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Lu Changcheng stared into Ren's hate filled eyes, searching desperately for any trace of the brother he had known. The head felt warm in his hands, disturbingly alive despite being severed from its body. But those eyes... they held no recognition, no warmth, no hint of the bond they had once shared.
Is he really gone? The thought struck him like a physical blow.
Have I been fighting a corpse animated by consumed divinity this entire time?
Hope began to drain from his heart like water from a broken vessel. All the effort, all the risk, the Phoenix Feather he had sacrificed... had it all been for nothing? Was his little brother truly dead, leaving only this shell filled with cosmic horror?
But before despair could fully claim him, something changed.
The Sword of Pure Horror in his other hand began to pulse with dark energy. The black liquid that had been the being's dissolved form was still flowing into the blade, but now it seemed to be reacting to Ren's severed head. A mysterious force began emanating from the weapon, tugging at the head with invisible fingers.
Lu Changcheng felt the pull immediately. It was subtle at first, like a gentle breeze, but it grew stronger with each passing second. The head in his hands began to vibrate, as if something was trying to tear it away from him.
"No," he whispered, tightening his grip. "I won't let you take him."
But the force was relentless. It pulled with the weight of cosmic law, the combined power of all the divinity that Ren had consumed. Lu Changcheng resisted with every fiber of his being, pouring his cultivation into maintaining his hold on his brother's head. His knuckles turned white with the strain, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
The battle of wills lasted only seconds, but it felt like hours. Lu Changcheng's enhanced strength, his mastery of space and tribulation, even his legendary reputation meant nothing against this inexorable force. Whatever was happening followed laws deeper than martial arts or magical technique.
In the end, the head was pulled from his grasp like a leaf in a hurricane.
Ren's head floated through the air toward where the sword of pure horror lay on the obsidian ground. The bone weapon, which had been the being's primary instrument of terror, began to dissolve like salt in water. Its solid form liquefied, becoming a viscous gray substance that pooled on the volcanic glass.
As Ren's head drew closer, the gray liquid from the dissolved sword began to rise from the ground, defying gravity as it reached upward like grasping fingers. At the same time, the black liquid that had been the being's dissolved form poured from Sword of Pure Horror, flowing downward to meet its counterpart.
The two substances merged in midair, black and gray swirling together until they became a uniform silver gray liquid that pulsed with inner light. The combined essence writhed and twisted, as if alive with its own purpose.
The head tilted back, and its mouth opened wide. The gray liquid rushed toward that opening like a river finding the sea, pouring down Ren's throat with wet, slurping sounds that made Lu Changcheng's stomach turn. More and more of the substance flowed into him, far more than should have been able to fit in a human throat, as if he had become a vessel for something far larger than his physical form suggested.
Ren's eyes began to flutter closed as the liquid filled him. His expression shifted from hatred to something that looked almost like peace, as if he was finally being made whole after a long period of painful separation.
Then came the disgusting sound of flesh growing.
It started as a wet bubbling, like meat cooking in a pot. Then came the crackling of bones forming, the stretching of sinews, the squelching of organs taking shape. Ren's severed neck began to sprout new tissue, growing downward like some grotesque plant reaching for sunlight.
Lu Changcheng watched in horrified fascination as his brother's body reformed in midair. Shoulders emerged from the expanding neck, followed by arms that hung limp as kelp in a current. A torso bloomed like a flower made of flesh, complete with beating heart and expanding lungs. Legs sprouted last, kicking reflexively as muscles and nerves connected for the first time.
The entire process took less than a minute, but it felt like watching the birth of a new species. When it was complete, Ren floated naked in the air above the obsidian plain, his body perfectly human and unmarked by any trace of the cosmic horror he had been.
Then gravity remembered its job.
Ren's unconscious form began to drop toward the volcanic glass at an alarming rate. His body was completely limp, offering no resistance to the fall that would surely shatter bones against the unforgiving obsidian.
Lu Changcheng didn't hesitate. He used his Daoist Step Between Horizons to teleport directly beneath his falling brother, catching him in a princess carry just inches before impact. Ren's weight settled into his arms, warm and solid and blessedly human.
Hans watched the entire sequence with his mouth hanging open, too stunned to speak for several moments. When his brain finally processed what he was seeing, he had to bite his lip to keep from commenting.
If not for the serious situation, Hans thought, staring at Lu Changcheng cradling the naked Ren in his arms,
I'd probably shout "Ha! Gay!" out loud like that old meme. But I value my life, and he did just fight a cosmic horror to save his brother. Still though...
Lu Changcheng stood there holding his unconscious, naked brother and wearing the expression of someone who had just realized they'd volunteered for the world's most awkward babysitting job. The silence stretched between them, filled only by the settling sounds of the ruined dungeon.
"Ehh, Guild Master?" Hans finally ventured, his voice carefully neutral but with a suspicious quiver at the edges.
Lu Changcheng startled slightly, as if he had forgotten Hans was there. "What is it, Hans?"
"Maybe we should cover him up?" Hans suggested diplomatically, though his eyes were twinkling with barely suppressed amusement.
"Oh, that's right." Lu Changcheng looked down at his brother as if just noticing the naked situation. His face reddened slightly.
"I suppose walking around with a naked man in my arms would raise questions."
He knelt carefully and laid Ren down gently on the obsidian, treating him like fragile porcelain.
"Let me search for some clothing artifacts. I think I have some emergency robes somewhere..."
He began rifling through his storage space, various items appearing and disappearing. A tea set materialized briefly, followed by what appeared to be a collection of romance novels with shirtless men on the covers.
Hans coughed loudly.
"You don't have to, Guild Master," Hans interrupted before more embarrassing items could make an appearance.
"I have just the thing."
Hans pulled out an elegant black outfit from his inventory: an Umbral Gentleman's attire complete with a plague doctor mask. The clothing was clearly expensive, the fabric seeming to absorb light rather than reflect it.
"I found it laying on the floor a while back," Hans explained with studied innocence.
Lu Changcheng stared at Hans with half closed eyes, his expression skeptical.
"You don't plan to steal that, right?"
Hans cleared his throat with the enthusiasm of someone caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"Ahem, well, I just thought it might come in handy someday. You know, for emergencies. Naked brother emergencies."
"Whatever, Hans." Lu Changcheng waved dismissively, though his lips twitched with suppressed amusement.
"Please dress him up. I don't have a hobby of staring at naked men, and I'd prefer to keep it that way."
"Sure, Guild Master," Hans replied, moving forward with the clothing while muttering under his breath,
"Could have fooled me with that princess carry..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing, nothing at all," Hans said quickly, beginning the delicate process of dressing an unconscious person.
"Just commenting on the fine craftsmanship of this totally not stolen outfit."
As Hans worked, Lu Changcheng stepped back and tried to maintain his dignity. The plague doctor mask lay nearby, waiting to complete what was either a distinguished ensemble or the setup for a very strange joke.
"Well," Lu Changcheng said to no one in particular, "this has certainly been a day."
The obsidian plain shuddered around them as another section of reality decided to take a break. Time to leave this cosmic horror vacation spot and return to the world where the weirdest thing that usually happened was Hans's questionable acquisition habits.
But Lu Changcheng couldn't shake the feeling that their real problem were just getting started. And next time, he was definitely bringing a spare set of clothes.
END OF VOLUME 1: ABOMINATION