Barca's outrageous move stunned not only Fron, but even Finn, who had seen much and prepared countless contingency plans, never expected the opponent to pull something like this at the very end.
Fron stared, dumbfounded, as the man before him rapidly twisted from a somewhat normal human into something grotesque, an appearance increasingly unbearable to look at.
"Th-This… this fierce? Is this guy's head broken or what?"
He stammered as he pointed at the lump of flesh that was still transforming, turning to Asfi and Amid with eyes full of disbelief.
"..."
"..."
Asfi and Amid exchanged looks, both at a loss for words.
How could they have known Barca's obsession ran this deep? Even dragging others down with him.
This kind of move harmed others without benefiting himself. Did he not stop to consider, after his bloodline ends here, how the powers behind them would deal with the Knossos?
Good grief, pulling a stunt like this just threw away the last bargaining chips and options.
Fron's thoughts spun quickly, soon understanding what was going on in the man's mind. But he also thought farther than Asfi and Amid.
With Barca's tragic devotion to building the artificial dungeon, if no one had influenced him… he would never make such an irrational choice.
Putting himself in Barca's shoes, Fron knew the optimal move should've been to abandon the collapsing Evilus and rely on the Alliance led by the Loki Familia.
Yet he refused to choose that, and instead chose death? What kind of move was that? As if he alone could overturn the heavens?
Then. what made him act so irrationally? A person, without external influence, follows the instinct to survive.
But Barca had violated this rule, meaning there was only one answer, he was influenced, no, bewitched.
Only being deceived by someone's words or power would make him do something so incomprehensible.
"Thanatos. It's him."
The moment Fron spoke that name, Asfi and Amid, sharp as they were, instantly understood.
"You mean… this man was bewitched by Thanatos and made to do this."
"It must be."
"That damned evil god!"
While the three of them spoke, under everyone's tense vigilance, Barca had in mere moments become completely unhuman.
Following the horrified cries of the adventurers, the three turned to look. And what entered their vision was a figure that made one's stomach churn.
From Barca's fused chest sprouted vein-like blood vessels. The jewel fetus' tentacles clung onto his entire body, mercilessly devouring his flesh, ravaging it, then rapidly merging into malformed chunks of meat that began reshaping his appearance.
His right arm was remade, becoming swollen, hideous beyond words.
His left arm was even more exaggerated, having completely lost any sense of "aesthetics". It stretched like a whip, no longer remotely human.
Below the waist, his feet rotted away, melting like wax dripping onto the ground, forming three thick pseudopods.
And that wasn't all!
This time, because the "jewel fetus" had parasitized a human, some unknown, unexpected changes had occurred, such as: it seemed to absorb his blood soaked in curses.
The throbbing vein-like tubes turned pitch-black, and under the invasion of some terrible curse, the "jewel fetus" let out cries of pure agony.
Then, as the pulsating veins darkened fully, even the orb attached to his chest became black.
Eerie. Horrifying. Making everyone's skin crawl.
Barca's flesh emitted sickening noises,, like bones shattering, rapidly being reconstructed.
Using the body of an upper-class adventurer as a medium, an accursed entity was about to be born.
That appearance, those movements, felt like a monster stepping straight out of a horror film.
Even the battle-hardened Fron froze at the sight, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
As for the adventurers of the Loki Familia and the others, their faces were pale.
The girls turned away, groaning in disgust; Asfi's lips twitched, but managed to keep her expression steady as she observed the scene with stern focus.
Her calmness made Fron's respect deepen.
Too brave!
He could learn their magic, but the essence and will within… he could never replicate.
And so… another person was added to the list of those he admired.
...
Finn narrowed his eyes, his expression growing more serious.
He knew things were now far beyond expectations, this situation wasn't in any plan at all.
"Aaah, aaah, aaah, aaah, AAAAAAAH, !!"
At that moment, the parasitic transformation reached Barca's brain!
Before everyone's eyes, the man's face contorted into something monstrous.
His right eye rolled back, blood flowing like tears as it changed shape. Only his left eye, marked with the letter D, remained, a testament to unyielding obsession. It showed just how terrifying the curse of Daedalus truly was.
The red left eye spun wildly, glaring at the stunned crowd.
The mutation was complete. At the moment before the "self" known as Barca Perdix melted away, he left behind one final will:
"Die here… adventurers, gagagagagagaga, !!"
The final words sounded like the judgment of a hellish demon. As the monster's throat ruptured, a piercing scream erupted. Its entire body swelled instantly.
In the stunned gazes of all present, the creature once called "Barca" transformed into a giant monster towering beyond human scale, a true aberration.
"Wha… What the hell, he turned into a Floor Boss RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!?"
At that moment, Fron's head was full of question marks.
The oppressive aura from him had reached the level of a Floor Boss, it wasn't about potential level anymore, but pure performance.
Two monsters might both have the potential of Lv.5, one an ordinary deep-floor monster, the other with the physical abilities of a Floor Boss. The difference in threat and destructive power was incomparable.
"Finn!!!" Fron shouted toward the Brave.
Hearing the call, Finn took a deep breath and activated his command skill!
"Everyone, prepare yourselves!!!"