Chapter 255: The Supreme Power
Faced with the voices of hundreds of "people" speaking at once, most of the Players present instinctively covered their ears, their faces twisting in pain.
"This is bad."
The woman from the White Suit Team suddenly opened her eyes wide. Her pupils trembled, and thin streaks of blood flowed from her eye sockets and ears.
"I can't protect the minds of those Players anymore. Their minds are starting to waver…"
"Phantom, Violet, are you two alright?"
Hearing Asagiri's concerned question, both Kato Megumi and Yuuki Asuna answered at once.
"Yes, we're fine."
Among everyone present, only the White Suit Man, the Fox Mask Woman, the perception type Player from their team, and the four members of Asagiri's team were still able to remain conscious under the overwhelming, bizarre chorus. Even the White Suit Man's other teammate could not hold on any longer. A pained look appeared on his face as he slowly dropped to one knee like the other Players.
"Mental pollution, huh…"
Iwanaga Kotoko frowned slightly as she quickly considered how to resolve the situation.
At this stage, although the true body of that cursed existence still had not appeared, its ability to parasitize others and the conditions required for activation were already painfully obvious.
Logically speaking, everyone gathered here counted as high level Players. Their mental strength should have been enough to resist the cursed invasion. But the human mind was never stable. Just like a body weakened by fever or illness, the spirit could also be worn down by external pressure.
And right now, the Players were facing a hopeless situation. They could not retreat, could not escape, and saw no clear path to victory. For those whose mental fortitude was even a little weaker, their hearts had already begun to shake.
The cursed existence noticed that weakness and immediately moved to invade their minds.
If this continued…
A new round of parasitism was about to begin.
"Stand up."
Just then, Asagiri's voice entered the ears of every Player present, instantly clearing the increasingly blurry fog in their minds.
"Zzz…"
Dark red streaks like twisting lightning appeared around Asagiri's body, weaving together into bizarre patterns. His eyes turned golden, bursting with light, and a terrifying pressure spread through the entire banquet hall, so oppressive that every Player present felt instinctive fear.
Because that fear was too intense, the Players who had begun slipping into confusion were yanked back to awareness. The cursed mental attack unleashed by the parasitic Players was directly overridden by Asagiri, who was preparing to use [Supreme Magic Bullet], through the passive effect of his special profession, the [Unrestrained Tyrant].
"That is…"
Feeling the horrifying fluctuation of power coming from Asagiri, all the Players, including the White Suit Man, revealed looks of utter disbelief.
Under their shocked gazes, Asagiri slowly raised his head. His golden eyes fixed on the trembling parasitic Players before him, whose noisy chorus had abruptly stopped.
[Supreme Magic Bullet.]
A pitch black beam of light appeared instantly.
But this time, instead of firing straight ahead, it shot upward to the ceiling of the banquet hall before transforming into a torrential black downpour that rapidly engulfed the entire area.
"It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!!!"
The moment the black rain fell, all the parasites let out distorted screams. But the cries lasted only a brief moment before they were swallowed completely by the black rain and vanished along with it.
Less than two seconds after the rain ended, the banquet hall had returned to its original appearance. If one looked only at the surroundings, it would have been impossible to tell that a battle had even taken place here.
"Huff…"
Noticing that Asagiri's body swayed slightly, Yuuki Asuna immediately stepped closer without a word. Her hand tightened around the hilt of Gleaming Light.
The White Suit Man sharply noticed the change. Though his expression remained calm, he quietly exchanged a glance with his three teammates. They immediately understood, took several steps back, and positioned themselves between Asagiri's team and the other Player teams, their backs turned toward Asagiri and the others.
He absolutely could not die.
He absolutely must not die.
As long as that man was still alive, there was still hope of clearing this Dungeon.
And…
Because of Asagiri's influence, the thought had already surfaced in the minds of the White Suit Man and his three teammates.
Perhaps… a God really could be killed.
"Leader… are you alright?"
Asagiri's black eyes gradually dimmed, and his voice dropped so low it was nearly inaudible.
"Burned out…"
Yuuki Asuna let out a helpless sigh, both annoyed and amused.
"You burned out again? What are you, some kind of reusable firewood?"
Seeing Asagiri take out the [Ring of Conversion] from his inventory and put it on, his eyes quickly regaining clarity, Yuuki Asuna and the others immediately understood that he was probably fine again.
"Did you eliminate that thing?"
"No. Not yet."
Asagiri shook his head and answered slowly.
"Even now, I still don't know what its true body is. So what I eliminated were only the parasites I could see in front of me, along with part of itself. I inflicted serious damage on it, but I didn't erase it completely."
"It really hid itself well…"
Iwanaga Kotoko muttered first. Then she turned toward the group of Players in the back.
"N no more… let us go…"
"I shouldn't have entered this Dungeon at all… there are still more than sixty hours left… how am I supposed to survive…"
"Withdraw! I want to withdraw!"
"Let's go back and hide in the guest rooms… maybe we can still live…"
"We should never have come here…"
Most of the Players had already gone physically limp. Some were kneeling, some had simply collapsed to the floor. A few had even started sobbing uncontrollably, their bodies trembling as if they had lost all light in their eyes.
It was not only mental collapse.
During the previous battle, although the parasitic Players controlled by that cursed existence had primarily targeted Asagiri and the others, while the remaining Players had only been fighting ordinary parasites, many of them had still been injured.
At this point, they looked utterly miserable and completely lacked the ability to continue fighting.
"They're broken."
Looking at the state of the Players, Iwanaga Kotoko shook her head, then cast a questioning glance at Asagiri. After seeing him nod, she raised her voice.
"That cursed existence has suffered heavy damage, and its control over this floor has weakened significantly. The exit that was sealed off before should now be open again. Anyone who wants to leave can do so now."
Hearing Iwanaga Kotoko's words, the Players whose minds had not completely collapsed, those who still retained a little rationality, did not even dare raise their heads. They only glanced at their mentally shattered teammates, then finally chose survival over clearance rewards.
One after another, they supported each other and staggered out of the banquet hall in a miserable state.
Watching them leave, Asagiri merely shook his head and said flatly,
"The Boss of a third phase Dungeon is already strong enough that numbers have become meaningless. No matter how many Players come, if they can't withstand that mental attack, they'll only become parasitic puppets under its control."
"After all, this counts as a hidden main quest."
Hearing Asagiri's words, the White Suit Man slowly spoke.
"It's just that I didn't expect the difficulty of a third phase hidden main quest to be this high. Even one of my teammates nearly failed to resist the mental invasion. Fortunately, although he's a physical class, he never neglected raising his mental strength in previous Dungeons. Otherwise, this time would've been over for him."
Asagiri looked at the White Suit Man and his three teammates, then chuckled.
"You're not leaving?"
"Uh… compared to that…"
The White Suit Man glanced at Asagiri's feet, then pointed at the blood still dripping onto the floor and asked hesitantly,
"You're injured?"
"Oh, just a small wound. It's nothing."
Asagiri waved it off casually, then lifted the hem of his black coat.
Only then did the White Suit Man and his teammates see the deep gash at Asagiri's waist, a wound so deep it looked as though it might have already reached his internal organs.
"Do you have any recovery abilities?"
Hearing Asagiri's question, the woman wearing the Fox Spirit Mask shook her head.
"I can provide mental protection, but I don't have physical healing abilities."
"Oh, then there's nothing to be done."
Asagiri replied indifferently. Then he took the bottle of "magic hand sanitizer" out of his inventory and, without the slightest hesitation, poured it directly over the gaping wound at his waist.
"Hiss…"
Smelling the harsh sting of disinfectant and watching the liquid spill over that horrifying wound, the White Suit Man and his three teammates all wore complicated expressions and instinctively sucked in a breath.
This guy was really ruthless with himself.
Just watching it hurt.
And after Asagiri's wound completely healed under the effect of the "magic hand sanitizer," Yuuki Asuna walked over to him. Though she tried her best to hold it in, her voice still trembled slightly, and tears had already gathered in her eyes.
"Does… does it hurt a lot?"
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Asagiri reached out and stroked Yuuki Asuna's long hair. Then he noticed that Kato Megumi and Iwanaga Kotoko were wearing similar expressions. So he walked over and patted their heads too, then laughed carelessly.
"You're all making the atmosphere so heavy that I'll feel awkward if I don't die at least once."
After comforting Yuuki Asuna and the others, Asagiri turned around and looked at the White Suit Man with a smile.
"Well then, since you're not leaving, let's discuss the next battle plan together."
.....
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