Surprisingly, nothing much happens as I wait.

A few people pass by, including some of the prostitutes from the other day. As they pass, they giggle, look back toward the fancy building, and keep walking.

I’m not even going to try to guess what is going on there.

At one point, I can even see one of the kids that Gong had spoken to jumping from the top of one building to the next. I wave, but it seems they weren’t looking over here. Some people who were apparently watching me, look in that direction and then at each other, then shuffle off.

With that strange interaction out of the way, I can actually hear Gong saying her goodbyes and coming up from behind the building.

With a massive smile on her face, she grabs my hand, practically rushing me to the alley nearby.

I can’t help but ask her, “So, how did it go? Am I okay to assume well, with that awesome smile on?”

With a few quick nods, it is clear that she is quite excited about whatever happened.

Maybe I should hav… nah, it’s not right to listen in on my friend’s conversations.

“I can’t say too much out here, but we just got some great news. Surprisingly, it seems that you played a bit of a part in it. We’ve made some pretty powerful allies today, other than Big Sis Crane, of course.”

With a brief look around, she remarks, “We should get home quickly, so that we can discuss this more.”

Practically pulling me along, we head back through the alleyways. She initially takes a straight path, but then realizes what she is doing. From that point, we begin taking a longer way around again.

However, from my scan, it appears someone is running behind us.

“Gong, someone is heading on a beeline straight towards us… It looks like it’s one of Big Sister Crane’s people.” Gong immediately looks behind her and calls some of the spiders towards the figure, to see who they are.

I extend my scan in that direction, to get a better idea of what’s going on.

We can barely hear the echo of something, but my scan reveals what they were trying to tell us.

“Gong… There are 10 people, with people on each of their arms jumping on the buildings. They are coming towards us; they are coming from the street and quickly! It’s the Vermillion Stripes!”

Almost with a confused look, she seems to not comprehend my words. As if she doesn’t understand why they would do this. Her eyes widen slowly and her face pales. She quickly snaps out of it and yells at me, “James! You need to run, NOW!”

Immediately, I begin to sprint away.

My scan on highest version of my low tier alert.

Behind and around me, I can see spiders begin to congregate, flowing towards her. Sinkholes opening in the ground, collapsing the area. Spiders begin to flood out these holes like sand, with some lumbering out like hidden monsters, stone falling off their body as if dust.

Gong is spraying web in every direction, like a mist, coating the ground and air in a thin layer of silky thread. Like a floating black river, spiders dance upon the air, spraying the area and climbing like threads towards her.

In the corner of my eye, I can see men with red stripes painted on their faces, jumping over the buildings, dropping men off. I can barely see one of them pointing at me as I turn the corner.

My ears throb, every sound seemingly amplified and muted simultaneously. I see men jumping from building to building, over above me, towards her. Their eyes locked on her. The sounds of battle fill my ears, from behind me.

My mind a blur and a mess. Breath heavy and heart pounding. All I can seem to sense with my scan is data… as if right at my fingertips, yet undecipherable. Everything is locked out besides what is in front of me and around me.

I can already hear men being thrown into walls and the tortured screams of a man, going higher and higher, until something seems to change the sound of it.

As if his throat was filled.

Muffled noises of fear, anger, and pain echo around the alleys.

As I run away, I barely gain control of my scan.

It shows many, many, more men jumping on the rooftops, towards Gong’s location. Small bursts of fire and water, lightning and rocks, are being thrown at her. Which seem to be absorbed by spiders jumping in front of the hits, like a wall.

This is an ambush.

No… this is a full-on assault.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Where do I need to go?! I don’t know what, SHIT they’re coming!

As I run randomly, I start using my scan to chart the best way to get away from the people chasing me. Unfortunately, I can hear a cultivator with three other normal men chasing me. And getting closer by the second.

As I run, with my scan oriented behind me and the men moving, I can see the man gnash his teeth, raising his sword.

“YOU FOOL! You are slowing me down, get out of my way!”

A flash of his sword and the head of one of the men drops. Dying a dog’s death, his face still filled with confusion. A wicked smile crosses cultivator’s lips, as blood splatters his sword and chest.

I can see his face turn back towards me with that grin. Still pursuing.

My blood runs cold, yet my heart beats even faster, as nothing but thoughts of escape fill my mind.

Even with my increased abilities, I can’t seem to get away from this guy! How the hell do I outrun and maneuver someone who can literally hop around on top of buildings!

As I continue to run, the scan leads me to an open alleyway, but stops there.

What?! No no no, this can’t be happening, why did it stop?!…

oh no.

Does this mean that there’s no othe..

As I try to look back at where I had run from, I feel an intense and crushing pain.

I suddenly see a dark shadow dancing in front of my eyes… moving quickly along the ground.

Oh. That’s me.

I’m flying.

Everything goes white, as I feel myself crash into the nearby wall.

My eyes feel heavy and my mind a mess.

Everything hurts like hell. Especially my head and back.

I can’t move.

Why can’t I move…? Why does it hurt so much?

As I begin to feel my eyes opening, I feel something like stone hit my face, turning my world red and white.

I feel my face practically shatter in pain and I hear gurgled screaming.

It’s me. That’s fucking me screaming.

I hear muffled noises, before feeling a few more punches of pain.

My throat collapse in sharply with another hit. My lips shudder and pour blood out as I desperately attempt to raise my arms to clasp my throat. I feel nothing happening from them.

I can feel my chest practically cave in from another hit that lifts me off the ground into the wall.

I can’t breathe! It hurts! It hurts so much!

The hits stop coming after awhile and as I sit here in pain, attempting to breathe, I dim in and out of consciousness. Over the next moment, I feel my breath come back. As one of the most painful things I’ve ever felt. Scratch that, all of this is the most painful thing, I’ve ever gone through.

Between the darkness and blood, I can hear the men who beat the hell out of me, speak. I can barely see the silhouette of three people.

“I think this…… passerb….oss… He…eally quick, b…….. If he we…..chemist, he would have done something ab…. it”

Ugghhh, wha… what’s going on? Was this a hit? I can feel the pain going away, if slowly.

I can hear a little better too. It’s so hard to think. I can feel my breath coming back easier.

“You….ight…. stay here and watch… guy. If he liv…e’ll see what he knows la…. I’ll head ..ack. Looks like they need reinforcement.”

I can hear a crack in the ground, as two of them leave. Out of my growingly working eye, I can see one silhouette scratch his head and look around. He’s not even looking this way. He appears to be looking in the distance. I can him mutter, “What the hell’s going on over there…?”

Ughhh… I don’t want to die. Shit, this hurts so much.

Slowly, my head begins to hurt less, as time begins to pass slowly.

Okay, okay. Calm down, James.

There are so many things I could have done better with this, but I can do something now. I need to heal myself, summon whatever insects are nearby, and overwhelm this guy.

First things first, I flood myself with healing aura, while he is turned away. Over the next 20 seconds, I heal as much as I can. My body feels like it snaps back into its normal shape, filling me with energy and feel-good juice.

And it feels fucking amazing.

However, just as I summon insects, the guy turns around to look at me.

“Wha…”

I don’t let him finish his statement, kicking him in the jaw and leaping to my feet.

The guy is thrown back, but I don’t wait to see what he does.

Using my plan of summoning insects and creatures, I run down an alleyway in the opposite direction from where that cultivator guy went. All the while, I tame any insects that are ahead and around this area. My mana pool is not empty, but I have less than a 10th of it left.

A quick look behind me shows an extremely pissed off guy with a bleeding mouth chasing me, knife in hand, but losing ground fast.

But that isn’t all I see.

Behind the guy, far in the distance, is an immense column of darkness, reaching the height of a small skyscraper. A mist surrounds it, like clouds around a mountain.

Only… it’s heading away from the mountain.

Writhing. Squirming. Devouring. Glee.

I can see the hint of a body jump out of the column, flame jetting out from his feet, only for a whip like appendage to grab him and slowly drag him back in. Fire spewing out onto the darkness, but unable to stop them. As he gets consumed by the darkness, reddish light causes it to glow, with one last burst of fire coming out.

The light fades.

The darkness reaches tentacles out to the ground.

Are those… the spiders?

My arm points to the column behind him, as I continue to run. He does a quick look behind him, but then shudders to a stop. I keep running a little, as the insects I’ve called begin coalescing around his feet.

He has no idea.

Stopping at what I feel is a safe distance, I get the now sizeable number of insects to now assault the gaping man.

I use the method that Ai had suggested, to my shame. I refuse to give him a chance. They pour into him like a flood, screaming emanating from his mouth like a human, but slowly turning into something inhuman sounding. Shaking me to the core.

Nonononononono, I need to keep going I need to keep going.

My eyes wide, shivers flowing through my body. My breath stopped.

This man would kill me, given the chance. I need to finish this!

After having his attention fully and completely consumed by the insects assaulting him, I have them enter his mouth, suffocating him and muffling his screams.

As the column in the distance flows downward, I have the insects pour into and consume the man.

From inside and out.

I’ve seen gory movies, but there is nothing… Nothing. Like seeing a literal wave of insects wash into and over a man repeatedly, as he flails about… unable to even scream as he is eaten alive.

And it’s you doing it.

No. I can’t dissociate this.

This is me. I’m doing this…

No one else.

I raise my hands to my eyes. Attempting to block some of what I see.

But between my fingers, I still watch...

After a short period of time, the attempts to scream stop, though the insects continue.

Shortly after, he stops moving.

The waves keeping coming in a sickening efficiency. Almost in concert with each other, the different bugs seem to flow under and around each other in the best way to rip off the skin and pass it to be devoured by others. Flowing into and then under his skin.

Only to erupt in a different area of the body.

Even on nature television… I’ve never seen anything like this. And the connection I have to them, lets me feel every piece of it.

I realize I’m on the ground, having fallen down subconsciously. Unable to turn away… or to stop what I have started.

Within minutes there is almost nothing left of the man’s body, not even his clothes. All, except bones. Even that, is being chewed into by some beetle like creatures. The only thing that remains intact, is his knife. A quick scan reveals that it is completely ordinary.

By this time, I have already thrown up… with the insects eating that as well.

I… don’t want to use this method again.

I can’t. I just can’t. no no no no.

My hands shiver as the only thing left in my eyes, is the clear memory of insects pouring into the man’s face holes, eating and hollowing them as he silently struggles and screams.