Chapter 369
The black-haired youth suddenly appeared beside him, startling Zenitsu Agatsuma. He forgot to ask how Zenitsu knew he was just a lowly outer core captain and quickly told his men to leave.
"A clone, is Sadako among the Twelve Evil Demons?"
Yuki glanced at the humanoid torch, then swept across the battlefield, noticing that some even more powerful demon players had quietly gathered, disregarding the fact that their henchmen couldn't stop the Demon Extermination Squad.
You guessed right.
With a cold laugh, Yuki and charged forward, gun in hand. The Killer's Book had been activated; I had anticipated your predictions.
In an instant, a complete massacre unfolded in the city square.
An invulnerable zombie with its regeneration skill maxed out at the master level?
The flames of the Red Lotus Fire will burn you to ashes.
A silent ghost hidden in the night?
The long cone, powerful enough to pierce through several meters of alloy steel, only left faint sparks on the insect's armor, while Yuki kick directly shattered the ghost's soul.
Kill! Kill! Kill!
Yuki felt himself entering a state of frenzy, the world was slowing down, and the strange gadgets could be identified by their abilities with just a glance, and every move he made was perfectly reasonable.
Unstoppable, they advanced, leaving behind a trail of corpses, each one mangled beyond recognition.
This caused an avalanche, freeing up the Demon Extermination Squad to enter the Tenshukaku. Kisho Arima follow Yuki's previous method to spread out and search, but the focus on Yuki will only result in further losses.
He killed with increasing ferocity, showing no signs of exhaustion, and after ten minutes, it didn't seem like some kind of secret technique of killing to sustain himself.
Five, eight, twelve, nineteen...
The killing became increasingly seamless, and even players born from demonic origins, natural villains, were on the verge of morale collapse.
Yuki couldn't be surrounded, and Yin couldn't kill him. Even if his comrades self-destructed, or if he concentrated the strength of a small team to launch a curse attack, it would be useless under the suppression of the purple light. Even if he used a level 6 item to release a death ray that corroded everything, Piercer the black armor and leaving a huge blood hole, he would recover to his original state in no time.
What's even more terrifying is that he showed no signs of exhaustion; on the contrary, the spear was moving faster and faster.
Regardless of which faction they belong to, Transcendental Grade players are the backbone of the team. When a floating Poison Head Demon was cut in half and became the twentieth victim, Yuki finally stopped moving forward.
Has it finally arrived?
The air was distorted, and invisible threads of psychic energy pulled at his body, causing his knees to bend slightly. Yuki was not surprised; the characteristics of demons had long been described in the Demon Extermination Squad's files.
Cruel, ruthless, and utterly indifferent to the deaths of his companions, he used the lives of these players to test himself.
Unfortunately, Yuki anticipated their prediction and took the opportunity to stack up the Killer's Book.
Ripples spread through the space, and a female ghost in white robes with black hair covering her face silently appeared, casting a resentful gaze through her hair.
The Twelve Demons, Sadako Yamamura, and players who were already at Monster III before the two dungeons.
Yuki took a deep breath, and a soul fire surged from outside the black insect armor. The Combustion Blood-Burning Heart, combined with the Killer's Book, allowed Yuki to sever the threads of psychic power with brute force, straighten up inch by inch, and turn his head to look.
"You alone are far from enough."
Sadako remained silent, continuing to suppress him with her immense psychic power, while Yuki, who was about to take a step, slowly lowered his head again.
I don't know when it started, but dense black thorns have climbed all over my legs, like a field of flowers spreading out, covering an area of 100 meters.
Silent and incredibly resilient, with the aid of telekinesis, Yuki was unable to free his legs. He used his Bloodblade to cut through the thorns while glancing to the side out of the corner of his eye.
Doppelganger?
A second Sadako suddenly appeared a dozen meters away, holding a gray rag doll in her hand, and two terrifying red lights burst forth from the gaps in her waterfall-like black hair.
This was pure resentment, making Yuki feel as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart.
Resentment. Instant death curse.
"Die!!!!!!"
With an extremely piercing scream, the ability activated, combining with the 'Hatred Ghost Doll' to amplify the skill several times over. It penetrated all energy and physical defenses; even with anti-curse items, one would be severely injured, if not killed. And then...
And that was the end of it.
Witch God's Soul Crystal.
The purple light shone down, suppressing all cause and effect, instant death, and precognitive abilities within a hundred meters. Yuki felt his heart stop for a moment, as if the grip of certain death had turned into a gentle caress.
"I knew you guys liked to use curses and instant kills. Would I have dared to step forward without being prepared?"
The thorns beneath his feet had been cut down, and his mental power could not suppress him at all. Once he was on guard, the endlessly regenerating thorns would never be able to trap him again.
Swish.
With a flicker of afterimage, Yuki appeared directly in front of Sadako. The red light remained, but his resentment was tinged with a hint of confusion, as if he couldn't understand why his skill had failed.
The sword's energy blew aside the black hair, revealing a pale yet exquisitely beautiful face. There was no resentment on that face, only childlike innocence, and the man with the raging flames did not hesitate for a moment.
He tore the female ghost to pieces, sliced her into countless pieces, and then turned away, obliterating her completely.
Sadako, using telekinesis, shivered. Before she could react, a black-armored demon enveloped in raging flames appeared before her, plunging a blood-red spear into her chest.
Why are you yelling so loudly?
Chapter Three: The Professional Executioner (6K)
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
The Demon Extermination Squad has been fighting evil spirits for countless years and is very familiar with each other. The most outdated versions are all within the three dungeons, and the three dungeons are not enough to provide players with an explosive improvement.
That's why Yuki took action. For example, the moment Sadako Yamamura appeared, the Witch God's Soul Crystal was already poised to unleash its power. To be on the safe side, he even tested the suppression effect on those grunts.
"Below the level of a master, being able to suppress ninety percent of one's abilities only gives me a feeling of unease and palpitations."
Yuki stared at the humanoid torch in front of him. Because he was unknown to the demon, Yuuki had sacrificed the lives of more than a dozen Transcendental Grade players in order to figure out his methods, only to have them predicted in advance and then counterattack by stacking the Killer's Book.
"Sadako Yamamura's core ability is to create clones, distributing various abilities to different bodies. Known abilities include curse killing, telekinesis, mental erosion, and teleportation. Her original body is unknown, but she's quite adept at stalling for time."
The surroundings were already quiet; the evil spirits had taken the opportunity to retreat into the Tenshukaku, along with the once vibrant field of thorny flowers. This was the talent of the 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons,' who could appear and disappear without a trace, and few players could match them.
Players from the Demon Extermination Squad kept pouring in through the breach. Yuki saw Yomi Isayama leading the team. The demons in the plaza had been almost completely defeated by Yuuki alone. Now was the time to unleash the reserve team for a final assault.
"Mr. Li, would you like to rest for a bit?" The girl's face was filled with fear and anticipation. This man was too fierce; he had actually fought his way through the Dreadfort, and had terrified those fearless demons.
There were originally hundreds of evil spirits fighting in the square, but seeing the Transcendental Grade players being slaughtered like pigs, even the infamous Twelve Evil Spirits couldn't withstand it and immediately retreated like a receding tide.
"It's not time to rest yet. That Sadako Yamamura isn't dead. She's been watching me, plotting her revenge." Yuki as if he were telling a ghost story, and even Yomi Isayama felt a chill run down his spine.
Sadako killed countless members of the Demon Extermination Squad; her curse-killing ability was too effective. Even those equipped with anti-curse items would be severely injured and then killed by her.
"Shall I stay and help you?" Yomi mustered his courage.
"No need. Carry out your mission. By the way, when will Satoru Gojo launch his all-out offensive?"
"The senior said that once we find Mundus, or half of the Twelve Evils appear, these grunts can be left to me."
"He wants to achieve everything in one battle?"
"Yes, with you here, this is the best opportunity. We were terrified just now; we never expected that Sadako would be powerless against you."
Yuki didn't care about the second half of his sentence. He probably Misaki Shokuhou and the others racking their brains right now, trying to figure out what kind of gadgets he had that could suppress the instant-death curse.
True experts never believe in some kind of explosive power; they simply write their own scripts based on intelligence.
"Then go find it. I'll only help you this once."
"I understand." Yomi's expression tightened, but he didn't push his luck. He handed over a disc. "Mr. Li, this is Captain-level terminal. It can provide information on the entire battle situation and allow direct contact with the Captain-Commander. Please keep it safe."
This shows complete trust in Yuki; if he were a traitor, the demon could wipe out the Demon Extermination Squad without lifting a finger.
Satoru Gojo, that fox, wouldn't believe anything Yuki said; he only cared about what Yuuki did, and the lives of hundreds of demon players were more than enough.
Yuki decisively accepted it, glanced at the scattered points of light within the Tenshukaku, and calculated that the Demon Extermination Squad had already committed more than half of its strength. It must have taken immense ruthlessness to sacrifice a pawn to save the king.
"The battlefield has been divided into hundreds of areas. Find Mundus as soon as possible and deliver the final blow."
"Yes."
Dozens of players in uniform black swept past him. At this level, Yuki had no desire to look for acquaintances and simply tossed the disc up and down.
By delaying and diverting their forces, those evil spirits must be plotting something, most likely a reverse decapitation strike.
He glanced at the tall buildings in the distance, but nothing could be seen under the cover of the barrier. Now that Satoru Gojo had received my answer, even if he saw the problem, he would still add to the bet without hesitation.
I'll only help this once, but this time I must win; it's related to my upgrade plan.
Yuki had no intention of activating the retreat plan; as for how to win, he already had a plan in mind.
"I'll first disable a few of your trump cards, reversing the balance of power, and the first step will start with this Sadako."
The huge plaza was filled with collapsed buildings, countless corpses, and fragments of various items. The Devil's Vision swept across the area, but apart from a few imps pretending to be dead and logistics team members cleaning up the battlefield, nothing else could be seen.
This is normal. High-level evil spirits certainly have tools or abilities to hide their true form, but they absolutely cannot place their true form thousands of miles away and release clones to continuously kill people. At least, monster-level players cannot do that.
Upon closer inspection, Yuki also solved a long-standing problem: he saw the logistics team collecting materials dropped by their fallen comrades. By using enhancement points or specialization points, these materials could be crafted into Chaos Item, which were important spoils of war from players fighting each other.
The objects were all sorts of strange things; some looked like internal organs, while others resembled necklaces or other ornaments.
So human players drop materials when they die? The Demon Extermination Squad must be pure humans, right? But I killed so many 'Day' players, why didn't I get any materials?
Swish.
Yuki pondered, he casually slashed through the flying stone pillar with his sword. The white afterimage flashed by in the Eternal Night. If it weren't for the fierce fighting Tenshukaku, Yuki would have truly felt like he was on the set of a horror movie.
She didn't run away, which doesn't make sense. Even a fool knows that Sadako's curse is useless, so she poses no threat to me. There's no reason for her to give me a chance to kill her.
Boom!
The shotgun fired suddenly, shattering a distorted vortex beside it. The shotgun struck the body of a fallen soldier from the Demon Extermination Squad, causing the body to vanish into thin air.
Reality distortion? With so many abilities, she's almost at Monster IV level, thankfully she's too physically fragile.
Yuki continued to wander through the ruins, as if this faction war had nothing to do with him. But as he walked, he found his answer.
Unless, of course, she can't run away, or her physical movement requires a cooldown period.
Yuki realized that the description of Sadako's true form in the Demon Extermination Squad's data was "unknown," which was probably her biggest secret. Any player who knew what her true form looked like would die.
Sadako, Sadako Yamamura.
Yuki began to recall Ju-On, and suddenly his eyes lit up.
The well, yes, she was thrown into the well and became a vengeful spirit, and this place—
With his eyes darting around, Yuki scanned the entire plaza like a supercomputer. It was a vast area of 40 hectares filled with ruins, and as is typical of Japanese style, it naturally included ponds and wells.
Normal people wouldn't pay attention to these decorations that have no energy fluctuations, but Yuki squinted, focused his gaze, scanned the wells one by one, and suddenly disappeared from the spot.
Swish--Ding--
A blur appeared, and before the spear could even touch the edge of the well, a well-like shield rose up. As the defensive item took effect, a massive, black, and resentful soul energy erupted like a volcano, filling the entire field of vision and illuminating Yuki's grinning face.
"Found you."
The white-clad, black-haired female ghost floating at the well's mouth was none other than Sadako. Her gaze was filled with astonishment, as if she couldn't understand how Yuki had seen through her greatest secret in less than ten minutes.
"Why? How do you know!?"
The piercing scream was so loud it hurt people's eardrums. Yuki had no habit of explaining. He transformed his spear into a blade and cut through the level 5 defensive item with a few strokes. Then, the blade was blocked by powerful psychic energy and was pressing down inch by inch.
The sword's energy pushed aside her black hair, revealing her innocent and beautiful face. Sadako's eyes were filled with tears, and her voice became pitiful.
"Let me go. I'm a pitiful person. There's a reason I've become like this. You'll understand after you hear it."
An invisible spiritual force seeped into Yuki's brain, giving him a desire to understand Sadako's past and embark on a love story between a human and a ghost, which was somewhat similar to the fox spirit he had seen before.
"You are indeed a pitiful person." Yuki's expression softened, and seeing the pure joy on Sadako's face, he suddenly changed the subject.
"But what's it to me?"
Thump!
With a powerful back kick, he blasted the female ghost who had silently appeared behind him to pieces. Her wildly growing black hair had already quietly wrapped around him. Then, he slashed through the psychic field, raised his hunting rifle, and almost pressed it against Sadako's forehead.
Bang!!
The shot ripped the white clothes apart, revealing a pale and beautiful body. Sadako screamed and retreated back into the bottomless well, while Yuki decisively gave chase.
The well opening was only two meters wide, but the space inside was infinite, surrounded by darkness, and suddenly resentful eyes appeared.
Instant death curse.
Witch God's Soul Crystal.
Resentment erodes.