Chapter 131

[News: Chapters will be reduced to 1 per day as word amount has duplicated to around 2k from chapter 143.]

So eager to affect me this early on? It seems this as-yet-unborn secondary forbidden item is far more impatient than I imagined!

With that thought, Eren allowed himself a brief sigh of relief.

The 'Shadow of Suffocation' targeting him so urgently only confirmed one thing: it instinctively sensed a threat from him, even in its embryonic state. It was trying to neutralize that threat by eliminating him.

For Eren, this was actually good news.

At the very least, it suggested that this secondary forbidden item was not as powerful as he had initially feared. Otherwise, it wouldn't need to act with such urgency.

But before Eren could relax, a sharp instinct from his Clown abilities caused every hair on his body to stand on end. The acute warning filled him with a sense of danger from all directions.

The overwhelming threat surged toward him, making it impossible to pinpoint its exact source.

At the same time, Eren's heartbeat grew slower and heavier.

Prolonged oxygen deprivation due to his inability to breathe was drastically lowering the oxygen levels in his blood, weakening even his heartbeats. Dizziness, fatigue, and other symptoms began to manifest and worsen.

This was the 'Shadow of Suffocation' intensifying its influence. Unless Eren could contain it or escape its range of effect, the lack of oxygen alone could kill him.

Despite the extraordinary abilities of Sequence 8 Clowns, they were still mortal beings. Prolonged suffocation could indeed claim his life.

Realizing this, Eren's eyes narrowed.

"It seems I'll need to speed things up and deal with this now."

Just then, a pale hand silently emerged from his blind spot, reaching for his side.

However, as the hand was about to touch him, Eren's body instinctively dodged to the side as if he had eyes on his back, avoiding the sneak attack.

Almost simultaneously, Eren's right hand flipped, and a pistol slid into his grip.

Without hesitation, he raised the gun slightly and pulled the trigger.

The next moment, a faint flash of light erupted from the silenced barrel, blasting apart part of the skull of what should have been a lifeless corpse lying in the corner.

The putrid brain matter splattered everywhere.

If Eren hadn't quickly found cover, he might have faced another biochemical attack from the corpse that had just tried to ambush him.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Why did this corpse move? I checked the bodies along the way with Spirit Vision—they were all ordinary corpses, devoid of supernatural power!"

Eren's expression was filled with disbelief as he poured more spirituality into his eyes.

As his Spirit Vision intensified, Eren soon spotted something abnormal on the corpse that had attempted to attack him.

Even though the skull had been blown apart, its shadow remained intact. The shadow wriggled continuously, manipulating the corpse in an attempt to attack him again.

"A shadow?"

In the pitch-black Peace Apartment at this late hour, it was only thanks to the intensified Spirit Vision that Eren noticed the unusual shadow.

"So, this 'Shadow of Suffocation' isn't limited to suffocation—it can control shadows as well..."

Watching the wriggling shadow manipulating the shattered corpse, Eren finally pieced together the mystery.

The corpses themselves were ordinary, lacking any supernatural power. The real puppeteer was the shadow controlled by the forbidden item, the 'Shadow of Suffocation.'

As Eren made this realization, a horrifying sound of cracking bones echoed throughout the apartment building.

One by one, corpses with twisted postures began crawling out from every corner of the building.

Their faces were frozen in suffocating agony, full of despair and resentment. It was as if even in death, their bodies couldn't find peace.

Each corpse had a dark, suffocating shadow at its feet or back, manipulating it.

From these shadows, thin, dark threads extended, weaving into a massive spiderweb deep within the building, emanating despair and suffocation.

The corpses, controlled by the shadows, lurched forward in an eerie tide, converging from all directions toward Eren.

The dozens, then hundreds of corpses turned the Peace Apartment into a nightmarish hellscape.

"Seriously, where did all these bodies come from?"

"Even accounting for those removed or buried, this building alone has over a hundred corpses? What else have those damned politicians been covering up?"

Seeing the mindless, stumbling corpses swarming him, Eren barely resisted the urge to curse aloud.

Without hesitation, he holstered his pistol and summoned the Angel's Staff sealed within his arm.

The gun could blow off skulls but was useless against the shadows controlling the corpses. Wasting bullets would only delay the inevitable.

Instead, the Angel's Staff—fused with divine remnants capable of doubling damage against evil entities—was his best option in this dire situation.

With a determined expression, Eren gripped the shimmering staff, ready to face the encroaching tide of darkness.

(End of Chapter)

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