Under the woman's vacant gaze, the boy slowly walked to her side, a hint of apology appearing on his frail face.
"Sorry... cough, cough... I came too late..."
Yurina Takishiro wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his bloodstained sleeve. That simple motion alone made his breathing unbearably labored.
His body had already reached its limit.
Over the past decade or so, his body had been utterly overdrawn and drained. The aftereffects of the god-making experiment had left fatal flaws in his genetic sequence. If not for the medicine Yurina Kurotetsu had stolen, he should have long since become a corpse.
After two days of high-intensity use of his power, combined with endless battles and pursuit, the genetic dangers that had accumulated within him for so long had all erupted. The suppressive effect of the medicine was rapidly weakening.
That was why simply flying here from elsewhere had taken him so long...
But he had still come.
ROAR ROAR ROAR—!!
The bull Corpse Beast dragged its mangled hoof as it furiously opened its mouth. Thick, grotesque tentacles poured from its throat, writhing as they lashed toward Yurina Takishiro.
Yurina Takishiro stood quietly in place. His calm eyes watched the sky full of incoming tentacles as he lightly curled a finger, and a panel swept across his vision.
"Item selection... A-rank ancient martial item, Counter Shield."
A small black shield suddenly appeared out of thin air before him. The countless tentacles slammed down wildly, but the instant they touched its surface, a blinding beam erupted and sliced every tentacle in half!
Yurina Takishiro dismissed the Counter Shield and laboriously raised an arm, pointing from afar at the Corpse Beast's head.
The Cyberpunk Long Spear, which had been nailed into distant ruins, began to shake violently. It suddenly flew