Chapter 328: Crystal of Deceased Grievance
"The true face of the 'God'?"
Asagiri took a deep breath and raised his left hand to touch the wound left behind from the battle just now.
The evil spirit's Cursed aura remained inside the wound. Not only did it intensify the pain, it also continued corroding the flesh within, equivalent to a negative effect that prevented healing and increased blood loss.
However, with Asagiri's physical fitness, as long as the wound had not directly damaged his internal organs, it would not affect his movements too severely.
"Yes. The so-called God is actually..."
Just as Iwanaga Kotoko was speaking, she suddenly felt the auras of the remaining five Cursed entities become even more violent.
Immediately after, she sensed that the three IBMs she had created using Black Particles, along with the dozen or so Pale Ghost Hands, had all been destroyed in an instant. Those five Cursed entities, having broken through the obstacles, were now approaching her and Asagiri's position at an astonishing speed.
"Persona, Mita!"
Asagiri's first reaction was to activate Core Mita's exclusive ability, Mita World. He intended to pull both himself and Iwanaga Kotoko into Mita World first, finish their conversation there, then cancel the ability and return.
Unexpectedly, the phantom Tarot card representing Core Mita seemed to be obstructed by some inexplicable force during its condensation. Before it could fully form, it turned into powder and dissipated.
"A power that forbids spatial teleportation..."
Realizing that he could not use Core Mita's exclusive ability, Asagiri immediately stood with Human Asura, one in front and one behind, shielding Iwanaga Kotoko and Alice between them.
At that very moment, those five Cursed entities had already silently approached.
"They're here."
Through Alice's perception, Asagiri sensed that three Cursed entities had arrived less than three meters away from him.
The Holy Cross had already condensed in his left hand. With his right, he used his habitual attack method and threw the Rope Dart straight out.
"Clang!"
One of the Cursed entities seemed to have dodged the Rope Dart. Immediately after, Asagiri felt the chain wrapped around his arm suddenly tighten. He instantly realized the opponent wanted to use brute force to drag him over.
"Interesting."
Asagiri did not loosen the chain wrapped around his arm. Instead, he gripped it tightly with both hands.
Then, the bones in his right arm let out a crisp sound, and his eyes turned golden in that instant.
The evil spirit pulling the chain had never expected a human to possess such terrifying strength. Caught off guard, it was directly yanked back by Asagiri.
"Hoo..."
At that moment, Asagiri pushed his hearing to its limit.
He could clearly hear the sound of his left fist cutting through the air, as well as the sound of two other Cursed entities reaching toward him.
At that instant, Asagiri did not hesitate and decisively made his choice.
"Bang!"
As Asagiri's left fist shattered the evil spirit's head, the cold, slippery hands of the other two evil spirits touched his neck.
A bone-chilling cold spread rapidly through his limbs and bones, almost paralyzing his entire body, as if he were surrounded by freezing seawater that pierced straight into the marrow.
Although Iwanaga Kotoko did not know what had happened, she knew she could not waste even a second. She immediately shouted,
"The true form of the God is a Cursed phenomenon caused by the convergence of human spiritual power! The God on this Black Giant Ship was born from the fear of the deep sea and death held by the thousands of passengers who died in the shipwreck!"
"I understand."
Asagiri could feel the hands of those two evil spirits touching his body, as if trying to drag him into the cold darkness where the sun never shone.
After obtaining a concrete "concept," dark red, Cursed patterns coiled around him in circles. His eyes also burst with golden light, breaking through the restriction that "light cannot exist in this area" at that very moment.
"Supreme Magic Bullet!"
Although the light of the Supreme Magic Bullet was also jet black, the moment it appeared, it seemed to devour the surrounding darkness entirely.
From within that devoured darkness, a sharp scream suddenly erupted.
Immediately after, the light emitted by the portable high-intensity flashlight illuminated the scene before Asagiri and Iwanaga Kotoko once more.
At that moment, the two of them finally saw the true appearance of the evil spirits.
They were all wearing soaked black robes. Their faces and bodies were hidden beneath those robes, with only their bloated, pale hands and feet exposed. Two of the evil spirits had their hands pressed against Asagiri's body, while the other two had captured Human Asura.
"Vision restored."
[Your Persona, Human Asura, has been destroyed. Trait "Final Rebirth" activated. Resistance to frost and curses has increased.]
The moment Human Asura's tall, jet-black body was destroyed, the two evil spirits in black robes reached their pale hands toward Iwanaga Kotoko.
However, with her vision restored, even Iwanaga Kotoko, who was not good at close combat, would not be so easily attacked by them.
"IBM, Pale Domination!"
While Iwanaga Kotoko used Black Particles to condense two humanoid figures and summoned Pale Ghost Hands, Asagiri also exerted his full strength at that moment.
"Persona, Human Asura, Mira!"
Because he no longer needed Alice's perception to determine the exact location of the evil spirits, Asagiri could cancel Alice's summon and replace her with a Persona with stronger combat capabilities.
The moment Mira appeared, wearing her Glasses, she performed her signature sword draw.
However, her blade failed to directly sever the evil spirit's neck, only leaving a very deep wound.
But she was not the only one fighting.
Human Asura reached out with its jet-black hands and grabbed the evil spirit's neck. The opponent pressed its slippery, cold hands against Human Asura's chest, trying to use its Cursed power mixed with cold aura to force Human Asura into stiffness and gradual collapse.
However, after being destroyed once and gaining increased resistance through Final Rebirth, Human Asura could no longer be easily destroyed by such an attack.
"No... no!"
A look of horror appeared on the evil spirit's face hidden beneath its black hood.
Feeling the terrifying force gripping its head, it could not help but scream.
Human Asura showed no mercy. It simply ripped the opponent's entire head off, just like pulling a cork from a wine bottle.
Asagiri's fighting style was just as brutal as Human Asura's.
After all, Human Asura was the manifestation of his true inner self.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Asagiri grabbed an evil spirit's ankle with one hand and swung its body like a meteor hammer, smashing it against the ground again and again.
Only when the opponent's body was torn apart, scattering into fragments all over the floor before dissipating into black smoke, did he casually throw the remains away like trash.
After dealing with the final four evil spirits, Asagiri looked at Iwanaga Kotoko.
Neither of them relaxed. Instead, both seemed to be wary of something.
"It's not over yet."
As Asagiri's voice faded, cold seawater rose from the cabin floor, reaching nearly thirty centimeters deep.
Immediately after, an incredibly eerie vortex appeared on the water surface not far away, constantly rotating and trembling.
From that vortex, a humanoid monster also dressed in soaked black robes gradually rose.
However, in the two holes where its eyes should have been, a mixture of flesh, blood, and seawater writhed like a vortex.
"This is the remnant of that God. As it is now, it is only an evil spirit formed from the combined grievances of the dead."
"Is that so?"
Asagiri nodded noncommittally, then condensed the Holy Cross in his hand and spoke softly to Human Asura and Mira.
"Let's go."
The battle process was exceptionally smooth.
It took less than a minute for Human Asura and Mira to completely tear apart the remnant of that God, without even needing Asagiri or Iwanaga Kotoko to intervene.
Within the opponent's remains, Asagiri obtained an item certified by the system.
[Crystal of Deceased Grievance (Item, Purple Quality): A black crystal formed by the convergence of the dying grievances of thousands of people who died miserably. If one's spiritual power reaches a certain intensity, one can awaken an "Eerie" type ability after dripping blood onto this crystal. It can also be fused with existing equipment.]
After the God vanished, the Black Giant Ship also turned into nothingness.
Asagiri and Iwanaga Kotoko reunited with the three girls: Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Yamauchi Sakura.
"Holy Blessing."
Yamauchi Sakura, holding her staff, used her ability to create two soft orbs of light that radiated like sunlight.
As the orbs slowly sank into Asagiri and Iwanaga Kotoko's bodies, both immediately felt their stamina and spiritual power recovering rapidly.
"Are you two okay?"
Hearing Yuuki Asuna's question, Asagiri shook his head.
He did not act tough, but spoke frankly.
"Very bad. I suffered injuries in the battle that, while not serious, can't be ignored. The Cursed attributes of those evil spirits caused me to lose a large amount of stamina. On top of that, I used Supreme Magic Bullet and converted stamina into spiritual power to replenish myself. My stamina is now only at thirty percent. I can still fight, but it'll be strenuous. My spiritual power is at forty percent. I can't use Supreme Magic Bullet again."
Hearing this, Kato Megumi pursed her lips and said softly,
"Wasn't the difficulty of solving this Dead Realm too high? Under those circumstances, only Shadow's ability could truly destroy that God..."
"No, actually, there was another way."
Before Kato Megumi could finish speaking, Iwanaga Kotoko shook her head and interrupted.
"The essence of a God is a Cursed phenomenon caused by the convergence of human spiritual power. In other words, its existence depends on human souls. Aside from conceptual abilities like Supreme Magic Bullet, which destroys anything from the root, it can actually be dealt with by completely destroying all the souls that support the God's existence. In other words, cutting off the power that triggers the phenomenon."
.....
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