News that Adrian Vale was facing a centipede swarm spread across the world like wildfire.
As expected, his stream flooded with viewers from every nation.
And it wasn't just ordinary people—
high-level officials, and the "gifted" circles lurking in the shadows, all gathered to watch.
Waiting.
But none of that mattered to Adrian.
"HSS—!! HSS—!! HSS—!!"
A chain of shrill hissing erupted.
As Adrian dropped from the sky—
the swarm finally moved.
They weren't as terrifying as the A-rank super-giant Thousand-Handed Centipede…
but anywhere else, every one of these centipedes would be a regional tyrant.
Adrian attacked.
They reacted immediately.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Bang!!
The centipedes snapped into motion.
Some stabbed with their legs.
Some whipped their massive tails.
Some simply hurled their bodies at him like living battering rams.
Dozens—C-rank up to B-rank—launched a coordinated assault at the same target.
For a moment, the density of attacks turned the air into a dazzling mess.
And yet—
Adrian didn't look panicked.
Not even a little.
Instead…
he smiled.
Yes—he was smiling.
Against a storm of chaotic, overlapping strikes…
he smiled like he was enjoying a private joke.
Madness. Thrill. Hunger.
A hundred unreadable emotions flickered over his face.
He didn't explain.
He didn't need to.
The first to arrive—
were two C+ centipedes relying on sheer size to ram him in midair.
They were each over ten meters long.
A normal person wouldn't stop that charge.
They wouldn't even slow it.
But Adrian?
He didn't dodge.
He didn't retreat.
He charged back.
Swish!!
Two Kagune shot out like lightning and stabbed straight into both centipedes.
"HSS—!!"
"HSS—!!"
A single stab wasn't enough to kill them.
So Adrian moved again.
The Kagune hooked—
and yanked.
Dragging both centipedes toward him.
"Heh."
As Adrian's silhouette grew larger in their vision, fear finally hit them.
That human body was tiny.
But the closer he got—
the more it felt like a nightmare walking toward them.
Then, in front of the entire world—
Adrian grabbed their heads.
Barehanded.
If an A-rank's armor could resist everything…
then a C-rank's body to him was paper.
Crack!!
A clean sound as his hands clamped down—left and right.
In the dark, viewers might not have seen the details.
But the centipedes felt it perfectly.
His fingers sank into their armor like knives.
Deep.
To the bone.
Adrian chuckled—cold and satisfied.
And instantly, both centipedes understood something worse than pain:
Whatever came next was hell.
The Kagune didn't stop pulling.
It kept hauling their bodies upward.
But Adrian's own body dropped—
falling.
And his hands never let go.
Not for a second.
The counter-force did the rest.
As Adrian fell, his arms became blades.
Two brutal lines of blood carved through the air.
He tore into the plates beneath their heads and ripped—
stripping armor open with raw strength.
"SKRRR—!!"
Crack! Crack! Crack!!
"HSSSSSS—!!"
The screams broke.
Then the centipedes died.
And the sky—
turned into rain.
Not normal rain.
A downpour of blood.
Hot and heavy, pouring from above like a barrel had been overturned.
Even the night air seemed dyed red.
The livestream sucked in a collective breath.
"What the hell… he can DO that?!"
"This is insanely violent…"
"Why is there this much blood?!"
"He keeps rewriting what I think is possible."
"Too strong—way too strong!!"
The blood drenched Adrian from head to toe.
He didn't care.
His falling momentum never paused.
Next came the tail-whips.
Several C+ beasts whipped their tails down at him like guillotines.
Whoosh!! Whoosh!!
The strikes were heavy enough to split the air.
And they didn't come one by one—
they coordinated from every direction.
From the outside, it looked like Adrian had nowhere to dodge.
But did he plan to dodge?
A low, contemptuous snort answered that.
In Half-Kakuja: Centipede, Adrian's mind was chaotic—
but his combat instinct rose to a terrifying peak.
At the instant the tails were about to hit—
Adrian's body stopped in midair.
Then the Kagune behind him tightened and pulled.
Swish! Swish! Swish!!
A "blood flower" bloomed across the night.
Bright red, expanding in an instant.
"HSSSS—!!"
Multiple screams overlapped.
Then—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A delayed series of cracks.
Only then did people realize—
those tails had already shattered.
No one saw the cutting motion.
It happened too fast.
But the result was undeniable.
Chunks of meat dropped like rotten fruit.
A Kagune stabbed out with surgical precision, speared a fresh piece of flesh, and reeled it back.
Adrian bit down.
Mid-fall.
Mid-surround.
With attacks still flooding toward him—
he calmly ate.
The livestream went silent for half a second.
Then erupted.
"BRO—WHAT WAS THAT?!"
"Did he spin his Kagune like a blender? I couldn't see!"
"Tails blocked the view—it was too fast!"
"I only noticed he started eating again…"
"This man… even now… he won't stop."
Blood kept falling.
Endless crimson.
For a stretch, the screen looked like it was drowning.
And Adrian?
He looked like he was enjoying it.
That pupil-less right eye—pure white—
made him look less human than the beasts.
A prehistoric predator.
After the tails—
came the legs.
Dense. Countless.
A storm of piercing strikes.
This time Adrian couldn't even be bothered to dodge.
The A-rank centipede's legs couldn't hurt him.
So these?
They were nothing.
PSHHK! PSHHK! PSHHK!
Legs stabbed him again and again—
but the damage was shallow.
His regeneration outpaced their harm.
BOOM!!
Adrian slammed back onto the ground.
And falling with him—
were the two ripped-open centipedes, shattered chunks of meat, and a rain of blood that dyed everything red.
Centipede blood was thicker than normal.
Heavier.
And the stench was far worse.
The entire area became a slaughterhouse.
"Hah…"
Adrian inhaled deeply—
as if the blood in the air was perfume.
Even the viewers felt their stomachs twist.
Even the centipedes—
shuddered.
Adrian looked at his work for a second.
Then his gaze returned to the swarm.
Some were already trembling.
Afraid.
Crack.
He cracked his fingers and walked forward, unhurried.
"Not enough."
Before the words even settled—
a Kagune flashed like a silent scythe and pierced the nearest centipede straight through.
"HSS—!!"
A second Kagune punched through.
A third.
Then all three tore sideways.
RIP.
The centipede shredded into pieces.
Blood bloomed again.
Adrian didn't even look at it.
He kept walking.
And the announcements started.
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Adrian Vale has slain a C-rank Divine Domain lifeform! Points awarded!]
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Adrian Vale has slain a C+ Divine Domain lifeform! Points awarded!]
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Adrian Vale has slain a B- Divine Domain lifeform! Points awarded!]
Adrian became a tiger in a flock of sheep.
He advanced—
and harvested them one after another.
Every kill triggered another announcement.
With double points active, Dragonia's score spiked wildly.
But Adrian didn't listen.
For him, points were noise.
What excited him was the killing—
no.
To him, it wasn't killing.
It was cooking.
And the most terrifying part?
While he harvested them, he ate.
Kagune handed him chunks of meat.
He grabbed them casually.
Chewed.
Swallowed.
All while strolling like a farmer picking fruit.
Except what clung to his face wasn't juice.
And what he bit into wasn't fruit.
As he kept eating, the System prompt rang again and again:
[Detected host is eating. Behavior matches Ken Kaneki. Acting Sync increased +0.1%]
[Detected host is eating. Behavior matches Ken Kaneki. Acting Sync increased +0.1%]
[Detected host is eating. Behavior matches Ken Kaneki. Acting Sync increased +0.1%]
The livestream didn't know any of that.
All they saw was a killing god.
"C-rank like slaughtering chickens, B-rank like killing pigs—this is Adrian Vale!"
"I'm watching a GOD!"
"No—this is a slaughter god!!"
And it wasn't only Dragonia viewers.
Across the world, people were shaking.
The rumor that Adrian was a Divine Domain creature had been repeated a thousand times—
and now, nobody needed to say it out loud.
Dragonia didn't acknowledge it.
Arguing didn't matter.
Even the hidden "gifted" circles—people who usually scoffed at such claims—
felt their scalps tighten watching Adrian's methods.
Across the world—
Eastern Isles — an ancient, crumbling temple
A modern screen flickered in the darkness, utterly out of place.
In front of it sat a thin old man, cross-legged, skin like dried bark stretched over bone.
Watching Adrian's brutality—
a sharp light flared in his eyes.
Nearby wooden shelves and offerings split into powder.
Just from his gaze.
He didn't care.
He spoke softly.
"That man… has not a single trace of hesitation in his heart."
Interested.
No—
wary.
Eastern Isles — a spotless conference room
Only one man sat inside.
White hair—like Adrian's, but calm.
Glasses.
Hands folded.
He stared at the livestream without blinking.
He said nothing.
But his thumb tapped the table unconsciously—
again and again.
Even he was disturbed.
Miracle Nation — Gotham City
A "righteous city."
"Simple folk."
The room was pitch-dark, lit only by the screen.
A man in a purple suit sat in the shadows—face unclear.
He burst into wild laughter and clapped, delighted.
"Beautiful."
Then, playful and sharp:
"But… why so serious?"
Miracle Nation — New York City
A cheap rental.
A bulky man watched the slaughter and clicked his tongue.
"Oof… that's terrifying. Don't you think, old buddy?"
A strange voice—only he could hear—answered:
"Heh… he's strong…"
Then, after a pause:
"I… am hungry…"
"Huh? Didn't we just eat?"
"Hungry."
Was it hunger?
Or unease—
triggered by what Adrian was showing the world?
Back in the Divine Domain—
on Raven Shaw's side, the arrogant A- centipede was already a motionless lump of meat.
Their "battle" had destroyed everything for thousands of meters.
But calling it a battle was generous.
It was Raven beating it down—one-sided, start to finish.
It couldn't escape.
It died under her long legs.
Then Blue Star Will sounded:
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Raven Shaw has slain an A- Divine Domain lifeform! Points awarded: 24,000!]
[Points doubled! Total points gained: 48,000!]
Raven didn't care about points.
But as she was about to check the chat—
a thick, overwhelming scent of blood hit her nose.
Her brow tightened.
She muttered, cautious:
"…That's the little guy's aura?"
Not just blood.
A familiar presence.
No hesitation.
She stopped reading and shot toward that smell at full speed.
Adrian's battlefield—near the end of the swarm.
The "art" continued.
To Adrian, C and B centipedes were helpless.
It wasn't a fight.
It was an execution.
They watched him walk closer—
then watched their companions torn apart.
PSHHK! PSHHK! PSHHK!
Swish! Swish!
"HSSSS—!!"
Kagune danced like blades.
Each swing took a life.
Adrian's chewing never stopped.
And as the killing and eating continued, neither the announcements nor the System prompts paused.
Points rose.
Acting Sync rose.
Adrian didn't look at either.
He just kept "cooking."
Finally—
the survivors broke.
They fled in all directions.
Panic.
Disorder.
Bodies soaked in their companions' blood.
They looked nothing like the terrifying beasts people feared.
They looked like prey.
And Adrian?
He hadn't taken a real injury.
He was drenched in blood—
and in that blood, he looked like death itself.
The livestream finally came back to life.
"Holy shit… I spaced out watching."
"I didn't even feel sick. Is something wrong with me?"
"No—you're just used to it."
"One man butchered an entire swarm and they couldn't fight back…"
"How strong is he, really?"
The whole world had the same thought:
Other contestants get chased by Divine Domain beasts.
Adrian chased the beasts.
How was this even the same game?
Miracle Nation's two contestants: Noah Drake and Marcus Kane
After crawling through hell, the two finally secured a D-rank resource and killed its guardian.
Blue Star Will sounded:
[Congratulations! Miracle Nation contestants have slain a D-rank Divine Domain lifeform! You are now D-rank Resource Lords!]
[D-rank chest reward granted!]
[Double points applied! Total points gained: 6,800!]
Noah Drake exploded with joy.
"Hahaha! Marcus! Did you hear that?! 6,800 points!! Double points forever!!"
Even Marcus—usually stone-faced—smiled.
"Yeah. Add our earlier points… we're finally breaking ten thousand. Now we can chase—maybe even surpass Dragonia—"
Before he finished—
[Leaderboard change detected!]
[Rank 1: Dragonia — 174,400]
[Rank 2: Miracle Nation — 11,000]
[Rank 3: Northern Bear Nation — 6,400]
[Rank 4: Ocean Pouch Nation — 2,400]
[Rank 5: Eastern Isles — 2,300]
"…Huh?"
Both of them froze.
One hundred seventy-four thousand?
Was Blue Star Will bugging out?
That number was absurd.
Noah's emotions spiked so hard he blurted out—
"Damn it!!"
Everyone else saw the same leaderboard.
No one even reacted anymore.
"Whatever."
"Of course it's Dragonia."
"Even if they hit a million, what can we do?"
With only one day left until the leaderboard settled, the world stopped dreaming about catching Dragonia—
and started wondering what chest tier Dragonia's points would open.
But to Adrian?
None of that mattered.
He swallowed another chunk of meat.
The System prompt chimed again:
[Detected host is eating. Behavior matches Ken Kaneki. Acting Sync increased +0.1%]
Adrian's attention wasn't on Acting Sync.
It was on prey trying to escape.
Crack.
He cracked his fingers, voice low:
"Run?"
"Heh… heh… heh…"
And then he moved—
a black flash shooting after the fleeing centipedes.
But right then—
a gray-white presence entered his senses.
And a cool, familiar voice reached his ear:
"Little guy!!"
Adrian's body jolted.
He stopped in place.
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