Chapter 335: Blacklight Virus Infected
Large, heavy dark clouds gathered in the sky, yet there was no lightning, no thunder, and no rain.
It was as if those clouds had been summoned by some unseen power for one purpose alone: to blot out the sunlight.
The surroundings were instantly plunged into a suffocating gloom. All sound seemed to vanish, leaving only the roaring screams of the Special Infected cutting through the air with piercing clarity.
Iwanaga Kotoko opened her eyes.
Her dark purple eyes became the only light in that dim world.
Black Particles condensed around her, instantly forming dozens of black humanoid IBMs. Immediately after, the ground, the air, the walls, and every visible corner of the area were covered by an overwhelming number of Pale Ghost Hands, swaying like a field of rice in the wind.
"Go."
The moment Iwanaga Kotoko uttered that word, the countless Pale Ghost Hands grabbed onto the bodies of dozens of Special Infected.
The IBMs she had created moved forward at once, cooperating with the Pale Ghost Hands to directly tear the Special Infected apart.
One minute.
A hundred meter radius.
At this moment, within this area, Iwanaga Kotoko possessed infinite mental power and greatly enhanced physical recovery. Combined with Black Particles and Pale Domination, even Asagiri in Human Asura Mode would find her extremely difficult to deal with.
Looking at Iwanaga Kotoko's petite figure, which now exuded a suffocating pressure like a true god descending upon the battlefield, Kaguya Shinomiya, Fujiwara Chika, and Hayasaka Ai could not help but show complicated expressions.
So this was the strength of a top tier player at this stage?
Kaguya Shinomiya had originally thought that there was only one tier of difference between herself and Asagiri.
Only now did she realize that it was not only Utsunomiya Asagiri. His three teammates, Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi, were also terrifying players standing at the very peak of the pyramid at this stage.
"No... this is too slow."
Iwanaga Kotoko, the very person displaying such astonishing strength, did not seem satisfied with the current speed of extermination.
She realized that relying only on the noise produced by Hayasaka Ai's horn would allow her to kill, at most, dozens of Special Infected within the one minute time limit.
The problem was not damage output.
The gathering speed of the monsters was too slow.
Iwanaga Kotoko had not used Netherworld Summoning simply to speed things up. Her goal was to clear all Special Infected within the one minute time limit. At the very least, she wanted to eliminate more than ninety percent of them, quickly forcing Walrider to lose its host and reducing the pressure Asagiri was facing.
At that moment, Kato Megumi, watching the battlefield unfold before her, also realized the problem as a teammate.
"Is there anything I can do...?"
Kato Megumi's thoughts raced, and a strange idea gradually formed in her mind.
Her exclusive ability was to reduce her presence.
Then what if...
This time, instead of reducing it, she maximized her presence?
Could such a thing be done?
Determination appeared in Kato Megumi's eyes, and she slowly clenched both hands into fists.
It had to be possible.
The moment that thought emerged, Kato Megumi's presence suddenly increased.
Yuuki Asuna and Kaguya Shinomiya, who were both near her, felt it most clearly.
It was as if their brains stopped thinking.
Everything in their field of vision vanished.
All they could perceive was the existence of that "shadow."
[Special Profession "Shadow Dancer" has been upgraded to Special Profession "Nightingale." Exclusive ability acquired: Dawn]
[Dawn: Player Kato Megumi's exclusive ability. Consumes mental power to greatly increase her presence, causing all targets within range to perceive the player's "existence" and forcibly attracting the attention of all targets. It can also be activated on a single target within sight.]
[Note: When cast over an area, the maximum range is a one kilometer radius centered on the user. When activated on a single target within sight, the effect is greatly enhanced.]
At that moment, every player and every Special Infected within a one kilometer radius centered on Kato Megumi sensed the existence of the "shadow."
For players, it was still manageable. After all, even physical class players had mental strength far above ordinary people. Although they perceived the "shadow's" existence, it only distracted them slightly, preventing them from maintaining complete focus.
But for Special Infected, which had almost no mental resistance, the effect of Dawn was extremely significant.
All Special Infected within one kilometer, whether they were fighting players or simply wandering, turned at once and rapidly converged toward the "shadow's" location.
...
On the other side, Asagiri, who was fighting Walrider, also sensed the aura of the "shadow."
However, due to Human Asura's passive immunity to mental effects, he was neither distracted nor affected in his concentration.
"Bang!"
Walrider lifted a car with both hands and hurled it toward Asagiri, but before the vehicle could reach him, Human Asura directly blocked it.
Compared to the beginning of the battle, the surrounding area had already become a mess. The road surface was completely cracked, and the nearby walls and houses had collapsed, making the place look like ruins after an earthquake.
"Huff... huff..."
Asagiri's breathing had grown slightly ragged.
In this continuous high intensity battle, his stamina was being consumed at an astonishing rate, and Crazy Mita had already been destroyed twice, further depleting his mental and physical strength.
Walrider gave him no chance to rest.
It instantly appeared from another direction, picked up a large chunk of stone from the ground, and hurled it over.
Asagiri raised his hand and punched, shattering the incoming stone into powder without even bothering to dodge.
"Are you in a hurry?"
Asagiri looked at Walrider floating there and asked softly.
"The Special Infected have mostly been cleared. Although I don't know where your host is hiding, once it's found, this battle will be completely over..."
Just as Asagiri spoke, a loud crash came from behind him.
"Bang!"
"Watch out!"
Hearing Sakurakawa Rikka's warning, Asagiri did not waste time turning around. He immediately activated Castling and swapped positions with Human Asura.
The instant they exchanged places, Human Asura's chest was pierced by a huge claw.
The owner of that claw was a man nearly two meters tall. He had a burly, but not bloated physique, and wore a thick overcoat.
At first glance, he looked like a human male. But upon closer inspection, one would notice that his skin and blood vessels were dark purple, almost black, and the pupils of his eyes were completely pale.
The next second, two more dark figures rushed over from a distance.
Sakurakawa Rikka's expression changed, and she immediately tried to control her shadow and reconnect with Asagiri, but one of the dark figures directly knocked her flying.
Crazy Mita, who tried to block the other dark figure, was also sent flying by a hammer-like punch.
Looking at the three enemies whose hands had transformed into claws, whip-fists, and hammer-fists, and at the black, pulsating cells forming their weapons, Asagiri immediately understood the seriousness of the situation.
"So that's it. Blacklight Virus Infected..."
Asagiri sensed a dangerous aura coming from behind him, and his black eyes turned golden at that moment.
"Human Asura Mode."
"Bang!"
After dark red patterns appeared across his body, Asagiri's fist collided with the hammer-fist enemy's hand.
Under the terrifying collision of their power, the ground groaned and cracked from the unbearable pressure. The air around them trembled and spread outward in visible waves.
"My strength is greater, but not by much. Their physical defense seems superior to mine..."
Feeling the slight pain in his arm caused by the collision, Asagiri muttered to himself.
Before his golden eyes could leave the hammer-fist infected, his peripheral vision caught a black whip sweeping in from the side. At the same time, he heard the sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air behind him.
"Castling."
Asagiri used Castling to swap positions with Crazy Mita.
As expected, under the attacks of the sharp blade and the long whip, Crazy Mita, as a Persona, was instantly destroyed.
But Asagiri, who had just completed the swap and had not even had time to catch his breath, was immediately forced into close quarters by Walrider.
"Did it predict where I would swap to...?"
Asagiri took Walrider's full power blow to the chest.
His body flew backward and crashed into a crumbling wall, instantly raising a cloud of dust and debris.
The next second, the three Blacklight Virus Infected charged rapidly into the dust.
Dust that would have obscured ordinary people's sight seemed transparent to them. It was as if they possessed thermal vision, allowing them to lock directly onto Asagiri's position and launch another attack.
The Rope Dart in Asagiri's hand pierced into the brow of the hammer-fist infected.
His left arm rose to block the incoming black whip, but there was no time to defend against the black blade.
"Crack."
Along with the body of the hammer-fist infected, Asagiri's left arm also fell.
Blood seeped from the severed shoulder, quickly staining the ground red.
"Sizzle..."
Asagiri did not hesitate.
He condensed a high-temperature Holy Cross in his right hand, then pressed it directly against the severed part of his shoulder, using the heat of the flames to cauterize the wound and stop the bleeding.
During that excruciating process, he did not even frown.
He merely opened his tactical headset and said,
"Use that ability, March."
.....
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