Deep in the Living

[Pumpkin Town]

Large amounts of mist were actively absorbed by Frank into his inherent space, and all the townsfolk united, each placing a pumpkin on their heads, sharing Frank's power.

They wielded torches, pitchforks, and fought against the giant mist creatures.

Frank himself transformed into a colossal pumpkin monster, standing at the forefront of the crowd.

This confrontation continued for a while before suddenly the pressure eased, the mist gradually thinned, and the balloon-like bodies of the creatures slowly deflated.

There was only one possibility causing this situation, and that was the Joker's inability to maintain such a large-scale mist diffusion; his main body was being weakened.

When all the mist between the towns dispersed, Frank also withdrew his inherent space back into his body and returned to the ruins of the casino.

He hadn't yet sensed where Luo Di and the others were… Buzz! A wind pressure attacked from the side,

one after another.

And each wave of wind pressure felt like a punch landing on the body, clearly some sort of impact was forming.

"Hmm? How did it turn from slaughter into a brawl..."

Frank quickly hurried over, the outbreak of the brawl was on a street not far from the casino.

He saw a middle-aged man, painted in white makeup, obese and greasy, being violently beaten by two young men. Such a scene, if placed in human society, would certainly be met with condemnation.

But here, even Frank, a permanent resident of the Screaming Inn, felt quite pleased seeing such a sight.

Frank also wanted to join the beating camp, but tried many angles and found he couldn't join at all.

Their combined beating was so flawless, without any holes, like a great bell enveloping Jock tightly.

This is why, though Jock had many ways to escape, he could only endure the beatings at present.

This beating lasted for a full half hour,

Jock's main body was almost beaten out of human shape, each punch and kick's impact pierced his flesh, rampaging inside.

His body tissues and bones were broken countless times, yet they never broke the pituitary, never fatal.

At this moment,

the mist surrounding Jock's head almost dissipated, but the beating continued.

Even though Jock's main body's head was visible, neither Luo Di nor Lebeite delivered a killing blow.

Their tacit understanding allowed them to continue the all-round beating while also engaging in communication on the level of consciousness.

『Luo Di, we can basically determine now, our current methods can't kill him.

To avoid possible fatal situations, he had long mist-ified his soul, storing a small part elsewhere.

The mist is a deeper thing from the Corner, an essence of fear, that can permeate any region of the corner.

Moreover, the Outer Realm might have done a consciousness anchoring for him, really killing him needs long-term consideration.』

Through the beating, Lebeite had roughly figured out the general situation of Jock's main body, confirming the fact that the main body was incomplete.

And even due to the prolonged beating, a sense of boredom arose, wanting to end this matter early.

Since it's unkillable, there's no need to waste time and energy anymore. As an insult and an outlet, this long beating was already enough.

There are other Angel Envoys active in this city; reclaiming the City of Sin and attracting the attention of the Outer Realm is crucial for action.

Luo Di, however, had a completely different thought:

『I know it can't be killed… So I've been thinking, we can let him go, but something must be left behind. His head is a relic of the mist, but his body is his own.

The main consciousness core is on the head, so his body might be slightly weaker.

After prolonged beating, he focuses more attention on the head, hoping we beat him to death sooner, further neglecting the body.

In my current state, I can perform an "effective limb severance," but can't sever too much, or it will trigger his death and consciousness transfer.

Beat him for another ten minutes, I can probably grasp the [degree] in it.』

『OK.』

Although Lebeite was a bit bored, he accepted this suggestion, he wanted to see what means Luo Di had, capable of severely injuring the opponent without killing.

It actually took less time than expected,

seven minutes passed,

Luo Di's gaze suddenly changed, a punch landed in Jock's eye socket.

Smack! The newly regrown eyeball was instantly shattered, the impact slightly greater than previous times, reaching a death-dealing level.

This was just the opportunity Jock had been waiting for.

He even moved his pituitary outward early, positioning it on the brain's surface, and deliberately weakened the pituitary's toughness. Hoping he could be fragmented and dead sooner, reborn sooner.

The excess impact brought by this punch fell on the pituitary surface, a crack appeared, almost exploding.

Death was imminent.

Even a pure beating like before would cause minute vibrations to pass along, death was just a matter of time.

Though Jock was beaten into misery, utterly humiliated.

But at this moment, when he felt the pituitary was about to be damaged, about to die.

His almost non-human face still beamed with a bright smile, even beginning to contemplate the mist transfer and main body rebirth.

However,

this subtle psychological change was accurately tasted by Luo Di's tongue.

Stored energy side kick!

No longer worrying about whether it would kill, this kick shattered Jock's kneecap directly, forcing his bloated body to plummet abruptly.

A trap had long been laid at the ground position where he knelt.

Swoosh!

Various spikes instantly penetrated Jock's calves, the black metal spreading inward, intense pain past, making his consciousness further disarrayed, needing to allocate a part to deal with this Hellish agony.

Of course,

This impact also shattered the pituitary.

Just as he was about to die, when the main body was about to transfer.

Jock's ears once again heard that brisk and concise piano sonata, a beam of cold moonlight fell like a scanner.

Not shining on his entire body anymore, it singled out his right arm.

One could see the blood and flesh structure within through the skin, and the mist components transported inside the rubber veins.

Jock died…

His mist trait, upon detecting main body death, quickly uploaded the anchored consciousness into a balloon that had been prepared in advance.

Deep within the northern island, inside a home belonging exclusively to Jock.

The balloon was hidden in a safe beneath the bed.

Currently,

The safe automatically opened, a red balloon floated out, drifting into the bathroom.

The balloon's surface immediately showed a disgusting human face, after expressing a moment of anguish, the face gradually protruded and exhaled mist.

Soon the entire balloon began to expand, starting to construct a body.

However,

By the time the whole body was constructed, Jock, for some reason, was weak, off balance, slightly tilting.

Smack!

He supported himself on the sink to stabilize.

The reason for weakness, the reason for tilting, was simple.

Jock looked at himself in the mirror, hanging onto a fat belly, his entire right arm along with part of the shoulder and chest flesh, were all gone!

The slick lunar surface cut left behind implied his soul's essence was severed, incapable of regeneration, incapable of repair.

A strange laughter echoed from the bathroom,

Jock's expression and mood began to shift amid such laughter…