Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

This is probably the true essence of Ashiya Dōman.

"Hiro!" Nobita called out to Iwasaki. Although it was just a name, Nobita knew that Iwasaki should know what he wanted to know.

"I suspect the weakness lies in those connecting blood vessels, but you can't kill them all!"

Iwasaki struggled to break through the swords conjured by his jade fingers, severing several blood vessels, but these vessels quickly reattached themselves, not missing a single second.

"Eternal, immortal, eternal."

The core emitted waves of chaotic overlap, like the murmured roars of thousands of souls, sometimes sharp, sometimes low, like weeping and lamenting.

"Heaven, the underworld, none can fall; I am immortal!"

With a sharp cry, the surrounding rock walls suddenly cracked open.

Countless thick tentacles, made of lava and filthy flesh, with twisted heads or claws at their tips, tore through the rock wall and frantically stabbed at Nobita and the others who had just arrived.

Beneath the rock wall, all around are bizarre, moving flesh and blood; this is Ashiya Doman's body.

"Watch out!" Geralt's brow furrowed as he issued a warning.

This scene felt strangely familiar; I had a similar experience inside the giant before.

The battle erupted instantly. Faced with the massive number of tentacles coming from all directions, they could only fight individually, resulting in utter chaos.

Hayato used the speed of his motorcycle to dash left and right, attempting to attack the core directly, but he was entangled by several small tentacles that suddenly emerged at the same time, and then a huge tentacle lashed him hard.

The motorcycle spun out and crashed heavily into the rock wall with Hayato in it. Hayato coughed up blood, and the vehicle turned back into a small motorcycle, almost losing its fighting ability.

As Geralt dodged the sweeping attack of another tentacle, he glimpsed a lava fireball hurtling straight toward Nobita's back.

Without hesitation, he cast the Quen sign, adding a temporary shield before lunging forward and pushing Nobi away. However, his left shoulder was grazed by a fireball, instantly charring his leather armor and leaving it a bloody mess.

The Witcher grunted and staggered backward.

Renault was quick-witted; just as a tentacle attacked, he was grazed on the arm. He screamed and fell to the ground. The wound looked quite deep and was bleeding, but his eyes flickered as he secretly manipulated the blood to flow out faster, deliberately making himself look like he was seriously injured and unable to hold on. He then retreated to a corner to watch the battle.

In an instant, many people were injured, leaving only Nobi, Unicorn, and the struggling Iwasaki Kurogiri on the main battlefield, greatly increasing the pressure.

Fortunately, Geralt and the White Tiger still had the ability to fight, and could barely protect themselves and the other two.

The core, surrounded by countless tentacles, was so close yet seemed like an insurmountable chasm, impossible to cross.

"Eternity. Haha, Dao Manxiaoche, did you see that? This is the core of the babbling." The babbling became even more frantic.

boom!

A black figure, moving with ghostly speed, plummeted down from the shadows above without warning.

Without the slightest hesitation, she aimed directly at the core inlaid with the jade finger.

"Execution protocol: Highest priority target elimination. Unable to resolve by conventional means, activate self-destruct procedure."

2B's body landed on the jade finger, the longsword was inserted, and before the opponent could react, a beam of light directly engulfed it, like a supernova about to explode.

boom--! ! !

A deafening explosion erupted at the core.

The pure destructive energy clashed violently with the scorching dark red energy, triggering an even more intense energy storm.

The core emitted a shrill, distorted scream, and the light from the jade finger flickered violently. The surrounding dark red energy was clearly shattered and became chaotic.

"Knight!" Kosuke Iwasaki shouted.

The dense black mist spread out like an octopus, instantly enveloping the unstable core and some of its tentacles.

The mage's hand appeared and disappeared in the black mist, clamping down on the newly ruptured jade finger wound, spreading it open to prevent it from healing.

"Roar--!"

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, the battered white tiger roared to the sky, gathering its last bit of magic power in its mouth, transforming it into an incredibly thick, pure white beam of destructive energy that slammed into the core wound that was bound.

The core trembled violently once again!

"Destruction. The world will cease to exist!" Ashiya Dōman's voice trailed off.

"Nobita, catch!" Geralt, enduring the excruciating pain, pulled out an antique-looking small bottle from his pocket, containing a viscous, honey-like golden liquid.

Without hesitation, he poured the entire bottle of liquid onto his silver sword, and the blade instantly burst forth with a holy radiance as brilliant as the sun.

Geralt mustered all his strength and hurled the silver sword at Nobita.

Nobita caught it with one hand, and with the other, he gripped his Hero's Sword tightly.

"Go!" Nobita roared.

The unicorn understood immediately, letting out a clear, long cry. Its golden horn shone brightly, dispelling the numerous tentacles that came from all around trying to stop it.

Its four hooves pounded the air, as if stepping on invisible stairs, carrying Nobi, transforming into a platinum meteor, charging towards the jade finger suppressed by the black mist, like a true knight, charging forward without hesitation.

The two swords, along with Nobi and the unicorn, pierced half of the body into the writhing, struggling wound.

thump.

A heartbeat.

"."

The dark red wings behind Yu Zhi dripped blood little by little, transforming into white wings.

Then, a white light completely engulfed everything.

Chapter 253: The Dust Settles Down

The earth is ravaged.

The collapse of Mount Fuji ejected a large amount of debris and soil, burying large areas of lava underground.

Wisps of smoke rose from these still-hot piles of rocks, which had recently been buried under magma, and blended into the lingering dust and smoke around them.

A little distance away from the large pebbles, a small mound suddenly appeared in the soft soil, and a bright green vine struggled to break through the soil.

At the end of the vine, a huge pumpkin, aided by the vine, struggles to break through the soil, adding a touch of color to the desolate world.

*Snap!* The vine lashed out, splitting the pumpkin in two, and a figure struggled to his feet from within.

Hirosue Eri weakly crawled out of the pumpkin, her usually meticulously styled twin tails now looking dull and covered in dust.

"Cough cough."

She clutched her aching chest, supported herself with half a pumpkin, and slowly sat down on the ground, looking around blankly.

As far as the eye could see, there was only swirling dust and smoke; every breath of air was filled with the pungent smell of sulfur and dust.

The earpiece was filled with static; communications to the countermeasures department remained cut off, and contact could not be made.

It seems that all she can be thankful for is that she survived.

Not long ago, Mount Fuji collapsed, and the massive amount of mud and rocks it stirred up buried her alive almost instantly.

Those Rangers summoned by Nobita were quick to run; as soon as something went wrong, they were taken away on a transport plane, their movements fluid and seamless.

Fortunately, she reacted quickly enough, and the plants around her sensed the danger and instinctively gathered around her, protecting her at the last moment.

Once the devastating tremors subsided, she manipulated the remaining plants to painstakingly carve out a passage from beneath the soil and rocks several meters deep, finally allowing her to see the light of day again.

Uh... She looked up at the sky and the sun, which were completely invisible.

It seems that this place doesn't really count as seeing the light of day again.

The biggest problem now is that she can't even tell which way is which.

The sky was completely obscured by thick volcanic ash, as dim as a sunset. Coupled with the acrid smoke and dust that filled the air, visibility was so low that only blurry outlines could be seen a few steps away.

Once proudly standing as Japan's highest peak, it is now nothing but a vast, desolate ruin, with only a few broken piles of rubble remaining near the summit.

But what about those extraordinary individuals? Are they alive or dead?

If they also lose, Eri's heart turns ice-cold.

She could almost foresee that no matter how much Japan opposed it, the emergence of such a terrifying monster would inevitably lead to an increase in the intensity of nuclear strikes, even if the terrible radioactive dust would drift all over the world with volcanic ash and monsoons, becoming the price for all mankind.

She pressed her palm to the ground, and the ivy vine on her arm extended and burrowed into the soil, its roots spreading rapidly to deeper and wider places.

The earth trembled, the rock strata structure, and the information about the earth were gradually fed back into Yingli's mind, slowly forming a three-dimensional underground map.

Soon, she "saw" that where Mount Fuji was originally, there was a complex underground pit structure, like an enlarged ant nest.

As I pondered, a white beam of light pierced through the thick curtain of smoke and dust, reaching straight to the sky.

Immediately afterwards, with a deafening roar, several figures were ejected as if from a volcano, thrown off the pillar of light and sent flying in arcs before crashing heavily onto the gravel ground in the distance.

Eri's heart sank.

Although their faces were obscured, who else could emerge from the core area of ​​the collapsed Mount Fuji in this manner, besides the previous superhumans?

She was right; the ones who were thrown out were the Nobita crew.

When Geralt and his companions faced a life-or-death crisis, the teleportation system automatically activated, sending them back.

Now, only the player and Hirosue Eri remain on this ruin, both of them at their last gasp.

Nobi Tomohiro landed closest to Eri and is now lying on the ground, coughing violently.

He had just been on the verge of death; his life lock had been activated. Right now, he would die from a single slap.

Still shaken, he took out his last treasured bottle of holy spring water without thinking and drank it down without hesitation, finally regaining some of his strength and vitality.

Not far away, Hayato lay limply, unconscious.

His beloved little motorcycle had vanished, leaving only a lonely motorcycle throttle handle as its sole wreckage.

Ethan Reno lay unconscious on the ground in a clever pose, his breathing extremely shallow, with only his slightly trembling eyelids revealing that he was observing his surroundings.

He was waiting for the perfect moment, ready to unleash his speed and escape this dangerous place.

The injuries that appear severe on the surface are quietly healing at an accelerated pace under the subtle stimulation of the blood energy within the body.

Iwasaki was in the best condition; he flew out on his own, but his condition was also very poor. He was even struggling to maintain his formless state. He only recovered slightly after drinking a bottle of holy spring water, which helped him stabilize his almost disintegrating form.

Whoosh!

Just as everyone caught their breath, a sudden gust of wind arose from the center of the white beam of light, howling and violently tearing and swirling the thick dust that filled the surroundings.

In just a short while, the dust settled, and the beam of light illuminated the surroundings as bright as day, as if the lights had been turned on.

"Can you tell what the result will be?"

Iwasaki approached Nobita, knowing that Nobita seemed to have a special ability to see the enemy's condition.

Nobita stared blankly at the white light, his face bitter: "He's dead."

Iwasaki didn't interrupt immediately; his intuition told him that he hadn't finished speaking.

“But it came back to life.” Nobita’s voice was full of absurdity. “Only… the one that came back to life didn’t feel like Ashiya Doman at all.”

Iwasaki followed his gaze and saw a blurry human figure gradually emerge inside the pillar of light.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Nobita stood up, leaning on his sword, and shook his head. "I can't see any information about him anymore."

There are only two possibilities: either this person is someone he judges as kind, or they have absolutely no hostility towards him.

Of course, there is actually an even more terrifying possibility.

When faced with someone who doesn't care about you at all, someone who's as casual as accidentally stepping on an ant while walking, what need is there for hostility? That's just a meaningless attack from a lower dimension.

Iwasaki's gaze quickly swept over the others.

Hayato was unconscious, Reno was lying on the ground pretending to be dead, and Eri was extremely weak. He himself had also suffered a serious injury, so the entire group was practically dead and had almost no strength left to fight.

Even if he were willing to risk his life, sacrificing ten years of his lifespan, he probably wouldn't fare well against the being condensed within that pillar of light, unless he sacrificed more than ten years of his lifespan at once, which would be far beyond his limits.

Reno, who was pretending to be unconscious, heard Nobita's words and his body tensed almost imperceptibly. He was just about to find the perfect moment to pounce and make his escape when...

The beam of light suddenly contracted and condensed into a human shape.

A being radiating blinding white light floated in the void. It had no head, a missing arm, and a pair of enormous, yet extremely tattered, wings of light stretched out from its back.

Nobita's eyebrows twitched violently the moment he saw this form.

Isn't this the headless bird-man that Ashiya Doman saw in his memory fragments, the one who was fused with his master?

Is it a case of resurrection through another's body? Or a usurpation of someone else's place?