Chapter 434: Great Astley Empire: [Monster Orb Release]
Inside the dark red smoke, Souta's body inflated as it absorbed his clothes. His nails grew longer, and it resembled the claws of a powerful creature. His eyes gleamed as it turned into a slit like the eyes of reptiles, but it was somewhat different. If a person looked closely, they would notice that each eye has two pupils.
Also, another pair of eyes formed on the top of his cheek, just beside his original pair. His mouth cracked open widely to the point that it could reach his ears. Inside his mouth were rows of razor-sharp teeth that could bite anything in half.
His muscles grew larger into savage-looking flesh, and black armor-like scales covered his huge body. Grim spikes protruded on his spinal cords, and just above his waist on the back, four spider limbs came out.
Golden tribal tattoos spread out on his body, coming from the monster orb in the center of his chest.
In just a few seconds, Souta turned into a three-meter-tall, savage-looking monster.
He stepped out of the smoke, and Gunsi saw his appearance. Gunsi widened his eyes in shock as he couldn't believe what he saw. This man wasn't human or demi at all. It's impossible for a human or demi to have that kind of appearance unless they had a parasitic essence eater.
The amount of best feram spreading in the surrounding area was several times higher than before. It brought pressure to every living being inside the royal capital. Nothing could escape the pressure brought by Souta's higher energy. Those weak-willed people quickly fainted when the pressure bore down on them.
They couldn't even breathe properly as the citizens felt that a heavy object was pressing down on their shoulders.
The atmosphere of the whole city turned cold.
While everyone was having the time of their lives, Souta observed the changes in his body. He even dared to ignore Gunsi, who was in front of him.
"It's my first time releasing this form in the real world..."
He raised his hand and grabbed the hair on his shoulder. He saw that his hair had turned white. The black armor around his body must be from the [Armored Scale Formation]. It was like an exoskeleton that could protect his body from harm.
His shoulders, elbows, and lower body were covered by black armor. He could feel that this armor was several times stronger than his normal [Armored Scale Formation].
And then there were the four spider limbs on his back. He could control it easily, and the tips of it were as sharp as a sword. It could easily pierce the defense of B-rank experts. It was a different matter if the said B-rank was a shielder with tough flesh.
He moved his mouth, and it turned back to normal, but there was a clear line indicating that he could open it widely.
The difference in his appearance was huge. No one would think that he was the same person.
"Damn, when puberty hits..."
Souta turned his attention to Gunsi. He looked at him and slowly asked, "Now, do you believe me?"
Gunsi didn't know what to say, so he just stared at Souta. He was shocked, as he was having a hard time believing what he was seeing.
"Let me tell you one thing. You will die today, and no one will be able to save you."
Souta said it in a cold tone. In the next moment, his figure appeared in front of Gunsi.
"Wha-"
Gunsi felt pain in his stomach as his figure flew away. The impact disintegrated a layer of flesh in his body. It was so fast that he didn't have time to react.
Souta chased after him. He wouldn't give Gunsi time to recover, and he will make it quick. This form was energy and stamina consuming. To maintain this form, he needed a large amount of energy and stamina.
Swoosh!
Before Gunsi crashed on the gravity field, Souta appeared above him and kicked him.
Bang!
His body flew at astonishing speed and crashed on the ground, causing a powerful shockwave.
Boom!
Souta followed him as he kept attacking Gunsi. He increased the speed of his attack, surpassing the speed of Gunsi's recovery.
How much the parasite queen could heal his body was unknown to Souta. That's why it was a test. Souta decapitated half of his body every second, but in the next moment, new limbs would emerge like nothing had happened.
Gunsi couldn't even fight back. The [Monster Orb Release] was the monster's ace. It was a cheat skill that dominated humans and demis in any era. This was the reason why a subjugation party would need a bunch of healing potions, mana potions, and spare equipment when they were going to fight a third evolution monster and above.
That's why most of the battle lasted for several hours. Just like when Souta's party subjugated the White Jade Spider in the Dungeon of Eternal Light. It took them more than two hours to defeat the boss, and it almost killed his party members.
At that time, they only managed to win because the White Jade Spider was exhausted from fighting. Also, it couldn't keep up the [Monster Orb Release] for a long time. They had a bunch of potions to recover their strength, and they also had healers in their party, while the spider didn't have anyone to heal its wounds.
After a while, the speed of Gunsi's regeneration ability has slowed down.
Souta stopped attacking as he observed his opponent. Gunsi's wounds were healing, but not as fast as before. Also, he didn't have any strength to move his body. He became a living punching bag for Souta.
"It's a pity..."
Souta sighed as he lifted his feet and put his best feram on it. He then stomped on Gunsi's chest, crushing his heart into meat paste.
"N-No... I... can't... die... yet..."
Gunsi took his last breath. He died just like that. The power of the [Monster Orb Release] was something a human shouldn't fight alone. Especially for people below S-rank.
After he saw the notification in his mind, Souta canceled his [Monster Orb Release]. He went back to his normal form, and exhaustion assaulted his body.
'This feeling... I finally understand why the White Jade Spider grew weaker after using the [Monster Orb Release],' Souta thought inwardly. This unique skill was taxing for their bodies. The feeling of wanting to rest was growing.
Gunsi's corpse turned back to its original appearance. The parasitic essence eater in his body moved as if it was trying to escape his body. It was wriggling towards Souta, and he noticed it.
He saw something moving in front of him, so he looked and found that it was the parasite in Gunsi's body. There is nothing new about this; all the commanders that he killed before suffered the same thing. Once they die, the parasite in their body will try to escape, but no matter what, the parasite will follow their host and die too.
Souta stretched out his hand, and something unexpected happened. The parasite was attached to his finger. It removed itself from Gunsi's body, and it seeped into the pores in his hand.
The only problem was that Souta locked down his entire body with best feram. It was his protection, so the parasite couldn't enter his body.
"Oh?"
Souta raised his hand as he looked at the parasite that was trying to enter his body. He was interested, as he recalled that Gunsi called his parasitic essence eater a parasite queen. Using this, he could extract the parasite from other people.
"Should I?"
He narrowed his eyes. He lowered his guard as the best feram that was preventing the parasite queen from entering his body disappeared.
Ohm!
Immediately, the parasite queen went inside his body through his pores. Souta felt a tingling sensation, and he watched all of this closely. This parasite was different from the ordinary parasite that Torkez and Lydia had. It was the queen, so he didn't have any idea about its effect on his body.
Soon, he heard a familiar notification in his mind.
*Ding!*
[The Parasitic Essence Eater Queen has entered your body!]
[The Parasitic Essence Eater Queen wanted to make your body its host!]
[Eject it? Yes/No?]
No. Souta answered the question after reading the messages.
*Ding!*
[You have become the host of the Parasitic Essence Eater Queen!]
[Your stamina attribute has decreased by 500!]
[Your stamina regeneration has decreased by 50 per hour!]
Souta opened his eyes widely when he saw these messages. This was worse than he imagined. Stamina was the hardest one to increase among the three bars in his status (Health, Energy, and Stamina).
This was the side effect of the parasite. The parasite was consuming his stamina and stamina regeneration.
'Sure, the pros are greater than the cons.' He said it inwardly as he felt something moving in his body. He looked down at his missing hand and saw a new one sprouting.
After a few seconds, he had a completely new hand.
"Oh? This feeling... I missed my left hand."
Souta opened and closed his palm repeatedly, as if he were amused by his new hand. Well, let's look at the details of this parasite.
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