196 Torment

Is the game not fun enough or the animation not good enough? All that effort to cultivate is just another shot away. Being able to use Strange Arts is pretty cool, but I'll just enjoy it and forget about the unlucky kid who might appear.

This is the thought of a large group of contemporary lazy, Half-Monster individuals, including himself.

World peace is essential; half-baked Strange Arts are utterly useless, and attempting to use them for evil will only lead to certain death.

For these Half-Monster, cultivation is merely a means to improve their physical health so they can better play games and watch anime.

It's no different from working out.

The Half-Monster sounds cool, like he could be the protagonist of a shonen manga, but in reality, cultivation is incredibly difficult.

It was exhausting and tough.

The cultivation of Monster is similar to that of ordinary Strange Arts, but the difference is that Monster are somewhat like gods, able to absorb energy similar to the Power of Faith.

As long as Monster spreads its name, people will respect and fear it, and it will become increasingly powerful.

This shows just how awful this method is.

With a sound legal system in modern times, which Monster would dare to cause trouble and gain notoriety like in ancient times?

He might die on the spot.

At most, they might scare people in the alleys at night, and create some urban legends for people who enjoy the exotic to spread.

In this day and age, only those with Demon Blood who have left their mark on history can still absorb the power of awe; most of the other lesser Monster have died out.

Not to mention Half-Monster.

When Half-Monster absorbs the power of awe, the effect is halved.

Unless he undergoes a complete transformation to purify his bloodline and restore his demon form.

But here's the problem.

Why not just practice martial arts or learn Strange Arts?

In the past, people cultivated demonic arts because they were generally foolish and easily deceived, making it quick to become demons.

It's not that easy now.

The Cultivation Method of Monsters have become obsolete.

Murakami Daio only wanted to use up the power left by his grandfather and that was it; there was no need to pass on the Demon Blood of this giant pit.

He still lives a dissolute, Half-Monster life today.

He'd been using his Demon Power to stay up all night for days on end, and it was incredibly exhilarating.

He played Pachinko for three days and finally decided to go home.

He walked fearlessly through the dark alley, taking a shortcut home.

It's good that someone's robbing us; we might even make a fortune.

He got a lot of pocket money from this.

If the other party is timid, they might even gain some Power of Awe, saving them from being beaten up when they meet their grandfather because their cultivation hasn't improved.

But today, he realized something was wrong.

Murakami Daio walked through the alley, carefully listening for any footsteps.

But nothing was found.

Just when he thought his day was going to be a disappointment, a wonderfully pleasant voice suddenly came from behind him:

"Fellow Daoist Half-Monster ahead, please wait."

Murakami Daio felt a chill run down his spine, quickly rushed forward a short distance, and then turned around.

Holy crap, there's someone behind me?!

He was quite frightened.

And the other party even knew he was Half-Monster...

"A martial artist? A practitioner of Strange Arts? Or a fellow practitioner?"

Murakami Daio probes the tunnel.

He had Half-Monster Transformation, with wolf ears and a tail emerging.

He stared at the dark alley, but could only vaguely make out blurry figures.

A man with a knife?

Warrior?

"Don't come any closer, I'm calling the police!"

"I can't breathe! "Murakami Daio shouted decisively.

Yes, as a good Half-Monster in this new era, I will still ask the police for help when I need it.

The figure said, "Fellow Daoist, I would like to ask you for a favor."

"... I have no money."

Murakami Daio cautiously clutched his trouser pocket.

There were no footsteps, but in the blink of Ichika, the figure was halfway closer.

Good heavens! Syaoran Wolf, have I encountered a ghost?!

Murakami Daio gasped.

The figure drew closer, and he could barely make out its features.

It was still blurry, and I forgot it as soon as I saw it. The only thing I knew was that he was an incredibly handsome guy.

"What do you want? I'm super fierce!"

Murakami Daio was bluffing, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, but the tail he was tucking between his legs betrayed his true intentions.

"Fellow Daoist, may I borrow your Demon Power?"

But I refused.

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck and collapsed limply to the ground.

Before he fainted, he heard the handsome guy say:

"I'm sorry, you have no choice."

Murakami Daio could only resign himself to his fate, weakly saying, "Then be gentle, this is... my... first... time..."

He closed his eyes and passed out peacefully.

Shuya: "???"

Are all Half-Monster this silly these days?

He gave the Half-Monster a deep look, then let the Little Fox absorb his Demon Power, and after merging a bit of his own energy into the demon's body, he left.

Shortly after, Shuya's voice rang out from another place:

Fellow Daoist, please wait!

Shuya's hunt continued day after day, without a single day of rest.

He only needs a short sleep a day to recover, so he doesn't need to stop sleeping.

After absorbing the Demon Power of a week Half-Monster, he successfully obtained about a month's worth of energy.

This efficiency is still too low, Shuya.

His focus began to consciously shift towards urban legends.

Urban legends fall into two categories: those deliberately released by Strange Arts or demons, and those made up by ordinary people who are bored out of their minds.

The former is a story made up for the needs of cultivation, while the latter may give rise to some strange things.

As long as you follow the trail back to the source, you're unlikely to leave empty-handed.

Compared to the former, the latter is quite interesting. These kinds of demons and monsters born from the Power of Will are not considered human, Shuya doesn't need to worry about anything and can directly destroy and absorb them.

These kinds of demons and monsters, once destroyed, will revert to pure Power of Will, which the Little Fox can transform into Divine Power for Rena to use.

As he slew demons and monsters along the way, Shuya felt like he was the embodiment of justice.

But his hunting trip inevitably made headlines, causing a great deal of panic in Tokyo.

Section 212, Chapter 196: Torture

For nearly two weeks, Shuya hunted continuously, but he only managed to collect enough energy for almost two months.

Besides Half-Monster, lone Monster were also added to his hunting list.

The Tokyo Monster community is filled with suspicion and paranoia.

The aura left behind by Shuya was discovered, but he digested it within the victims' bodies on the spot, leaving only a trace that wouldn't be traced. Therefore, the Monster still couldn't find the culprit.

By March.

The continuous incidents in February forced Half-Monster to travel in groups, but this ironically made things easier for Shuya.

Once, he bumped into a group of Half-Monster out shopping in Okubo, so he secretly followed them and snatched one of them every now and then, making it like a horror movie. When they woke up, they were all depressed.

With both young and old monsters brought out, the Monster began to mobilize in large numbers, patrolling Tokyo at night. However, Shuya also managed to secretly kill many more Monster during a sneak attack.

The Monster possessed abundant Demon Power, and he obtained a year's worth of Demon Power energy.

However... Rena's Curse accelerated the rate at which energy was consumed, ultimately only increasing her lifespan by one month.

Shuya confirmed one fact: this Curse was spiritual.

It will self-regulate in response to its environment, with the aim of tormenting sinners and those who help them.

It sensed that Shuya helping Rena prolong her life, so it made adjustments accordingly.

But it is also vicious; it won't kill Rena all at once, but instead extends her lifespan to keep her hope alive and torment those who help her repeatedly.

Shuya was indeed thoroughly tormented.

He could only fall into the trap of the Curse and intensify his hunt.

This is a quagmire; he can struggle, but the more he struggles, the deeper he sinks, until he finally suffocates and dies...

Even Shuya was starting to feel the effects of the continuous hunting.

He basically sleeps in the mornings, especially at school, which is the best time to rest.

The teacher's voice is the best hypnotic.

"Inoue- kun."

Shuya ate his bento box blankly, not hearing Yukino call him.

"Inoue-kun."

Yukino called out each word slowly and deliberately, and only then did he come to his senses. "?"

Yukino tossed her long hair. "You've been looking really bad lately."

"I'm fine."

Shuya didn't care about the tunnel.

Yukino looked at him. "Recently, there have been several mysterious cases of people falling into comas on TV. Inoue- kun, do you know anything about it?"

Her eyes held a hint of pressure.

Shuya kept eating with his chopsticks and readily said:

"I did it, so what? You want to stop me?"

Yukino was surprised that he recognized her so readily.

"How is Rena? Is it bad?"

She asked a question.

"It's really not good."