Chapter 13: The Root
The dark clouds gradually dispersed, sunlight casting down on the foundation of the ancient castle. The surrounding withered grass, just touched by the sun's rays, began to spontaneously combust.
Su Xiao removed the Hunter Token from his blade. This item could be converted into 32 points of World Reputation, making the collection of relics even more important.
This current situation was something Su Xiao hadn't anticipated. When he had seen the Old Hunter Adam earlier, the man's condition was indeed terrible, but not to an uncontrollable degree.
The Old Hunter Adam had turned into this state not because of losing control. After Hunters lost control, at least part of their bodies would undergo Dark Demonization or Wraithification. For example, an arm might transform into a spirit body. Whether it was Dark Demonization or Wraithification depended on the Hunter's specific traits.
For someone like Old Hunter Adam, losing control would result in partial Dark Demonization of his body. If it were Female Hunter Tiffany losing control, she would undergo partial Wraithification.
There were no signs of losing control, yet Old Hunter Adam had become like this. Thinking of this, Su Xiao took out a can of spray and sprayed it onto the remaining remains of Old Hunter Adam.
The spray scattered, neither turning black nor transforming into ice crystals. This indicated that, within the last ten hours, Old Hunter Adam had not fought or come into contact with any Dark Demons or Wraiths.
Since it wasn't those two, Su Xiao took out another test tube. The liquid inside was so green it bordered on black, a highly concentrated Life-Characteristic Extraction Fluid.
Pouring this dark green liquid around the remains, a change occurred. Black tentacles, as thick as a pinky finger, sprouted from within the corpse. Seeing these black tentacles, Su Xiao's first thought was of the Ancient Gods.
He brought the [Divine Judgment] ring on his hand close to these black tentacles, but something unexpected happened. The [Divine Judgment] ring had no reaction whatsoever.
Seeing this, Su Xiao's right hand was covered in a layer of crystal as he tried to touch the black tentacles. The moment his right hand contacted one of the black tentacles, it suddenly split into dozens of tendrils, firmly latching onto his hand.
With a crack, the crystal layer encasing his right hand shattered. Su Xiao took the opportunity to withdraw his hand. He was now certain that these black tentacles did not originate from an Ancient God. The aura, feeling, and energy fluctuations were completely different.
Su Xiao had fought many Ancient Gods and killed quite a few, even coming into contact with ultra-high-rank Ancient Gods, such as the unknown Ancient God of Doom Town and the Underworld God of Doom Star.
These black tentacles gave off a feeling that was far too singular. They only had one type of aura fluctuation: Devouring. An endless, bottomless Devouring, like a massive maw surrounded by countless black tendrils, capable of consuming anything.
Suddenly, a possibility occurred to Su Xiao. He picked up a silver coin and tossed it into the split black tendrils in front of him.
The black tendrils instantly enveloped the silver coin. Two seconds later, the coin was ejected, landing on the ground, covered in a rust-like coating.
Su Xiao opened the team mail and looked at the two photos Bubu Wang had sent. He compared one of the photos, showing a large pile of rusted Hunter Tokens, with the silver coin on the ground. The corrosion marks and the color after corrosion were essentially the same.
The matter was now clear. The main body of these black tentacles was very likely the reason the Dark Prison had merged with this world. The Ghost used this thing to devour Hunter relics, thereby seizing World Force and accelerating the fusion speed between the Dark Prison and this world.
As for why Old Hunter Adam was affected by this thing, Su Xiao felt it was probably an incidental event. Old Hunter Adam's behavior pattern was too fixed. He always remained within the ancient castle. Whoever approached the castle, he would attack based on his pre-death hunting instincts.
[Tip: The Hunter has located the Root of Fusion.]
[After the Hunter destroys the 'Main Body of the Root of Fusion', the Main Mission will be completed.]
[The Hunter must immediately collect a sample of the 'Root of Fusion'. The Reincarnation Paradise will construct an Erosion Protection Mechanism based on this sample.]
...
Seeing these prompts, Su Xiao knew the Main Mission was on the right track and the direction was clear. All he had to do was destroy the main body of the Root of Fusion.
Furthermore, Su Xiao also figured out another issue: how those previous Hunters and Battle Angels had died.
They might not have been killed by the Ghost or any Dark Demons or Wraiths. They might have arrived in this world for just a few days, gotten a clear objective for the Main Mission, and then suddenly been eroded by the 'Root of Fusion', dying horribly.
The appearance of the Root of Fusion should be completely without warning. If it suddenly appeared inside one's body, especially in a vital spot like the heart or brain, even Su Xiao wasn't confident he could survive it.
"Lucky me."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang looked at Su Xiao with confusion, not understanding why he said that. Su Xiao felt he was lucky because he encountered an incidental 'Root of Fusion' erosion, and the target was a Hunter. Otherwise, he might have overlooked the subsequent handling.
Su Xiao reached out his hand. Crystal layer spread, enveloping the 'Root of Fusion' on the ground. This should only be a very small part of the 'Main Body of the Root of Fusion'.
After doing this, Su Xiao immersed the crystal in his hand into a solution and sold it to the Reincarnation Paradise for 0 Paradise Coins. This thing needed to be analyzed. Afterwards, the Reincarnation Paradise would provide a free Protection Mechanism to prevent Su Xiao from being suddenly attacked by the main body of the 'Root of Fusion'.
...
Inside the Dark Prison, under the murky and dark sky, a massive vortex slowly rotated, seemingly brewing something.
The earth was barren and withered yellow. In a certain hidden place, chains crisscrossed. A black, irregular sphere, a full dozen meters in diameter, hung suspended in mid-air. All the surrounding chains pierced through the black sphere, as if binding it there.
"Ghost."
A multitude of overlapping voices emanated from within the black sphere, male and female, old and young. The sounds, which should have been extremely chaotic, were forcibly merged together.
"Ghost."
After another call, a crack appeared. The Ghost stepped out from the crack and stood atop the black sphere.
"I'm busy. What is it?"
"God Hunter Kukulin has discovered us."
"Discovered you?"
The Ghost sat down on the black sphere, casually tossing a Hunter Token into the gaping maw that had opened on the sphere's surface.
"Thinking isn't my strong suit. 'Awaken' Douglas. Let him and that person from the Watch Guild join forces. The two of them should at least be able to hold off Kukulin."
The Ghost readily admitted he wasn't good at thinking. As for the other Dark Demons and Wraiths in the Dark Prison, who were only slightly weaker than the Ghost, they were all busy preparing for the arrival of the 'Dark World'.
As for what the 'Dark World' was, it was the name of the new world that would appear after the Dark Prison merged with the world. It was a name Douglas had chosen before sealing himself.
"No. Douglas has completely integrated into human society. He cannot be awakened before the final moment. Furthermore, the Watch Guild has rejected us. They would rather be destroyed than allow the 'Dark World' controlled by Dark Demons and Wraiths to appear. Only that person accepted us."
The consciousness within the black sphere spoke. Its name was Soul, and it was responsible for maintaining the stability of the black sphere, trying to avoid incidental attack incidents as much as possible. After all, the black sphere could ignore the barrier between the Dark Prison and the outside world, appearing directly in the outer world, albeit only a small part of it.
The Ghost began to think hard. Whenever this happened, he missed Douglas a little. When Douglas was in the Dark Prison, the Ghost only needed to fight and kill enemies.
"Soul, if we don't awaken Douglas now, we might not make it to the final moment. If the 'Fusion Root' is destroyed, everything is over."
The Ghost placed his hand on the black sphere beneath him. This was the main body of the 'Root of Fusion'. When not bound, it was a massive black maw with tentacles around its edges, devouring everything it saw.
"Ghost, don't you have the confidence to defeat Kukulin? This isn't like you."
Soul's voice began to waver, shifting from female to male.
"I am Destruction."
The Ghost clenched his right fist. His arms represented Destruction.
"Bai Ye is Sharpness. He can sever my Destruction before I shatter him. This is a counter in combat style."
Armor materialized on the Ghost's arms. He had already tested it; this armor couldn't block Su Xiao's blade.
"Bai Ye?"
"Mm, Bai Ye. Few people know this title of his. It's recorded in the confidential files of the Watch Guild. That person told me."
After several minutes of silence, the Ghost stood up and spoke: "Awaken Douglas. Make him remember his true name."
As soon as the Ghost finished speaking, a cyan-blue smoke ball floated before him. Soul was letting the Ghost decide for himself.
The Ghost hesitated for a moment before reaching out and grasping the cyan-blue smoke ball.
"Douglas, awaken. Remember your true name."
With a crackling sound, like glass shattering, the Ghost crushed the smoke ball in his hand.
At the same time, in Sodo City, at a murder scene, the smell of blood permeated the air, making the once cozy apartment feel deathly still.
"Chief, look! I found a fragment of the killer's clothing."
High heels clicked on the floor. Police Officer Vina quickly ran out of the bedroom, immediately seeing Detective Douglas sitting on the sofa, smoking, with a worried expression.
Detective Douglas had a peculiar way of smoking. He always lit two cigarettes at once. When others asked him why, he didn't know himself. It just felt normal. If he only lit one, he felt like he was sharing a cigarette with someone else, which was very awkward.
"Clothing fragment?! Good work, Vina."
Detective Douglas's face lit up with joy. He extinguished the two cigarettes in his hand and was about to reach out to take the clothing fragment Vina offered, when his body suddenly froze.
"Ah!!"
Detective Douglas's mouth opened wide, and he let out a miserable scream. His eyes bulged so wide it seemed the corners would split. He clenched his flat teeth tightly, saliva oozing from between them, dripping down the corner of his mouth in strings.
"D-D-Detective Douglas? What's wrong? Are you okay? Don't scare me."
Vina was terrified. Douglas was not only her superior but also an elder who had watched her grow up.
"Huff! Huff! Huff..."
Detective Douglas's breathing was as heavy as a bull's. He pressed one hand against his face. After a moment, his expression calmed, and the hint of cyan in the center of his pupils faded.
"Don't worry, Vina. It's the price of being exposed to too much of the supernatural. Sorry for scaring you."
"..."
Vina took a very small step back. For some reason, she felt that the person in front of her was no longer the Uncle Douglas she knew. This was her sixth sense, a very strong premonition.
The apartment suddenly fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. After a moment, a voice broke the silence.
"Little Vina, are you afraid of me?"