The Fall of the Giant Rat Kingdom

Chapter 31: The Fall of the Giant Rat Kingdom

Within the dim room, only the chilling sound of chewing echoed. Outside, the numerous Shadow Rats grew increasingly fearful, instinctively beginning to distance themselves from the room, as if what was inside wasn't their king, Dikas, but some unknown monster.

Crack!

"Where do you think you're going?"

Suddenly, a large hand covered in dark red scales stretched out from the darkness, followed by Dikas, nearly five meters tall, emerging with a stooped posture. Dikas's face, which had once borne rodent-like features, had completely transformed into a human-like appearance. Beneath its scarlet, vertical pupils was a face covered in fine scales, with a mouth that split open slightly to reveal rows of serrated teeth.

The sharp claws on its hands had also molted into a human palm-like form, though the palms were covered in dark red scales, and its scimitar-like fingernails gleamed with a faint cold light. A giant tail, like that of a serpent, writhed restlessly behind its back.

"Why aren't you answering me?"

The next second, a suppressed voice rang out again. Dikas raised its head, staring at the Shadow Rats before it. The scarlet glow in its eyes deepened, and viscous liquid dripped from its split mouth, corroding small holes in the ground.

"Squeak! Squeak!!"

Suddenly, the shadow above a Shadow Rat's head twisted and transformed into a chain, hoisting it into the air. The intense sensation of suffocation caused the Shadow Rat to let out a piercing scream, blood gushing from its mouth as its pupils gradually dimmed.

Snap!

The next second, a headless corpse sprayed blood as it fell to the ground. Immediately after, a head also tumbled down, the pungent smell of blood filling the air.

Meanwhile, Dikas on the opposite side wore an expression of immense satisfaction. Its tentacle-like tongue licked its lips, its eyes burning with a pathological light. The bloodline within its body craved slaughter, death, and blood.

"Shadow Guard."

Suddenly, Dikas raised its palm and pointed it at the dead Giant Rat. The Magic Element within its body flowed instinctively. Beside the deceased Shadow Rat, its shadow began to twist and writhe, and finally, a Giant Rat with scarlet eyes, composed entirely of shadow, appeared.

"What immense power!"

Dikas crossed its arms and hugged its shoulders tightly, contorting its body into a strange pose, gazing with intoxicated delight at the newly formed Shadow Guard. This was the brand-new power it had gained after devouring the ancient hero bloodline gene from Diri's human body.

It could now summon the shadows of any living being it killed to become its most loyal subordinates, executing any command perfectly. Furthermore, they no longer required food or rest, always remaining in peak condition.

Aside from their strength being determined at the moment of their birth, they could be considered the perfect weapons, born solely for war.

"More! More! I want more!"

The next second, Dikas's scarlet eyes fixed on the remaining Shadow Rats and the vast number of Giant Rats within the Underground Kingdom. Whether it was to increase the number of Shadow Guards or because its newly evolved body craved a large amount of nutrients, Dikas, already losing its sanity, became increasingly ferocious.

However, the frenzied Dikas failed to notice its muscles constantly writhing and its scales mutating, as if everything on its body had come alive.

"Squeak squeak!"

On the other side, all the Shadow Rats also sensed the abnormality in Dikas's gaze and turned to flee in other directions. The panicked squeaks echoed throughout the entire Underground Kingdom of the Giant Rat clan.

Gurgle!

A Giant Rat that had just turned to flee suddenly froze. In its eyes, filled with confusion, it saw a headless corpse spraying blood as it fell. The corpse looked strangely familiar, exactly like its own body.

Thump!

The next second, the body and head simultaneously crashed heavily onto the ground. The smell of blood in the air grew even thicker. After the body fell, its shadow began to twist continuously, and a brand-new Shadow Guard stood up.

This scene was happening constantly in the dim corridor. A large number of newly born Shadow Guards merged into the shadows and began to hunt down the remaining Shadow Rats and Giant Rats. Everywhere they went, all living creatures were slaughtered.

Scarlet blood flowed from the corpses, converging into rivers. The air was dyed a layer of red. In the dark red air, Shadow Guards, like reapers, harvested all life within the Underground Kingdom.

"Power, endless power!"

In the dark red corridor, Dikas's heavy footsteps sounded. On its imposing seven-meter-tall body, wisps of black energy completely enveloped it. Wherever it passed, the corpses on the ground turned into charred fragments, their souls and flesh completely devoured.

As Dikas devoured more and more, the black energy emanating from its body seemed to come alive, twisting into slender tentacles that plunged into the corpses on the ground.

Half an hour later, in the deepest part of the sewer, countless black tentacles suddenly erupted from the ground. The dense tentacles writhed wildly in the air, followed by the ground collapsing into a huge pit. Dikas's nearly ten-meter-tall body slowly emerged, with an endless army of Shadow Guards silently following behind it.

"Not enough. Not enough, not enough, I need more, more..."

At this moment, Dikas raised its head and looked upwards. On its once human-like face, countless tiny black tentacles writhed and pulsed. A large amount of viscous liquid dripped from its mouth, corroding the ground it touched.

"Humans. Humans!"

Suddenly, Dikas let out a faint murmur. Its mouth began to split open, and finally, its entire head transformed into something resembling a desert worm. A ferocious, terrifying maw let out a frenzied roar, which turned into a visible shockwave.

The next second, the tentacles on Dikas's body began to extend wildly, shattering the sewer ceiling above. A large amount of black sewage, filled with excrement and garbage, along with foul-smelling sludge, poured from the opening and directly into Dikas's roaring maw.

But the now completely insane Dikas paid no mind. As its tentacles, like its body, burrowed into the opening, it advanced towards the town of Ereccia above the sewer. And the boundless army of Shadow Guards also sank into the shadows, following behind.

"The humans in this city are all finished."

In the dead silence, only the sound of sewage and sludge pouring in could be heard. Suddenly, Number Four and Number Three emerged from a corner after Dikas and the Shadow Guard army had left. Number Four looked up at the opening with a blank expression.

It knew that Dikas was going to hunt, and its prey was all the humans in the town above. This had been decided from the beginning of the experiment. Everything above the sewer, including the city, was part of the experiment.