abcnovels
Chapter 41: Hidden Meaning
Chapter 41: Hidden Meaning
"Just…kill...me...already, you monster," James muttered weakly through gritted teeth. His body was locked up by blood tendrils, his hands and legs bound, his clothing torn, and his skin marred by superficial wounds inflicted by Anna.
She ensured not to strike vital parts, prolonging his suffering and preventing a quick death.
"You.. Will.. Pay…" Exhausted and unable to break free, only his sheer willpower sustained James's ability to speak.
He had hoped to at least inflict some damage on the demon he fought by waiting for Anna to tire out, but he was defeated before that even happened.
As James strained to lift his head, his gaze met the demon who had mercilessly overwhelmed him. In that moment, he understood why his team was defeated so one-sidedly.
He could tell that Anna was already in the level of a High Demon. She might have just reached this level, but her intelligence made up for her lack of power compared to others.
He also glanced at the ugly monster beside Anna but didn't see anything special about it.
It was just a lower-ranked demon whose IQ was normally too low to even be a threat to a well-prepared Hunter.
SLAP!
Anna's hand struck James sharply across the face.
"How dare you look at my Reign like that!" she gritted her teeth in anger, her eyes flashing with fury.
She felt insulted of how James gazed lingered on her beloved , and it only fueled her rage further.
'My Reign? Since when did this woman think she owned me?' Reign grumbled to himself, feeling a surge of irritation.
He hated it when others acted like they owned him; it brought back painful memories of his past life, where he was treated like an object.
"Hey..." Reign protested, wanting to set things straight, but before he could say more, Anna started slapping James again.
SLAP!
SLAP!
SLAP!
The sound of her brutal beating echoed nonstop, and her eyes were filled with killing intent. She was doing all of this because she felt really irritated.
It was clear that her frustrations were manifesting in her actions, and Reign could only watch in silence as she vented her anger.
"Did you want to say something, Reign?" Anna asked with a wide smile, her face tainted with James's blood, making her appear both beautiful and wicked at the same time.
"Ah... nothing," Reign replied, deciding not to push his luck for now. It was better to keep quiet and avoid further confrontation with her.
He realized that Anna's evolution had made her even crazier. If he said the wrong words, she might lock him up forever.
No, there was no doubt about it.
Judging by how crazily she acted, he was pretty sure that she would lock him up if she saw that he was planning to escape.
The thought sent a shiver down his spine, and he resolved to tread even more carefully around her, knowing the consequences of crossing her.
"I see, Reign how about you eat him now ? It's look like his going to die soon," Anna responded.
'And who do you think made him like that?' Reign scolded her in his mind.
He thought he was crazy, but he felt like a sane person compared to her.
Are all demons like her? He hoped not.
Refocusing his thoughts, he began consuming James. With each bite he took, the meat and bones crunched together, dissolving into nothingness.
The blood oozing from the ruptured organs started to also flow towards Anna, her pores absorbing everything like a vacuum.
Eventually, all that remained were fragmented bones, his katana, and tattered shreds of clothing.
A sigh escaped his lips, heavy with disappointment, as he whispered softly to himself, "No darkened heart..."
It looked like there were some requirements for that thing to appear, and James did not have them. Reign felt a pang of frustration at the missed opportunity, but he knew he had to move on.
[Level UP+1 ]
[System : Mutation Option Available ]
>> Scorpion Venom
>> Scorpion Pores
[The host had devoured a human who practiced the Scorpion Breathing Technique. All the parts of the human body had mutated and evolved to cope with the power of this technique. However, due to the human lack of talent , the effectiveness of this mutation had degraded to only 30% ]
—
[ Scorpion Venom : 3 Skill Points]
[Effect: Ability to secrete Scorpion venom into host claws. Can be used alongside Viral Slash.]
—
[Scorpion Pores: 3 Skill Points]
[Effect: Ability to secrete smoke from host pores. Can be used alongside Viral Slash, but the effectiveness of the virus would be heavily restricted if the virus lacks the Air Transmission Trait.]
'The Scorpion Venom is good, but I can only afford to buy one skill for now,' Reign muttered, disappointed that he lacked the skill points to purchase everything.
In the end, he decided to go with the Scorpion Pores because it was the thing he needed right now.
The transformation this time was quicker, and he only felt a little bit itchy, nothing more.
Next on the agenda was the girl. Unlike James, she started begging for her life, but it was futile because she was talking to a bunch of cold-blooded monsters.
Reign consumed her like any other, without any bias at all. For Reign, his eating habits did not discriminate based on gender. He was what others would call a gender-neutral monster.
[Level UP+]
Reign experienced an unexpected level-up.
Surprisingly, the girl he had thought was the weakest actually gave him more experience points than the other two.
Or perhaps it was James, whose impact had a massive effect, and the girl just pushed the level up.
Regardless, this was good news for him.
[System : Mutation Option Available ]
>> Mantis Eyes :
>> Mantis Skin
Reading the skill description, it was an easy choice for Reign to pick the Mantis Eyes. The advantages and effects were so good that he felt the three skill points were a worthy investment.
With 16 types of photo-receptor cells, having these eyes would allow him to perceive colors and polarized lights in ways humans could not fathom.
His vision might be good during the night, but the sun made him almost blind during the day, which was a big disadvantage. However, with this new skill, he no longer had to worry about that.
'Maybe if I could consume more powerful organs, I could also find a way to bypass my weakened state during the day,' he thought to himself, the prospect exciting him.
Speaking of day , he thought of something he found weird.
'Wait, why the hell did these people come at us during the night? Don't they know that we get weaker in the morning?' Reign thought to himself, puzzled by the attackers' timing. It was a foolish move to confront them when they were at their strongest.
'Maybe it's just a coincidence?' he guessed, trying to rationalize the hunters actions.
Little did Reign know, the real reason for all this was that he was the only one severely weakened in the morning, unlike normal demons.
Even Anna could still kill the three during the day without issue. While she might find the sun bothersome, it wasn't to the point that she would be useless.
Demon Hunters paid little mind to whether they pursued demons during the day or night, save for a select few powerful ones.
"You're growing too fast,," Anna's cold voice snapped Reign from his thoughts, leaving him with a sense of unease as if her words had some hidden meaning.