Chương 354: I Am No Mage, So I Arrive Early

The mass of limbs, whose body was barely peeking out of the opaque blood, held a staring contest with the revenant for several dozen seconds. The revenant seemed to find the situation amusing for a reason that even it would find unable to explain. Regardless, the mass of limbs was one of the great monsters of the depths. Down there, the territory rulers all held considerable intelligence, with some even being capable of speech on the same level as humans.

There was a strict hierarchy down there–A simple one, by all means… The strongest ruled, and as such, the tangle of limbs was in a dilemma. Compared to the Blood Squid that had just been taken out like trash, it was quite weak, having little access to magic, and instead having the ability to grow and extend countless limbs over great distances. However, it had clearly seen how flesh and blood seemed to be nothing more than food to the entity that had appeared out of nowhere…

Therefore, it wondered which was strongest: This frightening newcomer, or the Leviathan occupying the deepest portion of the blood ocean? As much as it was scared of the foul being, it struggled to imagine the old titan being undone… All living beings within the blood ocean had two very clear ways to grow stronger: cannibalism and tracking down rare blood of powerful members of their own species.

The rulers of the depths had exhausted the former option completely, and at the very bottom was where the strongest of bloods tended to gather, including that which interested the de facto ruler of the blood ocean. By all means of logic, the Leviathan should be the strongest by an enormous margin. So strong that even the supposed 'second strongest' couldn't get close due to how tyrannical its mere presence was.

As such, the mangle of limbs made its decisions and suddenly launched half of the limbs it currently possessed into a single, massive, unavoidable attack, using the sheer power of the attack to launch itself deeper into the blood, fully intent on running away for dear life and hiding like a filthy little rat until the storm passed.

That's probably the best idea, but I doubt it will work–Yep, it won't work Nara couldn't even finish her thought before 'Revenant Jack-Out-Of-The-Box' created another fleshy platform to jump against, launching itself into a spinning motion as if it were a living drill–Its unnaturally thin body certainly helped in piercing through the mass of swirling limbs, but since it was still living flesh, it should be unable to deal with it swiftly enough to catch up to the monster. …

At least, that's how it would be if not for another one of its innate abilities. If Nara had one, she would have shaken her head. The match-up was simply utterly unfair for any denizen of the blood ocean. They all relied on blood or flesh to attack, which was exactly what shouldn't be done against this form. The Jack-Out-Of-The-Box's intent wasn't to pierce right through the mass of limbs. Even with its incredible strength, it couldn't force its way through so much living mass.

Its goal was simply to get as close to the center of the attack as possible and use an innate ability that seemed custom-built to crush anyone who thought to bring flesh to its face. Corrupting Touch: The flesh belonging to still living beings can be warped and consumed via physical contact It was a simple ability, but a horrifying one. It completely eliminated the restriction that stopped Mara from simply grappling eternally and devouring her prey alive.

To feast on a living being, she would either need to separate the flesh from their body, or basically would have to swallow them whole. This form eliminated this problem. Once firmly inside, 'Corrupting Touch' was activated, and the mass of limbs suddenly twisted. Arms and legs snapped without any visible force being applied to them. Flesh split or exploded open without discernible reasons. Bones and blood were forced out… It was a carnage.

By maiming the limbs in such a way, they became prime for consumption, allowing the revenant to devour everything in record time. Barely even ten seconds were required from start to finish. The onlookers couldn't believe their eyes–After all, if it could do such a thing to a large mass like this, what would it do if it got its hands on one of them? Thankfully, the monster's attention was on another monster at the moment.

With the initial boost and the fact that it was going as fast as it ever had, the tangle of limbs had actually gotten quite far, but Nara knew that it hadn't gotten far enough. The set-up was simply far too much in favour of the revenant. It was no wonder that it was taking time to pause and look cool. It knew everything was on its side… Nara much preferred it when it was Mara doing it. She bragged, but she would do so while actually doing something most of the time.

This rogue form was posing as if waiting for a sculptor to walk by and immortalise the moment. That's a good distance, but you are in the worst place Obviously, this was due to yet another innate ability. This form truly had a lot. Crimson Empress: You can consume stocked flesh to manifest blood at will, but you also hold dominion over blood in general Using this innate ability, 'Revenant Jack-Out-Of-The-Box' could easily locate the runaway monster. It dove into the blood and began rapidly closing the distance.

'Crimson Empress' allowed the revenant to move at quite the breakneck speeds when immersed in blood. An opportunity that would be hard to recreate anywhere else. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. As it went, it absorbed a whole lot of blood on the way, not even flinching or slowing down when it devoured powerful bits of blood. It caught up to its target, passed it, and then stood in the monster's path, smiling from ear to ear… Even if it had no ears.

The mangle of limbs was evidently quite freaked out and instantly lashed out without thinking, but it found itself unable to reach the doll-like horror. The blood around its body felt as though it had turned solid, and trying to push through only resulted in it hurting itself. The revenant took its time, slowly using the very blood that the creature had swum in for years upon years to crush it to death. Crap Nara couldn't be heard by 'Revenant Jack-Out-Of-The-Box', so she was unable to warn it of what was coming.

Without warning, a massive tentacle suddenly rose from the depths, giving the revenant barely any time to react. It protected itself by turning the blood between the attack and itself denser, and also by manifesting a wall of flesh, but it was struck anyway, sending it flying upward, right out of the blood ocean, and straight into the ceiling of the underground.

"What… Gratifying suffering…" It seemed like the form shared Mara's appreciation for pain. The Jack-Out-Of-The-Box removed itself from the imprint shaped like its body on the ceiling and began hovering upside down, scanning the surface of the blood ocean. This was achieved thanks to an innate ability it had been using since the very beginning.

Surface Hovering: You can hover in the air, but only when something such as a wall or other physical obstacle is nearby It was far from flight since this ability only allowed one to hover a handful of meters above any given surface at most. But as long as there was a wall or something similar, it could allow one to go basically anywhere.

Even from such a distance, it was able to pull blood from the ocean to heal itself–An action which appeared to get on the nerves of something, as the same tentacle that had sent flying emerged from the blood, being long enough to reach the ceiling with ease.

"Are you… The big boss?" It is… Nara recognised that thing's energy signature as the same one that had been emitting boredom at the very bottom of the ocean. It was no longer bored. It was mildly upset. Mara would probably be able to make a finer assessment of its emotional state, but to Nara, it seemed like it was only angry in the sense that it was slightly annoyed to have to move. Much like someone would be if they had to get out of bed to clean up a mess a pet had made.

It obviously wasn't taking things seriously. Nara wagered that it would come to regret this fact sorely if it didn't wisen up quickly.

"I don't like… This attitude…"

'Revenant Jack-Out-Of-The-Box' seemed to know how to interpret the influx of negative emotions as well, and it also seemed otherwise more easily angered than Mara. Nara expected it to use 'Ruler Of The Devoured' or 'Crimson Empress' to attack, but she might have underestimated how much it truly shared with Mara. While it lacked any finesse or proper skill in fighting due to trading it all for brute force, there was something else that was equally as important in its eyes, and it was to feast.

The move was so shrewd that Nara hadn't thought that it would be capable of it. After all, the description of 'Hateful Flesh' had been quite clear on the subject. She supposed that an exception could be made under certain circumstances. Putting all of its strength into 'Crimson Empress' rather than attacking, the revenant used its maximum power to drag the blood toward itself, devouring it all without pause. This act made the Leviathan have a sudden surge of panic, and it began attacking with all of its might.

Tentacles and blood magic alike came crashing into the ceiling, causing it to rapidly begin to crumble as the Jack-Out-Of-The-Box dodged, using manifested flesh and blood to rapidly push itself around. It was laughing the whole time. The Leviathan did its best to catch the blood thief, but the revenant's movements were too erratic and unpredictable, leaving the Leviathan no choice but to be excessively destructive.

The beast of the depths circulated its internal mana, weaving it into five identical spells, all of which created crimson beams that came crashing into different parts of the ceiling, bringing down tons of stone in a few mere seconds. … … What the fuck is happening? Mara, you're back earlier than I expected! Oh, hi Nara. It would appear that I had a slight loss of consciousness. Is this a new form? Sure seems like it. I'm thinner than a skeleton, and I am not made of steel whatsoever, huh…

I squeezed my own arm whilst falling head-first. I even have bones! That's quite an interesting form… Why is this horrific transformation so shapely, though? I feel like it is a trend to give me a larger bust at every given occasion. Does this mean anything? Am I being subtly insulted? Does the unknown form that creates my forms and whatever have a preference in this area? Mara… Yes, sorry… What are this form's innate abilities? It had eight of them, which was a rather high number.

It didn't take me long to understand that this was actually a pretty powerful form. It had been a long time coming that I acquired something that let me use the stored flesh in my possession. The last innate ability, which Nara told me hadn't been used while I was on autopilot, was quite interesting, though.

Haruspicy: By feasting on guts, you may view a few images of a future that will occur within the next few moments, only effective within combat Doesn't it mean that I just need to get my hands on a bunch of creatures to be able to perfectly dodge everything this giant bastard would throw at me? Where are these damned blood fish or whatever? And what are those fuckers doing all the way over there? They were too far away for me to make them out clearly, but the threads of negative emotion directed my way didn't lie.

Nara, do you think they know who I am at this point? Hard to say, but considering how two of them seem especially worried compared to the rest, I would say that at least these two realised your identity Huh… I'll have to discuss with these idiots once I am done with this big bastard–He must be worth so much flesh!