Chapter 49: Khaos Brigade (9)
Azrail Astaroth Pov:
'Is this… the Dimensional Gap I've always heard about?'
It felt weird, floating inside an endless void with nothing around me. There was no air, sound, pressure, or any such stimulation from the outside.
In every direction existed a mix of iridescent colours with no end in sight; it was similar to looking into a kaleidoscope.
'Sure enough, this isn't the dimension [Shadow Teleportation] connects me to…'
Even now, I could leave whenever I wanted by activating [Shadow Teleportation], and the feeling of being inside the Dimensional Gap was different, too.
'Not only that, but my body feels fine despite not protecting myself…'
People said nothing could survive within the Dimensional Gap without Magic, Demonic Power, Divine Blessing, Spatial Barriers, or some other protection.
Anything without such protection would die seconds after coming in contact with the 'nothingness' inside the Dimensional Gap.
However, unlike what the rumours said, my body was fine without the protection from my Demonic Aura.
'Maybe it's because of my immortal body?'
That better be the case. If not, Dimensional Gap would be the biggest overhyped fraud in this world.
'What a letdown…'
I expected to be ripped apart and adapt to the 'nothingness' in this place, but no such thing happened.
The last time I felt this disappointed was when Alice refused to groom me, and as if that wasn't enough, she also called a therapist on me.
Such cruelty.
Now, the therapist was receiving therapy at the Serafall Memorial Hospital.
'Where is it… Where is it…'
After looking around the Dimensional Gap for a few seconds, my eyes landed on a semi-transparent human soul floating through the void.
The human soul's eyes widened in shock when he noticed me waving at him from the side.
"You…"
I smiled at Pythagoras. "You didn't think I'd let you go if you escaped to the Dimensional Gap, right?"
There wasn't any atmosphere for sound to travel through within the Dimensional Gap, but my voice had no issues reaching Pythagoras.
I wasn't using [Sound Magic], though.
It was simply one of the perks of being a supernatural—casually breaking the physical laws of this world without conscious thought.
'Although barely, he's still keeping his soul from disintegrating without the support from his dimension or magic power…'
At this point, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Pythagoras' knowledge and mastery regarding souls was probably the highest I had ever seen.
I activated [Way of the Wind] and appeared near Pythagoras. With no resistance from the outside, my speed was much faster than usual.
However, even though Pythagoras was at his weakest right now, he could still follow my movements effortlessly. His magic power surged, manifesting as a golden river filled with countless 0s and 1s circling his soul.
'Is this Logos Arts…?'
Despite looking at it activating, I couldn't analyse Logos Arts with the Astaroth Clan's [High IQ].
It was understandable, though.
[High IQ] needed the user to at least know the basics of what they wanted to analyse.
Otherwise, the data collected would be too vague to make any sense.
But I could tell one thing.
'It's dangerous…'
Since that was the case, I raised my hand towards Pythagoras and surged my demonic power before bringing forth the worst nightmare of spiritual life forms.
"[Life Force Conversion]." [1]
In an instant, Pythagoras' magic power started running rampant. It destroyed his Logos Arts formation and poured out of his soul uncontrollably, causing immense pain to his consciousness.
"Gahhhhh…!!!!"
Although his soul was practically oozing with magic power, Pythagoras couldn't utilise it.
After all, the pure magic power created by [Life Force Conversion] was under my complete control.
No matter how high his accomplishments in soul manipulation were, he couldn't do anything without his magic power.
Now, all Pythagoras could do was bear the immense pain of having his life force stripped away bit by bit.
'Lyra' wasn't wrong…'
{Your [Life Force Conversion] is the nemesis of spiritual life forms.}
{For real?}
{Yeah. No matter who the spiritual life form is, if they don't have a physical body or something to hold their soul, it'll be nearly impossible to defend against it.}
That was what Lyra told me when we were inside her dungeon.
The original purpose of this spell was to power my research facilities, so I never thought of it as an attack spell until she mentioned it.
The physical body didn't just keep the soul attached to the material world, but it also protected it.
Thanks to that, the target had to be unconscious for [Life Force Conversion] to work because the physical body's natural defence was passive.
However, a spiritual life form like Pythagoras had no such defences if they were close enough to me, especially when caught unprepared.
[Life Force Conversion] was like Senjutsu's function to damage the spirit on steroids.
"ENOUGH…!!!!"
Even Pythagoras, who far surpassed me in his prime, could only beg for his life because of his current state.
"MY SOUL WILL DISINTEGRATE! STOP…!!!"
Had I not brought Alice's familiar or prepared the thousand human corpses in advance, I would've been the one at Pythagoras' mercy right now.
'People do show their true colours in desperation...'
The arrogance and confidence from before were nowhere to be seen, and Pythagoras had no qualms begging for his life.
Indeed, survival instinct reigned supreme over all other desires and emotions.
It was the same for me.
Back at the banquet, I was ready to harm or kill my family if it meant I could survive.
"PLEASE!!!"
Even though his life force far surpassed an average human's, it wasn't endless, not when it was decreasing at the rate of a decade per second.
As Pythagoras' life force kept disappearing, his desperation increased, and his attempt to beg for mercy changed into negotiations.
"YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE SPAN IS DEPLETED, RIGHT? I'LL REWIND TIME ON YOU AND HEAL IT IMMEDIATELY! JUST STOP THIS…!"
'Does this guy think I'm stupid?'
If he could heal me instantly by rewinding time, couldn't he also heal himself or rewind me out of existence the moment I gave him back his magic power's control?
Why would I free him for even a second?
There was no doubt he'd kill me the moment I did that.
"You know, I'd much rather get healed by catgirls and not a shady middle-aged man who has lived for over two millenniums…"
The potency of [Life Force Conversion] doubled instantly, causing Pythagoras to let out an even louder cry for mercy.
"I KNOW THE FUTURE…! I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING, SO STOP THIS SPELL…!"
"I don't like spoilers… I'll pass…"
[Life Force Conversion]'s potency shot up to three decades per second, and the pain Pythagoras' consciousness felt also increased.
"I CAN TELL YOU THE LOCATION OF EVERY LONGINUS SACRED GEAR…! MOST OF THEIR USERS ARE WEAK AND DEFENCELESS RIGHT NOW…!"
That was a rather tempting offer, but—
"I can search for them myself… Try harder..."
Pythagoras was too much of a threat to risk gaining any information from him.
I wouldn't have cared if he was the one to heal me if I could somehow control him, but alas, that wasn't possible.
If controlling Lyra had a risk factor of level ten, Pythagoras would at least be level hundred
I doubt even Alice could bail me out of this if it backfired.
"I KNOW WHO HAS THE STRONGEST FATE IN OUR WORLD—!! NOT EVEN GODS KNOW OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!! IT'LL BENEFIT YOU IMMENSELY TO KNOW ABOUT THEM BEFORE THEY MATURE…!!!"
"Strongest fate…?"
That piqued my interest a little, and I watched as hope returned to Pythagoras' eyes.
"Yes, all words have fated individuals—people the world revolves around at one point... You can think of them as protagonists from novels with immense luck and opportunities..."
I smiled at Pythagoras. "It's Issei Hyoudou, right? Or should I say, the Red Dragon Emperor…"
"How do you…" The human soul's eyes widened in shock and horror. "No one should know that information…"
"You mentioned future events, right?"
My smile widened slightly, and I sent a telepathic message to Pythagoras without speaking.
{What were they about? Issei's death and becoming Rias' [Pawn]? Issei fighting Riser to save Rias from a marriage agreement? Or is it the Biblical God's death becoming public news right after? Could it be the Three Factions Treaty that will happen in Kuoh Town?}
The more I spoke, the more horrified Pythagoras became.
These were all events Great Sage and I predicted with the things we observed.
Now that I knew about Vali's existence, we could infer extra plot points—like Rizevim Livan Lucifer being an antagonist of DxD.
"What the hell are you…"
"Ah, right… I forgot to mention, but…" [Life Force Conversion]'s potency kept increasing as I continued. "Things won't go as you saw them…"
After all, there'd be no point in me coming to this world if things remained the same as canon, right?
"How can a mere child…"
Pythagoras was, for obvious reasons, in disbelief.
After a few seconds, I spoke in a serious tone.
"You know, you should've never discovered the Pythagorean theorem…"
"But I never did that in this…" Pythagoras' eyes shook in fear and realisation, which made me smile a little. "YOU ARE NOT FROM THIS…!"
Before he could finish, his soul started to disintegrate rapidly, and he gave up on begging for his life and let out a loud, frustrated shout.
"CURSE YOU, AZRAIL ASTAROTH…! YOU DEMON FROM ANOTHER WO—!"
However, before his words could finish—
"Until next time, Pythagoras…"
His soul disintegrated into nothingness, and I stared at my empty palm for a few seconds.
'To be honest, I wanted to hear more about this world or read his memories…'
But then again, discovering things myself was much more fun than simply having the knowledge handed to me.
I didn't mind if this turned out to be the wrong decision later on.
In the end, it was my decision. What was there to regret about it?
'Still, fate sounds interesting… A power that can control people without them even realising…'
Fate was a concept that most supernatural races considered abstract, but I knew it existed thanks to the Reincarnation Centre and Pythagoras.
'I wonder how far fate and destiny can take a person, or if there's a method to manipulate them in this world…'
As far as I knew, there wasn't one.
'Well, whatever the case might be… Let's focus on the things that are within my reach…'
I still needed to think about some stuff before diving into Logos Arts, Runes, and Gleipnir that Pythagoras left behind.
After all, it was about time I started working on developing my Demonic Power Nature.
'Now that I think about it, did Latia decide how she wants to develop her Demonic Power Nature?'
Latia said she didn't need my help in deciding her nature. I expected her to ask my opinion eventually, but that never happened.
It made me wonder if she had decided what she wanted to do.
'I'll just ask her when we meet…'
.
.
.
[Near A Small Town In Europe.]
My shadow rose from the ground, opening a horizontal portal mid-air before dropping a few items on the ground.
The items included Vali Lucifer, Arthur Pendragon, Caliburn, Excalibur Ruler, and Alice's Griffin.
Vali and Arthur were unconscious while Alice's Griffin was barely hanging on to his consciousness.
'Right… I forgot that people unfamiliar with [Shadow Teleportation] can't stay inside that dimension for more than a few seconds…'
No wonder they passed out after staying inside my shadow for over an hour.
'How should I wake these two up…'
That was the real question right now.
It'd be a waste of my time to wait for them to wake up naturally.
I could give them a healing potion, but I'd much rather do that when they were awake to make them feel more grateful towards me.
'Ah, right…'
As I stared at the unconscious Vali and Arthur, a smile appeared on my face.
From within my shadow, a hockey stick emerged.
I grabbed it and started to—
"Wakey-Wakey! It's time for school!"
Beat the living crap out of Vali and Arthur.
I intentionally hit places that wouldn't cause lasting damage but would hurt like hell, something I experienced first-hand while training with Alice.
"Chuff…!"
The Griffin gasped in surprise, taking a step back, and I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes.
"You want some treatment, too?"
"Chuff! Chuff!"
The Griffin shook his head vigorously as a magic circle appeared under him before he disappeared.
It seemed like the Griffin still hadn't recovered from the time I poured petroleum on him and tried to burn him alive in his sleep.
'Talk about being overdramatic…'
While my method might look brutish to others, it wasn't.
Anyone could denote Vali and Arthur losing consciousness as [Injuries + Consciousness = Unconsciousness].
Then, wouldn't [Unconsciousness + More Injuries = Consciousness]?
It was simple math.
[…]
As expected, it only took twenty seconds for my method to work, and I stored the hockey stick in my shadow before anyone could see it.
"Gahh…. My body hurts…"
"Where are we…"
Arthur and Vali slowly got up from the ground with extremely sour expressions.
Their bodies hurt so bad that they couldn't even stand straight, leaning against the nearby trees to support themselves.
"What the hell…" Vali lightly touched his swollen eyelids, letting out a painful groan. "When did we get so many injuries…"
"Must've been the intense gravitational fields…"
"You're right…"
Vali and Arthur concluded that without my help, not knowing that the so-called 'intense gravitational field' was standing right next to them.
"Azrail Astaroth…"
Out of nowhere, a strangely heavy voice echoed inside my head, surprising me a bit.
From how Arthur's eyes widened, he also heard that.
"Your actions have left me speechless…"
I smiled after hearing those words. "For the White Dragon Emperor to think so highly of me; I'm honoured…"
"I wasn't complimenting you."
"Ah…"
.
.
.
"By the way, Azrail… Where are Le Fay and the others?"
"They're in Bucharest… I can't carry too many people through shadows at once, so I took the defenceless ones first and left you two behind…"
"I see…"
Arthur remained silent when he heard my words, staring at the ground with a blank expression.
After drinking the healing potions I gave them, Vali and Arthur's injuries started to heal rapidly, and they sat on the ground to recover their stamina.
I had to admit, even the 'normal' healing potions I found in Lyra's treasury were of excellent quality, especially in the current era since the art of alchemy had been on an all-time decline for a while now.
In our entire mythology, there might not be even one alchemist capable of creating proper healing potions anymore.
That was one of the reasons why Phoenix Tears and Healing Sacred Gears were always in demand.
"Azrail…"
While I was thinking about alchemy, Arthur stood up from the ground and bowed towards me at a perfect right angle.
"Thank you for saving me and my sister… We owe you our lives. I'll repay you in any way possible, no matter what..."
Vali also stood up and spoke in a sincere tone.
"I won't forget this debt… If there's anything you ever need, feel free to ask me. I'll help you with the best of my abilities, but…" After expressing his gratitude, Vali narrowed his eyes at me. "I won't forgive you if you hit me with a hockey stick again…"
"Hockey stick…?"
Arthur exchanged glances between me and Vali, confused.
'Albion, you fucking lizard…'
White Dragon Emperor? More like the White Rat Emperor.
And here I thought the red ones were snitches.
"What?" I smiled at Vali. "You wanna get the same treatment as Pythagoras and Hydra?"
Vali's movements paused, and the corner of his mouth twitched, but he didn't reply.
There was no way Albion didn't tell him how strong the last attack was.
If the explosion I did on Hydra back in the familiar forest was 10, then the one I did on Pythagoras was 10^32.
It had enough energy to destroy Earth or the Underworld over a hundred times.
I had examined Pythagoras' dimension before using it to make sure the explosion wouldn't affect either of those worlds.
I'd be beyond screwed if it did, so I just used enough corpses to make the dimension collapse on itself rather than outright destroying it.
"Now that you mention it…" Arthur turned towards me after noticing the awkward silence. "What about Hydra?"
"What about him?"
Arthur was hesitant, and instead of him, Vali spoke in a blunt tone. "You left him to die, didn't you?"
"What are you on about? Hydra's alive."
No matter how much I hated that little shit, he was still the best familiar candidate and experiment material for me.
Why would I kill him and suffer a loss?
"We saw him getting vaporised..."
"Yes…"
Vali and Arthur watched as my hand moved inside my lab coat's pocket and pulled out a small glass box.
Inside the box was a minuscule amount of blood, probably not even a tenth of a drop.
I held the glass box between my thumb and middle finger before flicking it towards a nearby tree, and when it hit—
"What the…"
The glass box shattered, and the tiny bit of blood inside it started regenerating rapidly, much to Arthur and Vali's surprise.
Within five seconds, the negligible amount of blood regenerated into Hydra's human form.
"Haah… Haah…"
Hydra sat on the ground, his breath heavy as he stared down at his body with wide eyes.
Since Hydra created clothes for his human form from his flesh, they automatically appeared on his body.
"How the hell am I…"
'The [Fountain of Youth]'s immortality far surpasses the simple regeneration Hydra used until now…'
Inside Pythagoras' dimension, I secured some of Hydra's blood to resurrect him later without anyone noticing.
Even if someone destroyed Hydra's body with no traces remaining, he could still resurrect as long as a single drop of his blood or flesh remained preserved in another place.
However, only I knew the correct method to preserve his blood for the resurrection to work.
'To think even his soul returned to our world when his body regenerated... Did it travel through the dimension our bodies draw power from, or was it recreated from scratch?'
Our immortal bodies were similar in basic functionality, but they lost their similarities at this point since resurrection through regeneration wasn't something I could accomplish.
After all, parts of my body lost their connection to the 'infinite power source dimension' when separated from me for over twenty seconds.
While Hydra's body focused on instant regeneration and allowed resurrection, mine focused on adaptation and allowed me to create two extra bodies with the same abilities as the original one.
That was the payoff I made to edit Hydra's regenerative genes.
Although, there was a catch. I could increase my regeneration speed if I wanted to with anatomy control in exchange for cancelling out my adaptation.
'I'll kill him a few more times later to see how his soul travels through space-time…'
After giving Hydra a few seconds to process his resurrection, I replied to his question with a small smile. "I saved you, what else?"
"You…" Veins bulged on Hydra's forehead, and he glared at me with his slit, snake-like pupils. "Fucking bastard…!!!"
Without wasting a second, Hydra appeared a step away from me with his fist clenched, intending to punch me straight in the stomach.
His intense reaction wasn't out of my expectations.
Even Hydra didn't know about his resurrection ability, so the fear of death he felt back there was genuine.
Under normal circumstances, if I took a direct punch from Hydra, it'd be game over for me, but—
"Is this how you thank someone who saved your life?"
I stopped Hydra's punch with one finger, much to his surprise.
"My strength—!"
Yes. Hydra didn't even possess the strength of a High-Class Devil, similar to what happened back in the Familiar Forest.
And what did that mean?
I smiled and grabbed Hydra's hand, which made him stammer in surprise.
"L-Let go of my hand…!"
It was time for a spanking session.
.
.
.
"Right, Azrail… How did you prepare such a massive attack on Pythagoras in such a short time? You only disappeared for a few minutes at best…"
"About that… Hm?"
Before I could answer Vali's question, I sensed someone slowly sneaking towards us.
'I can't sense their presence because of [Shadow Movement], but this isn't a Vampire's [Shadow Manipulation] or a variant [Darkness Magic]…'
With those thoughts in mind, I turned towards the tree's shadow behind us.
"If you want to sneak up on someone, at least do it properly…"
Vali and Arthur were confused by my actions, but before they could react—
"Va-kun!!!"
A blonde young woman dressed in standard Magician Robes emerged from the shadow and jumped towards Vali, confusing him.
"Huh—?!"
"Where did you disappear for such a long time? Do you know how worried we were?"
Following the blonde magician, a young man with black hair emerged from the tree's shadow, looking at me with vigilance and caution.
[Notice. These two are sacred gear wielders.]
'A Sacred Gear that allows movements through shadows with such proficiency… It can't be a normal one…'
I stared back at the black-haired human.
'It's most likely [Canis Lykaon]…'
Only a Longinus could allow a human to travel through shadows with this much mastery.
'No wonder these two are so strong… That woman is probably a Longinus wielder, too…'
I glance towards the blonde magician.
"Lavinia? Tobio? What are you guys doing here?"
From his reaction, it seemed like Vali was familiar with these two humans, and he stepped away from Lavinia's hug.
"What are we doing here? We came looking for you…"
Tobio continued from where Lavinia left off, moving his eyes away from me. "You've been missing for over two months… Why are you in a place like this?"
"What…" Vali was too stunned to speak for a few seconds, but he soon added. "I left two days ago… What are you talking about?"
"That's what I was about to tell you, Vali…" I intervened in their conversation, gaining everyone's attention. "While only a few minutes passed for you inside that dimension, I spent over a week outside preparing a method to rescue you and Arthur…"
"Huh…?!"
"Seriously?"
As expected, Vali and Arthur were surprised by that revelation.
Even Lavinia couldn't help but ask, "That dimension? Va-kun, what is he talking talking about? And who are these two?"
"Ah, right…"
Vali explained everything he experienced after his last meeting with Tobio, from his promise with Arthur and Le Fay, trying to find Excalibur Ruler, running into me, to our time inside Pythagoras' dimension.
When he was about to reach the part about [Random dead human NPCs, barrage], I glared at him, and he cleverly covered it up.
At least he wasn't incapable of picking up social cues.
"To think something like that happened…"
"Pythagoras… I remember hearing about him when I was young…"
Tobio and Lavinia were pleasantly surprised by everything Vali told them.
After Vali's explanation ended, I glanced towards him. "I never expected that Grigori also managed to recruit the White Dragon Emperor…"
It was impressive how Grigori had three Longinus wielders while the Devils had none.
"How did you know…?"
Vali was surprised by my blunt statement, confirming that my initial guess was correct, and I pointed towards Tobio.
"It's no secret that the user of [Canis Lykaon] works for Grigori…" As I spoke, I glanced towards Lavinia. "If I'm not wrong, she's most likely the wielder of [Absolute Demise]…"
Once again, Vali, Tobio, and Lavinia's stunned expressions confirmed that my conclusion was correct.
Our conversation continued, and Tobio decided to ask Arthur about Pythagoras' secluded dimension in detail while Lavinia walked over to me and crouched down.
"Your name is Azrail, right?"
"Yes…"
Lavinia smiled gently and patted my head with her right hand. "Thank you for looking after our Va-kun…"
'She must've been really worried about Vali…'
That much wasn't hard to tell with Lavinia's behaviour.
"It's nothing much…"
Now that I took a good look at her, Lavinia was a beautiful woman with long, flowing blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes.
Her innocent and kind expression aside, her big sister vibes single-handedly increased her charm tenfold.
After patting my head for a few seconds, Lavinia stood up and turned towards Vali with a bright smile. "Isn't this great, Va-kun? You found new friends…"
"You're right…"
Vali's voice was dryer than the Sahara desert, but I didn't care much about it as my eyes slowly descended to Lavinia's body.
I slowly felt my neurons activating.
'A beautiful and kind face, blonde hair, wholesome personality, sapphire blue eyes, large breasts, perfect curves, wide hips, long legs, thick thighs, strong as hell, wields [Absolute Demise], and the big sister vibes…'
There was no denying it: Lavinia was a whole goddamn package.
'If I somehow managed to recruit her over the years, then…'
However, before my thoughts could progress much and I could check Lavinia out further, Vali shot me a sharp glare. "Where do you think you're looking at?"
"Is something wrong, Va-kun?"
Lavinia exchanged glances between me and Vali, genuinely confused about why the latter was suddenly looking at me with such hostility.
'Ah, so she's also the type to be oblivious about her beauty and charms…'
I stared at Lavinia before giving Vali a wide, sleazy grin.
"Let's get along from now on, Va-kun…"
Lavinia didn't understand what I meant, but Vali sure did, with him clenching his fists to contain his anger.
"You…!"
'Great Sage, activate the Vampire's [Charm (Passive)] and go all out with it on Lavinia…'
While the skill was passive, I could still control it to some extent with Great Sage's help.
[Understood.]
I had no idea how [Charm (Passive)] affected the other person, but what I did know was that it wasn't magic and even worked on those stronger than me, unlike [Charm (Active)].
It was more than enough to leave a favourable and memorable impression on Lavinia, which was all I needed to do in the short term.
No hard feelings, Va-kun.
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Words: 4395
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1. It isn't that Pythagoras' spell-casting speed was slow. He's probably one of the fastest. It's just that Azrail's mind works at a different speed because of thought accelaration. The time he gave Pyrhagoras to activate Logos Arts before using [Life Force Conversion] wasn't even half a second. Thought I'd mention that.
The details about [Charm (Passive)] and [Charm (Active) will be available in more detail after Azrail learns about them.
Important notice:
After being inspired by Neko (the one who wrote: DxD: Rise of Sloth. Check it out), I've decided to add random questions at the end of each chapter, too (I want to farm comments and increase the reach).
Anyway, so here's the first question:
We all know Azrail will recruit Kuroka and Koneko, and I was wondering… What if he 'accidentally' saves their mother from death, too? We all know how kind-hearted he is…
After all, who can heal his lifespan better than two little Nekoshu? A milf—I mean, an adult Nekoshu proficient in Senjutsu, Youjutsu, Touki, and even Kasha.
In case someone doesn't know, their mother is a canon character named Fujimai.
A/N:
Deadpool Dance has officially made it into my top 5 dances.
1. Mr. Bean's Dance.
2. Torture Dance.
3. Deadpool.
4. Bully Maguire.
5. Joker.
Honourable mention: Flash (TV) and Shikanoko Nokonoko
Koshitantan.
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I swear this chapter was supposed to have another part and end the accursed 'Khaos Brigade' title, but I guess we'll need to end it on 'Khaos Brigade (10).'
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Also, I've decided to read 'Metamorphosis' after keeping it on my list for so long.
Someone I know said it's peak, so I'll give it a try. Will leave a review here after I finish it.