Jean took the lead and attacked the lump of flesh that was Mephisto before him.
Wind blades accompanied his slashes, severing all the tentacles that came to intercept him.
But just as he was about to approach the main body, several mouths suddenly opened, emitting a high-frequency sonic roar that forcefully restricted Jean's movements for a second.
During that one second of stagnation, several wings flapped, and a large number of feathers attacked Jean like flying knives.
Jean had intended to use Stardust Wind to create a shield, but before he could act, a black shield had already completely covered him; Patriot had rushed over to stand in front of him.
Rosemary also unleashed her invisible greatsword, severing a wing at the root with a single strike.
But before everyone could rejoice at the result, with a 'gurgle' sound, the same wing grew back in its original position.
Then Blaze also used her chainsaw to cut off a tentacle, but the result was exactly the same; the tentacle regenerated instantly and simultaneously counterattacked, knocking Blaze back.
Blaze, whose injuries had not yet fully healed, was unsteady on her feet and was pulled back directly by the Doctor.
It seemed that although there was no vitality bonus for the 'Herd', this bonus had all been added to itself.
This made Jean sigh involuntarily; why were all his opponents things with regeneration bugs? Couldn't there be something where 'people die when they are killed'?
Amidst the team's rotating battles, the singing started again, and the controlled Sarkaz mercenaries, members of the Reunion Movement, and a small portion of the Guerilla Shieldguards all moved toward this side.
The situation suddenly became critical.
Jean looked at the tentacle on the ground that had been severed by his white wind and had not regenerated, sighed, and let go of his mentality of slacking off while relying on the numbers.
"Fine, fine. If heaven wants me to show off, then I will."
He then sheathed his sword, a windstorm whipped up around him, and he said to the others: "You guys hold off these controlled unfortunates, leave this guy to me."
Then, borrowing the wind that had been whipped up, he took a step forward and arrived in front of the monster in an instant.
At the same time, several wind blades severed the incoming tentacles.
He then leaped upward, condensing high-concentration wind orbs in mid-air as footholds, achieving true walking on the wind.
Relying on this, he swept past the various twisted limbs and the chaotic, overgrown wings in one go.
However, the monster before him was not without reaction; all its wings flapped, and feathers resembling steel covered the sky as they attacked Jean.
"Projectiles? Ridiculous. Wind Barrier!"
A wind wall formed by high-concentration airflow appeared in front of Jean, swallowing all these feathers without exception.
Once he reached a sufficient height, Jean used the technique of the stepping slash to close the distance between himself and its head.
"Draw Blade · Lion Fang · Undying Slash."
The huge head was severed in response, and the smooth cut surface experienced a moment of stagnation before green blood began to gush out.
By this time, Jean had already used the recoil of the wind to distance himself, landing gracefully on the ground with a maneuver resembling a gymnastics spin.
The green blood gushing several meters high added a fountain with a rather morbid sense of humor as a background to this incredibly cool posture.
After the headless body went through what seemed like a painful struggle, it toppled to the ground, trembling, and after a burst of twitching, it was silent forever.
And those controlled members of the Herd also staggered and fell to the ground.
Medical operators quickly stepped forward to check them; fortunately, because no vitality had been infused to modify their bodies, and only their spirits had suffered some damage, there would be no problems with proper treatment.
---
Just as Jean solved Mephisto, Wei Yanyou's Shadow Guards also snuck onto the Administrative Tower.
When they pushed open the last door, they saw an Emperor's Blade blocking the way.
Just as the Shadow Guards were preparing to fight, they saw it slowly fall, only muttering "Monster" incessantly before dying.
The atmosphere was now tense to the limit, but the mission still had to continue; bearing the pressure named 'Unknown', they continued to advance, and at the balcony at the end, they saw the culprit behind everything, Talulah.
Naturally, it goes without saying what happened next; the Black Cloaks began their battle with Talulah.
More than a decade after the broken bridge, the Shadow Guards were now going to kill the person they had failed to protect once before.
---
While everyone was breathing a sigh of relief because of Mephisto, a huge explosion suddenly occurred at the top of the Administrative Tower.
Then, a Shadow Guard jumped down along the tower and landed on the straw pile W had prepared.
Then, one after another, like dumplings being dropped into a pot, the entire team of Shadow Guards landed on it.
W's expression was a mix of surprise and secret delight, with a hint of empathy.
But the Shadow Guards' expressions were as if they had seen a ghost; those top-tier killers who didn't even care about their own lives were now as disheveled as elementary school students caught for the first time without having done their homework, completely absent-minded.
Moreover, their physical condition was not good; they were all severely burned, and it was basically impossible to find any intact limbs.
"Hey! What happened to you!" Jean shouted at these people.
"That... that is a monster... is... is... ah!"
"It is mental contamination," Amiya replied. "Their minds are already on the verge of the limit of madness."
Hearing this, Jean glanced at the Doctor, not knowing if the SAN-restoring potion she drank was useful.
But whether to try and whether to sell a favor was Rhodes Island's business; the key now was Talulah. The mental attack already had that flavor; he didn't know what kind of stunt she had pulled this time.
Without making Jean wait long, Mephisto's corpse suddenly split open a large mouth, and then, while spitting out black gas, sang a nauseating song.
Jean immediately isolated the black gas with wind, while attacking the large mouth with wind blades, but all the wind blades were sucked into the large mouth just as they were about to make contact.
As time progressed, the originally filthy, twisted, evil, chaotic, and nauseating singing began to gradually change.
It became clear, pleasant, melodious, and refreshing.
But the more it was like this, the more hair-raising it became; this lingering sense of eeriness shrouded everyone's hearts.
When the singing stopped, a black-gray ball of light flew upward from the mouth.
"Is this, a soul?" Jean said uncertainly; the last time he saw a soul was when he saw Esdeath's soul in a trance.
"That's right, this is a soul, or more accurately, a soul stained with sin."
In mid-air, Talulah stood on top of the black gas, holding this soul in her hand, revealing a satisfied smile.
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