In the past when those two parasites entered my body and navigated beneath my skin trying to reach my brain, I had already experienced a bit of disgust. But that's absolutely nothing compared to what I just did with this new ability.
"..."
Observing the grotesque scene where the ghoul has dozens of hungry mouths devouring his own flesh from within, I feel goosebumps run across my entire body.
And I actually feel like vomiting.
"Damn it..."
I murmur while briefly looking away.
"Such a terrifying ability."
"What the hell is this?! Get it off me! Get it off me!"
The ghoul continues screaming with terror seeing and feeling what's happening to his own body. His screams are heart-wrenching and if I'm honest, pleasant to the ear.
I observe my new ability with fascination.
'Yeah, definitely too disgusting. I love it.'
At that moment something even more disturbing happens.
All the extra eyes that appeared on his body move simultaneously, directing themselves in my direction.
They fix directly on me.
Dozens of glassy bleeding eyes looking at me.
"You! Y-you! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?! MO-MONSTER!! YOU'RE A MONSTER!!"
Mr ghoul screams with all the mouths that open and close while chewing his flesh.
I feel Mr. Ghoul's emotional frequency through my sensory ability. And I'm surprised that a being could experience so much concentrated fear upon seeing me.
'What the hell did he see exactly in me to have so much terror?'
Even his two normal eyes suddenly explode like burst grapes. Only the other abnormal eyes scattered across his writhing body remain.
That said, it's funny that he calls me a monster, being a monster himself.
The ghoul falls heavily to the ground while desperately holding his head with both hands and starts crying like a child.
"Ah, right."
I clap my palms together.
"If I don't want the kakuhou and heart to be devoured too by those hungry mouths, it's better to act fast."
With that in mind I quickly approach him. I transform my fingers into sharp blades and extract the kakuhou located beneath his shoulder blade.
—Sliiirp!
Then I rip his heart directly from his chest.
—Spluurt!
I also notice a bulging wallet in his back pocket.
"Hehe... A wallet full of money."
I smile while weighing it in my hand.
"Well, this is also mine now. I don't have a single yen so thank you very much for this nice gift, Mr. Ghoul. You can rest in peace. Ah, and say hello to the lord of hell for me."
Since I just removed both his kakuhou and his heart, even before the mouths completely consumed his entire body, the ghoul is already dead.
However, the hungry mouths don't stop, and instead move even faster devouring with frenzy.
—Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
In very little time they literally consumed his entire body. Not even a bone remains. The multiple eyes slowly close one by one while the mouths stop chewing.
Then everything melts until it disappears completely. It's unsettling. It gives the sensation that nothing ever happened, except for the fact that there only remains a large stain of dark blood on the alley floor and the penetrating smell of something rotten and dead.
Ah, and also the heart and kakuhou in my hands.
First I eat the heart, swallowing large pieces.
—Gulp! Gulp!
I feel my hunger disappear and the sensation of emptiness in my stomach fills.
When I finish devouring the kakuhou I feel how my own special organ where I store RC cells increases in size below.
'It seems I'll need to eat a few more kakuhous to complete the second one.'
I think while evaluating my progress.
Also feeling something else that changed in me, I'm curious to try it.
I transform the index finger of my left hand into a sharp blade. Then I cut deeply into the palm of my right hand.
—Slash!
My blood spurts. It's even darker than before, almost completely black.
However, what really surprises me and at the same time delights me so much to the point where my heart beats wildly with excitement is that the wound releases small bright electrical currents similar to those surrounding my kagune.
—Bzzt! Bzzt!
And the flesh begins to close.
In a matter of seconds the wound is completely healed.
"Super fast regeneration!"
I exclaim with joy.
It may not yet reach the recovery speed of a ghoul and much less that of a vampire. But I only need to eat maybe one or two more ghouls to reach that level.
And if I manage to eat a vampire then maybe I could even recover a severed limb in just a few seconds.
Today thanks to this bastard I obtained a terrifying ability that reminds me of the Lovecraft stories I read in my previous life.
And also a regeneration I've always envied and longed for since I first saw a ghoul heal.
Ah, in my excitement, I forget something fundamental. My heart beats normally now. That means it's no longer as dead as before!
It's a productive day.
Wiping my blood-stained mouth with my sleeve I turn around. With my heightened senses I notice the winds colliding with the bodies of several people who seem to be running here.
"They'll arrive soon."
I quickly take out the gray scarf with black details that Rei gave me for Christmas. I wrap it around my neck and at the same time use it to cover the lower half of my face.
Then I jump with agility and run up the vertical walls of the buildings. Gravity gradually stops mattering to me. It would be great if someday I could fly.
—Fwoosh!
After reaching a safe distance I look back from a rooftop. I see two uniformed police officers arriving at the alley. They stop startled by the huge blood stain on the ground.
One of them takes out his radio and starts talking.
I pay no more attention to that and descend to the main street jumping between balconies.
Once on the crowded sidewalk I take out the wallet Mr. Ghoul so kindly gifted me. I begin counting the bills with gleaming eyes.
"Shit! It's a hundred thousand yen!"
"Hehe~"
It's the first time I've had so much money in my hand since I became this monster.
Smiling widely, I lower my scarf from my face so as not to look suspicious. I look to both sides of the streets as I walk blending in with the passersby, and seeing what I was looking for I nod satisfied.
I enter a large multi-story bookstore.
Due to some otaku friends from my past life, I liked light novels and manga. I used to read them almost every day.
However, this time I don't enter this place to buy those entertainment things. I'm looking for history and geography books.
In the Takagi mansion there's an entire room full of books where Saya regularly drags me to study together for hours. But unfortunately what I need wasn't there.
What exactly am I looking for? Well, books about the 24th Ward.
Because I definitely plan to go there soon.
×××
20 advanced chapters on Pa-treon.
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