303. Chapter 302: True Despair, Xia Shang's Dragon Transformation!
Boom... The sound was incredibly muffled, somewhat like the roar of a mechanical engine starting up.
"No, I have to get out of here quickly." Kuzen Yoshimura manipulated his Kagune, covering his ears, trying to block out the sound. Unfortunately, the effect was minimal. The engine-like roar carried a strange rhythm, penetrating his skin and reaching his heart.
Kuzen Yoshimura felt his brain buzzing incessantly, as if someone was constantly shaking his head.
Feeling a splitting headache, Kuzen Yoshimura's breathing intensified. His violently beating heart felt as though it would burst from his chest.
Just then, another muffled, powerful sound rang out!
Unable to bear it, Kuzen Yoshimura nearly stumbled and fell to the ground. His face turned pale, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood!
"That is..."
Kuzen Yoshimura forced himself to endure the discomfort and looked around. Unexpectedly, he inadvertently caught sight of Rize Kamishiro in the corner, her eyes tightly closed, unconscious.
Finally found her! He immediately went to Rize Kamishiro's side. Just as he was about to touch Rize Kamishiro, a cracking sound suddenly echoed in his ears.
Kuzen Yoshimura whipped his head around and looked towards the cocoon.
The pitch-black cocoon, with an outer shell like rock, began to shake slightly. Following this, cracks slowly spread across the entire surface of the cocoon. From the opening seams, a faint red light seeped out. After a few breaths, the red light radiating outwards became gradually deeper and more dazzling.
It was as if molten lava from deep Underground was flowing within the seams.
At the same time, the temperature inside the cavity rapidly climbed with the appearance of the red light. Soon, Kuzen Yoshimura smelled the scent of burning protein.
He looked down and saw that it wasn't just the flesh and blood on the ground being burned; even the Kagune covering his body showed signs of melting.
Kuzen Yoshimura had originally thought about destroying the cocoon before him, but now, if he didn't leave quickly, he would likely be roasted alive by the high temperature emanating from the cocoon.
"Forget it. The priority right now is to get Rize Kamishiro out."
He scooped up Rize Kamishiro from within the barrier, then his legs erupted with immense strength, and he turned and sprinted back the way he came.
His action seemed to have touched the dragon's inverse scale. Countless flesh tendrils drilled out from the flesh wall, rushing towards Kuzen Yoshimura in a frenzy.
Kuzen Yoshimura was currently in his strongest kakuja form, but entangled by the flesh tendrils, his stamina was depleting at an alarming speed.
Finally, he struggled to tear off the flesh tendrils wrapped around his ankles. Using his last ounce of strength, he raised his left arm, which had transformed into a bayonet-like shape, and violently slashed open the flesh wall blocking his path. Seeing a glimmer of light appear before him, he leaped! Bang! The next second, Kuzen Yoshimura, covered in blood and torn flesh, burst out from inside the dragon's body and fell heavily to the ground.
"Store Manager!"
Koma and the others waiting outside rushed to Kuzen Yoshimura's side to check his injury.
"I... I'm fine," Kuzen Yoshimura, his stamina completely depleted, said softly, supporting himself on the ground with his right arm and kneeling.
"He's practically a Superman."
Roma Hoito, seeing this, let out a cold laugh. She then extended her massive right arm and reached for Kuzen Yoshimura's head. If he were caught, Kuzen Yoshimura's head would likely be squeezed like a watermelon by Roma Hoito! At this critical moment, a cold flash of light streaked past. Immediately after, Roma Hoito's right arm flew into the air, spraying a large amount of blood. As soon as this blood touched the ground, it corroded holes into it.
"I didn't expect you would actually rescue Rize Kamishiro."
Kishou Arima suddenly appeared in the open space in front of Kuzen Yoshimura. As he sheathed his knife, he spoke with a hint of surprise in his tone.
Boom! The ground trembled again. The dragon, having lost its core, was like a stack of blocks being pushed over. The flesh and blood on its body continuously collapsed, and before everyone's eyes, that flesh and blood quickly turned black and shriveled.
At this moment, the dragon lying among the ruins became lifeless, like a withered vine.
"You... you really deserve to die!"
Nimura Furuta, who had come with Kishou Arima, saw the dragon's body continuously collapsing and trembled with rage. He wished he could slice Kuzen Yoshimura, who was kneeling on the ground, into a thousand pieces.
"If we send Rize Kamishiro back in now, maybe we can still save the dragon."
Roma Hoito, whose arm had been severed by Kishou Arima, said to Nimura Furuta.
"You want to send Rize back in? Did you get my permission?"
Matasaka Kamishiro appeared behind Roma Hoito with a flash.
"You want to betray us?" Roma Hoito manipulated the massive kagune body beneath her and looked disdainfully at Matasaka Kamishiro.
"When did I ever agree to join you?"
Several extremely thick bikaku instantly drilled out from Matasaka Kamishiro's tailbone. "Today, I'm taking Rize with me. No one can stop me."
With a boom, several bikaku slammed down onto the ground. Using the powerful thrust, Matasaka Kamishiro leaped high. Following this was a swift, accurate, and fierce whip kick that landed on the shoulder of Roma Hoito's kagune body. Bang!! A loud explosion erupted. The enormous Roma Hoito was actually kicked by Matasaka Kamishiro into the building ruins by the roadside.
Watching Roma Hoito, whose shoulder he had shattered, fly backward, Matasaka Kamishiro did not pursue. Instead, he used his bikaku to wrap up Rize Kamishiro on the ground and fled the battlefield.
Just as Nimura Furuta and the others were about to chase, the ground suddenly began to tremble.
Appearing along with the earthquake was an utterly terrifying shadow. The shadow tore open the dragon's skin and burst out from within the dragon's body.
"!!!" Nimura Furuta's eyes widened as he watched the dragon-shaped giant beast charge out from the smoke.
The giant beast raised its head and roared. Three pairs of ferocious, branch-like sharp horns seemed as though they would pierce the sky. Compared to the dragon formed by Rize Kamishiro, the colossal creature before him appeared even more grotesque and terrifying.
The dragon's body, hundreds of meters long, was actually covered in a layer of scale-like pitch-black bone spikes. From the gaps between the bone spikes, dazzling red light overflowed, as if lava was flowing inside.
Furthermore, what sent chills down everyone's spines was that the dragon feet growing on either side of the monster's body were actually sharp claws resembling human hands. Under the faint moonlight, the creature was like a demon god crawling out from the depths of Hell, inflicting deep despair upon the world.
Strength! Xia Shang felt a strength he had never experienced before. He slowly lowered his head, looking down at Nimura Furuta and the others on the ground, who were like ants. Then, he opened his massive mouth and roared! Boom! The enormous storm formed by the Shockwave instantly swept across the ground. Amidst the roar, large numbers of buildings were leveled.
(end of chapter)