Deep in the Living
Chapter 309 - 297: Back

Chapter 309: Chapter 297: Back

Boom!

The door to the underground chamber was cleaved apart and kicked open by something.

A pitch-black crawling creature arrives at the skull device, emitting the stench of decayed brain matter, with the utmost speed.

Once ascertaining that this immensely precious item was undamaged, his frantic gasps gradually ceased.

The strangely structured and scaled spine slowly reverted to its most primal state, exhibiting a banished grey.

Joints altering,

Crawling nullified,

The thick tail also disappeared as the spine contracted.

A disheveled, naked Spine stood up, his black hair tainted with dirty water, nearly reaching the shoulder blades.

His eyes were utterly destroyed, and each eye damaged in a different manner.

The right eye seemed nibbled by a swarm of tiny creatures, irreparable and riddled with small gaps, missing the eyeball.

The left eye appeared to be under some curse, a circle of strange black Curse Seal covered the eye area, ensuring this eye could never open again.

The nose was completely shaved off,

The mouth, which also served the function of the nose, seemed to have suffered multiple damages, bizarre in shape and stuffed with teeth to facilitate gnawing on hard substances.

Perhaps due to the years spent in the sewers of the tumorous people,

His body sprouted pus-filled boils, tiny granules, and even some necrotic wounds. If this continued, his flesh might completely rot away and die.

Strangely, he didn’t care, as if he was always ready to discard this body.

Or rather,

The strange device made of skulls before him was what he truly cared about, far more than his own flesh.

He was more than a foot taller than Luo Di, with a humanoid form, the only peculiarity being the muscles on his back.

Even standing still, the muscle contour on his back was quite pronounced, even exaggerated – too detailed, too wrinkled, making it resemble the grooves of the brain.

The central spine nicely split the two sides apart, resembling the left and right brain hemispheres with the spinal column as the core that connected them.

His evolutionary path was clearly deviating from a Spine, Focusing on the brain, even the brain of Evil Play.

After confirming there were no issues with the skull device, his anxious heart gradually relaxed, spitting out three teeth bitten to pieces in his hurry.

He couldn’t understand how the other party found this chamber, since he had hidden here for a full seven years.

The intrusion into the underground chamber was a fact, the other party might still be lurking here or could have used the moment he was preoccupied with the skull device to escape.

If already fled, he wouldn’t bother chasing.

Rather, he needed to consider the exposure of the chamber and the transfer of the device.

"I... must... leave here quickly!"

Just as he was about to sort and recover the most important skull device, footsteps echoed from behind.

The sound made him instantly vigilant,

Stretching his hand into the necrotic wounds below his ribs, he astonishingly pulled out two pitch-black curved knives.

Quickly turning around, he faced the source of the sound.

It was Luo Di,

He didn’t choose to ambush, nor did he choose to leave, but deliberately waited until this moment to reveal himself. Moreover, all disguises were removed, exposing the intrinsic traits of both Spine and Monk.

A makeshift crystal Slaughter Knife was held in his hand.

Calen was still hanging on his back with a backpack.

Luo Di showed no intent to attack, instead, his face was relaxed as he pointed towards the peculiar skull device.

"Mr. Kuleon, as you can see, I posed as an Insect to lure you out. My special trip to the coastal area was specifically for your Warrant.

This device made out of skulls must be directly related to your Demon Ascension.

If we fight here, there’s a high chance this important thing will be destroyed... Shall we choose another place to fight?"

Hearing such words, Kuleon’s hands holding the knives ready to slash relaxed momentarily, as Luo Di had suggested, a battle here would affect the skulls, and he did not want to slaughter here.

But he didn’t agree right away; instead, he asked:

"You are a Monk who holds a Warrant... Why do you also bear the scent of a spine? Have you accepted two Hell Items and perfectly assimilated both?"

"Yes."

Luo Di’s affirmation made the other’s body tremble, seemingly very concerned about this issue.

"Fantastic! Marvelous! To encounter a dual-system Demon in such a place... This must be the arrangement from the essence of Hell itself, wanting to let me directly comprehend the so-called dual system before crossing the threshold.

After killing you, I will savor your Metallic Spine, I will earnestly suck its spinal cord, I will figure out how you accepted two Hell Items simultaneously."

Luo Di responded unchangingly, "Alright, where shall we carry out our battle then?"

"Turn right outside, not too far from here, there is a rest area for tumor citizens like this one. Let’s go there... Lord Messenger. Being granted the status of a messenger without having undergone Demon Ascension, the Spine must hold you in high esteem."

"Heh, let’s get moving."

Luo Di, completely off guard, turned and stepped onto the secret chamber’s staircase, ready to head to the area mentioned by the other person.

Little did he know,

in the instant he turned around.

A sense of danger suddenly assaulted him,

"Didn’t the Spine tell you to never turn your back on your enemies, no matter what? Moreover, you didn’t take advantage of that golden opportunity to ambush me earlier. You could have at least injured me.

So naive, how exactly were you favored by the Spine?

Indeed, those stupid dogs from the Chaos Nest City have already become completely numb on their thrones of power. They are bound to become the lowest forces and will be utterly dismantled eventually."

Dual blades had already reached behind Luo Di,

with such speed,

it was nearly impossible to dodge or turn around to block,

and as Kuleon said, the act of Luo Di turning his back to the enemy was way too foolish, certainly not deserving of the Spine’s attention.

Slash!

The twin blades intersect.

Just about to sever Luo Di’s completely exposed nape,

This was Kuleon’s most proficient killing method, one that was almost guaranteed to succeed.

However... something bizarre happened.

The backpack on Luo Di’s back suddenly began to tremble as if it contained a person crouching inside, but now it straightened up suddenly, just in time to block the execution spot.

However, no matter what it was, Kuleon was confident he could sever through it.

He had reached a high level of mastery in the art of "Pre-cut", even being able to execute it mentally, which was why Luo Di had earlier felt his head being severed.

But this time, the Pre-cut was ineffective; whatever was inside the backpack seemed to harbor no fear of beheading, nor did it care about it.

The dual blades descended!

Clang!

A loud clashing noise echoed throughout the underground chamber.

Kuleon was forced several steps back by the shock of his own strike, his hands going numb. The blades bore no trace of blood from a beheading, but were smeared with luminous green crystal fragments instead.

Luo Di emerged unscathed, even utilizing the force of the slash to fly out of the underground chamber.

At the same time, Luo Di’s expression changed, his tongue stirring in his mouth, a mocking voice coming from above:

"Waste, you can’t even kill with an ambush?

No wonder you were exiled by the Spine, coming here to carve out another path... a waste like you would still only be fit to rot and mold in the sewers, even if you truly underwent Demon Ascension."

This speech wasn’t just transmitted through the air; it was also directly sent to Kuleon’s brain through a gray mark.

The volatile emotions of the Spine were instantly ignited, anger overshadowing everything, and he saw Luo Di as a target that must be killed.

Click-click-click~

The spine twisted,

Kuleon stepped onto the stairs at top speed, chasing after Luo Di’s scent.

Just as his front foot had stepped out the secret chamber’s hidden door, the sole of his foot encountered a burning metallic sensation; he had stepped on some sort of pressure plate.

The springs contracted!

Whoosh!

Agonizing pain shot through his right foot in an instant and then spread throughout his body, completely halting his movement.

His mouth gathered environmental information, discovering a fully metallic beast trap firmly clamped around his thigh, its sawtooth and wire having deeply penetrated the flesh.

"A torture device?"

As his confusion set in,

a pressing force suddenly struck from the side, leaving barely any time to react; a huge Iron Pillar was already swinging in.

Crack-crack-crack~

The sound of bones shattering spread through the sewers, Kuleon’s body shot out like a bullet, spewing fresh blood.

The areas of his body struck and crushed sprouted a multitude of tiny Iron Pillars, impeding regeneration and exacerbating the injury.

Moreover,

though his body was flung away, his right leg remained clamped in the beast trap.