Delayed, But Damn Potent

The corruption from the Keras seeped into the Celas, rapidly empowering it as its body slowly began to twitch in response.

After it seeped all its corruption into the Celas, the Keras became weak, jumping into the two Society Members as the other Keras—that was engaging them until now—appeared before the Celas, also supplying it with corruption.

In a matter of seconds, both the Keras had been rendered weak as they had seeped all their corruption into the Celas.

"This isn't enough to bring it to its peak strength, but it can recover from this point onwards." The Keras said proudly when it was swallowed by a Whale.

"So what if you eat us? With Rhizen out of commission, the Celas would destroy you all." The other Keras smirked, watching the Celas get up as a suffocating presence emanated from it.

But suddenly, its legs collapsed as the Celas slammed into the ground, rapidly losing strength, shocking the Keras. "What the…?"

"Heh!" A Society Member smirked, aware that the Celas was hit by Rhizen's Bad Luck. So, there was no way it would ever recover to its peak.

Even at present, a minor defect would initiate a chain reaction in its body, leading to a major fault, like the shattering of its legs when it tried to get up, etc.

As the Bad Luck continued to churn within its body, the Celas was as good as done. This was also why they left it as is, for it was bait for the other powerful Aberrants that the apocalypse would churn out.

And as they had expected, two Keras were rendered useless in their efforts to strengthen it once again. With that, the two Society Members devouring the Celas used their Whales to kill and eat up the weakened Keras first.

Now, all that remained was the injured Keras that had been fighting against Dwun. It stared in shock before dashing towards the two Society Members, swatting them away while they were focusing all their attention on digesting the corruption they had swallowed.

It then arrived before the Celas, stating with a solemn tone, "So be it! If you can't regain your strength, then I'll do so in your place."

Five lines formed on its chest before parting open, blooming like the petals of a flower, revealing jagged teeth inside.

The petals expanded in size, grabbing onto the incapacitated Celas before devouring it.

Immediately after, spikes formed on its body as its severed limbs were regenerated. Same for its two shattered heads that regrow almost instantly, causing its body size to bulge in response, reaching a height of thirty metres now as the Keras opened its mouth and unleashed a guttural roar.

It was still digesting the Celas, but the spike in its body strength already made it confident enough to fight against Rhizen.

Moreover, a dense stream of corruption began to seep into it through the breach, empowering it further. It was apparent that the apocalypse was storing up its power in it next to take down Rhizen.

"Hahaha!" The Keras laughed, flexing its arms as one of them expanded in length to grab a Whale that was situated far away, clenching its hand into a fist, resulting in the Whale exploding into pulp.

"Dammit!" Felix stared in anger, for the attack of the Keras barely missed his family that was situated on the rooftop of a nearby building. If its hand had moved a bit differently, then his family would have been killed then and there.

"Is this where we'll die?" He muttered, indignant by this fact, wondering why he failed to accomplish anything in his second life.

"No, it's fine." Yulna suddenly heaved a sigh in relief, relaxing as her nervousness vanished, "The reinforcements are here."

"Reinforcements…?" Felix stared in confusion before noticing a lean lady had appeared before the arrogant Keras at some point in time.

"Hello there, ugly!" She waved her hand, staring straight at the entity that could casually squash her under its foot, "Don't lift your foot, please. You're damn smelly."

"You…" The Keras stared in anger at the lady that had appeared before it mysteriously, turning serious upon sensing the vast ocean of power within her. But right as it was about to take action, its stomach bloated before bursting in response, startling it.

"Eating that Celas was the worst decision you could take." The lady muttered as she gazed at the limbs of the Keras turn weak almost immediately as its cells began to die in response.

As its presence plummeted rapidly, she gently touched its foot, causing its figure to vanish, stating happily, "Alright, I've taken care of it."

"Shika, it's dangerous to store its body in your Origin Space. It's not dead yet." Yulna said in a fluster upon seeing the lady's actions.

"I'll slowly deal with it there." Shika smiled in response before gazing at Rhizen in all seriousness, "How did he end up like this?"

"It was the strongest Aberrant of this world. And it took a toll on him to use a power he didn't have much control over." Yulna said.

"It was the…Celas, right?" Shika heard the discussion around, muttering in response, "How long would I last against it?"

"A minute or two at most." Yulna said, "And even that isn't guaranteed."

"That strong?" She was shocked, sighing in response before snapping her finger. Immediately, thousands of Society Members appeared around them, instantly revitalising the atmosphere of the safe zone.

"Help everyone!" One of the newcomers took the lead, transforming into a Whale before charging out, rapidly eating up the Aberrants.

Immediately after, hundreds of Whales appeared, reducing the load on the safe zone as thousands of abilities were unleashed onto the Aberrants still within the safe zone.

They were quickly decimated and converted into Nacre as the breach in the barrier began to mend itself automatically. The quantity and quality of Nacre within the safe zone too began to increase in response as they began to push back the enemies.

"Hah!" Followed by a shout, Shika summoned a pearl pillar, stabbing it near the edge of the safe zone.

External Item—Tower of Purification (VIII)!

The safety zone rapidly strengthened as a result. And with the Nacre growing more potent, it allowed the Society Members to attack with greater vigour.

Moreover, a team of healers arrived to help all the injured people.

Once she had erected her Tower of Purification, Shika looked around to notice two of the healers converging around a youth in fluster. Upon noticing that the figure seemed familiar, Shika approached the place, stunned before shrieking in response, "How did Dwun end up in this state?"

"He was reckless from the start. But when the Keras breached through the barrier, he fought it despite being injured. And that lead to the corruption in his body becoming saturated." Yulna said.

"Tch!" Shika clicked her tongue, checking Dwun's pulse before kicking him in the stomach, "Weak bastard! You always boast your strength but look at you now."

"Hiek!" Dwun regained consciousness, shrieking in pain before shouting in alarm, "Idiot! This isn't the way to treat a patient!"

"Patient my ass! Get out that and kill some Aberrants. Make yourself useful." Snapping in response, she spat out some remarks before rushing toward Rhizen, helping him deal with the corruption as soon after, he too began to make a recovery.

"What's the history between you two…?" Yulna asked as her injuries were being treated, "Shika is gentle towards everyone except you."

"Gentle? Her?" Dwun raised his eyebrow, laughing as he said, "You…haven't recalled any of your past lives, right?"

"I didn't." Yulna nodded, "Saint Straxia said that I wasn't ready yet."

"No wonder you can comment about Shika like this." Dwun smirked, "Gentle and her don't go in the same sentence. She probably killed more people than me by this point."

"Then…?" Yulna was confused when Dwun raised his hand, motioning for her to stop probing any further.

"The lot of us have a complicated past. Before the society's establishment, we've killed each other a few times. Unless you recall memories of your past lives, don't bother probing for more information." Saying so, he got up, feeling that the corruption in his body had reduced to a certain level.

He thanked the healers, "I can take care of myself from here. Help the rest."

"Alright." The healers nodded before rushing toward the others with a severe state of corruption in their bodies.

As his Celestial Armour was in tatters, it wasn't wise for him to fight. Hence, he approached Rhizen to check up on his state, "Boss, you can puke if you want. I'll lend my shoulder to you."

"…" Rhizen stared at Dwun for a moment before facing the other side, acting like he hadn't heard him.

Upon seeing that he was ignored, as usual, Dwun took a seat, closing his eyes as he focused on his Origin Space.

As he was a Stage 8 Mystic Human, he had a considerably large-sized Origin Space, gazing at the eight Mutated Beasts swimming through the Nacre that filed up the place.

Among them, the rhino that represented his Celestial Armour was critically injured, bleeding all over, barely alive. But upon seeing that it hadn't died yet, Dwun heaved a sigh in relief, "Thankfully, it's still alive. Otherwise, I'll be damned."

"Raising the level of the Celestial Armour is damn taxing." He muttered, gazing at the four Horns on the rhino, observing the Nacre gradually seeping into its wounds, slowly but surely healing it.

Until it recovered fully, it would be wise to not use the Celestial Armour. And hence, Dwun couldn't do anything for the time being. After a moment of thought, he condensed a pair of boots, flashing to the top of a nearby apartment, taking a seat there as he observed the resounding booms happening everywhere.

The Whales swallowed the Aberrants as Society Members exploded the place into smithereens, destroying the Aberrants. And from time to time, the Aberrants would overwhelm some Society Members and devour them.

Dwun stared afar, sighing when he couldn't see an end to the horde that resembled a sea, groaning for a moment as he watched the sun beginning to set, "This wouldn't be easy…"