The ground was a vibrant crimson, its fleshy surface covered in constantly writhing nodules. Towering, scarlet city walls were adorned with countless large eyeballs. In the distance, the originally wooden houses were now wantonly stretching their bodies, their horrifying maws filled with countless wriggling, intertwining tendrils like maggots.
The air was thick with an aura of madness, of the indescribable. On the streets paved with flesh and blood, bizarre monsters of every shape and size, yet sharing an equally unnamable appearance, roamed incessantly. The entire city had become a playground for unspeakable horrors.
But who could have imagined that just a few minutes ago, this city looked completely different?
At this moment, Clementine, the culprit behind it all, stared in disbelief at the scene before her. On her trembling legs, crimson tentacles covered in viscous fluid were relentlessly climbing upwards, each tentacle lined with densely packed barbs.
These barbs easily pierced Clementine's smooth skin, greedily sucking her blood. The massive blood loss caused Clementine's face to turn deathly pale, her body gradually weakening, leaving her to passively await her demise.
"How... how wretched..."
The fragmented words escaped Clementine's lips. Her face was ashen as she desperately tore at the tentacles clinging to her body, each yank tearing away large patches of skin and flesh with the barbs.
The intense pain caused even Clementine, who had already stepped into the 'Hero' realm, to let out a pained whimper. But this wasn't the most despairing thing for Clementine. What truly drove her to despair was that every time she tore off a tentacle, more would coil around her.
Even as she exerted all her strength to tear them away, her entire body was still engulfed within seconds, leaving only her head exposed, watching in despair as several massive, indescribable monsters approached her step by step.
"Don't underestimate me! I am Clementine, the extraordinary paragon! How could I... how could I die here!"
Watching the approaching monsters, the feeling of slowly awaiting death completely shattered Clementine's spirit. Her once adorable face twisted into a grotesque mask, and she roared almost maniacally at the indescribable monsters before her. Then, she lowered her head and began to tear at the tentacles on her body with large, desperate bites.
Snap!
"Sona... where's Sona?"
The next second, the bloated, massive figure stopped in front of Clementine. Enderi, completely transformed into a malformed being, lowered his head, his three gigantic mouths filled with fangs slightly agape, the violent, distorted voice echoing in Clementine's ears.
"....."
Across from him, Clementine didn't choose to answer, or rather, she had no way to answer at this point. As soon as Enderi's voice sounded, all she heard was layers upon layers of overlapping yet indescribable murmurs. Her heart, already on the verge of collapse from the approaching death, was now completely broken by the unspeakable whispers.
Like a frenzied, ravenous beast, she opened her already sharpened teeth and tore at the tentacles on her body, visibly distorting her exposed skin. Faces of various appearances began to surface, as if countless faces were superimposed, yet eerily, each face could be clearly seen.
"Enderi, what should we do?"
At this moment, the young boy who had mutated first beside him wiggled his body over. Countless pupils at the tips of the tentacles looked at Clementine, who had already begun to deform under the encroachment of the Gluttony and Lust sins, and said.
Although Clementine no longer posed a threat, and the entire fortress city of E-Rantel had become like this, although the boy didn't know the specific reason, he now felt as if he were at home.
Here, whether it was the writhing ground, the fleshy walls, the dark purple aura permeating the air, or even everything in the city, gave him an unparalleled sense of intimacy. It could be said that this place had completely become their home field.
But none of this mattered. What mattered was that they had no way to ask Sona's location from the current Clementine. Although they had now completely mutated under the erosion of the original sin power, their consciousness, honed by the hardships suffered in the slums since childhood, still maintained their self-awareness.
At most, their personalities had changed compared to before.
"I'll devour her, maybe I can get her memories!"
Across from him, Enderi lowered his head and looked at Clementine, who had already mutated beyond recognition. His several-meter-long mouth slowly opened, and droplets of viscous liquid dripped slowly from the rows of sharp, dagger-like fangs inside. Clementine looked so small under the enormous maw.
"Enderi, big brother!"
Just as Enderi was about to devour Clementine, a cute voice filled with worry sounded, instantly causing several unspeakable monsters present to stop and turn their heads to look in the direction of the voice.
They saw not far away, a handsome black-haired youth was pulling a cute little girl who was like a porcelain doll was walking towards this side. The little girl's eyes were full of worry as she looked at several unspeakable monsters, as if her line of sight penetrated their terrifying, twisted appearance, and saw Enderi and the others' original appearances.
However, when the little girl's watery eyes saw Clementine in front of Enderi, fear, trepidation, and anger unconsciously flowed out, and a distorted expression appeared on her porcelain doll-like face.
Sona clearly remembered that it was that person who suddenly broke into the dilapidated warehouse they regarded as home some time ago, and then began to sadistically torture them with a perverted smile on her face. One by one, the older brothers and sisters died at this guy's hands in order to protect her.
In the end, she was forcibly taken away. During the time she was taken away, every day and night, every moment, every second, Sona was experiencing inhuman torture. Because of her powerful immortality, Clementine used all the interrogation and torture methods she learned in the 'Black Scripture' on Sona one by one.
"Sona!"
"Are you okay!"
Across from them, Enderi and the others showed smiles on their unnamable faces after seeing that Sona was still alive. However, if an ordinary person were here, they would probably either be scared to death at the sight of these smiles, or have their bodies and souls eroded by the pollution carried by their voices and appearances.
"I'm okay, big brother saved me."
Saying that, Sona turned her head to look at Lu Minghao beside her, a sweet smile appearing on her cute little face, but the next second, the smile became terrifying. Sona's mouth began to crack continuously, and then the entire skin slid off her body, and a monster with a completely scarlet body and exposed muscle tissue appeared in place.
"It fell off again."
Sona, who had completely changed her appearance, also noticed this at this time. She tilted her little head and looked at the wriggling skin on the ground, and then habitually said something, squatted down and picked up her skin, put it on like putting on clothes, and turned back into that cute loli again.
"Big brother, didn't I scare you?"
After she was dressed, Sona reached out her small hand and grabbed Lu Minghao's clothes, lowering her head with a hint of shyness.
"How cute."
Looking at Sona like this, Lu Minghao smiled softly, raised his hand, and patted her head in praise. As for being scared, Lu Minghao had seen monsters many times more terrifying than this, and many of them were even created by Lu Minghao himself.
Besides, even if Sona maintained her previous appearance, she was still completely cute compared to Enderi and the others who had already completed their corruption. After all, Sona's appearance could still be described with words, while Enderi and the others had become completely indescribable.
"Oh right, one more thing, Clementine is still a little useful to me, don't kill her."
After patting Sona's little head, Lu Minghao looked up at Enderi and the others not far away and said with a smile. Enderi and the others subconsciously wanted to refuse after hearing Lu Minghao's words.
After all, Clementine had killed their families and subjected them to all kinds of torture before their deaths. It could be said that their hatred for Clementine had long been rooted in the souls of Enderi and the others.
"What? You're not willing?"
Lu Minghao looked at the silent Enderi and the others, and Sona who raised her head to look at him, and asked with a gentle smile on his lips, but in reality, it was as if they dared to have any thoughts of refusing his orders.
Then Lu Minghao would not hesitate to destroy them. Although Enderi and the others were seeds that he had personally planted out of momentary interest and had already sprouted and grown, in Lu Minghao's heart, they were only 'tools' with a slightly special use.
In reality, in Lu Minghao's view, their status was only slightly better than that of the disposable tool, the Gluttonous Monster.
"Yes! We understand."
On the opposite side, Enderi also realized what Lu Minghao meant. His huge body prostrated on the ground to show that he understood. As for the choice of resisting Lu Minghao, it had never appeared in his mind from beginning to end, because the current Enderi, whether in body or soul, or even the power that he originally controlled freely, was rejecting resisting Lu Minghao.
If Enderi had the idea of resisting Lu Minghao, before Lu Minghao could even take action, Enderi and the others would be killed by their own power, because Lu Minghao was their absolute master.
"Well, then have fun, I'll be back in a while."
Seeing that Enderi and the others had sensibly agreed to his proposal, Lu Minghao was too lazy to care anymore. Anyway, his purpose was only to make the living Clementine his tool. As for how Enderi and the others would treat her before that, Lu Minghao didn't care at all.
After all, Lu Minghao wasn't some kind of devil. Clementine should bear the mistakes she made herself, and wasn't Clementine having a lot of fun playing with Enderi and the others' dead family members before?
Then this time, let her continue to play with Enderi and the others.
"Thank you, Big Brother."
On the opposite side, after hearing Lu Minghao's words, whether it was Enderi and the others who were prostrating on the ground or Sona, they all raised their heads and looked at Lu Minghao with gratitude. They already understood that Lu Minghao allowed them to take revenge on Clementine, provided that she didn't die in the process.
This made Enderi and the others, who were already prepared to not be able to take revenge and just let Lu Minghao take Clementine away, instantly excited. Then, after watching Lu Minghao's back walk away, they all walked to Clementine's side, who had been specially restored to her self-awareness by Lu Minghao.
Then, in front of Clementine, they began to discuss, and Enderi and the others also deliberately corrupted a part of their bodies again, transforming them into functional tissues that could maintain Clementine's body, in order to let Clementine fully experience their unforgettable hatred in the most sober state.
"Ha... Are you looking down on me, the great Clementine...? I will never be afraid of you monsters."
At this moment, Clementine, who had regained consciousness, looked at Enderi and the others who were crowded around her and discussing loudly. Because her body was in a semi-corrupted state, she could understand the originally indescribable voices of Enderi and the others, so Clementine clearly knew what she was going to face next.
"Big Sister, look at this, this is specially prepared for you by Sona, and it's the same dagger you used on Sona back then."
At this time, the seemingly cute Sona approached Clementine, holding a dagger with dark red bloodstains on the blade. The sharp blade gently waved in front of Clementine's eyes. This dagger was exactly what Clementine used to torture Sona before.
"Don't worry, Big Sister, Sona won't let you die."
After saying that, without waiting for Clementine to answer, Sona directly and gently waved the dagger in her hand. In Clementine's shrill screams, the smile on Sona's face became more and more sweet, and the movements of waving the blade in her hand also became more and more gentle. This scene was exactly the same as when Clementine treated her back then.
On the side, Enderi and the others looked at Sona's sweet smile, and smiles appeared on their indescribable faces. Then, one by one, they also participated in it. For a while, Clementine went from screaming and cursing at the beginning to begging, and finally couldn't even make a sound.
Her eyes were empty and she was hung upside down in the air, and drops of viscous liquid dripped from the corners of her mouth. Even if Sona stabbed the dagger into her body, she didn't react at all, and below Clementine, who was hanging upside down in the air, piles of skin were piled up there.
"Okay, hand her over to me."
At this time, Lu Minghao, who had returned after taking a turn around the corrupted fortress city of E-Rantel, appeared beside Sona and gently patted her blood-stained hair and said. On the opposite side, Enderi, after hearing Lu Minghao's words, controlled his tentacles and placed the already broken Clementine in front of Lu Minghao.
"Big Brother, are you leaving?"
Sona turned her head, her big watery eyes looking at Lu Minghao and said softly.
"Yes, also, someone will come here later, they will tell you what to do next."
As he said that, Lu Minghao gently tapped Clementine's body, and the corrupted tissues on Clementine's body lying on the ground rapidly contracted back into her body, turning back into the cute look she had before.
"Then, I look forward to your future performance."
After saying that, Lu Minghao flew towards the royal capital with Clementine, leaving behind only Enderi and the others who had been completely corrupted, and the fortress city of E-Rantel, which was gradually hiding itself and disguising itself as a normal appearance.
Half an hour after Lu Minghao left, the entire fortress city of E-Rantel had returned to the way it was when Lu Minghao first came here, and there was nothing unusual on the outside.
