Chapter 378: The One Who Glimpses the Future
"You really know nothing."
The moment Asagiri changed into his equipment, Iwanaga Kotoko also put on her masquerade mask.
As for her clothes, the dress she was wearing had originally been transformed from the Phantom Dress, so there was no need for her to change separately.
"Persona, Alice."
The moment he summoned Alice, Asagiri held Iwanaga Kotoko with one hand and ascended into the sky alongside Alice, looking down at the thirty or so enemies below.
"It's actually Shadow..."
The people from Laughing Coffin and the Sakurakawa Family had never expected that the fishing plan they were carrying out, originally intended to eradicate Iwanaga Kotoko, known as the God of Wisdom, would actually reel in the strongest Player at the current stage.
The boy following her was the champion of the Tokyo tournament, the one who had won it single handedly.
The strongest Player whose name alone was enough to make people feel breathless.
Shadow.
No wonder.
No wonder the companions they had sent to assassinate the God of Wisdom last time had ultimately disappeared without a trace, to the point where not even their corpses could be found.
Looking at Asagiri standing in the air and gazing down at them from above, most of the Players had only one thought in their minds.
I'm fighting Shadow?
Really?
And neither Iwanaga Kotoko nor Alice had any intention of giving those enemies time to react.
"Pale Domination."
Iwanaga Kotoko reached her right hand toward the ground. Her deep purple eyes glowed with an eerie light as she began summoning the Pale Ghost Hand.
Meanwhile, Alice, who was flying in the air with her black wings gently fluttering, extended both hands. Her voice was cold, devoid of any human emotion.
"Cursed Blood Prison."
Alice's Curse attribute power condensed into three dark red hearts that beat incessantly.
The blood vessels extending from those three hearts touched the ground, and the instant they did, they spread wildly through the surrounding area like a terrifying plague. In less than two seconds, the blood vessels covered the ground and the abandoned building.
"Damn it..."
Seeing the Pale Ghost Hand summoned by Iwanaga Kotoko and the dark red blood vessels summoned by Alice already attacking their side, one of the Players with long range attack capabilities raised his hand toward Asagiri floating in the air.
Pale blue lightning appeared in his palm.
"Thunder..."
However, before the Player could finish gathering the lightning in his hand, a dark red blood vessel suddenly grew from the ground and pierced straight through his skull from his chin.
Immediately afterward, several more blood vessels emerged, piercing through his body and frantically devouring his flesh as if feeding.
In an instant, the Player's corpse became an empty shell with only skin left.
"Hide inside the building!"
Watching the Pale Ghost Hands and dark red blood vessels slaughter wantonly, while their side could not even launch an effective counterattack, the young man who had fused with the Heart immediately led his remaining companions into the abandoned building.
"Hide!"
The young man ran up the stairwell and did not stop until he reached the depths of the fifth floor.
When he turned around and saw that of the original thirty three Players on his side, less than half were still alive after less than five seconds, and that the remaining survivors were all pale with fear, their bodies trembling uncontrollably, a complicated expression appeared on his face.
"Shadow... the one beside the God of Wisdom is actually Shadow..."
A Player wearing a Laughing Coffin uniform slumped against the dirty wall, panting heavily. Judging from his expression, he was clearly on the verge of collapse.
"That's a monster... We can't win... Let's just run away..."
"Run away?"
The young man looked at the Laughing Coffin Player coldly and spoke slowly.
"Run where? Our faces have been seen by that guy, and his face has been seen by us. Do you think even if we barely escape from here, that guy will let us go?"
His voice grew colder.
"While he and the God of Wisdom's companions haven't arrived yet, killing him and the God of Wisdom is our only path to survival."
The young man looked at the fearful Laughing Coffin Players, undisguised disgust and contempt appearing in his eyes.
Although they were in a temporary cooperative relationship, he completely looked down on these people.
They were clearly a Player guild specializing in PvP, always killing other Players to snatch phones, yet when it came to a moment where they truly needed to bet their lives, they turned into cowards.
In the end, they were just a group of cowards who bullied the weak and only dared to act arrogant when they held the advantage.
Meanwhile, outside the building.
"Bang!"
Iwanaga Kotoko took a signal gun from her arms, raised it, and pulled the trigger toward the sky.
Before conducting today's investigation, she had naturally considered all the dangers they might encounter.
The possibility of mobile phone signals being jammed was also something she had taken into account. That was why she had brought along the red signal gun Miwa Ashikaga had prepared for the group.
"Should we go in?"
"No."
Looking at the abandoned building in front of him and hearing Iwanaga Kotoko's question, Asagiri merely shook his head and spoke in a flat tone.
"Let's wait for them to come over. Although this bunch looks weak, it's better to be cautious..."
Just as Asagiri was halfway through his sentence, a black shadow suddenly darted out from the upper levels of the building, smashing directly through the wall and fleeing into the distance at astonishing speed.
"Go."
Without needing any special communication, Iwanaga Kotoko understood Asagiri's meaning with just an exchanged glance and immediately made a decision.
"Our goal is to annihilate these guys. Leave a Persona with strong melee capabilities here with me, and you go chase that fleeing guy."
"Alright."
Asagiri nodded and canceled Alice's summoning.
After growing up, Alice had gained autonomous combat capability, but she was still a caster type biased toward mid to long range combat. If she was paired with Iwanaga Kotoko, who was also a control and output type, a melee type Persona would be more suitable.
"Persona, Mita."
After summoning Crazy Mita, whose abilities were balanced and who was best at using equipment, Asagiri took out the Oracle Shield and handed it to her.
Then he ascended into the sky and flew after the direction the black shadow had fled.
...
A few minutes later, on a commercial street in Kyoto City.
"Bang!"
Pedestrians on the street saw a black shadow approaching from the distance at astonishing speed.
While they were still confused and did not know what was happening, another black shadow, like a comet, descended directly at the entrance of the commercial street at a speed nearly invisible to the naked eye.
"Your speed is quite fast."
Seeing Asagiri blocking his path, the young man with a long sword at his waist stopped.
Facing the legendary strongest Player, Shadow, alone, there was no fear on his face. Instead, there was an eager excitement.
"The strongest Shadow?"
The young man drew the long sword emitting dark green light once again. He looked directly at Asagiri standing there and spoke slowly.
"You are just a fragile mortal, while I have transcended humanity and mastered the power of the gods. I am the true strongest."
"I don't understand what you're posturing for."
Asagiri shook his head, took out the black gun shaped summoner, held it in his hand, and spoke indifferently.
"I can't be bothered to talk nonsense with you. You're not worthy of listening."
"Persona, Human Asura."
Seeing Asagiri summon Human Asura, whose skin was covered in dark red glowing patterns, the young man narrowed his eyes slightly.
A set of dark yellow, worn leather trench coat equipment with dark red traces like blood stains appeared on his body. He raised the long sword in his hand and spoke softly.
"It's useless. With that power, I..."
As he spoke, the young man suddenly tilted his head, dodging the Rope Dart of Deathly Grievance thrown by Asagiri by a hair's breadth.
He immediately retreated several meters, just barely avoiding a heavy punch from above by Human Asura.
"I can see everything now."
"Oh, is that so..."
After just one exchange, Asagiri had already grasped the opponent's ability.
"Able to predict my movements? Interesting."
With Asagiri's observational skills, he could naturally tell that the young man had already started dodging the moment he prepared to throw the Rope Dart.
That strange sense of dissonance, combined with the previous discussion he had with Iwanaga Kotoko about why the Uncontrollables knew that the Heart in the previous Dungeon could be fused with, made the answer obvious.
This young man had also consumed the flesh and blood of the two yokai, the Mermaid and the Kudan, gaining the ability to predict the future to a certain extent.
"You are not the strongest at all."
A heartbeat like thunder erupted from the young man's chest.
Due to the influence of the Cursed Object fused within his body, it was clear that his emotions were becoming increasingly manic.
"I, Sakurakawa Dan, am the true strongest Player!"
"Way of Destruction #63, Thunder Roar Cannon!"
Seeing lightning erupt from Sakurakawa Dan's fingertips, Asagiri quickly ascended high into the air to dodge.
When the pedestrians in the distance saw this, they could not help gasping and began fleeing in panic.
"As expected, he dodged it..."
Using his ability to predict the future, Sakurakawa Dan had known the exact evasion method Asagiri would choose the moment before launching his attack.
A strange smile curled at his lips as he watched Asagiri ascend.
He suddenly opened his mouth, and a dark red blood vessel emerged like a fierce python, winding toward Asagiri in the air.
To deal with Human Asura, who was still on the ground preparing to attack, he also took out a blood stained bell emitting a strong Cursed aura from his pocket.
"Ushi-oni!"
.....
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