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Chapter 40 — When Garbage Breathes
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Kiura stopped while holding onto the sewer wall, his fingers dug into the damp concrete, his eyes fixed downward.
The water…
was no longer water.
Its color had turned into a suffocating mix of dark green and brown, topped with mountains of rusted metals, decayed leaves, broken dolls floating with eyeless faces.
A place that did not belong to life… nor even to death.
He looked around cautiously.
No movement.
No sound… except his breathing.
And suddenly—
His heart slammed violently inside his chest, as if it had hit an invisible wall.
His body trembled, his hand slipped from the wall involuntarily, he began to stagger… one wrong step… and then—
He began to fall downward.
He crashed into a pile of garbage before the stagnant water swallowed him.
A suffocating cold, a weight dragging him down, and everything became slower.
He began to drown.
Kiura:
( This is bad… I can't move my body, my nerves aren't responding, damn it, what is happening?! )
He tried to swim, to push his body upward, but his muscles betrayed him.
Every time he moved… he didn't move.
He sank deeper.
And deeper.
His vision began to fade, the edges of the image dissolving, the light drifting away.
Kiura:
( Damn it… I'm starting to lose consciousness. )
And suddenly—
The sensation returned.
All at once, as if invisible restraints had shattered.
He moved his body forcefully, swam wildly until he reached the surface, clung to a pile of metal waste, and pulled himself onto it.
He lay there.
Gasping violently.
His chest rising and falling like someone who had just returned from the grave.
After a few seconds, he slowly stood up and began to look around.
Nothing.
Then—
A thick smoke appeared.
Not white… but colored like swamp sludge.
It crawled through the air, expanding, swallowing the place gradually, until visibility was completely gone.
And at the heart of that fog—
Two red eyes appeared in the distance.
Motionless.
Watching.
And at that same moment…
Kiura collapsed again, his body completely paralyzed.
Kiura:
( What is that thing? And why can't I move again? )
The eyes approached very slowly, as if their owner was cautious… hesitant.
Closer…
Then closer…
Until it arrived.
The monster appeared.
Its head was that of a rat,
It had rabbit ears,
Its fangs were long like a wolf's,
Its eyes were red,
Its fur was pitch black,
Its neck was long and smooth like a lizard's,
Its torso was massive, its belly and back resembling that of an elephant,
And its legs… pig legs.
A creature that should not exist.
It opened its mouth—
And it widened into a massive maw like a crocodile's.
But at that moment…
Kiura moved.
He dashed away from its mouth instantly.
The monster stepped back, then disappeared into the darkness.
Kiura:
( What is this strange monster? And wait… if the paralysis affecting me is one of its abilities, why was I able to move when it opened its mouth? )
He didn't finish his thought even—
He collapsed again onto a pile of garbage, unable to move.
And the monster returned, advancing toward him.
It opened its mouth again—
And Kiura escaped.
Kiura:
( I need to figure out its trick. )
The monster disappeared into the smoke, leaving no trace.
Kiura:
( Where did it go now?... It doesn't matter… that ability of its might be related to its eyes, because when it opens its mouth, its head tilts upward, and its gaze too… and that's when I can move. A strange ability. )
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"Revealed Information (Monster Form):"
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"That monster's form is not a coincidence. It is a creature affected by mana radiation, waste, and viruses… and since it is a magical being, its energy reacted with all those changes, turning it into this form. Originally, its form was just a feral rat, larger than normal rats."
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Kiura began to shout, his voice echoing through the tunnels, but the monster did not appear.
And suddenly—
From behind him, metal shards shot out at deadly speed.
He ducked instantly, grabbed a piece of glass, turned and threw it with all his strength.
Kiura: ( There. )
But nothing.
The glass passed through the smoke… and vanished without a trace.
And in the next moment—
The monster appeared from behind him.
It opened its mouth.
Kiura dodged the attack, but the strike hit his right shoulder.
Flesh tore, blood burst out, and Kiura stumbled forward.
And before he could turn—
The monster opened its mouth again, and from it emerged toxic smoke that surrounded Kiura completely.
He inhaled the air.
Tried to move away.
But the poison entered his body.
His nerves numbed.
His vision shook.
And despite that…
He remained standing.
Kiura:
( I can't fall… not until I eliminate you. Because if I fail… there will be a severe punishment like before. )
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The monster released a thick, toxic smoke once more from its mouth…
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It surged like a flood toward Kiura, slipping into his mouth and nose in an instant.
He staggered backward, barely escaping the heart of the smoke, his breathing heavy, his chest rising and falling violently, while the monster circled him slowly, like a patient hunter…
Its red eyes never blinking.
Kiura:
( What should I do?... The situation is becoming dangerous! I have to do something or I'll die here. )
And suddenly—
The monster's body vanished inside the smoke.
Its red eyes faded as if they had never existed.
A heavy silence settled… an uneasy silence… a deceptive silence.
Kiura looked around cautiously, his muscles tense, his senses screaming with danger.
And suddenly—
From behind him, metal shards scattered at deadly speed.
Kiura ducked at the last moment, the shards sliding over his head, he picked up a thin piece of metal from the ground, turned, and threw it with all his strength toward the smoke.
Kiura:
( This smoke is hindering me, and it's also smart… it uses the smoke as a curtain and attacks me because it can see me, and my body is starting to lose its energy. )
The attacks did not stop.
Shards appeared from his side…
Then from behind him…
Then from an angle he could not see.
And Kiura kept dodging, his body barely obeying his commands.
Then—
He sensed a dense energy a few meters away from his side.
He ducked quickly, grabbed another piece of metal and threw it toward the source of the sensation.
And at the same moment, shards appeared behind him.
He partially dodged them…
But half of them hit him.
His sides, his face… burning pain… but he did not fall.
Kiura:
( I can't do anything while all this smoke is present… I can't pinpoint its location… but wait… )
His thoughts stopped.
A memory from his teacher Kazu surfaced in his mind.
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"Flashback"
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Kazu:
( Don't try to sense things only with your instincts or head toward the source of dense energy and attack… that could be bad because some monsters or people can fake their locations to make you think they are there, but when you attack, they appear behind you and catch you with a lethal strike. )
Kiura:
( So what is the solution? )
The teacher:
( Simple… just let your spiritual vision reveal its location. )
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"Present"
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Kiura:
( That's it… I have to use it. )
A faint black energy emerged around his eyes.
The world changed.
What was hidden… became visible.
Faint blue magical energy particles beneath the water.
Tiny fragments floating in the air.
Threads of smoke… but not just smoke.
Two sources of energy.
One… the monster.
The other… a decoy.
Kiura mockingly:
( Found you now… you can't escape, garbage beast. )
But suddenly—
He fell.
Kiura with annoyance:
( Right… I forgot about its ability… I still haven't analyzed it yet. )
The monster approached slowly.
Step…
Then another step…
Kiura began talking to himself:
( If I think quickly…
First, when it opened its mouth it couldn't look at me, so I was freed from its ability… that's one point.
Second, when it was launching shards at me, its ability didn't affect me for some reason…
Third, if I combine the information, I conclude…
Ahhh… I haven't figured anything out… )
He stopped.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
Kiura:
( Wait… it seems that when it looks at me, its ability affects me… but this is still unlikely because it was launching shards at me and its ability didn't affect me…
But when I was looking at it, its ability was affecting me… which means…
That if our gazes meet, its ability affects me… but if only one side's gaze meets, the ability does not activate. )
A brief silence settled inside his mind.
Kiura with surprise:
( After thinking for a long time, I managed to analyze its ability… for the first time I use my brain like this!
But before being amazed… I need to finish it off first. )
And at that moment—
The monster had already come very close.
It opened its mouth, wanting to devour him.
But—
Kiura broke free from its ability.
And in one swift movement, he directed his hand straight toward its neck,
And stabbed it in its neck…
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To Be Continued…
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