Dong Xiang's body instantly tensed, her violet eyes quickly scanning the approaching red and blue lights and the strong flashlight beam flickering at the alley entrance, calculating her escape route.
"You go first." He Xi Qian Yu gently patted her shoulder.
Dong Xiang abruptly turned, her purple eyes looking at He Xi Qian Yu's face. There was a hint of disbelief in her gaze.
"What about you then?"
He Xi Qian Yu met Dong Xiang's gaze, a relaxed smile curving his lips.
"Someone has to stay behind," he said lightly, his gaze sweeping past Dong Xiang and firmly locking onto the increasingly close figures of the Search Officers at the alley entrance, "to stop these uninvited 'guests'."
Dong Xiang stared intently at him.
Reason told her that leaving one person behind to cover their retreat was the only option for both of them to escape, especially if the one left behind was a Ghoul with terrifying power. But an inexplicable irritation rose in her heart—he had spoken of covering their retreat so casually.
Time did not allow her to hesitate; the sound of footsteps and shouts from the alley entrance were already clearly audible.
"...Don't die." Dong Xiang's voice was dry and brief, her purple eyes taking one last deep look at He Xi Qian Yu, carrying a hint of imperceptible concern.
Before her words even faded, she didn't waste a moment, her toes pushing off, silently darting into a narrow crevice leading into deeper darkness. Her movements were swift, and she vanished behind a mountain of discarded construction materials in an instant.
He Xi Qian Yu watched that dark blue figure disappear into the darkness, the smile on his lips deepening, and an excited gleam igniting deep within his eyes.
After the exhilarating Slaughter just now, something dormant within him seemed to have awakened.
Blood surged through his veins, carrying a burning sensation.
He actually began to anticipate the scene of blood splashing that was about to unfold.
He slowly turned around, facing the alley entrance head-on.
"How many are there?"
"...Two groups...six little bugs..."
"To the person inside! Put down your weapon! Surrender immediately!" The Search Officer's amplified shouts, distorted by static, forcefully echoed into the alley.
Several blinding flashlight beams, like searchlights, brutally tore through the darkness, firmly locking onto He Xi Qian Yu, who stood in the center of the blood and corpses, covered in blood.
"...Now...it's our turn..." The Slaughter's consciousness whispered greedily.
"Don't waste too much time."
As soon as He Xi Qian Yu finished speaking, red fluid once again covered his entire body.
Liquid glowing with a dazzling crimson light erupted furiously from his entire body like a boiling blood spring. In just a breath, He Xi Qian Yu's figure was completely swallowed, replaced by a terrifying monster composed of continuously flowing scarlet living matter. Its pale eyes locked onto the Search Officers at the alley entrance, who were stunned pale by the sight.
"Mon...Monster! Open fire! Open fire—!!!" Extreme fear finally crushed their reason, and a hoarse roar ignited the battle.
Gunshots erupted, and bullets rained down on the crimson demonic shadow.
...
Two tentacles, like giant preying pythons, lightning-fast, wrapped around two Search Officers on the left and right. One tightly coiled around a man's neck and upper body, the terrifying constriction instantly causing his eyeballs to bulge, and his neck bones to emit a grating 'crack' of shattering. The other, like a giant python, wrapped around another man's waist, abdomen, and gun-holding arm; under the brutal squeezing force, his arm bones shattered, his Kouink slipped from his grasp, and the crisp sound of his ribs breaking was clearly audible.
The two men slumped silently, like snakes whose bones had been removed.
A scarlet tentacle with a pointed tip, shrieking as it tore through the air, "Pffft!" pierced through the chest of the Search Officer who had fired first, with incredible precision. The immense kinetic energy sent him flying like a rag doll, his back hitting the wall hard, blood and shattered internal organs gushing from the bowl-sized hole.
A thick, enlarged tentacle at its end, swept out with immense force. "Boom!" With a loud crash, it slammed heavily into the Kouink shield that the fourth Search Officer had hastily raised. The shield, along with the person behind it, was sent flying backward as if struck by a battering ram, crashing heavily against the alley wall. The shield was twisted and deformed, the shield-bearer spat blood, and an unknown number of bones were broken, causing him to instantly lose consciousness.
Facing the last two Search Officers who were attempting to retreat and screaming for backup, the Slaughter monster instantly branched out several more slender tentacles with tips as sharp as poisoned steel needles. They shot through the air like the javelins of death, "Swish, swish, swish," precisely piercing their throats, hearts, and the wrists holding their communicators. Blood spurted from the tiny holes, and the communicators flew from their hands, smashing on the ground.
The two men clutched their necks, emitting desperate, gurgling gasps, and stumbled to the ground.
The alley entrance temporarily fell into a deathly silence, with only the faint groans of the injured and the sound of blood dripping, like the pendulum of death.
"...Frail and weak...truly frail and weak..."
The Slaughter stood amidst the newly added corpses and blood. The deadly scarlet tentacles slowly retracted, like well-fed vipers, wriggling back into its flowing liquid body. Its two pale eyes scanned the chaotic alley entrance, its hollow gaze seemingly admiring its own masterpiece.
The last Search Officer who could still move was a young rookie. One of his legs was pinned by rubble from a tentacle strike. He watched in horror as his comrades met their instant demise, futilely trying to pull his leg free.
A slippery, icy scarlet tentacle silently wrapped around his ankle, then slowly moved upward, coiling around his calf, knee, waist, and abdomen...Finally, it gently wrapped around his neck.
"No...don't..." The young Search Officer let out a faint plea, his pupils dilated with extreme fear.
The Slaughter manipulated the tentacle, slowly pulling this sole remaining, trembling prey in front of it. The face, distorted by fear, was forcibly pulled close to those two pale, hollow eyes.
Viscous, heavily blood-scented liquid dripped from the tentacle, landing on the Search Officer's face.
"...Fear...delicious..." The Slaughter's consciousness whispered greedily.
He Xi Qian Yu's consciousness coldly dominated. Through the Slaughter's pale eyes, he looked at the face before him, filled with despair.
The tentacle began to slowly tighten. The young Search Officer's pleas turned into short, choked "Uh...uh..." sounds, his eyeballs rolled frightfully upward, revealing large whites, his tongue uncontrollably extended from his mouth, and his complexion rapidly changed from pale to a horrifying cyanosis.
In this bloody corner, time seemed to be stretched and frozen, leaving only the chilling, subtle 'gurgling' sound of the tentacle slowly tightening its noose, and the increasingly faint suffocated whimpers from the victim's throat.
Those two pale eyes coldly watched the final process of life being crushed by absolute power, as if admiring a silent death ritual.