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Saeko Busujima dashed forward, weaving through the monster's whipping tentacles as she closed the distance in a heartbeat.
She moved too fast—so fast the writhing appendages couldn't even touch her.
In the blink of an eye, she was already in front of the massive creature, charging straight at it.
The monster roared, flinging its tentacles toward her to block the assault.
Steel flashed. In an instant, several arcs of her blade carved through the air. Saeko appeared behind the beast, slowly sliding her katana back into its sheath.
"Ahhh!"
With Koichi Fujido's pained scream, every tentacle lashed once, then fell limp, severed cleanly in two. Blood gushed wildly from the fresh wounds.
But then, with a grotesque squelch, the monster's sides bulged outward. Its skin split open, flesh tearing as two massive arms burst free.
"I'll kill you!" it bellowed, spinning around and swinging one enormous arm straight down at her.
Saeko twisted, leaping high into the air. The blow missed, slamming into the ground with bone-shaking force, shattering the earth beneath.
Even as she flipped back, her blade flashed once more, slicing across the monster's arm. Blood sprayed in a crimson arc.
But when she landed a short distance away, she froze. The gash she had just made was already sealing up, knitting together as though the wound had never existed.
And worse—the severed tentacles were sprouting back.
Saeko's lips curved faintly. "Interesting… fine then. Let's play."
Just as she prepared to lunge again, a voice stirred inside her. Venom's voice. It rumbled with excitement, urging her to let it take over.
She gave a small nod. "Alright."
Her clothes began to melt away, consumed by a spreading black liquid that fused with her flesh. Half of her face distorted, twisting into Venom's monstrous features.
Over time, Saeko and Venom had become almost inseparable. Their symbiosis had reached an incredible state of unity.
Whenever Venom wished, it could flow through her entirely—merging with every part of her body, even her internal organs—until she was no longer just Saeko, but Venom itself.
And if it truly desired, it could devour her very soul, leaving nothing behind. Her body would then move under Venom's will alone, like a puppet with its strings cut and replaced.
In other words, once Saeko's soul was gone, her body would belong wholly to Venom.
Now, the fusion was complete. Saeko vanished, and Venom stepped forth once more.
---
In the middle of the vast clearing, Venom and the monstrous Fujito Koichi locked eyes, the air between them heavy with tension, ready to explode at any second.
Koichi was the first to move. He raised one of his newly grown massive arms and slammed it down with crushing force.
Venom looked up at the descending strike, the black liquid across his body hardening into armor. Raising both hands overhead, he caught the blow head-on.
The sheer force drove Venom down into the earth, the ground cracking apart beneath his feet.
In the next instant, Venom twisted, grabbing hold of Koichi's arm. With a brutal over-the-shoulder throw, he sent the massive body hurtling across the clearing.
Koichi crashed into the ground and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop.
Venom strode toward him, steps heavy and deliberate.
The monster struggled to rise, dragging his warped body upright. The moment he saw Venom closing in, he lashed out with a fresh barrage of tentacles.
Venom calmly lifted his arms. Black liquid extended, forming deadly blades. With one smooth swing, he sliced a tentacle in two.
The blades danced again and again. In mere seconds, several more tentacles were hacked off, writhing uselessly on the ground.
"Raaagh!"
Koichi's roar of frustration shook the night.
To let Saeko Busujima fulfill her final duty as a daughter, so she wouldn't leave behind any regrets.
That afternoon, Saeko suddenly came up to Venom and said,
"My father wants to talk to you."
Venom thought about it for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
The two of them—Venom and the middle-aged man—went into a room together. No one knew what they talked about, only that in the end the man left laughing heartily.
Later, Saeko gathered the squad leaders for a meeting, gave them some instructions, and handed over the antidote.
"System, I've got a question."
Venom, still bonded to Saeko's body, quietly asked the system.
"Please ask. The system will answer truthfully."
"If I stay bonded to Saeko and cross over into the next world, that's okay, right?"
Venom didn't want a repeat of last time—where he crossed into this world only to end up trapped in a metal box for no reason.
"There won't be any problem," the system replied. "When the host bonds with someone, it's called symbiosis. That means the other person becomes a part of the host."
"Got it," Venom said with a nod, finally understanding how things worked.
"....."