Chapter 105: Caracas – Slums – Stairway 4
[Hahaha! Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll be careful next time.]
Kalts.
No, the infected being that had taken on Kalts’ appearance sneered and laughed.
That thing had already long discarded humanity and human ethics.
It was no longer the Kalts that Dusty once knew.
It was nothing more than the progenitor virus imitating the human Kalts, and as soon as its identity was revealed to Alice, Dusty, and the group, it transformed its entire body into blood.
[Ihihi, why don’t you join us and become one with us!]
-Thunk!
[Blood Point Explosion]
At the moment Kalts uttered something, all the crimson blood that composed him turned into thorns and blades, scattering in every direction.
Even in the midst of launching an attack, it spoke in a flat tone, as if simply performing a task, showing no malice, casually assaulting humans.
The full-range assault, exploding like a bomb, was quite formidable.
If it had occurred in the middle of a city or other area, countless civilians would have been unable to escape and would have perished.
Even now, Dusty, Anis, and the Hush gang members almost got swept away, but the dolls moved forward, activating the anti-barrier even before Alice gave the command.
-Pop-pop-pop!
Severe cracks spread across the anti-barrier, which rejected all mana and supernatural abilities.
However, the blood-formed thorns and blades were entirely blocked by the barrier.
Alice moved before the infected could begin its next action.
-Bang!
Dozens of mechanical tendrils launched Alice forward like a spring.
As black paving blocks and buildings grazed past Alice’s body, they were destroyed one after another, and Alice adjusted her stance mid-air, clenching her hand.
[Mantis Blades – Holy-Demonic Sword Mode Activation]
-Vrrrr!
A massive mechanical activation sound, audible only to Alice, accompanied the rotation of the mantis blades, forged from fragments of the Holy Sword and the Demonic Sword, as they began spinning like chainsaws.
Now that Alice could freely accept and sense mana, the fragments of the Holy Sword and the Demonic Sword reacted to her will, emitting a sharper and more powerful light than ever before.
[…]
The infected being, made entirely of writhing blood, was initially surprised that its attack had been blocked.
It then widened its eyes, stunned by Alice’s unexpectedly rapid movements.
But it didn’t matter.
[You fool. Do you think a blade will work on me?]
Blood contamination isn’t a simple disease.
Bacteria and microorganisms corrupted by the progenitor virus instinctively crave human flesh.
Once infected, the victim either gets closer to the progenitor or is incinerated by central officials, body and all.
Those whose entire bodies become corrupted blood gain freedom from the shackles of human flesh.
Hands, feet, brains, and heads all turn to blood.
When the entire body is composed of blood itself, slashes from a blade or gunfire mean nothing; they don’t even leave a scratch.
Even fatal injuries, separation of upper and lower body parts, or the shattering of the head pose no harm, as the blood remains intact.
The blood contaminated by the progenitor virus is an immense concentration of mana and the pure essence of malice.
While slimes can be easily handled even by lower-tier Hunters due to their low intelligence, those infected by blood contamination draw closer to their progenitor’s essence.
Freed from the physical limitations of a human body, they are overwhelmingly resistant to physical attacks like blades and bullets.
The entity, once known as Kalts—no, the infected imitating Kalts—mocked Alice.
Perhaps a powerful elemental magic, such as fire or ice, could pose a threat, but the infected felt no danger from the blades protruding from Alice’s arms.
Even after being hit by Marlang’s enchanted bullets, which only briefly distorted its form without harming its vitality, the infected’s confidence wasn’t unwarranted.
Can you slash water with a blade?
Go ahead and try.
Even if you manage to slash through my blood-composed body, it would inflict no damage, the infected thought.
It planned to tear Alice apart and claim her as its new vessel for her foolishly daring approach.
That’s what it thought.
-Snick!
[Wha…?]
However, the infected’s thoughts couldn’t continue.
It felt its life force being severed.
A horrible and eerie sensation, something it had never experienced before, completely halted all thoughts and actions.
But Alice had no intention of considering the infected’s plight.
Her body began to move grotesquely, like a mantis snatching at a butterfly.
Alice, despite taking on a human form, twisted her body freely, ignoring the limits of human joints, and spun midair, brandishing her blade, which caused the infected to react slower than expected.
-Pa-sa-sa-sa-sak!
The infected soon found themselves staring in horror at their dismembered body, with the upper and lower halves separated in agony.
No, it wasn’t just their upper and lower body—arms and legs were also severed.
Even body parts that might have allowed counterattacks were cut off entirely.
[Ka… keuh… ugh…!?]
“You weren’t dodging for a reason, huh.”
Alice smirked crookedly, having sliced the infected into pieces in mere moments.
Since its body was liquid, it likely had a high resistance to physical attacks and didn’t expect to be hurt by something like a blade.
“You see, this is both a Holy Sword and a Demonic Sword.”
Alice didn’t stop there; she moved with natural fluidity, as if dancing, slicing the infected’s entire body—including arms and legs—into tiny cube-like pieces.
Though one couldn’t cut liquid with an ordinary blade, it was a different story for a Holy Sword and a Demonic Sword.
The Mantis Blades, deployed from the exposed flesh of her wrists and forearms, vibrated with an eerie sharpness, capable of cutting through even empty space itself.
The infected couldn’t have known that Alice’s Mantis Blades were crafted from a combination of a Holy Sword and a Demonic Sword.
The Holy Sword, which slashes anything judged as evil regardless of form, and the Demonic Sword, which severs all thoughts and essences without exception, made slicing through the infected’s blood-based body no challenge at all.
Thus, the infected was caught off guard by the sudden pain and couldn’t adjust to the agony of being dismembered, failing to mount a proper response.
‘Moreover, the level of my Mantis Blade Swordsmanship as shown in the status window is 4. With that, I’m likely better than an A-rank Hunter who trained solely in swordsmanship or even a second- or third-class Overseer specializing in sword techniques. The power of the status window is impressive.’
The greatest advantage of the status window was its ability to provide real-time combat data through visible stats of one’s abilities.
If Alice had been an ordinary, simple-minded human, she wouldn’t have been able to utilize even half of this potential. However, thanks to the Auxiliary Personality, Theresa, she could receive real-time feedback on the status window’s abilities and data.
[W-What is this…?]
The infected was flustered, unable to restore their body to its original form.
Restore. Restore.
Though they commanded the blood composing their body to obey, the severing power of the Holy Sword and Demonic Sword was far beyond what a mere infected individual, not even a progenitor, could resist.
Alice grinned and pointed her Mantis Blade at the infected’s head.
“Name, purpose, and number of companions.”
[..Y-You… who are you…?]
Alice, dissatisfied with the lack of a proper answer, slowly pushed her hand forward.
The Mantis Blade touching the infected’s head gradually began to sink into the squishy blood-like substance of its skull.
[Keugh, AAAAH!]
The infected screamed in pain.
Since becoming this kind of body, they had never felt pain before…!
“Name, purpose, and number of infected.”
[I-I don’t know. I don’t know! I’m just…!]
-Thud!
“Name, purpose, and number of infected.”
[I-I really…!]
-Squelch!
[AAARGH!]
The answers Alice sought didn’t come.
She sighed and pressed the blade further into the infected, poking and prodding them more forcefully.
Normally, an infected being composed entirely of blood would be impervious to torture, but now they were in so much pain that they felt it even more acutely than they ever did in their human days.
Alice systematically pierced and carved out what used to be the infected’s jaw, tongue, eyes, and lips with her Demonic Sword.
A Demonic Sword naturally responded to the pain and suffering of others and was an exceptionally fitting weapon for eliciting such agony.
Torturing a human who had fallen to the level of a blood slime was merely a basic supplementary function of the Demonic Sword.
“Name, purpose, number of infected…”
[Keu… keuh…]
-Thud!
[Kkyaaa…!]
“Hah, you really don’t know?”
After interrogating this much and still getting no answers, it seemed the infected genuinely didn’t know.
Still, Alice couldn’t leave the infected, whose body had been entirely replaced by blood, alive.
-Thunk!
[…]
【Commencing Energy Drain】
-Sizzle!!
Alice, who had already absorbed energy from Gaia and the Progenitor Virus, found it effortless to absorb the infected blood as a power source.
The infected’s blood, being highly concentrated with mana, could be absorbed as if recharging energy.
-Sluurp!
“Haaa…”
Alice couldn’t help but raise the corners of her mouth at the sweet taste emanating from the infected’s blood.
It was sweet.
Like fruit.
No, to be precise, it tasted like a blend of pomegranate and strawberries, shaken into milk.
Though Alice could sense flavors even from electricity, now she found she could detect such tastes from the energy contained in blood.
“Delicious…”
“M-Marlang…?”
Marlang’s expression turned peculiar.
It was as if her eyes were saying, “Teacher, have you gone crazy? Why does blood taste good?”
However, watching Alice’s enraptured face, Marlang inexplicably felt a tingling sensation in her lower abdomen and stayed silent.
The tingling sensation was oddly pleasant.
“By the way, this thing was the gatekeeper, wasn’t it…”
As the gatekeeper was defeated, her sensory perception of the surroundings heightened.
【Left, 39m. Three targets.】
【Right, 149m. Eight targets.】
【Total: 11 targets.】
【Marking all potential hostile entities in the field of view.】
It was a moment where Theresa’s detection function truly shone.
Mechanical tendrils sprouting from Alice’s spine touched pipes and walls, lifting her body upward.
“Dusty.”
“H-huh…?”
Dusty responded in a dazed tone, as if waking from a dream.
The other members of the Hush gang wore similarly bewildered expressions.
“From here, I’ll handle it. Retreat beyond the sector.”
At Alice’s directive to step back, Dusty and the gang’s faces brightened with relief.
Truthfully, the moment they saw the infected whose entire body had turned into blood, they imagined a grim and hopeless future.
They thought they’d either be ordered to act as a suicide squad, leading the way only to be ambushed and killed, or told to fight against blood-infected entities in an impossible battle.
Honestly, with the massive payment of $100,000, even if Alice had issued such a near-suicidal command, Dusty and the gang would have followed it.
But instead, Alice herself told them they were useless and to get lost, and for this moment, she seemed like a godsend.
“Oh, ah… y-yes! Of course, we’ll do that! You heard her, guys?!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Sis, let’s hurry and fall back!”
Afraid that Alice might change her mind, they retreated at lightning speed, leaving only three dolls and Marlang by Alice’s side.
“Kids.”
“Yes,”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“Marlang!”
Alice pointed across with her finger.
It was in the direction where eight Blood Contamination Beings were hiding.
“It’s hunting time.”
The dolls and Marlang, who had already been spreading their sensory perception, immediately understood Alice’s gesture.
“Hahaha! Marlang!”
Even Marlang, who had the youngest mental age, was quick to catch on.
Recognizing that it was a combat situation, the only thing left was to prepare.
From Marlang’s left wrist, a new cartridge made of bone emerged and connected to the machine gun, while his right hand alternated between compressing and shattering until it formed itself into a long, massive blade.
“Combat preparations.”
“Alice, initiating protection protocol for the ultimate command authority.”
“Anti-Mana Weapon operational.”
“Main System activated.”
“Combat Imitation System ON.”
The three dolls’ eyes turned bright red as they finished their combat preparations.
The dolls, briefly creaking as the neural networks and combat equipment within them overheated, soon stopped trembling entirely.
The moment the tremors ceased, they charged forward.
-Bang!
-Thud!
“Marlang!”
With the sound of air bursting, four small girls disappeared, leaving behind afterimages extending in different directions.
-Thud!
[…!]
They reappeared immediately within striking distance of the Blood Contamination Beings detected by their sensory perception.
These were the Blood Contamination Beings who had been watching Alice’s group from between walls, buildings, and the ruins of a heavy industrial complex.
[What!]
“When did they…!”
-BOOM!!
-Thud!
Soon, the sounds of battle began to echo from various directions.
The combat abilities of the dolls and Marlang were formidable, though they probably couldn’t kill or neutralize the infected in one blow like Alice.
However, they could at least buy time to prevent the infected from escaping, and when infected beings’ bodies were destroyed or severed, restoration always required time.
“I think consuming the remaining three on the left should be enough before heading to where the kids are.”
【Human, will you drain them all?】
“Yep, this taste isn’t something you get often.”
At Alice’s words, Theresa extended dozens of mechanical tendrils.
Although gaining Gaia’s life force had alleviated energy concerns, Alice still seemed unwilling to stop indulging in tasting various forms of energy.
【Understood. Enjoy your meal.】