Chapter 144: super dangerous?
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The waves crashed onto the beach, washing over the giant snail's feet.
The entire coastline sparkled, as if covered with a layer of silver gauze. A seabird slowly descended, searching for shellfish to eat. As soon as its feet touched the beach, they became stuck, and the bird lost its balance, falling flat with its entire body glued to the sand.
"Chirp, chirp!"
The seabird struggled desperately, but the more it moved, the more it became trapped.
Suddenly, a translucent tentacle zipped by at a speed too fast for the naked eye to see.
Crash!
The sea surged again, and the seabird vanished, as though it had never been there.
Aoki and Kurome stood at the edge of the beach, watching the scene unfold from a distance.
"That must be its method of attack," Kurome remarked. "I'll leave the response to you."
Aoki nodded, spread his bat wings, and flew toward the giant snail.
The giant snail remained motionless, its tentacles swaying unconsciously, as if unaware of what was happening in the world around it.
Aoki stayed vigilant. He quickly closed the gap and threw a punch aimed at the giant snail's head.
Whoosh!
The giant snail retracted its head into its shell with lightning speed.
Clang!
Aoki's fist collided with the shell, producing a sharp sound. The snail didn't even budge, and his fist became stuck to the shell.
At that moment, tentacles shot out from the small holes in the snail's shell, darting toward Aoki like black shadows.
"Ridiculous defense. Touch it, and you get stuck. And with all those tentacles? They're fast too. How are we supposed to fight this thing? This has got to be a joke," Aoki muttered to himself.
He flapped his wings hard, pulling with all his might until his fist broke free from the snail's shell. The flesh on his hand tore off completely, leaving bare white bones. He quickly retreated.
The tentacles missed, and the giant snail slowly poked its head out, opening its mouth wide.
Splurt!
A massive glob of thick mucus shot out of the snail's mouth. To the giant snail, it was just phlegm, but to Aoki, it looked like a giant ball of slime over two meters in diameter.
Not only was it moving incredibly fast, but the timing and angle of the attack were so precise that Aoki had no time to dodge.
"It's been three days since I lost the 'Space Shuttle.' I miss it," Aoki sighed. He opened his palm, aimed at the oncoming slime, and his flesh expanded, forming a meat shield.
Pah!
The slime stuck to the shield. Aoki cut off his palm, which was now covered in mucus, and distanced himself from the giant snail, watching it from afar.
The giant snail stopped moving.
"These super dangerous species, at least the ones in this secret realm, if they had levels like professions, would be above level 30," Aoki thought to himself.
In other words, if a super dangerous species had a profession, its quality would be at least three stars.
Of course, if Aoki could obtain a super dangerous profession, he would certainly be stronger than this giant snail once he reached level 30.
Just like how the demon profession is only two stars, but once he reached the highest level, he could defeat Muzan Kibutsuji.
In other words, the profession he had obtained was essentially an enhanced version of its original power.
But that wasn't the main issue.
The real question was whether the "super dangerous species" profession could truly exist.
After all, the leader of the Empire's recently emerging religion, the Way of Tranquility, was actually a hybrid of human and dangerous species. He had abilities like photographic memory, future prediction, mind-reading, and wound healing.
This proved that humans could possess the bloodline of dangerous species.
In addition, fundamentally speaking, much of the power behind the Imperial Arms actually comes from super dangerous species.
If a Teigu is used for a long time, it may corrode its user, assimilating them into the very creature it was forged from—especially transformation and armor-based Imperial Arms.
Being possessed by demons grants similar abilities. Even after a thousand years, the muscles of Tyrande, the super dangerous species that created "Haunted," remain alive.
This is far from a good thing.
When a human is corrupted, they gradually transform into a dangerous species, effectively resurrecting a long-extinct super dangerous species within themselves. However, it's also one method of acquiring super dangerous blood.
Aoki cut off his thoughts.
There were still too many issues with this idea.
Dangerous species aren't necessarily stronger than Imperial weapons users. At least these giant snails didn't seem anywhere near as threatening as Esdeath.
Moreover, he had left the world of Demon Slayer to reclaim his humanity. Becoming a super dangerous species would only take him further away from that goal.
Aoki refocused his attention on the giant snail.
"Let's see if we can get through!"
The range of space fluctuation interference couldn't be infinite. As long as he escaped that range, he could perform "space travel."
Aoki flapped his wings and flew over the giant snail.
The snail remained completely still, like an inanimate object.
As he drew closer, Aoki increased his speed, but still, the snail didn't move.
However, just as he passed above it, Aoki's face changed, and he abruptly stopped.
Puff!
Countless tentacles suddenly shot out from the snail, weaving an impenetrable web in the sky.
If Aoki hadn't stopped in time, he would've flown straight into the trap.
"Good thing I can see through the transparent world," Aoki thought, quickly retreating.
But the giant snail wasn't finished. The massive net of tentacles continued to pursue him, aiming to ensnare him.
"I won't be able to escape!"
Aoki's instincts told him that he was too deep in. The tentacles were incredibly fast, and coated with that sticky mucus. Once touched, there would be no getting free.
Whoosh!
Aoki suddenly shot upward at a 90-degree angle, like a scallion being pulled from the ground. Before the tentacles could lock onto his trajectory, he had escaped their range.
Before he could even catch his breath, a sharp whistling sound came from above. He looked up.
Countless dangerous pterosaur-like species gathered, forming a massive dark cloud that blotted out the sky.
Among them, a gigantic creature with a wingspan of over 50 meters stood out.
"It's really here! But why wasn't there any movement earlier?"
Aoki sensed something and glanced toward the forest below.
"Is it because it's higher than the forest? So, the area beneath the forest is controlled by the giant snail, and the skies are ruled by the super pterosaur?"
Whoosh!
A wind blade sliced through the air, cutting Aoki in half. He couldn't afford to linger any longer and dived diagonally downward.
The giant snail and super pterosaur showed no signs of backing down.
Aoki dodged tentacles and wind blades as he descended, finally landing on the ground.
The super pterosaur glanced at him once more before turning back toward the forest. The giant snail also ceased its movements.
"Are you okay?" Kurome looked up at him, concern in her eyes.
Aoki shook his head. "I'm fine, but it looks like we won't be able to leave without a fight."
"Then let's fight!"
Kurome clenched her fists, determined.
"Alright! Let's head to the other side!" Aoki said, wasting no more time.
Now that he had figured out their movements, there was no point in hesitating.
For him, the giant snail would actually be easier to handle.
However, for Kurome and her puppets, fighting an enemy they couldn't even touch would be impossible.
Taking everything into account, the dangerous species in the gray fog seemed like the more manageable opponent.
With that, the two of them turned and left.
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T/N: There is a Patreon for this work, and any new work I add will be dropped there first. check it out for an early chapters.
Patreon link:- Patreon.com/ANelite
And also:
Imperial weapon = Teigu
Teigu = Imperial weapon