novel bin Chapter 23 Obsidian
Chapter 23 Obsidian
Sixty meters underground lies a vast underground palace covered in obsidian.
This product, born from the collision of water and magma in Minecraft, possesses a hardness and resistance that surpasses that of mortal matter.
The deep black walls blocked out all sound and light from the outside world, as well as the aftershocks of that nuclear explosion.
In the absolute silence, only the occasional "drip" of water falling into the water could be heard.
"Squeak... squeak squeak..."
A gray rat, appearing out of nowhere, broke the deathly silence.
It may be a survivor of the surface explosion, following the cracks in the earth downwards, trying to find a shelter away from the intense heat.
However, the deeper the rat crawled, the more violently its body trembled.
As a creature at the bottom of the food chain, its keen sensory organs are frantically issuing warnings.
The mouse stopped in its tracks, wanting to escape and turn back into the scalding hot soil, which at least still belonged to "nature".
But just as it was about to touch the shadows in the corner, a sudden change occurred.
"Pfft!"
In the darkness, without any warning.
A pale, bony whip tentacle covered in transparent mucus shot out in an instant at a speed too fast for the naked eye to perceive.
Like a wet, barbed tongue, it instantly wrapped around the tiny body of the mouse.
"squeak--!"
The mouse's terrified screams had barely begun when they abruptly stopped.
It was instantly dragged into the deep shadows by that tentacle. Immediately afterwards, a chilling sound came from the darkness.
"Snap... slurp... slurp..."
That was the sound of tiny bones being forcibly chewed up, flesh being sucked out, and internal organs being squeezed and burst.
The feeding process was extremely short, as if the mouse didn't even have enough food to fill its teeth.
But then, an even heavier and more nauseating sound began to echo through the empty underground palace.
That was the sound of slime dragging across the ground and huge chunks of flesh rubbing against each other.
The enormous creature hidden in the shadows finally moved its bulky body slowly, revealing itself to the faint glowstone light from the top of the underground palace.
If any member of the Demon Slayer Corps were here at this moment, they would absolutely not be able to associate the monster before them with "Muzan Kibutsuji," who had ruled for a thousand years.
It was a grotesque mass of flesh that could no longer be defined by "biology".
Muzan's former human disguise was completely destroyed in that explosion.
At this moment, he is more like a half-finished product discarded into a trash can after being rejected by the creator, like the final form of the Pursuer in Resident Evil 2 after being injected with a grievous wound and going berserk.
Its body seemed to have been completely melted in the high temperature, and now it had turned into countless fluid tentacles responsible for support and movement.
These tentacles have no fixed shape and are constantly melting and reforming. Their surface is covered with a layer of yellowish-green pus that emits a strong acidic odor. Every inch they move corrodes a trail of white smoke on the hard obsidian ground.
His massive shoulder blades jutted out, densely studded with countless obsidian fragments and rusted iron nails that had been flung away during the explosion. These foreign objects had long since become fused with his flesh.
The crimson vertical pupils that originally belonged to the Ghost King now seemed to have lost control, randomly growing on his back, shoulders, and even the ends of his tentacles.
Dozens of eyeballs of varying sizes and murky appearance spun wildly beneath the skin, some staring at the ceiling, some at the ground, and some fixedly staring at a point in the void, their eyes filled with confusion, pain, and hunger.
What was originally the "skull" is now just a huge, indistinct mass of flesh.
There was no nose, no ears, only a rift that looked as if it had been haphazardly ripped open by a sharp blade. The rift stretched all the way to the chest cavity, filled with layers upon layers of jagged, shark-like teeth.
The enormous mouth did not close; instead, it opened and closed continuously, dripping corrosive saliva and emitting a series of indistinct whispers, like a broken radio:
"My flesh...it hurts...it's not enough...I want to...live..."
It crawled aimlessly through the underground palace, each wriggling movement accompanied by the terrifying sound of flesh tearing and regenerating.
It seems to be searching for something, or perhaps it is simply following the cell's most primitive hunger instinct to fill the energy gap.
Just as it had crawled across a slightly open area, a figure appeared silently like a ghost in the darkness not far ahead.
Pei Qi stood there quietly, the torch in his hand casting a long shadow on the cold obsidian wall behind him.
He didn't make any movement yet, and he even controlled his breathing very lightly.
But the moment he appeared, the monster, which had been moving slowly and seemed like a walking corpse, suddenly seemed to have been injected with a high concentration of adrenaline.
The dozens of eyes that had been darting around on its body miraculously focused on one thing at that moment, locking onto Pei Qi's figure.
"roar--!!!"
The crack on the tumor suddenly opened, and the previously indistinct whisper instantly turned into a shrill roar that could shatter eardrums.
Although the voice was distorted and hoarse, it was still possible to vaguely discern what it was shouting:
"Pei...Qi...!!"
Hatred.
It was a hatred etched into the DNA, deep within the nucleus of every cell.
Even if the brain has turned to mush and reason has collapsed, this name remains the deepest imprint on its soul.
The next second, the mountain of flesh moved.
With a terrifying burst of power completely disproportionate to its size, it pounced madly towards Pei Qi!
The thickest bone whip swept across with a whooshing sound, carrying immense force, attempting to smash the man before it into a bloody pulp.
However, this seemingly fierce attack, capable of shattering rocks, was full of flaws in Pei Qi's eyes.
"Too slow."
He simply took a small step to the side, his body moving as lightly as a willow catkin in the wind.
"Boom!"
The massive bone whip slammed into the obsidian floor beside Pei Qi, sending up a shower of debris. The seemingly indestructible obsidian was even dented with a white mark.
Pei Qi stood in the monster's blind spot, watching the rotten flesh that was still twitching wildly, trying to pull out the bone whip that was stuck in the ground. His eyes revealed a look of pity, but more so of mockery.
"How pathetic, Muzan."
Pei Qi's voice echoed in the empty underground palace.
"It's only been a short while, how did you become such an 'indescribable' monster? It seems that the fireworks display we prepared for you had a bigger impact on you than I thought..."