Chapter 366: The Flow of Blood Vessels
"Hmph, still talking tough when death is already at your doorstep."
The White-haired Woman looked at Asagiri, who was surrounded by several Rotten Warrior Evil Spirits, and suddenly began to chant.
"Ruler of the world! Mask of flesh, all creation, take flight..."
Seeing this, Asagiri immediately moved to interrupt her chant.
But just as he was about to step forward, a dark red great katana slashed at him first.
"Clang!"
Asagiri quickly raised the Rope Dart of Deathly Grievance in his hand to block.
Seeing two other katanas attacking from the side, a pure white Oracle Shield with black stripes appeared in his left hand, blocking the attacks of the other two Rotten Warrior Evil Spirits as well.
"Bang!"
With a dull thud, Asagiri's feet sank slightly into the ground.
Without any hesitation, he immediately switched his summoned Persona from Alice, who was of no help in the current situation, to Human Asura, who specialized in combat.
"That which bears the name of humanity! Scorching heat and strife..."
Hearing that the White-haired Woman's chant was about to end, Human Asura directly endured the slashes from the three Fallen Warriors' katanas, buying Asagiri a brief opening.
"Heh, too late."
The White-haired Woman watched Asagiri charge toward her, twisted madness appearing in her bloodshot eyes as she roared,
"Reverse the current across the sea to the south, step forward!"
At this moment, Asagiri had already arrived in front of the White-haired Woman.
The Rope Dart of Deathly Grievance in his hand stabbed fiercely toward her glabella.
Just as it was about to strike, the blood vessels on the ground suddenly swelled, burst through the earth, and wrapped around his ankles.
"It's over!"
The White-haired Woman raised her right hand, aiming her fingertip at Asagiri's face.
"Hadō #31, Shakkahō!"
"Castling."
At this critical moment, Asagiri made the safest choice.
He directly swapped positions with Human Asura, letting Human Asura endure the Shakkahō fired from the White-haired Woman's fingertip in a life for life exchange.
"Boom!"
The entire building began to tremble.
The rooftop was completely swallowed by crimson light. For a moment, rubble flew everywhere, and even the Players fighting ordinary Fallen Warriors in the distance could not help being startled.
[Your Persona Human Asura has been destroyed. Trait Final Rebirth has been activated. Holy and Fire resistance have increased.]
Asagiri was sent flying backward from a cloud of smoke, crashing directly into the wall of a building across the street.
Before he could regain his footing, he saw the blood vessels on the ground rapidly rupture.
The blood seeping out of them once again condensed into the three Fallen Warriors holding dark red katanas, along with the White-haired Woman.
"Do you feel your powerlessness, fragile human?"
Facing the White-haired Woman's taunt, Asagiri patted the dust off his body and chuckled lightly.
"I don't feel any pressure at all. Is this all you've got? Don't make me laugh."
"Still talking tough?"
Intense hatred emanated from the White-haired Woman's bloodshot eyes.
She raised her fingertip again.
This time, she skipped the chanting process entirely.
"Hadō #31, Shakkahō!"
In a burst of red light, the ground floor of the building instantly turned to dust.
Having lost its foundation, the building began to tilt and collapse slowly.
The dozen or so Players in the distance saw this, horror appearing on their faces, and immediately began fleeing at full speed.
"Bang!"
When the building completely collapsed, the ground within several kilometers began trembling violently, like an earthquake. Everything in sight shook and swayed.
"Hmph..."
The bodies of the White-haired Woman and the three Rotten Warrior Evil Spirits had also been destroyed by the collapsing building, but they reformed in an instant.
She looked at the ruins before her, a cruel curve appearing on her lips.
"Truly ignorant of death..."
"The game of make-believe ends here."
"What!?"
Hearing the voice from above, the White-haired Woman looked up.
She saw Asagiri floating in midair, looking down at her as he emerged from the gradually dispersing smoke.
"Not dead yet? Hadō #30..."
"Supreme Magic Bullet."
This time, Asagiri did not give her another chance to cast.
Circles of dark red patterns appeared around his body. In the next moment, a pillar of black light descended from the sky, directly engulfing the bodies of the White-haired Woman and the three Fallen Warriors.
Without a sound, the White-haired Woman and the three Fallen Warriors struck by the Supreme Magic Bullet instantly turned into nothingness.
The black pillar of light then plunged straight into the ground.
Rather than drilling into the earth, it forcefully penetrated directly into the dark red blood vessels.
At that moment, the entire area began to tremble, as if the owner of the blood vessels had felt intense pain and started to shake.
Asagiri followed the black trail left by the Supreme Magic Bullet from the air, flying several kilometers at extreme speed.
At last, he saw the black light of the Supreme Magic Bullet enter an office building and continue climbing upward.
Through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, he saw a dark red heart on the top floor of the office building, connected to dozens of thick blood vessels and pulsing continuously.
"Boom!"
As the heart exploded, the windows throughout the entire office building shattered instantly.
All the dark red blood vessels in this area rapidly shriveled and withered, completely losing their vitality.
...
Ten minutes later, on the streets of Kyoto City.
"So it was in that area after all..."
After listening to Asagiri describe the battle and the location of the area's heart, Iwanaga Kotoko did not show any surprise.
Instead, wearing an expression that said she had expected it, she spoke directly.
"I've already figured out the pattern of this Cursed phenomenon."
Iwanaga Kotoko pointed to the blood vessels on the ground, which had already turned ashen, and explained as simply and clearly as possible.
"Although it's invisible, if you reach out and touch them, you can feel that the blood inside these vessels all flows in the same direction, toward the location of the area's Heart."
After saying this, Iwanaga Kotoko looked at Asagiri.
"Although the enemy can condense again through the blood in the vessels, and the speed of condensation is extremely fast, I speculate that there are also weaknesses."
Asagiri nodded. He had already discovered the enemy's weakness.
"Blood supply, right?"
"That's right, the blood supply."
Seeing that Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Yamauchi Sakura all looked a little confused, Asagiri smiled and explained,
"The so-called weakness is actually aimed at the blood supply in the area. The enemy's resurrection has two conditions. First, there must be blood vessels nearby. Otherwise, it can only condense again from farther away. Second, the blood supply within the vessels in an area has a limit."
"Yes, exactly."
Iwanaga Kotoko followed Asagiri's words and continued explaining.
"Didn't you notice just now? When Shadow fought the enemy, the pulsing speed of the blood vessels in the surrounding area sharply increased. We also saw blood vessels bursting along the way because they couldn't withstand the excessive pulsing speed."
She looked at the ashen vessels beneath their feet.
"This shows that the more things are recondensed at the same time, and the stronger the power being condensed, the heavier the load on the blood vessels. Therefore, there is a limit to both the number and quality of enemies in an area."
Hearing what Iwanaga Kotoko and Asagiri meant, Kato Megumi murmured,
"In other words... Players actually shouldn't clear areas separately. They should gather all their strength and forcibly break through the load limit of the blood vessels in the area?"
"Yes, and it's best to attack from different directions."
Iwanaga Kotoko added,
"Although it isn't certain yet, if the Heart of each area is in roughly the same position as this area, probably near the very center, then launching attacks from different angles from the periphery means the central Heart has to supply blood to different directions over the longest distance. That will place a serious burden on the area's blood vessels."
Yuuki Asuna nodded slightly upon hearing this, then asked a question.
"But what if it chooses to target a Player team in one direction, or concentrates all the blood around the main body?"
"Impossible."
Asagiri waved his hand and chuckled lightly.
"For a Heart that is extremely fragile and has no ability to resist, as long as one team finds its hiding place, it's over. And precisely because the main body is too fragile, it doesn't dare to keep its main body within range of combat impact."
After saying this, Asagiri looked at the dozen or so Players standing in the distance and spoke calmly.
"So, we need these Players to help us divert fire. But there is still one variable."
Yamauchi Sakura tentatively asked,
"The Uncontrollables?"
"Yes, the Uncontrollables."
A thoughtful look appeared in Asagiri's eyes as he spoke softly.
"Based on the information we have, regardless of what the Uncontrollables did during the first half of the Dungeon, at this stage, would the so-called obstacles caused by the Uncontrollables merely be ambushing other Players?"
He paused briefly.
"That's unlikely. If that were the case, the system wouldn't need to send the same prompt to the four high level Players in our team. After all, we won't move together with other Players, so naturally, we won't be backstabbed by hidden Uncontrollables during combat. Unless..."
Kato Megumi spoke in a calm tone.
"Unless March is an Uncontrollable."
"Huh..."
Yamauchi Sakura shrank back. Looking at Kato Megumi's calm expression, she cautiously said,
"Phantom, don't say such terrifying things with a poker face..."
"Don't worry, you are definitely not an Uncontrollable."
Seeing Asagiri's confident expression, Yamauchi Sakura could not help asking curiously,
"Why are you so sure?"
Facing Yamauchi Sakura's curiosity, Asagiri gave a reason that left her feeling very speechless, but completely unable to refute.
"You're already this weak. What could being Uncontrollable even do? An Uncontrollable tiger can hurt people. An Uncontrollable hamster, at most, just runs frantically on the hamster wheel."
.....
https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]