Translator: CinderTL
"A Brain Eater... Could this be the unknown demonic beast Theresa investigated in Howling Gorge, as Trevor mentioned?" Roland frowned, observing the pirates before him moving like stiff marionettes.
"Is the assimilation incomplete?"
His mind raced as a low growl rumbled through him like distant thunder.
"Theresa! Galvis!"
No words were needed; an unspoken understanding instantly formed.
The dormant Nameless Breathing Technique within Roland erupted, and lava-hot Battle Qi surged through his body.
He held nothing back now. His sword transformed into a savage curtain of light, no longer aiming for precise kills but sweeping with destructive force.
As he called out, a silver lightning bolt tore through the gloom.
Theresa moved so fast she left afterimages in her wake.
Her rapier became a swarm of deadly silver serpents, striking with precision at the unarmored joints and wrists of the puppet pirates.
Each thrust was accompanied by a muffled thud as nerves were severed, instantly crippling several pirates.
Meanwhile, Galvis's fingers danced across the strings of his lute.
The elegant melody struck the advancing puppet pirates like invisible hammers, their force crushing.
The pirates, controlled by the Brain Eaters, suddenly froze, their movements jerking like marionettes pulled by invisible strings. Their limbs twisted grotesquely, and agonizing screams erupted from their throats, instantly throwing their assault into chaos.
The combined strength of the three powerhouses far exceeded the limits these possessed bodies could withstand.
The battle devolved into an efficient slaughter.
Broken puppet bodies fell one after another, the dull thud of flesh and bone separating and the hum of weapons becoming the dominant sounds.
However, just as the last few pirate puppets were being impaled through the throat by Theresa's rapier and their chests split open by Roland's longsword, a sudden change occurred.
The slimy, gray-purple Brain Eater bodies exposed from the shattered skulls had not perished with their hosts.
Like enraged, eyeless venomous insects, they shot out from the wreckage.
Their target was not the powerful trio of Roland, Theresa, and Galvis, but the terrified and weaker crew members behind them.
These disgusting flesh masses, trailing strands of viscous, purple-glowing slime, moved with terrifying speed.
They streaked across the air in ominous gray-purple arcs, lunging straight for the faces of the nearest crew members, who were too paralyzed by fear to react.
Their circular mouths gaped greedily, revealing rows of fine, sharp teeth, their target clear.
To burrow into new skulls and claim new hosts.
Just as the grayish-purple flesh mass, slick with mucus and reeking of death, was about to touch the terrified faces of the crew, an invisible force erupted from Roland's center.
He gasped sharply, his chest heaving violently.
In an instant, the lingering sparks of metal collisions on the battlefield, the mist of blood, the desperate roars of dying puppet pirates, and the panicked gasps of the crew were as if seized by an invisible giant hand, surging madly into Roland's open lungs.
These chaotic battle elements were invisibly refined and purified within him, transforming into countless tiny, radiant golden embers, like blazing sparks.
Instead of erupting outward, they spread silently and swiftly in a golden mist, radiating from Roland to precisely envelop the dozen or so shaken crew members standing a few steps away.
Ember Resonance, activate!
The moment the golden embers merged with the crew's bodies, the effect was immediate.
The vacant light in their eyes instantly ignited, replaced by tangible, blazing fighting spirit.
Fatigue vanished completely, as if inexhaustible strength surged through their veins. Their hearts pounded like war drums in their chests, banishing the fear of facing the unknown monster.
The limbs that had been stiffened by fear suddenly surged with power, their reflexes skyrocketing.
"ROAR!"
The burly sailor closest to the Brain Eater, who had been on the verge of being pounced on, let out a deafening roar.
This roar was no longer one of fear, but one filled with ignited fury and battle spirit.
This surge of willpower flowed back into Roland, like a stream returning to its source, following the path of the golden embers.
The molten gold light of Roland's Battle Qi flared brilliantly.
Speed, strength, and perception all surged at that moment.
Simultaneously, the Echoing Forge activated!
Guided by Roland's Material Empathy, the golden embers embedded in the crew's bodies instinctively flowed toward the weapons clutched in their hands and the armor they wore.
Like liquid gold, they rapidly coated and permeated everything.
The surface of the sailors' equipment, slightly damaged from the battle, was instantly plated with a shimmering layer of flowing gold.
The blades emitted faint hums, as if being re-sharpened by invisible hands, their edges gleaming with unprecedentedly sharp, cold light.
Even the old scratches on their leather armor were smoothed out by the flowing gold, becoming more resilient.
"Slaughter every one of these disgusting monsters!"
The rescued sailors roared, their eyes no longer filled with fear, but with burning rage and a fierce protectiveness for their comrades.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl.
To the enhanced senses of the sailors, the Brain Eater's pounce no longer appeared so deadly.
The burly, roaring sailor moved with lightning speed.
Instead of retreating, he charged toward the attacking Brain Eater, raising his scimitar—now wrapped in golden light and gleaming with unnatural sharpness—in a swift upward slash.
The blade cut through the air like a ribbon of light, striking the slimy mass with precision.
Squelch!
Not the dull thud of cleaving rotten wood, but the piercing hiss of a red-hot iron cutting through grease.
The scimitar, empowered by the Echoing Forge, effortlessly pierced the Brain Eater's gray-purple, viscous hide.
The revolting mass split nearly in two, splattering its thick, faintly purple fluid in all directions.
It spasmed violently in the air, its central maw opening and closing uselessly before it plummeted to the ground.
The other sailors joined the furious counterattack.
Roland did not stand idly by.
Though a slight dizziness washed over him from the rapid depletion of his mental power, the attribute enhancements from Ember Resonance propelled his strength to new heights.
Witnessing the horrifying sight of the Brain Eater surviving even after leaving its host's body, Roland immediately shifted his attack, his sword now aimed at the slimy, writhing masses of their true forms.
Under the fierce counterattack of the group, the situation reversed in an instant.
The open ground and deck were littered with the mangled remains of the Brain Eaters—severed, pierced, and crushed.
They twitched and shuddered, emitting nauseating hissing sounds. Faint, ominous purple light flickered at the severed edges, like the dying gasps of venomous insects.
Confirming no remaining threats, Roland took a deep breath and ceased the operation of Ember Resonance.
"Everyone! Retreat to the ship immediately! We set sail..."
The order to retreat was about to leave his lips when Roland's voice abruptly cut off.
His brow furrowed instantly, as if he had sensed an invisible needle prick.
His mental power, now at 18, granted him superhuman sensitivity.
At that moment, he clearly detected a trace of an indescribable yet deeply unsettling aura.
Cold, slimy, and carrying the malice of deep-sea sludge, it was far more profound than that of the dead Brain Eaters.
This aura did not originate from the carnage before him, but rather...
His gaze suddenly snapped toward the denser darkness at the depths of the cave.
Instead of the expected tide of Brain Eater-controlled puppets, only a single figure stood silently at the edge of the shadows.
It was abnormally tall and gaunt, almost blending into the darkness, yet it exuded a bizarre, palpable presence.
Its smooth, glistening head shimmered with an unsettling grayish-purple hue in the dim light.
Several slick, tentacle-like appendages hung from its face, their tips writhing slightly as they swayed gently.
Its eyes—
If those two pulsing masses of ominous purple light in the shadows could even be called eyes—
Stared coldly, devoid of emotion, in Roland's direction.
A cold, alien will, infinitely purer, more powerful, and more profound than that of the Brain Eaters, silently spread like an invisible tide.
It carried pure, inhuman calculation and scrutiny, along with a malice that froze the soul.
Merely standing there, it seemed to be the source of the cave's darkness, a living, intelligent nightmare.
Roland's blood felt as if it had instantly frozen.
He had never encountered such a being before, but his intuition screamed in terror.
This was no Brain Eater.
This was a new, unknown, and utterly terrifying entity!
(End of the Chapter)
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