I am a female swordsman.

"Damn it, unforgivable! I will never let you get away with this! You actually used me! I'd rather die with you than give you my body!!"

A conversation that leaves people scratching their heads.

Two distinctly different voices emanated from one mouth, sounding as if two people were locked in a fierce confrontation. Saitama and Sephiroth, who were already prepared to fight, stopped what they were doing and stared at the woman who was lying on the ground trying to get up.

Sephiroth, in particular, felt an overwhelming sense of absurdity!

That voice, only that voice could not be mistaken. From the moment he opened his eyes in the boundless darkness, from the moment he was adopted by Shinra, how could he possibly mistake that familiar and comforting voice? It was the voice of Yomi, the [Shinra Chairman]!

"I'm sorry, but you're no longer qualified to die with me."

The trembling gradually subsided, and the woman lying on the ground slowly stood up. Her once jet-black hair was now streaked with silver, and from the inside of her body, bone with a pale metallic sheen, like scales or stripes, was growing, clinging to her crimson, half-demonized body. She looked like a terrifying monster crawling out of hell, its mouth agape, ready to devour anyone who might be among it!

Psionic organ [White Blade].

The psionic organ, cultivated using the flesh and blood of the demon Kux as a substrate, possesses an absurdly high degree of hardness. It was also the foundation for awakening into the [Sword Demon], and was successfully transplanted at some unknown time.

“Mr. Mado…”

Saitama didn't know what to say; Mado Yomi in front of him didn't seem like a normal person at all.

It had a bunch of curved horns like ram's horns on its head, long and eerie claws on its hands and feet, and a barbed tail that lashed out from its tailbone, whipping and thrashing about restlessly. Its crimson and ominous figure was extremely voluptuous and fiery, exuding an alluring yet eerie danger.

This thing that came into the world grinned wildly, revealing a dense array of sharp shark teeth; it was clearly a demon!

Chapter 121 The Noisy Sounds

The timeline is flipped forward, returning to the time when Huang Quan first received a psychic organ.

'To completely shatter her mental imprint, the host can only attack with power of equal strength. Even then, complete destruction cannot be guaranteed. Her will to survive is even stronger than the host's.'

'So, does that mean I need to awaken?'

That's the theory.

'But the problem is, the transformation during awakening alone isn't enough to shatter her spiritual imprint. And if I were to have my body taken over during awakening, it would mean the roles of subject and object were reversed, putting me in an extremely disadvantageous situation. But without awakening, I'll never be able to defeat her.'

A long silence...

'Let's transplant the [White Blade] technique; I plan to perform two awakenings simultaneously.'

The system warns the host that continuous awakenings will severely impact the host's personality. It is highly likely that after ascending to a higher dimension, the host will no longer be a host.

'I want to create a miracle.'

What was that miracle called? Huang Quan didn't tell the system explicitly; she only knew from her future self that doing so would inevitably allow Huang Quan to reach an unprecedented level. If the miracle succeeded, then [Da Qian] would no longer be Huang Quan's enemy, but rather her ally.

This is a huge gamble!

She staked her existence on the table, gambling with fate. Win or lose, she wouldn't leave herself with regrets. Huang Quan didn't want to simply let her life after transmigrating pass by like this, especially after clearly seeing the scenery at a higher level. No matter what, she was determined to climb up and see it for herself.

After transplanting the psionic organ [Siphon], [White Blade] secretly transplanted it into Huang Quan's body using special methods, which greatly deepened his demonic transformation and brought him one step closer to awakening.

This allows Huang Quan to firmly suppress the other personality at crucial moments.

………………

Let's go back to the present.

The barbed tail lashed out restlessly, whipping the air and the ground. Each lash stirred up white mist in the air and pebbles on the ground. Just in terms of muscle strength, Huang Quan was now so powerful that it would make people tremble even with their eyes closed.

Her appearance was truly horrifying.

A living demon, its entire being exudes a cruel and tyrannical beauty. Its crimson and pale eyes, filled with primal bestiality, scrutinize the outside world, inadvertently revealing a strong desire for destruction.

It was purely instinctive!

Saitama and Sephiroth instinctively focused their defenses entirely on the humanoid demon. This sense of impending doom, like a calamity about to strike, nearly ignited their inner unease. It was as if this malevolent being was something that should never have appeared in this world, and that its existence necessitated destruction!

"Mr. Mado, are you still Mr. Mado?"

The most surprised was, of course, Saitama. Watching his friend suffer and transform into this demon, two emotions surged within him. One was an urge to rush over and smash her to pieces, to prevent her from wreaking havoc in the world—an urge even stronger than when Saitama faced Sephiroth. The other was sorrow, the sorrow of seeing the Howling Beast meet its end.

"I am Huang Quan."

Layer upon layer of sounds emanated from the gaping, ferocious mouth, accompanied by bursts of bright red, gaseous magical energy.

"The Underworld..."

Sephiroth's once stern face now appeared dazed and confused. He wasn't a fool; in fact, he was smarter than most people. He wanted to laugh, an inexplicable urge to burst into unrestrained laughter, to mock this world filled with lies and deception. Because it all seemed like a farce, and he himself had been so…

"Speaker, why are you here?"

hatred!!!

Upon discovering the truth, Sephiroth's hatred for Yomi Mado's betrayal burned even more intensely! Unforgivable! The woman he respected and was closest to, the only woman in the world worthy of being with him, had been sitting behind her desk all along, fooling him with that detestable smile!

Hatred tinged with affection burned coldly.

This emotion forcefully stained Sephiroth's originally clean and clear heart into a murky black, an impulse to destroy everything!

"Sephiroth, you did a good job." Huang Quan looked at him with an approving gaze as he rhythmically clenched and unclenched his long, sharp blade.

If it weren't for his efforts, Sakura Yomi wouldn't have been suppressed so easily.

"Regarding Mado Yomi, if you're not in such a hurry, I'll tell you later. And, regarding the questions you've been curious about but haven't asked me, I can tell you everything without reservation. That way, you'll understand the meaning of your existence in this world. ...Don't worry, she's not dead, only temporarily."

Faced with the demonized Yomi, Sephiroth initially wanted to force her to explain herself right now by raising his sword.

However, the suppression inherited from their bloodline forced this proud man to slowly lay down the Masamune sword. Just as Sephiroth had suspected, he did indeed share a blood connection with Yomi, the Chairman of Shinra, and this intimacy stemmed from that connection!

As always, Sephiroth lowered his eyelids to conceal the murderous intent filling his eyes, and quietly stood behind Yomi, sheathing his Masamune. Yomi was unconcerned by the sharp killing intent emanating from behind; she trusted that her child wouldn't be so impulsive as to immediately draw his sword and stab her in the back.

Having temporarily suppressed Sephiroth, Yomi used her mutated claws to support her chin and turned towards Saitama.

"Saitama-kun, it seems there's no one left for you to fight. What, want to have a match with me?"

"...Although I'm quite dizzy, I can still understand. I was used by Mado-san." The bald man belatedly slapped his palm; his intuition was still quite sharp.

Although he was being used by Yomi, Saitama wasn't angry.

Whether it's Yomi Mado or Yomi, in Saitama's eyes, she's just a good friend who sits with him on top of the Ghost City building, carefree, drinking tea and eating snacks.

"Although I really want to fight you, a voice inside me tells me that now is not the time."

"You heard that sound too?"

"Yes, although she's very talkative and noisy, she gives you a warm feeling like a mother."

Huang Quan remained silent for a moment at Saitama's bizarre analogy, her barbed tail unconsciously carving gruesome marks on the ground. She was quite surprised that Saitama could hear that voice, but also fortunate. If she hadn't met Saitama earlier, the two might have become enemies forced to fight to the death.

As for now, at least there is a basis for conversation.

Chapter 122 The Child

[Sword Demon] God-Making Atlas, current progress of psionic organs: 0.3%.

One after another, pale bone spurs burst forth from the crimson flesh, like armor clinging to the body, the red, white and black colors enveloping the Yellow Springs within.

The thin outer armor, seemingly flimsy, actually possesses an exaggerated level of hardness and adaptability. Her voluptuous, perfectly proportioned figure, coupled with her coiled, hooked tail, creates a bewitching and cruel beauty that constantly tempts those around her, even in her pseudo-awakened state, to the point of wanting to be drawn to her like moths to a flame.

Theoretically, this eerie patterned surface layer is immune to all kinetic attacks.

Its structure is very special.

Microscopically, a special lattice mimicking the structure of a certain metal is arranged in a dense and orderly manner, exhibiting extremely good energy transport and transfer properties after forming a structure. Kinetic attacks striking this armor layer are entirely converted into thermal motion of the structure, ultimately channeled into the [Psionic Reactor] as energy reserves.

Combining the two major psionic organs, [Blade] and [Siphon], the terrifying power of the [Sword Demon] has already begun to emerge. It can be said that more than 90% of human firearms are no longer a threat to Huang Quan, and this number will rise further as she acquires more psionic organs.

Shinra, Headquarters Underground Test Site

On the test site, a figure shrouded in rising red mist faced eight specially modified Colossus Soldiers.

The weapons mounted on these eight colossal mechs have all broken through conventional limitations, allowing them to be deployed on the battlefield without any restrictions. Working together, they can easily defeat some small countries. Each mech moves at high speed with a light and ghostly agility, leaving trails of afterimages as its fists transform into beams of light and strike the crimson figure fiercely.

Every second, countless punches landed on Huang Quan's body. The light, heat, and kinetic energy were so dense that they could turn even a warship's armor into scrap metal, let alone a person!

Huang Quan, under the pseudo-awakening, stood quietly in place, enduring all the attacks without moving, as if the efforts of these machines were just illusions falling on her and having no effect whatsoever.

High-frequency oscillating blades, electromagnetic projectiles, high-energy lasers, sonic weapons, the Lance of Longinus, phase attacks, and energy magic.

The coordination of the Colossi was truly remarkable. While restricting their target, they launched a variety of deadly attacks without hesitation. Under the system's control, these eight Colossi were like perfect warriors, without any superfluous movements or decisions. However, all the attacks were like phantoms, unable to shake Huang Quan in the slightest.

We were passively beaten for a long time...

Huang Quan finally felt that he had almost tested his ability to withstand blows under the pseudo-awakening, so he hugged his full chest with both hands and bent over slightly.

Then, the silver-white mechs, having detected a deadly threat, covered each other!

The crimson and white armor layers on his body, which were originally tightly sealed, began to barb up countless tiny [Kux] with Huang Quan's movements. This swarm of bladed demons parasitizing Huang Quan's body multiplied and shot forth in the next instant! They slashed at every inch of space without any blind spots! The wildly swirling crimson rainbows shredded all matter, and even the colossi soldiers who had taken various defensive measures stopped moving, their red light fading as the inverted triangular crystals vanished!

A gust of wind blew by, I don't know where it came from.

The standing silver-white machine began to turn into fine dust particles, gradually disappearing from the test field, eventually leaving only a layer of pyramid-shaped silver gravel on the ground.

"Physically, it has reached the level of a star-level being, and as a third-tier external weapon, it is of excellent quality." The system truthfully evaluated Huang Quan's pseudo-awakening skill.

The Yellow Springs now.

Unafraid of the agonizing loneliness of deep space, she could happily wander the universe alone. This [Sword Demon] form, modified by Huang Quan, has become the origin of nebula creatures. In its early stages, it recklessly absorbed energy; in its middle stages, it possessed the ability to transform celestial bodies into arks; and in its later stages, it evolved into a nebula-like great demon king. Wherever it went, it devoured everything in its path; the title of demon king is truly well-deserved.

"Can it destroy the giant light sphere?"

Huang Quan, in a particularly good mood, asked with a smile.

"No." As expected, the system didn't need to explain to Huang Quan what the special nature of a higher dimension was; she could vaguely sense that the strength of lower-dimensional combat power was merely a foundation for advancement.

"What about the reincarnators?"

According to the system's records, most reincarnators are no match for the host. This means that once the first transmigrated monster, the giant light sphere, confirmed Huang Quan's condition, the variables it sent were at a similar level to her.

It doesn't matter.

This is just the beginning. In the next week or so, Huang Quan will become even stronger. She is now like a carp that has leaped over the Dragon Gate, quietly lurking at the bottom of a deep pool. If those spacetime locusts ignore or underestimate her because of this, they will suffer a great loss.

………………

"Thank you."

As she stepped out of the training field, Sephiroth, who had been waiting for her, handed her a soft towel. Although she didn't really need it, Huang Quan still thanked him.

While wiping his face, Huang Quan opened the unread information.

The report on this defection has been submitted. The defector, Soldier Zack, has been confirmed dead by Investigator Cisner during his escape. Soldier Claude's whereabouts are unknown, but it has been confirmed that someone else met with the defector; he has been preliminarily identified as Iris Gainsborough. Further operations are underway.