Aggregate

"Roar—!"

The next second, Valentin's body began to swell violently.

Layer upon layer of black keratin grew over his skin. His nails surged into sharp hooked claws, and two enormous tumors even bulged from his back, as though something were about to burst out of his body.

The once elegant nobleman instantly turned into a humanoid monster.

He did not use a weapon. He charged straight into the monster horde, his hands like blades. Wherever he passed, whether hounds or rats, all were torn to pieces.

Blood splashed across his face, making it impossible to tell for a moment whether he was human or Eerie.

"Supernatural power is truly terrifying."

Lu Yuan stood at the rear, sighing as he raised that Copper shotgun.

"Splash!"

The water exploded as a tentacle tried to ambush Valentin, who was slaughtering wildly.

"Bang!"

Lu Yuan pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The Copper pellets burst forth, instantly blasting the tentacle into a mangled bloody mess. It recoiled in pain.

"Nicely done, Doctor!"

Valentin turned back with a grin. The sharp teeth filling his mouth made that smile especially horrifying.

With Valentin and Hans carving a path through them, the once densely packed Aberrant Horde was finally cut open by a bloody road.

"Now! Block the path!"

Hans roared.

Without hesitation, Gray savagely hurled a bottle of Mithril from his pack at the tide of rats surging in from the side.

Toby threw the other bottle toward the enormous pile of corpses blocking the drainage outlet.

"Boom—!!!"

Two dazzling Silver Flames rose at the same time.

The rat tide turned to ash in the silver fire, while the Meat Mountain ahead was swallowed by blazing silver flames.

Piercing shrieks echoed through the pipes, and the air filled with a thick stench of charred flesh.

"Is it dead?" Ed panted, wiping the black blood from his face.

"Quit talking! If you don't want to suffocate, get out of here!"

Hans grabbed the still-panting Lu Yuan and signaled everyone to retreat swiftly by the firelight.

However, things did not go as smoothly as they had imagined.

Just as everyone thought that Meat Mountain had been burned to death by the Mithril—

"Squish—"

A spine-chilling squirming sound suddenly drowned out the crackling flames.

"Watch out!!"

Lu Yuan spun around, his pupils contracting sharply.

The Meat Mountain burning in the silver flames had moved!

It was not dead!

On the contrary, that bottle of Mithril seemed to have merely burned away a layer of "cocoon" from its surface.

At that moment, countless charred tissues peeled away, revealing fresh, dripping-red flesh beneath.

Its massive body, so huge it nearly filled the entire pipe, began to writhe violently. Countless pale arms stretched out from the flesh.

Like some kind of insect, they frantically clawed at the walls, using them to pull itself forward.

Its target was Valentin, covered in blood!

[Witnessed a High-Order Aggregate: Filth Body (Rampage State)]

[Traits: Possesses an extreme craving for high-order flesh. Its outer skin has exceptionally powerful regenerative properties.]

[Weaknesses: Blunt force, fire, core]

"It's chasing us!!"

Ed muttered in disbelief, "The Mithril didn't burn it to death!!"

"It has its eyes on Valentin!"

Hans's expression changed drastically. He swung his greatsword backward, trying to sever an incoming tentacle.

But the tentacle was incomparably tough. The greatsword bounced away when it struck it.

"Roar—!"

Meat Mountain let out a greedy roar. Its enormous body was like a derailed train of flesh, rumbling as it crushed its way forward at astonishing speed.

Wherever it passed, whether Corpse Moss on the walls or rubble on the ground, everything was swept into its gaping mouth.

"Run! Run!!"

How could anyone dare keep fighting?

"Damn it! Why is this thing so tough?!"

Valentin ran wildly while turning back to tear at it with his hooked claws.

But the wounds he tore open were instantly filled by fresh buds of flesh. "No! My attacks aren't working."

Meat Mountain drew closer and closer.

That nauseating fishy stench was practically spraying against the backs of their heads.

"No choice! We have to kill it! Otherwise, none of us will escape!"

Hans stopped, a flash of determination in his eyes. "Toby! Do you have any Mithril left?"

"One last bottle!"

Toby, who had been running at the front, came to an abrupt stop and turned around. He gripped the bottle of silver-glinting Potion tightly in his hand. "But the last bottle didn't work. This one..."

"You just need to throw it in!"

Hans was just about to order a direct assault.

"No!"

Lu Yuan, who had been silently observing all along, suddenly shouted, interrupting Hans's command.

"Don't throw it blindly! Its regenerative ability exceeds the power of Mithril."

Everyone froze.

At this critical moment between life and death, everyone's gaze instinctively turned toward Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan did not explain.

Because beneath the prompt in gray-white lettering, he could clearly see that deep inside the crazily writhing Meat Mountain—

A black orb of light was beating violently.

That was its core, the source of all its power.

But the core was hidden too deeply, wrapped in thick layers of corpses.

"This kind of Aggregate most likely has a core inside it!"

Lu Yuan stared fixedly at that orb of light, speaking at a rapid pace. "We have to expose the core before Mithril can work! Listen to my commands!"

"Valentin! Can you tear it open?"

"I can!" A savage smile appeared on Valentin's beastlike face.

"Good! Watch for my signal!"

Lu Yuan took a deep breath. Even though his Sanity was screaming warnings, he did not look away.

Meat Mountain had already charged before them. Countless arms were about to seize Valentin.

"Now! Above its abdomen! That wound that's healing! Tear it open!"

Lu Yuan suddenly pointed at a spot on the upper-middle section of Meat Mountain.

It looked utterly ordinary, but in Lu Yuan's eyes, it was the best route to reach the core.

"Die for me... open!!!"

Valentin did not hesitate in the slightest.

With a beastly roar, he advanced instead of retreating, charging into the overwhelming mass of tentacles.

His sharp hooked claws, carrying his resolve to kill, viciously plunged into the spot Lu Yuan had indicated.

"Riiip—!"

Accompanied by a teeth-grating tearing sound, Valentin exerted both arms and forcibly ripped a huge hole in Meat Mountain's belly.

Black-green fluid gushed out, but he braced the wound tightly and did not retreat a single step.

And deep within that mangled mass of flesh and blood, a black tumor still beating wildly was finally exposed to the air!

"Toby! Throw it!!!"

At the same moment Lu Yuan shouted—

Toby, who had long been poised and ready, used all his strength to hurl the final bottle of Mithril in his hand into that gaping hole, striking the tumor with perfect accuracy.

"Fall back!!"

Valentin planted a foot on Meat Mountain and launched himself backward with the force.

"Boom—!!!"

The next second—

An unprecedentedly dazzling silver light exploded from within Meat Mountain.

Without the protection of its outer skin, the vulnerable core was instantly vaporized by the Mithril fire.

Then, the Colossus that had been crazily pursuing them froze.

It let out its final—and most piercing—wail.

"Ah—!!!"

The sound swept over everyone with an invisible Mental Shock.

Apart from the physically powerful Hans, who barely managed to drop to one knee, everyone present instantly lost their balance.

Ed and Gray rolled their eyes and passed out, blood gushing from their noses.

Valentin, still in his berserk state, was hit even harder, coughing up a mouthful of black blood.

His body shrank, and he crashed heavily to the ground like a kite with its string cut, his life or death unknown.

"Urgh..."

Lu Yuan only felt his vision go black as warm liquid flowed from his nostrils.

But Lu Yuan clenched his teeth and forced himself to stay conscious.

[Directly witnessed the death wail of a High-Order Aggregate]

[Sanity II assessment in progress... Assessment passed. You have grasped a certain method of aggregation...]

[Forbidden Studies—Seeker: +5]

"Go... hurry..."