Well, That's Pretty Nice (Continued)

But in the end, he killed all those people.

Knives slashed at his body, bullets ripped through his flesh, he watched helplessly as the ferocious, crazed Infected devoured his body, saw the Blades sever his head, and felt those weapons churning inside his mind.

These horrifying past events, however, did not actually cause him excessive fear.

He only felt pain... nothing else.

But this time... it's clearly different.

Sensing a strange aura, he curiously followed the woman in front of him... He simply wanted to talk to her.

But even this very wish filled him with a profound sense of despair.

Maria's mere gaze was enough to tense his muscles.

Maria's mere gaze made him feel utterly weak.

Maria clutched her own neck... This would be a deadly threat to other creatures, but for Mizuki, a severed head meant nothing.

Even so, a profound sense of powerlessness emanating from the depths of his heart caused him to tremble uncontrollably.

What will happen?

You'll die!

This woman... she really could kill herself!

She's not the same kind of life as me!

She is... an even more terrifying being!

Trembling all over, Mizuki's pupils dilated and contracted repeatedly.

He stared intently at the woman in front of him, his teeth clenched.

In the end, all these actions turned into terrible despair.

It's no use...

My body is completely immobile.

Like a despicable mouse being targeted by a cat, he couldn't even muster the will to fight back.

We can only hope for Maria's mercy...

This situation lasted for several minutes...

"Thud..."

"Cough cough cough!"

Maria suddenly released her grip, Mizuki landed awkwardly on the ground, coughing incessantly.

He knelt on the ground, looked up in terror at the aloof beauty before him, his pupils filled with intense despair.

But...

Am I even alive now?

Mizuki didn't know.

He could only manage a weak smile as he faced Maria.

"Um... cough cough... big sister..."

Mizuki had just uttered her words.

Suddenly, icy fingers pierced his abdomen!

Intense pain instantly shot through every nerve in his body.

He could clearly feel Maria's hand stirring in his abdomen.

Pulling at the spine and flesh...

Then...

It's loosened.

"You're not..."

Maria slowly pulled out her hand, looking at the rapidly healing wound on the other person's abdomen, a rare hint of doubt appearing in her eyes.

No...

This little guy... isn't Great Ones like me.

His presence... seems more like that of a dependent?

But in terms of shape... it doesn't quite look like it?

Strangeness...

Very strange...

Maria frowned and slowly lifted it up.

At this moment, the disheveled and powerless Mizuki could only follow Maria's lead.

In just a few moments, Maria had left a deep impression on his heart.

He didn't even dare to look Maria in the eye!

After a moment of silence, Maria gently placed him on the ground and knelt down in front of the adorable young man, reaching out to lift his face.

"Are you human?"

"... Yes."

Mizuki didn't have time to think about anything else. Maria's pure violence made him realize that his life might not be as immortal as he had imagined.

There are still people in this world who can kill him.

Have you ever received any gifts from some being?

"... No."

Have you ever participated in any mysterious or bizarre rituals?

"No."

Have you ever encountered any arrogant and eerie beings?

"No."

Maria questioned the child in front of her little by little, trying to find some information.

Unfortunately, Mizuki's answers to Maria's questions were always very sincere.

"No."

He really hadn't seen any of the things Maria described. He was just an ordinary child from a poor family who, during a time when he was on the verge of starvation, received help from some kind people and made it to where he is today.

He knew that some strange changes had occurred in him, but he really didn't know where these changes came from.

He was just him... an ordinary boy from the Higashi named Mizuki.

"..."

Maria stared intently at Mizuki for a while longer, until Mizuki didn't even dare to breathe loudly, before slowly withdrawing her gaze.

"A strange world..."

As she spoke, she silently extended her hand again.

Delicate, icy fingers gently traced across Mizuki's fingers, drawing a trickle of blood from him.

The slight stinging sensation left him somewhat dazed.

Even faster, Maria absorbed the drop of blood into her own body.

The ancient bloodlines began to discover each other, and the surging blood within Maria's body began to rapidly divide, tear, and absorb this blood.

Similarly, during the absorption process, she gradually saw many unusual things...

Countless thoughts, like a torrent, rushed into her mind!

Such thoughts immediately caught the Doll's attention.

Without wasting words, she stood directly in front of Maria and began to clear away the stream of meaningless thoughts that had been washing over her...

Maria, however, saw a much farther place through this bloodline...

Everything there was pitch black, except for a large, azure tree rooted in the ground that emitted its own fluorescent glow.

Many strange creatures roamed around, some floating, some lying down.

They collect all sorts of flesh and blood to nourish the azure tree.

As Maria gazed upon it, the tree began to shine even brighter.

The branches, like ribbons of light, seemed to wriggle, eventually forming a faint, almost imperceptible human face that silently watched over Maria.

It seemed to be experiencing some emotional fluctuation; the swaying branches seemed to be conveying something.

But in the end, it was only those countless blue monsters whispering in unison.

"Same kind... protection... continuation..."

"Um?"

Maria frowned, looking at the figure before her.

She could sense that the giant tree before her was also a Great Ones, but the difference was... it only possessed this feeling, not a real one...

It is incomplete...

"Existence... threat... time... war..."

Are you... trying to say something to me?

Maria grew increasingly puzzled, but the giant tree could offer no answer to Maria questions.

It was simply a collective roar emanating from the throats of all the monsters.

"Existence... the moon..."

"Eye..."

"War!"

The violent roars rang out again and again, and the messages emitted by the giant tree became increasingly chaotic.

In the end, it simply emphasized two words coldly and urgently.

"The moon... continues."

"..."

The blood evaporated very quickly.

Maria's thoughts gradually returned to reality.

Before her, Mizuki remained trembling, not daring to move an inch.

Maria simply squinted, head bowed, lost in thought.

"Your blood... and theirs... are the same..."

"Um?"

Are you a collective... a cluster-type Great Ones?

"... What are you saying?"

"... It wants to send me a message..."

Maria ignored Mizuki's terror; she was simply recalling what she had just seen.

By consuming Mizuki's blood, she briefly became one of the unknown Great Ones.

But what puzzled Maria was that this Great Ones was different from all the Great Ones she had ever seen. It was not a superior being on its own. Rather than Great Ones, it was more like a combination of the giant tree and the other Great Ones... Even so, they were not complete.

What Maria found even stranger was that those in Great Ones didn't seem to have many good relationships with each other.

The best relationship they have is one where they don't attack each other.

But after seeing her, the giant tree excitedly conveyed a message to her... which puzzled Maria greatly.