Slaughter

[Void Walk]

Like Kasadal's phase shift, it merged the user with the gap between reality and illusion, allowing them to pass through any object without taking damage. The only exception would be if someone threw a black hole grenade and warped space, but clearly, this world's technology hadn't advanced that far.

The ability sounded powerful, and it was. No wonder it was a four-character skill!

Would there be five-character skills in the future?

But Shiraishi Wataru thought it would be better if there weren't. Those two characters had been "blessed" too much already, so the odds of that happening were slim.

Its only drawback was that, as the host, he could only keep it up for a dozen or so hours. He couldn't use it around the clock. Terrible review!

The boy with persecutory delusions, who had only just mutated and was still struggling to master his new ability, couldn't even enter the Void completely. He left behind a faint, mistlike trace in reality, and at present, he could only maintain it for less than half an hour.

Still, he'd inherited the ability's immunity to harm perfectly. No wonder he had persecutory delusions.

Sure enough, external stimuli were necessary to trigger mutations. Flowers raised in a greenhouse couldn't grow strong.

The Ninth Guardian controlled by Shiraishi Wataru gazed kindly at the animals locked up before him.

There were leopards, bears, crocodiles, wild boars, wolves, hyenas, lynxes, wild dogs, and feral cats.

These were the first batch of test animals.

If the experiment showed progress, Shiraishi Wataru planned to raise an entire force of beasts.

There was even less chance of cooperating with a force like this. Only three outcomes were possible: coexistence as enemies, taming them for use, or wiping them out. With Shiraishi Wataru working behind the scenes to ensure that large numbers of beasts couldn't be tamed, they would most likely end up in a fight to the death with the authorities.

That would make more people call for cooperation with the Holy Infant Society, easing the pressure on them. At least the authorities could communicate with the Holy Infant. But what about the beasts? Would they just bare their teeth at each other?

The large warehouse where he was now had been specially modified. More than half its space had been converted into a sunken arena—in other words, one enormous pit. This would be where the beasts fought.

Twenty rats, all bonded with parasites but unable to adapt to any abilities, were released into the arena first.

The arena had grass, a few sparsely planted trees, and a pond.

The moment they entered, the rats scattered, searching for places to hide.

Then Shiraishi Wataru released the snakes and feral cats.

They cautiously explored their surroundings, then quickly came across one another. They sized each other up—and devoured each other.

The feral cats and snakes both set their sights on the plump rats, hunting and ambushing them.

In less than a few hours, more than half the rats had been killed.

The parasites in the rats that had been devoured passed along the food chain, bonding with the snakes and feral cats.

Some of the animals had already adapted to abilities, but Shiraishi Wataru had only made [Steel Body] available. For the other animals, that was practically the same as having an invincibility cheat.

Unless an even more powerful predator joined the battle.

Shiraishi Wataru didn't keep them waiting.

Wild dogs, hyenas, wolves, and crocodiles joined the fight at the same time.

The scene grew increasingly chaotic.

Chaos was a ladder!

For the rats, this was actually a good thing.

Their situation couldn't get any worse, and the larger animals might not even consider rats worth eating just yet.

Biting, chasing, and slaughtering—the wild grass greedily absorbed the blood and vitality. Even the only small pond was stained red on one side.

Finally came the leopards, wild boars, and bears, all nearly crazed with hunger!

Under the madness of natural selection, the first ability to mutate in this experiment was born.

[Conceal]

An ability that reduced the user's presence.

The mutant was a rat that had survived into the latter half of the battle. It was clear that it had a powerful will to live.

But this ability was a little weak.

Still, it was a good start. It proved that experiments like this really could promote mutation!

The battlefield gradually entered a lull. Most of the animals were full, and for now, they could even drink from the same pond without attacking one another.

Except for the feral cats.

Shiraishi Wataru wasn't in a hurry. It would take a few days to prepare the second batch of animals anyway.

This was an extremely unbalanced food chain. There weren't nearly enough creatures at the bottom to feed the predators above them. Once hunger struck again, the animals could only turn their attention to creatures of equal or greater strength.

"Woof! Woof!"

"Awoooo—"

As time passed, a wolf and a dog got into a fight for reasons unknown. The dog was no match for a wolf to begin with, and this wolf had adapted to [Steel Body]. In just a few bites, it had torn out the wild dog's throat. Its muzzle slick with blood, the wolf began feasting on the dog's soft belly.

Eating more parasites had no other effect, so any surplus parasites would either wait for another animal to come along and eat the leftovers, or wait for Shiraishi Wataru to collect them.

The wolf didn't eat for long. An unwelcome guest approached from nearby.

A brown bear.

It tried to move closer.

The wolf let out a low, warning growl.

The bear paid little attention. It had killed an enemy like this not long ago, and, as an empiricist, it felt the wolf didn't seem much of a threat.

So it charged!

"Awo!"

The wolf was naturally unwilling to give up its prey. It quickly circled around the bear and lunged to bite it.

The bear's strength!

The brown bear swatted the wolf aside.

But this wolf had adapted to [Steel Body]. That little bit of force felt like a lover's playful punch to its chest.

On a technician, that'd be grounds for dismissal.

The fight gradually became a stalemate.

One swiped; the other pounced and bit.

The bear couldn't hurt the wolf, and the wolf couldn't bite through the bear.

A delicate balance settled over the fight.

All around them, more and more ill-intentioned spectators gathered.

"Grr—yow!"

With a strange howl, large bulges appeared on the wolf's shoulders, waist, and abdomen. Its limbs twisted wildly. The flesh beneath the bulges churned, and bloody streaks appeared across its skin, only to heal again and again. In just a few seconds, the ordinary-sized wolf had grown to the size of an American bison, its grotesquely oversized head packed with teeth and reeking of blood.

[Alienation]

It used imagination as a blueprint and flesh and blood as fuel to transform into a monster. Could it even change directly into someone else and use the ability as a disguise?

Shiraishi Wataru tested out the new ability.

However, it required [Steel Body] or [Offense-Defense Integration] as a prerequisite. Otherwise, the user's body couldn't withstand the physical alterations caused by [Alienation].

With [Regeneration], it would work even better. Without it, the user had to burn more flesh and blood to speed up the healing of their wounds.

As for using flesh and blood as fuel, it didn't mean that eating something would let the user use it immediately. The ability consumed the user's stored fat, muscle, and nutrients. If they overused it, they would inevitably become drastically thinner after the effect wore off.

In exchange, even when inactive, the ability worked like a miniature Taotie, allowing its user to stockpile energy faster by eating like a glutton.

It was a pretty good ability.

After the wolf's outburst, the fight quickly lost all suspense.

The terrifying giant-headed wolf could tear through the brown bear's prized hide with a single bite, ripping away chunks of flesh. The bear was as helpless as a birthday cake waiting to be sliced.

After swallowing the brown bear in a few bites, the giant-headed wolf twisted and shrank until it was even smaller than before. Who knew what other dimension the bear had vanished into?

The wolf swept its gaze around the arena. The spectators fled in fear.

It raised its head and glanced at the figure watching from above in the distance. Then it lowered its head and resumed eating the wild dog it had killed earlier.