Black Calamity

The boy panted violently.

A living, breathing person had turned to ash right before his eyes.

He was filled with regret and guilt.

All of this had stemmed from his ignorance of how the Experimental Zone worked.

I'm sorry...

The boy lowered his head and remained silent for a full three minutes.

Suddenly, he stood up and looked around.

Where the hell was this?!

Hadn't I intended to go somewhere bustling with people?

Why had there been a little girl here all alone?

Why would anyone drop such a terrifying weapon?!

A hundred kilometers away.

A massive force had formed a ring around the area where the boy stood.

Large aircraft hovered overhead. Countless heavy tracked tanks occupied the ground, alongside innumerable humanoid machines and soldiers carrying heavy weapons.

Their gun barrels and cannons were all aimed at the boy's location.

They had also launched that Cutting Torpedo to test the waters!

A fan-shaped sonic wave shot toward the boy's position.

"Black Calamity, you devil who deserves to die! You tortured and murdered the leader of our Pearl Divers!"

"Today, every unit of the Pearl Divers is here! Even if it costs us everything, even if we all perish, we will take your life!"

"You will pay for this blood debt! You won't escape again!"

At that moment.

Qin Yiguan climbed onto a boulder and surveyed his surroundings. At last, he saw the seemingly endless forces surrounding the wasteland.

The fan-shaped sonic wave reached the space above his head.

He heard its message clearly.

There... really were plenty of people here.

"Black Calamity? What the hell is that?!"

He clenched his teeth. "The Pearl Divers? You must be an armed faction in the Experimental Zone. Your revenge is none of my business, but your indiscriminate attack killed that little girl!"

Clack.

Suddenly, he heard a stone fall behind him.

He whipped around.

A figure had appeared atop a distant boulder at some point.

His back was hunched, his arms hanging loosely at his sides, and his entire body was pitch-black. Looking at him gave the illusion that black mist was slowly rising around him.

"Heh."

The figure chuckled and slowly raised his head. "I'm Black Calamity."

Qin Yiguan's heart jolted!

That face... was young, no more than seventeen or eighteen. Yet it looked as though darkness had eaten away at him. His features were twisted and hideous, his forehead bulging with veins. The corners of his mouth trembled slightly, seemingly from the effort of suppressing his inner rage, and traces of saliva seeped out.

Most importantly.

That face looked exactly like Qin Yiguan's.

Some instinct stirred within Qin Yiguan, and his pupils contracted sharply. "You... it's you!"

The dark figure chuckled. "It's me... your dark personality. I've now taken physical form. And I'm exactly who they're talking about... Black Calamity!"

The boy was stunned, his facial muscles beginning to twitch. "Just as Dr. House said, you can appear independently in the Metaverse. It makes sense. Even [Gestalt Collapse] can take physical form, let alone you!"

The dark figure gave a disdainful smile. "[Gestalt Collapse] can't compare to me!"

"It was you..."

Qin Yiguan trembled. "Twelve years ago, you took over my body and murdered my adoptive parents!"

"And over the past few years, you've woken up inside my body at night and set countless death traps for me!"

Qin Yiguan's pupils shook. In an instant, his eyes became bloodshot, his reason receding as his fury surged!

"Heh..."

The dark figure smiled mockingly. "How pathetic. Are you actually under the illusion that you've finally found a chance to kill me?"

"Let me make something clear."

"The situation right now..."

"Is that I, Black Calamity, have finally found a chance to kill you!"

"Once I kill you, I'll be free of your body's control. I'll exist independently in the Metaverse forever. I'll become a real person!"

The moment he finished speaking.

Black Calamity lunged, crossing five meters and reaching for Qin Yiguan's throat with one hand!

A thought erupted deep within the boy's mind.

Brain Hyperactivity Zone B05 [Shadow Syndrome]-Judo Fiend.

In the next instant.

The boy grabbed Black Calamity's arm, turned, and bent forward, preparing to use his momentum for a shoulder throw!

But what he expected did not happen.

Black Calamity's body remained utterly still, as though welded to the ground. Only his mocking laughter filled the boy's ears.

A moment later.

Black Calamity grabbed the boy by the neck from behind and flung him with a sweep of his arm. The boy flew more than ten meters and slammed into a distant boulder with a thunderous crash!

Cough, cough, cough!

The boy's chest felt tight, and searing pain shot through his back.

Black Calamity stood before him, his head lowered, like a demon escaped from hell.

He laughed hoarsely and waved a hand. A line of text suddenly drifted out of the black mist rising around him-Fusion Rate: 89%.

The boy's heart trembled.

He even had a Fusion Rate?

And it was that high?

Black Calamity kept laughing. "Because of your split personality, I'm a complete consciousness. Under the Metaverse's rules, I'm an independent user. And... I entered the Metaverse before you did. As for how I entered, you should be very familiar with it-in your dreams!"

"And what's your Fusion Rate now? Heh. You couldn't even save that child, yet you think you can fight me?!"

Black Calamity suddenly raised his head, revealing a scarlet eye.

Qin Yiguan stared at him, his scalp prickling. The feeling was impossible to describe, because that face belonged to no demon-it was his own!

Black Calamity said, "Do you know how much I despise you? That [Gestalt Collapse] ability of yours belongs to me alone, yet you've overstepped your place and secretly used my power!"

"You're not worthy!"

Black Calamity roared and stomped one foot hard against the ground. "Today, I'll show you Gestalt Collapse at an 89% Fusion Rate!"

Darkness spread from beneath Black Calamity's feet, gradually engulfing the space for more than ten meters around him.

Within that darkness, Black Calamity's scarlet eyes became the only light.

Qin Yiguan stared at those eyes. They brought to mind a faint glimmer in the dark, filling him with unspeakable terror.

Then those eyes suddenly rushed forward. The instant they broke free of the darkness, they transformed into a monster with enormous fangs. Its bloody maw, a full five meters wide, snapped down at Qin Yiguan!

Qin Yiguan felt that Black Calamity was unstoppable, and that he was about to die!

"Guard!"

At that critical instant, an unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out from the depths of the boy's soul.

Distant, powerful, ancient.

Within Qin Yiguan's body, slumped against the boulder, two seemingly overlapping figures suddenly separated.

A figure stepped out of his body and rapidly took physical form!

He wore armor, his muscles bulging with explosive strength. Clenching one hand into a fist, he punched the monster's head. With a thunderous crash, the head hit the ground, then dissolved into black mist!

Black Calamity was stunned. "You! You can take physical form too!"

The armored figure gave no answer.

He simply stood in front of Qin Yiguan.

The boy looked at the armored figure's back. Although his hair was now short and he had not turned around, the boy could sense that his... face was identical to his own too. Only his body was stronger, more resilient!

Black Calamity began panting softly.

Suddenly, he broke into twisted laughter. "Interesting, interesting! Since you've appeared, does that mean... they've all come too?!"

The armored figure still gave no answer!

Black Calamity laughed even more wildly, as though he had discovered something extraordinarily entertaining.

For some reason, Black Calamity did not press the matter. Instead, he cast a vicious glance at Qin Yiguan.

Then his body transformed into a black shadow, snaked across the ground, and vanished!