One minute.
From the moment the aura was sensed to the appearance of that black dot at the edge of the sky, less than a minute had passed.
Lilith stood where she was, tilting her head slightly, her crimson vertical pupils watching the rapidly enlarging black shadow in the distance.
It drew closer.
Even closer.
The massive silhouette gradually became clear.
A dark purple body of flesh and blood, densely packed scales shaped like palms, dragon wings stitched together from countless human faces, and those dark purple eyes filled with double pupils.
Flesh and Blood Corpse King.
The overlord of the Tokyo ruins, a monster condensed after absorbing the remains of Ghost Prison, a terrifying existence at the ceiling of SS-Rank Hunter.
However, when Lilith saw its appearance clearly, a hint of bewilderment appeared on her face.
That hideous head, that dragon-like silhouette, those human faces on the wing membrane...
Isn't this just a shrunken, degraded version of the Myriad Skeleton Mad Dragon?
If that fellow Ghost Prison knew that the remains he left behind after death were absorbed by a monster to condense into such a mismatched thing, who knows if he'd be angry enough to come back to life.
A faint smile curled at the corners of Lilith's mouth.
Interesting.
She raised her small head, looked toward the behemoth that was rapidly approaching, and parted her cherry lips slightly to utter two words.
"Get down—!"
Her voice wasn't loud; it could even be called gentle.
But the moment those two words fell—
The Flesh and Blood Corpse King, which was speeding through the high altitude, suddenly stiffened its massive body!
It was as if an invisible giant hand had descended from the sky and slammed down hard on it!
Its seventy-meter-long body was forcibly slapped down without any power to resist!
"BOOM—!!!"
An earth-shattering roar!
The Flesh and Blood Corpse King crashed directly into the ground like a meteorite.
It plowed a deep trench a hundred meters long into the hard ground, finally sliding right in front of Lilith and the Alien Queen before coming to a halt.
Dust flew and debris scattered everywhere.
The Flesh and Blood Corpse King lay on the ground, its hideous face full of confusion.
Just moments ago, it was still fantasizing about the alluring scent of blood here, still coveting the delicious flesh on the ground.
That aura wafting from afar was an irresistible temptation to it, so it had flown over with its army without hesitation.
But now...
It struggled to lift its head and look at the petite figure before it.
It was a young girl who looked only about eight or nine years old, wearing a black and red Gothic military uniform. Her long silver-white hair fluttered gently in the wind, and her crimson vertical pupils were looking down at it indifferently.
At that moment, a sense of submission originating from the depths of its very life essence flooded over it like a tide.
In its dark purple eyes filled with double pupils, all the ferocity, all the greed, and all the killing intent rapidly dissolved.
In their place, there was only awe.
Only submission.
It was as if this little girl before it was its master by birth.
And it was merely her most humble servant.
The Flesh and Blood Corpse King's massive body slowly and humbly prostrated itself, its head pressed against the ground, not daring to move in the slightest.
Even if it was the overlord of Tokyo.
Even if it was the Corpse King of the Flesh Zombies.
Before this seemingly harmless little girl, it didn't even have the courage to lift its head.
This was a submission etched into its life.
It was an absolute suppression originating from the depths of its genes.
Lilith glanced at it indifferently without speaking.
Because—
The earth beneath her feet suddenly began to tremble.
The tremors grew more violent and frequent, as if some behemoth deep underground was waking up, struggling, and tearing apart the cage that bound it.
Lilith turned around and looked toward the distant Sports Center.
There, the aura deep underground was rising at an alarming Speed.
...
Underground at the Sports Center.
The aura of the figure sitting on the throne had completely vanished.
It had completed its final mission.
As Sato's original body, the moment the consciousness was completely transferred, it turned into fly ash and scattered with the wind.
And in the giant cultivation vessel, that Crystal Blue Whale finally opened its eyes.
Its glazed vertical pupils, like the purest gemstones, reflected a brilliant light in the dim glow of the nutrient solution.
Complex patterns were reflected in its pupils, as if inscribed with some ancient and mysterious runes.
Its body began to rapidly absorb the remaining nutrient solution in the petri dish, those green liquids passing through the gill slits, through the skin, and through every possible channel of absorption.
They surged frantically into its body, completing the final step of this newborn form.
Its aura rose steadily.
Power surged through its blood vessels.
life had completely awakened within this sixty-meter-long massive shell.
The nutrient solution was soon drained.
The liquid level inside the cultivation vessel dropped rapidly until it was completely dry.
The Crystal Blue Whale's body grew a bit larger under the nourishment of the solution, and the layer of transparent crystals covering its body became even more brilliant, like it was wearing a suit of diamond armor.
The single horn on its forehead emitted a faint fluorescence.
It moved.
"CRACK—"
The first crack appeared on the vessel wall.
Immediately after, cracks spread frantically like a spiderweb, covering the entire vessel!
"BOOM—!!!"
The vessel exploded!
Countless glass shards flew in all directions!
The Crystal Blue Whale's body, freed from its constraints, was lifted by an invisible energy and slowly floated in the air.
It looked down at the empty throne below, a complex expression flashing through its glazed vertical pupils.
Then, it spoke.
A coarse voice came from that giant whale mouth.
"Finally..."
"It's complete."
Although its body was no longer human, it was still a Hunter, still a player in the Main God Game.
Consciousness, memory, talent—everything was still there.
Only the vessel had changed.
It had become more powerful.
It felt this newborn body.
That sixty-meter-long massive body, that layer of indestructible crystal armor, that single horn containing unknown power, and that surging power far exceeding humans rushing through its veins.
The power stat had already broken the one hundred mark.
One hundred.
It had broken one hundred just after being born.
Once it truly grew up, once it adapted to this body, and once it fully mastered this power—
It didn't dare imagine just how powerful it would be.
Its talent was originally related to the soul.
It had always wanted to try this experiment, but in the past, with Ghost Prison suppressing it, it didn't dare to carry it out on a large scale.
It wasn't until Ghost Prison died and Tokyo was turned into ruins that it finally let loose.
It used the Dragon Country threat theory, the American conspiracy theory, and every bit of public opinion it could use to gather those survivors together.
It made them willingly sacrifice their Points, their resources, and even their lives to pave the way for its ascension to godhood.
And now—
Everything was running according to plan.
This body was even more perfect than expected.
With such a powerful body, as long as it grew up, what did an SSS-Rank Hunter matter?
It would still have nothing to fear!
"Someone, come!"
The coarse voice rang out again, echoing in the underground space.
But all around was dead silence.
There was no response.
The Crystal Blue Whale's vertical pupils flickered with fluorescence, and its massive Spirit spread out like a tide, sweeping through the entire underground space, through the Sports Center on the surface, and through every inch of the surrounding land.
Then, it froze.
A scent of blood so thick it was nauseating wafted down from above.
And on the surface—
Densely packed corpses were piled up like mountains.
Flowing blood had gathered into a river.
And...
Two behemoths were quietly guarding the area.
One was an azure, seventy-meter-long Alien Queen.
No, that wasn't right; next to that giant beast, there was also a petite human figure.
And that Flesh and Blood Corpse King prostrating on the ground, trembling.
The Crystal Blue Whale's pupils shrank suddenly.
Its wild joy from a moment ago, its confidence, and all its emotions solidified at this instant.
Because a youthful voice penetrated through layers of soil and rebar, clearly reaching its ears.
"Since the transformation is complete, you should come out now."
The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a pressure that made its soul tremble.
Outside—
A giant beast.
An unfathomable Hunter.
And a Flesh and Blood Corpse King so terrified it was prostrating on the ground.
They were waiting for it.
The Crystal Blue Whale hovered in the air, its glazed vertical pupils staring fixedly in the direction of the surface. For the first time, it felt what was called—
True terror.
This birth was simply a case of not checking the almanac before heading out!
...