[⚠️ Content Warning – Graphic Violence and Gore

This chapter contains intense scenes of blood, bodily trauma, dismemberment, and graphic combat. Reader discretion is advised.]

***

People say ugliness is in the eye of the beholder. That nothing is truly ugly.

Well, screw those people.

If they looked at the abomination in front of me and still clung to that nonsense, then they deserved to be eaten first.

It was a pulsing mass of raw flesh, an orgy of eyeballs and mouths stitched into something that shouldn't crawl let alone feed.

And yet it was.

It was biting into the mangled corpses of hollow masks it had killed like it was snacking on leftovers.

All its other mouths were screaming, wailing in a very humane voice.

If that wasn't ugly, I didn't know what was.

Still, I didn't have time to argue philosophy with it.

So I crawled, slowly and carefully.

It was still distracted with its meal.

And I was still bleeding.

So, my first goal was to somehow reach the pond of life, heal my injuries and get the hell out of here.

Because that thing wasn't something I could defeat easily.

Hell, I couldn't even touch it.

The bastard had a corruption effect. Anything it touched… changed.

The skin turned soft and swollen. Eyes and mouths bloomed where there should be none.

Then, slowly, inevitably, those touched would merge into it and become part of the Grafted Hunger.

So yeah, the countless eyes and screaming mouths? They weren't aesthetic choices.

They were its victims.

Not dead.

Not alive.

Just… stuck.

Screaming, forever.

I don't care what kind of suffering created this thing—

But if I live through this?

I'm filing a damn complaint.

But I'd barely crawled a few meters…

…when a scream tore through the clearing—

Louder than the wailing.

A scream that didn't come from pain.

It came from hunger.

Fuck.

That bastard noticed me.

I didn't think and just pushed myself up to run.

My body was still bleeding.

The pond was close.

Fifty meters or maybe even less.

If I could just reach it, maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't follow.

And even if it did…

I would take my chances.

Because if there was one thing in this cursed forest stronger than corruption,

It was Life.

And that pond wasn't just life. It was probably from a strong Goddess.

But before I could finish that thought, my instincts screamed.

I dropped, crouching low.

WHOOOSH—

The abomination's massive, fleshy bulk whipped over me like a living cannonball.

Holy shit.

For something made entirely of mouths and misery, that bastard was fast.

Too fast.

And the worst part?

That bastard didn't even have legs.

How the hell is it even moving?

I didn't even have any time to guess before a tentacle shot my way.

I backflipped on instinct, the tip of it slicing the air just inches from my face.

For a moment, I thought I was safe.

I almost smiled.

Then it dropped.

The bastard detached its tentacle mid-swing like some disgusting, sentient boomerang and sent it crashing down.

I barely rolled aside as it splattered into the ground beside me, twitching violently like it had a mind of its own.

Because it probably did.

that thing had touched me, I would already be sprouting eyes and mouths, screaming alongside the rest of its victims.

And that's when it clicked.

That's how it was moving.

It wasn't gliding or floating. No, the freak was building tentacles under itself and moving with them…

Then absorbing them back into its body.

Efficient. Disgusting.

And way too fast for something with no legs.

No matter how much, I thought… I saw no signs of victory or even an escape without defeating it.

My mind started racing, thinking of ways to defeat it.

But nothing stuck.

Even in Noah's files, there were details. Anatomy, danger level, corruption effects…

But no "how to kill" section.

Of course not.

The only thing mentioned was that: If you encounter this monster, run away.

And here I was—

Mana draining, blood leaking, organs rearranging themselves with every breath—Trying to outthink something that shouldn't even exist.

My mana was nearly at rock bottom, at most I could unleash two or three more [Card Throw].

I channelled my mana through my hands as an orange card appeared and without any hesitation, I flicked it forward with sharp precision.

Aimed straight for the center of that bloated, screaming horror.

But before the card even made it halfway, the bastard moved.

Its massive body moved at an unimaginable speed before it reappeared right in front of me, its schythe aimed straight at my neck.

I ducked.

Barely.

The wind from its swing tore through my hair,

Is there no other way?

I had one last gamble I didn't want to use.

But maybe… maybe I don't have a choice anymore.

Plans don't mean shit when death's singing in your ear.

I took a deep breath calming my mind because whatever came next was going to be painful… too painful.

But pain meant nothing now.

The abomination had one part—just one—that didn't radiate pure corruption.

The inside of its mouth.

It wasn't its weakness but it was the only thing I could use.

I forced my mana down into my left arm, every last drop except a small amount.

An unstable orange card formed in my palm.

I didn't fire it, instead I clenched my left fist around it tightly.

This is the only way.

And then, I ran straight at the bastard with my left arm pulled back.

The card in my hand grew more and more unstable.

The monster turned toward me, mouths screeching in madness.

Its eyes tracked me like prey.

But it didn't move.

It opened its mouth as if thinking I gave up.

Like it wanted to swallow me whole.

Perfect.

My fist tightened.

The card trembled in my palm, a breath away from exploding.

"Let's see if you can digest this."

And I punched straight into its gaping maw.

The bastard took the bait.

Its mouth snapped shut.

CHOMP!

Agony exploded in my skull as my arm was severed cleanly from the elbow down.

"AAARGHHHHH—!"

The scream leaked out of me before I even felt the blood.

The world tilted and my vision blurred.

I was a breath away from passing out.

No. Not yet.

I bit my lip until it bled… until the drive of survival drowned the pain.

The sheer adrenaline kept me going.

The monster's flesh was just inches from my chest.

If it touched me, I would become it.

I slammed my foot onto its squirming mass, gritting my teeth as I poured the last reserve of mana through my heel.

A ripple burst outward.

[Voidstep]

With a shockwave, my body was hurled backward, blood trailing from my severed arm like a river.

While mid-air, I whispered:

"Take this, bitch."

And with what remained of my connection to the card still trapped in that monster's mouth, I pulled the trigger.

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion tore through the air.

Fire and corrupted flesh burst in every direction as the abomination's body exploded, unable to contain the surge of fire mana.

Thankfully, I was barely out of its radius as I crashed into the ground

But the danger wasn't over just yet.

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