Chapter 181

Scarlet tentacles, shimmering with an eerie glow, radiated an aura of razor-sharp menace.

It seemed as if these were not mere fleshy appendages, but rather steel-forged, lethal spikes.

Thousands of tentacles recoiled.

Like a surging blood-red tide, they brought with them a storm of crimson mist and an overwhelming stench of blood.

Joker Eren, encircled by billions of writhing tendrils, had no time to react before they all simultaneously impaled him.

Like a heart being pierced by thousands of arrows, his body was instantly nailed to the grotesque, fleshy ground.

Hidden within the darkness of the slaughterhouse, "Kingpin" watched the figure impaled by his countless tendrils. His nearly concealed, fat-covered eyes flickered with cruelty.

Just as he prepared to control the blood-red tendrils piercing Joker Eren, opening their "mouths" to drain the powerful and mysterious flesh, intending to absorb it as nourishment for his evolution—

Rip…

A sound like tearing paper echoed.

The Joker Eren, who had been skewered into an unrecognizable mess, blurred for a moment and then—under Kingpin's stunned gaze—transformed into a pale paper effigy.

The effigy bore an exaggeratedly painted smile, staring straight at Kingpin as if silently mocking him.

"So terrifying…"

"If I had actually been pierced by all those disgusting barbed tendrils, I think I'd die of revulsion."

A ghostly voice echoed in the pitch-black slaughterhouse.

Standing atop the corpse of a marked beef cow, Joker Eren—his face hidden behind a clown mask—patted his chest and feigned fear while watching the remains of his paper substitute being torn into countless shreds by the furious tendrils.

However, the blatant teasing in his tone made it clear that he was anything but afraid.

Following the sound, Kingpin quickly spotted Joker Eren, who had somehow slipped into the slaughterhouse unnoticed.

Feeling utterly toyed with, an uncontrollable fury surged in Kingpin's heart.

The next second—

His massive, bloated body, resembling an enormous mass of flesh, writhed as countless blood-red tendrils twisted wildly in agitation, forming a crimson tidal wave.

Under the onslaught of the scarlet surge, the grotesque mass of flesh he had stolen from countless corpses seemed to come alive.

Weaving through the writhing tendrils, the stolen flesh rapidly morphed into a massive, grotesque hand over two meters in size.

The moment it took shape, the rotting hand—composed of putrid flesh and brittle bones—smashed down at Joker Eren with immense force.

Using the Crystal Eye in his right eye socket, Joker Eren had gradually adapted to the unnatural darkness of the slaughterhouse.

Now, he could clearly see that the enormous hand was teeming with worm-like creatures, squirming incessantly.

At the sight of those blood-red parasites—

A shiver ran down Joker Eren's spine beneath his exaggerated grin.

"More worms…"

The sight immediately reminded him of the Worm Plague he had recently thwarted.

It also dredged up the memory of when he had suffered his first wound at the hands of that twisted cultist of an unknown dark god.

Damn it!

Could it be that Kingpin, too, had been corrupted by the same worm-worshiping deity, which caused his mutation?

In a split second, Joker Eren burned the name of that foul god into his memory.

If Kingpin's mutation was indeed linked to that deity—

Then this was bad.

No.

To be precise—

This was a disaster for the world.

The ability to continuously spread corruption across the Marvel universe meant that this entity was dangerously close.

For Joker Eren—

This was anything but good news.

Smack!

Before he could dwell on it any further—

The rancid, decaying hand came crashing down on his position.

Squelch…

With a sickening thud—

The marked beef cow under Joker Eren—intended as Kingpin's future sustenance—was instantly reduced to a splattered mass of meat paste beneath the crushing force.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Yet, the Joker Eren who should have been crushed alongside the cow—

Once again transformed into a paper substitute with an eerily grinning face, mocking Kingpin's rage.

As the rotting giant hand crushed another of Joker Eren's substitutes—

The real Joker Eren, fingers adorned with numerous grenade pins, hurled a large package directly at Kingpin's massive head.

"Surprise!"

"You've attacked me so many times, now it's your turn to enjoy a little gift from me!"

At the core of the massive flesh mound—

Upon seeing the package lobbed his way, Kingpin's grotesquely bloated face twisted with a hint of fear.

Joker Eren's gift was nothing special—

It was merely the entire stash of grenades he had looted from a gangster's armory on his way here.

And the pins he held in his hands?

Those were the safety pins from all those grenades.

"Hmph!"

As the package hurtled toward his face—

Kingpin, who had previously tanked Joker Eren's Explosive Throwing Knife, dared not take any chances.

Unlike the expendable stolen flesh that had been blasted to pieces by the knife—

His brain was a different matter.

Although it was no longer his Achilles' heel, it remained the one part of himself he least wanted to damage.

Because—

His brain was the last bastion of his sanity.

If his brain were destroyed—

The irreversible mutations consuming his body would strip him of the last remnants of reason.

He would plunge into madness, becoming a mindless creature driven only by an insatiable hunger for flesh.

At that point, Kingpin would no longer be Kingpin.

That kind of power—was not what he desired.

In an instant—

The rotting giant hand that had just crushed Joker Eren's paper substitute abruptly withdrew, shielding Kingpin's massive head, wrapping it tightly in a protective embrace.

Simultaneously—

Near the decayed giant hand—

A gaping maw, brimming with jagged, bloodstained fangs, suddenly tore open from Kingpin's grotesque flesh.

With a grotesque lunge, it swallowed Joker Eren's "gift" whole.

Boom!

A deafening explosion erupted.

A massive cloud of blood mist burst into the air.

Chunks of rotten flesh and sinew were blasted in all directions by the shockwave.

At the center of the slaughterhouse—

The monstrous, ten-meter-tall mound of flesh had been torn open by the explosion, leaving a gaping crater nearly two meters wide.

Even with his massive form—

The damage to Kingpin was substantial.

Inside the crater—

Charred blood-red tendrils twitched and writhed in pain, attempting to recover.

"A perfect opportunity."

Using the Silk Threads embedded in the ceiling, Joker Eren, who had fallen onto the slaughterhouse floor, had no intention of letting Kingpin off the hook.

With a flick of his wrist—

Two explosive throwing knives, weapons that had previously appeared in his hands, materialized once again in Joker Eren's right hand.

With a sudden swing—

The two powerful knives shot out like black lightning, carving twin arcs through the air before plunging into the massive crater left by the previous explosion.

The next second—

A deafening explosion erupted once more.

This time, Kingpin's already-ravaged body was blasted apart even further, sending mangled limbs flying in all directions.

Blood and flesh sprayed everywhere.

Even Joker Eren wasn't spared—his entire body was splattered with the foul tide of rotting gore.

"This smell... absolutely vile."

Wrinkling his nose beneath his mask, Joker Eren's face twitched slightly.

The stench of decay—blended from human, pig, and cow carcasses—was so overwhelming that it nearly made him vomit up last night's dinner.

"This is exactly why I hate fighting things like you…"

As he spoke, a cold glint flickered in his eyes.

Raising his right hand to chest level, he spread his fingers wide—then clenched them into a tight fist.

Die, you disgusting freak!

Schlk!

In an instant—

The Malicious Silk Threads, gliding gracefully around Kingpin's bloated form like dancing butterflies, suddenly constricted.

The silver threads, sharp as blades, sliced through Kingpin's massive, decaying body, severing chunks of rotting flesh with surgical precision.

"ROAR!!"

Now significantly lighter thanks to Joker Eren's handiwork, Kingpin bellowed in rage.

He attempted to resist the threads' relentless assault, forcing his countless crimson tendrils to surge outward, prying apart the tightening silk.

Simultaneously, blood-red tendrils burst from his decaying flesh, lunging toward Joker Eren.

But the masked trickster, moving as though he were merely strolling through gunfire, effortlessly dodged the incoming tendrils with graceful footwork.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he swung the Malicious Silk Threads again—carving yet another massive chunk of putrid flesh from Kingpin's grotesque form.

Over and over!

Each time, Joker Eren deftly evaded the crimson tendrils and the razor-sharp barbs protruding from the ground.

Even in the claustrophobic space teeming with writhing blood-red limbs, he managed to slip through the gaps, dancing between death and survival.

He struck back mercilessly, severing tendrils with razor-sharp precision.

At the same time—

The other end of the Malicious Silk Threads transformed into deadly whips, slicing even more flesh from Kingpin's enormous, rotting body.

A rain of massive, putrid chunks of flesh showered down.

But before they could even hit the ground—

Kingpin's own tendrils seized the fallen meat and shoved it right back into his festering body.

"Damn it..."

"I can't keep this up much longer."

Despite appearing to dominate the battle, Joker Eren felt no joy.

Sure, he was technically cutting Kingpin down piece by piece.

But from his spiritual sight, he could tell that Kingpin's overwhelming presence hadn't weakened much at all.

The damage he had inflicted so far?

Superficial at best.

In other words—

The flesh he had been slicing away wasn't nearly as vital as he had hoped.

It made sense, really.

After all, most of the meat on Kingpin's body wasn't originally his—it was a patchwork of stolen flesh from countless corpses, grafted onto his rotting form.

How important could it really be?

If he wanted to truly defeat this monstrosity—

He needed to find its core.

"What a pain..."

"If only the Malicious Silk Threads weren't so picky about what they devour… It would be much easier to deal with a flesh-based monster like this.*"

Annoyed, Joker Eren shot a glare at the Malicious Silk Threads, which continued carving away at Kingpin's form with mechanical precision.

Then, a thought crossed his mind.

"If only Oddball were here… With its insatiable appetite, Kingpin wouldn't last a minute, no matter how much flesh he had…"

At that moment—

As if sensing his resentment, the Malicious Silk Threads wavered slightly.

A subtle, almost pitiful emotion rippled through their silvery strands.

That hesitation—

Gave Kingpin's tendrils just enough time to slip through the defenses.

Before Joker Eren could react—

A cluster of blood-red tendrils lunged toward him, blocking his escape.

Shit.

His heart skipped a beat.

Before he could manipulate the Malicious Silk Threads to carve an opening—

A massive, clawed hand, woven entirely from blood-red tendrils, erupted from the floor beneath him.

It clamped down on his ankle.

The next second—

A crushing force, strong enough to shatter steel, exploded from the tendril-hand.

A sharp crack echoed.

"Paper Decoy!"

Without hesitation, Joker Eren sacrificed another of his paper substitutes.

In an instant—

His real body swapped places with one of the Paper Decoys he had planted around the slaughterhouse.

He reappeared in a different location.

The moment he rematerialized—

Pain shot through his right ankle.

Joker Eren's expression darkened slightly.

Although he had used his Paper Decoy to escape further damage—

His ankle had already been injured.

Judging from the throbbing pain—

His right ankle bone was at least fractured—if not outright shattered.

Within moments, visible swelling and bruising spread across his foot.

This kind of injury—

Would severely hinder his combat ability.

"I got careless..."

(End of Chapter)

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