Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King

"Did you hear that? That sound just now?" a guard stationed on the outskirts of the rainforest suddenly asked his companions, his face full of terror.

"I heard it. A huge number of blood-sucking mosquitoes are gathering inside. They're probably attacking that piece of trash."

"That trash is finished. Tell me, he's a good-for-nothing—of all the things he could've done, why did he have to beat my lord's son so badly? Now he's paid for it with his life instead."

The flames on Diya's body went out. The situation at that moment struck him as extremely interesting. Why was it that when those blood-sucking mosquitoes chased him here, they no longer dared to come any farther? Could it be that whatever was inside was truly terrifying? Diya's heart could not help but pound faster, and an ominous feeling surged into his chest, mixing with a few parts excitement, a few parts thrill, and a few parts fear.

"Radish says that guy is hiding in here. You need to be careful," Diablo's voice came over. "From here on, it's up to you."

"Got it," Diya answered. His longsword hung naturally downward as he relaxed his body, constantly adjusting his breathing so that he would be ready to react at any moment. Before him was a thicket, a low, dense stretch of forest that took up about ten meters in every direction, the light inside extremely dim. Diya widened his eyes and carefully swept his gaze left and right.

He kept feeling as though something had locked onto him, but he could not find where that thing was. The sensation of being watched was extremely uncomfortable.

All of a sudden, amid a violent noise, a massive shadow pounced at Diya. Diya lowered his body and rolled aside on the spot, one knee planted on the ground, his other foot extended with the sole pressed flat to the earth. His body crouched low, his right hand gripping his longsword, his left hand holding the scabbard against his waist.

But that shadow vanished again.

"Diablo, did you see what that thing was?" Diya asked, though his eyes were sweeping along the path where the shadow had attacked.

"I saw it. It's a blood-sucking mosquito. Mm, several times larger than a mutated blood-sucking mosquito. From the looks of it, it should be the leader of the mutated blood-sucking mosquitoes. Also, I need to tell you something. Mm, Radish discovered it. When that mutated blood-sucking mosquito leader flew past during its attack just now, Radish said he sensed the aura of a Hell Fragment," Diablo said.

"A Hell Fragment." Diya's heart jolted, and then he grew delighted.

"That's right. And that Hell Fragment is inside the mutated blood-sucking mosquito's body. It seems to have already begun fusing with the mosquito," Diablo continued.

"What? It's started fusing? Then what do we do? If it fuses with it, won't we be short one piece? Then hell won't be able to recover again," Diya said, somewhat dumbfounded.

"That won't happen. Even if a Hell Fragment is completely fused, as long as you kill the other party, the fragment's power will still gather again and restore itself into a fragment. The same goes for you. If you get killed, the Hell Fragment will burst out of your body," Diablo explained.

"Why does that sound like an online game?" Diya muttered, then thought of something. "Wait, that's not right. If that mosquito is fusing with the fragment, how can it still run out to attack me? And without your help, how can it fuse with it?"

"The mutated blood-sucking mosquito leader's fusion is completely different from yours. Without my help, no matter who it is, they can't directly fuse with a Hell Fragment. They merely come into contact with it for a long time, and only when they are no longer harmed by the radiation of the Hell Fragment's energy will they swallow the fragment into their stomach and begin fusing. As for this mosquito, it should only have adapted to the Hell Fragment's energy radiation recently."

"Seems like there's still quite a lot you haven't told me."

"It's nothing particularly special. Every Hell Fragment carries a unique power, and that power radiates outward, affecting a certain area, sometimes large, sometimes small. This kind of energy radiation causes certain changes to living creatures. Just like this mutated blood-sucking mosquito leader—I imagine that before this, it was only an ordinary blood-sucking mosquito. By luck, it ran to this place, which happened to fall within the radiation zone of the Hell Fragment's power, and it began to mutate. I'd guess this fellow gained a bit of intelligence and knew the benefits of the Hell Fragment, so it never left this area. Only now, after fully adapting, did it swallow the fragment into its stomach to carry out the final fusion," Diablo said, speaking with easy confidence.

"Fine. Then which method of fusion is better to use?" After accepting Diablo's explanation, Diya asked again, though his eyes remained alert as he swept the surroundings, ready to deal with an attack at any time.

"Of course your method is better. Your fusion method is a direct and complete fusion, but you can't fully unleash the power of that fusion. You can only develop it bit by bit through your training. The mutated blood-sucking mosquito leader's method, however, requires a long time as its foundation. Once it has completely fused, it can unleash the full power. Still, by using our method, you can stimulate most of it from the very beginning."

"So that's how it is. Then how strong is this mosquito? Can you sense it?"

"Its strength isn't high, about the same as that guy you beat into severe injury. But every fragment has its own unique ability, and I don't know what ability this fellow has obtained," Diablo said. "In short, you need to be careful, then careful again. Otherwise, if you die, I'll go down with you."

"Don't worry, you won't die," Diya said softly. He found it strange that the mosquito still had not come out, but he did not dare act rashly. If the mosquito's combat power was only at Porter's level, Diya would not be afraid. The key was whether this mosquito, which had begun absorbing a Hell Fragment, possessed some kind of ability. That was what Diya truly cared about.

Whoosh.

A black shadow flickered. A sharp gleam flashed in Diya's eyes, and with a flick of his right hand, a silver ray swept past. With a pfft, Flick Sword struck the black shadow. The shadow let out a strange hiss and suddenly stopped in midair, its body twisting. Diya seized that instant and saw the black shadow clearly.

It was indeed a mosquito. Only its entire body was black, a deep pitch-black, and across that dark sheen were many bright blood-red lines distributed one after another, as though they had surfaced from the deepest part of its body, forming connections with no head or tail that covered it from end to end.

Within those blood-red lines, some mysterious substance seemed to be flowing slowly. Waves of strange aura spread from those lines, making Diya feel bursts of intimacy—or rather, intimacy with the Hell Fragment in his soul.

This mosquito was about the size of a fully grown pig. The thickest part of its mouthpart was as thick as Diya's arm, flashing with a blood-colored red light. Just looking at it made chills shoot up from the heart. Diya did not doubt in the slightest that if he were careless and got hit by it, even if he did not die, he would be severely injured.

"Careful. This fellow has discovered the aura of the Hell Fragment on you," Diablo's words rang out again, making Diya's heart turn cold. He thought of even more things, but now there was no time to ponder, because the blood-sucking mosquito had already attacked.

A gleaming little sword was still stuck in the front of the mosquito's body, half of it exposed outside. Diya flicked again, and silver light swept past once more. Another Flick Sword shot toward the mosquito's eye, but the mosquito twisted its head slightly, and the Flick Sword struck its neck instead, stabbing into it. The Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King hissed again.

Diya flicked both hands repeatedly. Each hand held three Flick Swords, and all of them shot out, all of them stabbing into the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King's body. However, they only caused it minor injuries. With no Flick Swords left, Diya had only his longsword. Instead of retreating, he advanced, both feet stomping hard against the ground as he charged toward the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he thrust forward. With the force of his charge behind it, the sword tip tore through the dimness, a streak of silver brilliance screaming forward.

The Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King sensed the pressure brought by the sword tip. Suddenly, as its mouthpart twitched, an incomparably violent shriek spread from its mouth. Rings of transparent rippling waves rushed toward Diya at extreme speed.

All of a sudden, Diya felt as though his head had been smashed by an awl. A fierce dizziness instantly spread through his mind and soul. Diya only felt his vision go dark. He could see nothing, hear nothing, and it seemed as though he was about to lose consciousness.

Diya's charging body suddenly stopped, then began to stagger as though he were drunk, swaying east and west. The longsword and scabbard in his hands also slipped unconsciously to the ground. Then his body swayed, collapsed onto the ground, and moved no more.

The Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King wavered in the air for a moment, then swiftly shot toward Diya's body. Its thick mouthpart flashed with a blood-colored luster. Suddenly, Diya's fingers moved. Both his hands abruptly pressed against the ground, and his body flipped backward, avoiding the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King's attack.

The Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King's strike missed. It looked at Diya, who had suddenly sprung up, in confusion. It only felt that the current Diya seemed to have become different—colder, and within that coldness was a kind of fatal violence.

Diya raised his head and stared at the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King, his face full of icy cold. His eyes shone silver-white, without the slightest trace of black, terrifyingly abnormal. Occasionally, bright blood-red lightning could be seen flashing and coiling within them.

Then Diya raised a hand and pointed. Red light bloomed at the tip of his index finger, and amid a crackling snap and pop, a winding bolt of bright red lightning shot out, tearing through the sky and striking the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King in an instant.

The incomparably sharp end of the Nether Prison Thunder tore open the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King's outer shell like a sharp sword and poured straight into its body. The powerful Nether Prison Thunder instantly ran rampant inside the mosquito, and red lightning spread densely across its shell.

Amid its wails, the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King trembled ceaselessly in the air. In the end, unable to endure it, it let out a long, miserable shriek, which then cut off abruptly. Its body dropped straight to the ground. The red Nether Prison Thunder gradually vanished, while the Mutated Blood-Sucking Mosquito King lay completely motionless. Diya withdrew his right hand, and his body fell backward.