A/N: I'm not going to look for a job anymore since I can't find one anyway.
So there will probably be daily updates
×××
"Damn brat! What the hell did you do to me?!"
I bring a finger to my ear and clean it while looking expressionlessly at the ghoul who screamed those words with fury.
Well, his shock is understandable considering he was mentally manipulated a few minutes ago. Achieving that control was thanks to having previously consumed living parasites that gave me a great natural affinity with the frequencies of all things. Especially with living beings.
I can exert the force of that frequency directly from my brain, expanding it outward. They're like invisible waves. I make that frequency mix with my words to influence the target's brain.
Then the effect I call 'Mind Control' occurs for lack of better names. And because honestly I'm quite lazy about finding creative names for my powers.
Of course, although I call it Mind Control, it's not as outrageous as Mrs. Kiriko's. She can manipulate numerous amounts of people at the same time effortlessly. Being a vampire she probably can even erase others' memories, or replace them with false memories she wants to implant.
Mine on the other hand can only influence my target's perception and make them follow my words spoken aloud.
They must be subtle commands because if I suddenly ask a person to strip naked and dance through the street, it definitely wouldn't work. Much less could I erase memories or replace them.
And another critical point is that it has to do with a person's mental resistance or willpower. For example, if my target has very high mental resistance or unbreakable willpower, my Mind Control would have no effect.
Fortunately I myself have a very high mental capacity thanks to the improvements from parasitic frequencies that accumulated in my brain. And they even granted me mental resistance to resist against external mental manipulations. Though I don't know how effective it will be once I face a powerful vampire.
The ghoul before me clenches his fists with rage.
"Why do you help a human? Aren't you also a ghoul?"
"It's none of your business."
Mr. Ghoul's eyes gleam before showing a wide smile full of sharp teeth.
"I see! So you're raising your own personal food. Isn't that right? Hahaha! How clever you are, brat. Letting her grow a bit more before devouring her."
I shrug without dignifying that with a response.
Then I appear before the ghoul.
Taking advantage of him laughing hysterically without his guard up, I clench my right fist with all my strength. I bend my body slightly to get more momentum.
Then...
—Ghuooohh!
I strike his exposed stomach.
The hysterical laughter stops abruptly. His eyes open wide as does his mouth, from which a large amount of saliva mixed with blood comes out.
His body bends around my fist. Then he's thrown backward like a cannonball fired at high speed.
—Fwoooosh!
The ghoul is violently dragged dozens of meters across the alley floor. He bounces several times against the pavement before his head brutally hits the hard concrete.
—Crack!
He gets up staggering. I see blood spurting from his shattered head. The clothes where he was hit are in tatters, exposing his stomach that was penetrated by my fist.
In one or two seconds I observe how his wound heals quickly.
"Eh, I want that too."
In fact, my current regeneration is slightly greater than a human's, which is a great improvement from when my flesh was dead and couldn't regenerate so quickly. But still, my current regeneration isn't useful during battle.
Mr. Ghoul looks up at me with hatred in his red and black eyes.
"Interesting that you have so much strength despite being just a brat. What the hell have your parents been feeding you? Damn it!"
He spits blood on the ground.
"Even I who have done ghoul cannibalism a few times feel envious."
I show a smile while walking slowly toward him.
"I've eaten ghouls, parasites, quinques. And I have vampires as my next target."
"Huh? Parasites and vampires? What nonsense are you talking about, brat?"
He shakes his head.
"Well, it doesn't matter. This is my hunting ground and I can't allow another predator to live around here invading my territory."
—Splash!
The ghoul's clothes tear behind him and just below his shoulder blade his flesh opens.
His kagune appears emerging as a pulsating mass.
Seeing this I'm disappointed.
"So it's another Koukaku Kagune."
I honestly hoped this time my enemy would be a Rinkaku-type user. I myself have a developed Rinkaku so it would be good to eat one of the same type to see what effects it has on my already awakened kagune.
Maybe I'll find a way to make my own Rinkaku evolve even more because I have the feeling my current kagune hasn't remotely reached its true power limit.
But it doesn't matter. After all, any type of kagune is excellent fertilizer for me. It'll help me grow my second kakuhou that's still immature.
So I mentally welcome Mr. Ghoul who's running toward me. His kagune has the form of a huge and heavy gleaming crimson sword. If wielded with all his strength against a normal human, it would surely manage to crush their bones and flatten their flesh against the ground into a bloody paste.
I summon my own kagune feeling the sensation of my flesh opening.
—Splash!
My dark tentacles emerge from my lower back. I mentally manipulate one of them to impact against the giant sword falling toward me from above.
—Boooom!
Through my kagune I feel the enemy's hard kagune exerting force.
But he only has one sword. In contrast, I...
I make my remaining tentacles strike the ghoul in his ribs.
Mr. Ghoul is thrown to the side. His body crosses through the air until he's buried deep in the concrete wall of a nearby building.
We're in a dark alley so normally it wouldn't attract much attention from passersby. But since I just caused a huge crash and the building itself shook, it's likely someone will come to investigate soon.
But honestly? I don't care. As long as they don't know who I am.
There's anger burning in my heart because of this damn man who wanted to kidnap my friend. If this had been before recovering my memories, I would undoubtedly have exploded with uncontrolled rage since I was impulsive.
However, now that I've recovered at least thirty percent of my memories from my previous life, at least I can contain my violent emotions to a certain extent.
Though of course that doesn't mean I won't unload all those negative emotions on Mr. Ghoul's face.
I approach him as he's trying to get out of the hole in the wall.
I start hitting him.
Again and again.
—Bam! Bam! Bam!
His face swells, turning blue and purple from the bruises. Even with his rapid regeneration, his face never manages to heal completely before I hit him again.
In fact, I'm quite satisfied with this regeneration since it turns him into an excellent training dummy to unload all my anger without him breaking.
Hehe...
At that moment while my anger slowly discharges, I start to see the walls and floors around me transform into masses of pulsating and wet flesh at the same time screeching incomprehensible voices assault my head.
In response to that I clench my teeth together tightly.
And I hit even harder.
—Bom! Boom! Booom!
The ghoul sometimes tries to put his kagune in front of his destroyed face to protect himself. But under the brute force of my blows they're easily pushed down to crush his own face against the concrete.
As the murmurs stir even more intensely in my mind, and even the ghoul himself transforms into an amorphous mass of flesh in that disturbing illusion...
I feel something happen.
An audible click in my mind that reminds me of a metal chain breaking.
Among the thousands of incomprehensible murmurs attacking my mind, only one phrase begins to become clear while the other murmurs are still unrecognizable.
But that phrase says:
'Flesh dreams of biting itself, and every eye aches for a sibling.'
I instantly move away from the ghoul whose face is buried in the cracked ground.
I direct a strange look at him while processing what just happened.
When I felt that mental chain break and understood that phrase, the horrible illusion shattered. The walls returned to normal and the murmurs gradually disappeared until they were silent.
Then I obtained something.
A new ability.
No.
Could this thing even be considered an ability?
How to say it correctly? Mm... 'too disgusting' might be the best description.
No longer receiving brutal blows, the ghoul's face quickly regenerates before he jumps to his feet.
"Damn fucking brat!"
He curses me in a hoarse voice full of hatred.
I smile widely.
"I have an interesting new trick. Want me to try it on you?"
Then I direct all my attention to the ghoul preparing his kagune-sword for another attack.
According to that phrase I just understood...
Frequencies extend from my brain, and although they're not visible to the eyes, I can feel them surrounding the ghoul.
At that moment...
The ghoul's skin bulges in multiple places, tears and bleeds. From those newly opened wounds emerge small sharp teeth sprouting from the flesh.
They give him the appearance of having too many hungry mouths chewing and devouring his own flesh from within.
While on his cheeks, on his forehead and on the palms of his hands suddenly open eyes with glassy and lifeless gazes. From which tears of rotten blood flow.
×××
20 advanced chapters on Pa-treon.
pa-treon.com/OlwinMoriarty