Conrad hadn't lost his reason. The Demon Seed was like a switch, opening the floodgates to his repressed emotions.
It was like someone who'd spent ages holding back finally getting what they wanted and beating the hell out of someone.
"What's wrong? Are you sick?" Baby-5 worriedly touched Conrad's face, wiping away the blood with her soft, pale arm.
But she didn't dare wipe his eyes, afraid she might hurt them. They looked like the worst part.
Those clear, dark eyes she could never get tired of looking at had turned completely red, whites and all, bloodshot through and through.
Conrad's five fingers clamped around Baby-5's arm, tightening unconsciously until they dug into her ulna. Her pale skin reddened where he squeezed. He muttered to himself, "I only need to break one arm! Just one, and I'll be satisfied! Then I'll be fine!"
Baby-5 didn't understand, but she didn't ask or resist. Her right hand kept wiping the blood from Conrad's face.
It was only one arm. She didn't care. If he broke one, she still had the other. She could do housework just the same.
Conrad's breathing grew as heavy as a ventilation fan. A voice whispered in his ear, "Quit hesitating! Kill her! Every true strongman is a savage beast who yields to his desires!"
"You were born to give a damn about nobody! Eating raw meat and drinking blood is as easy for you as screwing!"
Back when Conrad was often locked in the small room in his early years, he'd gotten used to talking to himself.
It was like writing in a diary. The voice in his head would keep talking. Even when he sat still, it would find a role to play, keeping him from shutting himself away completely.
Over time, his inner demon had taken shape. But his willpower was so strong that it couldn't interfere with his actions for even a tenth of the time.
But it could interfere for a full tenth.
The year he nearly killed one of his friends, Conrad realized something was wrong and voluntarily locked himself in the small room to suppress his inner demon.
After sixteen days, he mastered Infinite Vibration Zen, calming his mind to the utmost. Then he punched himself hard between the brows, leaving the inner demon on the brink of death.
Just as he was about to finish it off, the inner demon suddenly wailed, "You talk about dominance, but you don't dare keep me! Refine me into the Hell War God!"
Who was Conrad? He wasn't afraid. Besides, the prospect of a clear path to martial mastery had stirred his interest, too.
So he used the Heart-Freezing Art to refine the inner demon into a Demon Seed, suppressing it in his brain and absorbing its negative emotions.
For ten years, his righteous spirit had kept the Demon Seed's head bowed, without a single chance to catch its breath.
But beneath all that suppressed anger, resentment had been building.
Now, after a night of finally being set free, it was fighting back with everything it had.
One side of Conrad's body was charred from a rocket blast. His awakened Armament Black Face had withstood Daz's Spiral Draw Slash, but he'd still taken enough of a blow and a cut to suffer a mild concussion.
He stared at Baby-5. The urge to kill had seeped into his blood, coursing through his veins and pulling at his arm.
His blood-red hair seemed to turn into countless straws sucking up blood. It lifted on its own and reached toward Baby-5 in a web of needles.
Boom!
Conrad suddenly dropped to the ground and sat cross-legged, steam rising from his forehead with the heat of his sweat.
"What's wrong?" Baby-5 suddenly panicked. She rushed in front of Conrad, stretched out her pale, rosy arms, and waved them as she smiled reassuringly. "It's okay. You can break it!"
Conrad closed his eyes and focused. He crossed his legs, stretched his arms out at his sides, clenched his fists, and tensed his muscles, forming the stance of Infinite Vibration Zen.
He pressed his mind toward absolute stillness, hoping to imitate what he'd done before and gather his strength to suppress the Demon Seed with one punch.
But this time, he couldn't calm his mind.
He sank into meditation, but instead of seeing a green lake among bamboo groves, he saw the icy lake where he'd nearly drowned that night.
Conrad took a deep breath and ignored everything else. Even if he couldn't suppress it, he had to knock himself out first. His right hand rose in a half-circle like a bolt of lightning, then chopped down toward the back of his neck.
"Yaaah!" A shrill scream rang in his ears.
Bang!
The veins in Conrad's right arm suddenly burst, spraying blood like mist. All strength drained from his muscles, and the arm flopped limply onto his shoulder.
He'd absorbed too much bloody life force. On top of that, the Great Ominous Constellation had brought all the Demon Seed's accumulated negativity from the past ten years surging out at once, and it had gained the upper hand.
It was truly affecting his actions now.
"Baby-5," he forced through gritted teeth. "Go. Find Kujaku. I'll rest for a while, then catch up."
"Do you think I'm stupid? You all think I'm stupid," Baby-5 choked out.
Conrad froze and opened his eyes. The girl was biting her red lip, tears streaming down her cheeks.
His mind was in turmoil. He sighed. "My time is up."
"Speak plainly!" Baby-5 threw herself against Conrad's chest. "I don't understand!"
Conrad closed his eyes. "After today, I may not be able to get rid of this demonic nature. I'm afraid I'll bring disaster upon the world. To protect the people, I have to..."
Baby-5 shook her head. "I don't care. Wherever you go, I'll go. Whatever you do, I'll do..."
"I care!" Conrad suddenly opened his eyes and slammed his left fist into the ground. His voice rang out, "I, Conrad, have always lived with integrity! I've never done anything I'd be ashamed of! And I never want to! If I become a mindless husk, what's the difference between that and dying? I'd rather..."
He glared at Baby-5, tore open the tattered cloth over his chest, and pointed at his heart. "I'm ordering you! Let my blood out!"
Baby-5 struggled fiercely with herself. She didn't want to refuse Conrad, and her right hand instantly turned into a dagger.
"Now!" Conrad barked, his face black with fury.
Startled, Baby-5 thrust out her right arm on instinct. But just as the blade was about to pierce him, she leaped backward with all her strength, tears streaming as she shook her head. "I...I can't do it."
Swish!
In the next instant, needle-like strands of hair struck out in front of Baby-5, writhing like snakes.
Conrad's smile had turned savage. The Ten Thousand Mile Slaughter blazed with bloody light, and the Demon Seed stirred his blood, swelling his veins until they covered his body.
But he was still suppressing the urge, keeping himself perfectly lucid. His will wouldn't break until he completely lost consciousness.
But once he fell asleep, his body would probably be taken over, like the white prince Cavendish from the Grand Line.
"If you won't do it or leave, and you're just going to keep dithering, what are you going to do?" Conrad's long hair writhed. He steeled himself and threatened, "If you don't do it now, I'll kill you!"
Amid the battered streets, Baby-5 heard him but showed not the slightest fear. Instead, she smiled shyly, faced the snake-like, blood-draining strands of hair, and threw herself back into Conrad's arms.
She cupped Conrad's blackened face, his veins bulging beneath the skin, and said, "Go ahead and kill me, if you want. As long as it helps you."
Deciding to hurt someone else was too hard. Hurting herself was easier.
As she spoke, Baby-5 suddenly kissed Conrad on the lips with all her strength.
Though it was her first kiss, she wasn't careful or timid. She kissed him incredibly hard, so that she could clearly feel his teeth. It was like a cat tasting meat for the first time, crunching through bones.
Who was Conrad? What hadn't he seen? A mere first kiss couldn't shake his iron will at all. His face was just a little hot, and his heart was beating a little fast.
The Demon Seed had stirred all the blood in his body, but the heat in his face and the pounding of his heart still felt so clear.
Baby-5 slowly broke the kiss and lifted her flushed face, caressing the bloodstained rims of Conrad's eyes.
"I don't understand anything you say. I don't care what you turn into; I just want to live with you. You're such a good person. How could you possibly become evil and bring disaster upon the world? I don't believe it."
Conrad suddenly stood and turned away. With red ears, he gazed up at the bright moon and scratched his head. "You're right. Haha..."
Before you continue