himself yearning for a bit more normalcy from the duo ahead of him.
While he could comprehend Mr. K’s choices and actions—rooted in unwavering faith in God and the pursuit of divine will, coupled with a hint of extremism—Mad Lady’s conduct exceeded his expectations.
Drawing from I Know Someone’s confession and Mad Lady’s previous behavior, Lumian detected no signs of her fanatical devotion to the Celestial Worthy. Simultaneously, due to the ongoing conflict between the Celestial Worthy and Mr. Fool, she couldn’t always rely on protection.
This raised a question for Lumian.
If Mad Lady consistently courted danger, how had she managed to survive to this day?
April Fool’s lacked the strict hierarchy and coordination seen in the Aurora Order. Most of the time, members operated independently with minimal interaction. Protecting Mad Lady from the start, allowing her to grow steadily with such a mindset, seemed implausible.
Could it be that I Know Someone had once overseen the treatment of Mad Lady’s mental and psychological issues? After his demise, did Mad Lady’s problems exacerbate? Lumian quickly formulated a plausible explanation, but considering Mad Lady’s conduct on the betrothal ship, her current state struck him as abnormal.
On the betrothal ship, faced with the impending release of the sea’s power in the energy passageway, Mad Lady, though eager and seeking excitement, had an escape route. As long as she didn’t delay until the last moment, she could teleport away, avoiding the actual risk of death.
Now, whatever lurked in the depths of the tunnel made Lumian, despite his feigned high level, intuitively uneasy. He believed it represented an almost certain death sentence. Yet, Mad Lady persisted in her attempt to approach!
Could there be a reason compelling her to make contact with that object? Lumian wondered. He suspected that Mad Lady’s actions might be part of the Celestial Worthy’s scheme, convincing her that she could confront the provocation head-on and escape in time.
I can’t let her and that Celestial Worthy succeed… Besides, personally, I look forward to ending her myself rather than witnessing her being swallowed by that dangerous object… Lumian’s eyes narrowed, the desire to teleport forward and intercept Mad Lady compelling him.
However, preventing a Traveler from reaching a specific location in such a manner was clearly impossible. Lumian hesitated, unwilling to genuinely approach the flesh-and-blood “bird’s nest” deep within the tunnel.
Suddenly, an idea struck him.
The peculiar structure’s rejection of outsiders seems to have lifted, and with Lato Guiaro, a person possessing a potent sea bloodline, deceased. Could I attempt to gain temporary authority as the Governor of the Sea to halt Mad Lady’s progress?
With that in mind, Lumian embarked on his endeavor.
Activating the power of the sea within him, he allowed his Astral Projection to merge and swiftly expand outward.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel