About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

“You bastard——!!!”

The moment their eyes met, Ghost Shark went berserk. She almost dropped to all fours, then tried to sprint towards the other person at top speed, only to tear it into a pool of minced meat.

"Calm down, Ghost Shark... Uwaaa!?"

Orson stretched out his hand to try to stop the ghost shark, but the other party's strength was so great that it almost dragged Orson along with it.

At the critical moment, it was Skadi who reached out, grabbed the Ghost Shark's arm, and intercepted the cannonball that was about to be fired.

"Don't stop me—Killer Whale…!"

The ghost shark had fallen into a bloodthirsty and violent state at this time. She slapped Skadi's hand away and prepared to rush forward again.

"Calm down! Your mere presence here at this moment is already a victory. You've proven that those guys' actions were all meaningless experiments. What you need to prove now is that you still have a mind that belongs to you!"

"..."

Orson's words were like a guiding star in the darkness, bringing light back to the Ghost Shark's eyes, which had been blinded by blood and madness.

"——What a meaningless act."

After discovering that the ghost shark did not pounce on him directly, the bishop frowned in disdain and then took out an injection from his pocket.

"This is merely delaying your death. You who gave up on evolution, the trash abandoned by evolution... just die like this."

"Wait, what's your purpose? Why are you in Rutland—Ugh!"

Orson wanted to stop the guy opposite who was no longer human, and look for some clues at the same time, but the other party inserted the needle into his neck without any hesitation.

"Ha...ha...the power is flowing...that's right."

As the unknown reagent penetrated, the opponent's body suddenly underwent extremely strange changes. The body that could barely be called "human" suddenly expanded, and crystalline tentacles continued to emerge outward.

"Are these tentacles powered by a high concentration of Originium? I see... He's here because there's a large amount of Originium solution stored near the city-state engine, and he's somehow mixed that solution into his body!"

"So this is its back-up plan?"

Skadi's extremely calm voice was heard, and then a light blue shadow and a gray-black shadow rushed up from the left and right.

boom! !

Chainsaws and greatswords swung mercilessly from both ends, and a loud explosion echoed through the narrow tunnel. It was the collision between the Bishop's tentacles and the weapons in the hands of the Deep Sea Hunter.

For deep-sea hunters, perhaps this level of distortion is already commonplace? This is just a monster that can be easily flattened and sent flying.

But... this time is different

Boom! !

"Ahem...!!"

Skadi was attacked from the front by the tentacles, and was knocked away. She broke several load-bearing pillars before she could barely stop.

"Ugh!"

The ghost shark was also unable to dodge the three tentacles' sweeping attack without leaving any gaps. She could only barely use the chainsaw to block the direct attack, but she was also severely knocked away, knocking down dozens of steel bars.

That thing had passed through the source stone solution contained in a city-state's land engine, and it was no longer something that two deep-sea hunters could deal with.

"Power... yes, the gift of the deep sea, the curse of the land... these things combined together are absolutely supreme, pure power—"

The bishop's consciousness seemed to be fading, but his tone was extremely joyful.

"You...heretic, I will crush your limbs and then--hmm?"

Keng! ! !

Before the bishop could finish his words, Skadi rushed over again, waving her sword as usual, with an expressionless face.

On the other side, Ghost Shark also stood up from the ground with a smile. She held two steel bars in her hands and staggered as she ran towards the bishop who had become some kind of monster.

The two deep-sea hunters used their bodies to build a wall, isolating the only "human" here from the heretics.

But Orson knew very well that this situation would not last long. What supported Skadi and Ghost Shark was the hunter's instinct and will, but what supported that guy was the source stone of most of the city-state.

But... there is still a way.

Orson felt the salty and humid sea breeze, and for some reason he felt a little nostalgic.

Pure Agor blood would be attracted to pure Chimera—no, to [human blood]. So, if it were a pure, yet unintelligent being...

Like instinct, or as if it was engraved in his DNA, Orson gently placed the dagger on the palm of his hand, leaving a familiar red mark.

Then, Orson sprinkled the blood into the cocoons of the sea monsters that had not yet hatched.

The next second, accompanied by a hair-raising tearing sound, dozens of deep-sea monsters hatched, but these twisted creatures looked even more powerful than those that had attacked the monastery before.

"Orson!? What are you doing—Ouch!"

Skadi was frightened by Orson's behavior, but before she could scream, she could only raise her sword to defend herself in a panic.

"Orson...run away...cough!"

Ghost Shark tried to tell Orson to escape from here quickly, but she couldn't even regulate her breathing smoothly.

These deep-sea hunters knew very well what the hatched creatures, which should not exist on land, would do next.

They would pierce Orson, chop him up, then dismember, chew, and digest him.

But unlike expectations, those twisted creatures that hatched out of the cocoons, covered with sharp bone spurs and eating organs that no living creature should have, did not immediately pounce on the seemingly defenseless, fresh and delicious "prey" in front of them.

They were waiting, like an army, waiting for orders from someone.

These twisted creatures surrounded Orson at their center of gravity, rubbing their sharp claws and fangs that could easily cut through alloy steel.

——Ah, it’s just as I thought.

Orson brought his palm to his mouth and licked his bloody wound with his tongue. The taste of rust instantly filled his mouth.

Then, the young man stretched out his palm, gently pointed at the bishop not far away, who had transformed into an indescribable being, and gently opened his lips.

"Swallow that thing—[Grand Ensemble]"

Just like the triggering of a flare gun at the starting line, the monsters instantly pounced on the bishop, biting and chewing without any hesitation or delay.

“Then, what’s going on…!? These sea monsters—no, it’s impossible! Could it be that you are—you are the [Original Sin]… Aa ...

The bishop's screams were soon replaced and drowned out by the sound of flesh being torn apart and chewed.

Then, the Agors, who were born in Lateran, thought they had obtained the "Supreme Power"—

It was eaten up just like that.

21. The Promised Land of Final Destination

"Kacha kacha——"

The sound of flesh being chewed continued to emanate from the narrow underground passage, occasionally accompanied by the sound of hard objects such as bones being forcibly crushed.

Pale and twisted, the monsters originally from the deep sea gathered like vultures in front of a corpse, surrounding the body of the one once called "Bishop", which had turned into an alien creature, and kept biting and devouring the pile of flesh.

"Orson—"

Someone's voice came from the other end, but I didn't realize it at the moment... No, I didn't have the energy to respond.

Whether it was his sight or his consciousness, everything converged on the end of the man in front of him who was pursuing "power".

“Orson…!!”

The sound gradually became clearer, but even so it was still as hazy and subtle as if it were separated by the deep ocean.

Every cell in the body was clearly feeling the sensation at the moment, and a certain "power" derived from the other side of the finger attached its own will to those sea monsters.

I don't know how long it took, a few minutes, dozens of minutes - the outline of the corpse finally dissolved, leaving only a meaningless piece of flesh that had been stripped of even the last bit of form.

The sea monsters retracted their sharp claws and spikes used for eating, and slowly closed their biting and chewing organs.

"Kakaka..."

These pale sea monsters stopped all movements and slowly leaned against the sides, losing the 'life' that drove them without any reaction.

These sea monsters were originally degraded versions, lacking the damp, cold and dark breeding ground of the deep sea, and they themselves could not move for too long.

The bodies of these monsters gradually turned into gray-brown stone, and then weathered from the top into dust.

For some reason, the disappearance of these lives made me feel a sense of emptiness from the bottom of my heart.

No…is it emptiness, or sadness?

"Orson!! What... is going on? Those things..."

"Ugh...cough cough cough!! Skadi?"

Orson suddenly came back to his senses and was finally rescued from the deep sea of consciousness by Skadi's shouting.

Skadi held the greatsword all the time, adjusting her breathing while confronting the sea monsters. Only after those monsters turned into wind and sand did she finally put down her weapon and rush to Orson to inquire about the situation.

"Are you hurt... No, what did you just do? Are you okay?"

Skadi asked Orson anxiously, and kept asking if the boy was injured.

This scene is really a bit strange. The killer whale, whose body is covered with scars and marks of battle, is asking the boy, whose clothes are not even wrinkled, in a panic whether he has suffered any injuries in the battle just now.

"I'm fine, Skadi. As for the scene just now... well, I don't know how to understand or explain it."

Orson rubbed his hair, looked at the corpse that had become an unmanageable mess, and sighed.

"At that moment, it was like a flash of inspiration... No, should I use the word 'instinct'? It was like instinct, I suddenly realized that my blood might be able to control those with the lowest intelligence."

Orson whispered, looking at the wound on his right hand that was still bleeding slowly.

"Perhaps it's some kind of bloodline connection, just like between us deep-sea hunters... (swallows)"

"Ah! Sorry for the hug, I'll bandage the wound right away, just bear with me for a moment Skadi! Also, uh, how are your injuries?"

Behind him, he heard the sound of Skadi swallowing her saliva in the middle of her words. Orson then remembered that the little killer whale still had weak symptoms of "Chimera Blood Withdrawal Reaction". In order to prevent himself from being attacked by the little killer whale in such a place, Orson could only hurriedly treat the wound.

"The injury is not serious."

After Orson's blood disappeared from sight, Skadi returned to her usual somewhat silly expression and responded.

This wasn't Skadi showing off; after all, the Deep Sea Hunter's physique was a terrifying existence that he could never match. Orson had once witnessed Warfarin using a nail gun to draw Skadi's blood, only to have the gun go awry.

"Tina, are you okay?"

After bandaging the wound with great difficulty, Orson walked over to Ghost Shark, who had been kneeling beside the bishop's body without saying a word, and asked her softly if she was still affected at this moment.

"Yeah, I'm fine... Although it seems that some of my internal organs were injured, this kind of injury only needs a few nights of sleep to heal."

Ghost Shark looked back at Orson and responded by gently rubbing his abdomen with his left hand.

"Ah... well, I'm sorry for putting you in such a dangerous situation."

Orson turned his head and said with some guilt, after all, judging from the result, Skadi and Ghost Shark had to fight the Bishop head-on in order to protect themselves.

But the reason Orson turned his head away from Ghost Shark wasn't because he was embarrassed, but because Ghost Shark was stroking his belly while looking at him with that half-smile on his face. Orson had the illusion that he was about to become a father...

I can only say that Ghost Shark is really a very strange girl. She clearly gives others the impression of being a crazy and bloodthirsty fake nun, but the picture of her taking care of children at home with an ordinary smile is not difficult to imagine.

"This is my own choice. It has nothing to do with you, Orson. Besides... my headache has eased a lot. Now I don't feel like my brain is being eaten away by something... hehe."

The ghost shark responded with a smile. Unlike the previous smile that deliberately created madness and madness, the ghost shark in front of the bishop's body had a more pure "gentleness" in its smile.

"Also—I saw some remaining fragments of memory. They were probably the clearest beliefs in that guy's consciousness before he died."

Ghost Shark got up from the ground and leaned on Orson's shoulder because of the stabbing pain in his abdomen.

"Shards?"

"Hmm... Even though the fragments of that guy are already broken, some of them still fill my brain uncontrollably."

Ghost Shark nodded slightly and rubbed its head against Orson's shoulder.

"This bishop...his pursuit of power isn't an end, but a means."

Ghost Shark put one hand on his forehead and recalled as he spoke, trying to unearth more detailed fragments.

"Are you saying that he wants to become incredibly powerful because he has a goal he can only attempt once he has gained power?"

Orson asked curiously, and Ghost Shark nodded.

"Well, I saw... There were three bishops in total. Everything they did was to gain the ability to cross the ocean and to track down a marker somewhere."

In the world of Terra, the "ocean" is not something that can be conquered so easily, so the desire for power is understandable.

"That place—'The End of All Promises,' that's what they call the destination."