Chapter 31: Chapter 31: It Was You?
According to the books Lloyd had read, the Out of Control—those who had gone "thoroughly mad"—were humans who had degenerated into Demons.
They could no longer maintain a human appearance. They had lost their capacity for thought and Rationality, to say nothing of emotion and memory. From any perspective, they were no longer human. They were even less humanoid than Demon Ghosts.
They were also more difficult to handle than Demon Ghosts. They could emit the strongest Spiritual Contamination for their level, would tirelessly attack anything in their sight, and possessed immense Life Force and a powerful Self-Healing Ability. Even the lowest-level Out of Control started at a danger level of 3.
This was far beyond an Executor’s typical Ability Domain, which was why Lloyd’s volunteering for the job had drawn so many stares.
Even some of the more eccentric Extraordinary Beings were reluctant to deal with the Out of Control, believing they might be facing their former comrades—or even their future selves. It was a mental block they couldn’t overcome.
’Of course, Lloyd scoffed at such bizarre logic. A prime example of biodiversity,’ he thought.
As a young man brimming with righteous passion, he showed no mercy toward any form of evil.
Soon, he arrived at the door of a cell on the third sub-level. The little kitten scrambled out of his pocket on its own and crouched by the door to wait for him. Lloyd walked in alone and laid eyes on his target for the day.
The creature looked like a mass of stretched black sludge, constantly writhing and churning. Thin tendrils could be seen along its edges, swaying slowly. A massive, gaping maw had split open in the center of its body, revealing rows of spiraling teeth within.
Sensing his presence, the sludge-like shell first writhed violently, then a single crimson eye opened on its surface. It sized Lloyd up coldly before its entire body began to thrash, trying to break free from the Orbit’s suppression and lunge at him.
[Ding! Madness Value +5]
[Ding! Madness Value +5]
A pleasant notification chimed in Lloyd’s ear.
’As expected of the creature with the strongest Spiritual Contamination for its level. Much more potent than that giant locust or giant snail I saw before.’
"Keep staring. I’ll make it quick for you in a moment."
As he spoke, Lloyd approached, the new Short Sword already drawn in his hand.
He infused it with Spiritual Power, and with a soft HUMMM, the entire blade began to emit a dark, cold light. Ornate patterns appeared on the steel, flowing slowly like a high-grade Damascus pattern, possessing a profound beauty.
’It’s a shame the blade’s shape and hilt design are a bit too plain, though. It drags down the overall artistic merit.’
Next, Lloyd activated his Spiritual Vision and looked directly inside the Out of Control.
[Ding! Madness Value +10]
[Ding! Madness Value +10]
’The Spiritual Contamination I’m receiving has doubled.’ Lloyd rejoiced inwardly.
However, out of respect for the fact that it was once human, he didn’t deliberately drag things out. He quickly locked onto two organs within its body—
one that looked like a sprouting heart, covered in fine tendrils; the other, a dried and withered heart, shrunken into a lump that vaguely resembled a human face.
To execute this Demon quickly, he had to strike its vital points. He needed to destroy these two key organs first to sever its Life Force and Self-Healing Ability. Otherwise, any surface-level attack would be as meaningless as a scratch, and it would recover in no time.
But to precisely destroy these vital points, he had to use Spiritual Vision and endure even more severe Spiritual Contamination. This was what made the Out of Control so difficult to deal with, similar to the giant snail from before.
"In your next life, remember to add fewer points to ’inspiration’..."
Lloyd offered this pointless advice as the Short Sword in his hand shot forward. Aided by his level 3 Precise Dissection, he bisected both vital organs in a single second.
The Out of Control gave one final, violent struggle. The chains binding it strained to their limit, and the white steel spikes hammered into its body were pulled out by several centimeters. Then, an intense wave of Spiritual Contamination washed over Lloyd, like the final act of defiance from a dying human.
[Ding! Madness Value +100]
And yet, within that final wave of Spiritual Contamination, Lloyd sensed a sliver of relief and release mixed in with the madness, as if the creature were using its hoarse, final roar to say, "Thank you."
"You’re welcome."
Lloyd replied in a low voice.
Then, the reward notification for killing the Demon sounded in his ear:
[Ding! Madness Value +300]
[Ding! Acquired several Memory Fragments. Assessing Cognition level...]
[Ding! Assessment successful. Memory Fragments can be interpreted.]
[Ding! Sufficient related knowledge acquired through Memory Fragments. Skill level increased. Twisted Realm LV2→LV3]
"Huh... didn’t expect you to be a high-level elite mob."
Lloyd hadn’t expected the haul from this trip to be so substantial.
He stood stunned for a good while, processing his new gains.
The base gain in Madness Value wasn’t that much, bringing him to only 782/1500. He was still a ways off from his next point allocation.
Then there was the sudden skill upgrade. Related knowledge and its specific uses flooded his mind—
Upon reaching level three, Twisted Realm could be activated by infusing even more Spiritual Power to create a twisted domain. This would allow him to Twist physical matter, no longer limiting the skill’s effect to the spiritual plane. It now had tangible offensive capabilities.
It was just... with his current Spiritual Power and skill level, it would still be a bit difficult to kill a grown person with it. He was better off just getting physical and twisting them manually.
’It didn’t matter, anyway. It was something Lloyd wouldn’t dare use for the time being.’
’He just felt like he’d taken another step closer to becoming a criminal...’
Besides the skill-related information, some of the Out of Control’s memories also appeared in his mind.
Most of it was taboo knowledge from the Twisted System, which was how his skill had leveled up.
The rest were blurry, fragmented memories of its life.
This person had also been an Executor...
A few days ago, he had received a mysterious letter containing a single, ancient page from a book.
He had tried to study and decipher the page but couldn’t make any sense of it. Afterward, he decided to take a risk and went to the library to research related materials.
After much effort, he finally understood a portion of the knowledge on the page and cried out in excitement:
"Ah?! Yes! I get it! I finally get it! HAHAHAHAHA!"
The memory ended abruptly there. That was all Lloyd saw; he didn’t even learn the man’s name.
This was probably because the man had been Out of Control for some time, and his human memories had long since faded, leaving only the most recent fragments.
Perhaps if Lloyd had arrived a day later, not even these last few scraps would have remained.
But the knowledge he possessed was still clear and complete, and would likely remain so for a long time...
