Chapter 34: Suddenly Turned Into a Horror Story

BOOM!

A violent explosion echoed through the city, the emerald-green fire illuminating the night sky. Alex laughed wildly, flapping the wings on his back as he gathered searing green fireballs in his hands and hurled them downward.

The power of these fireballs was immense, each strike equivalent to an air-to-ground missile. They easily pierced through steel-reinforced structures, and the explosive force was enough to tear a small building to shreds. The green flames within could burn even where there was no combustible material, reaching temperatures sufficient to melt steel.

If hit directly by such a fireball, even the Kurumi clones, despite wearing their Elohim-class Astral Dresses, would struggle to defend themselves. While they could manifest spiritual power barriers, they were not the original; being mere clones, they could hardly withstand attacks of this magnitude. A few direct hits would effectively eliminate them.

Alex’s strength was no longer what it once was. The boost provided by the third stage of the gene lock was far more formidable than he had imagined. Even though he had only just unlocked it, not even the five Kurumi clones combined could be entirely certain of destroying him.

To avoid casualties, a little strategy was required...

"Damn it, are you all rats? Why don't you come and face me head-on? What kind of skill is hiding and scurrying about?"

Alex cursed, and just as he was about to continue his pursuit, the five Kurumi clones suddenly turned and fled in different directions.

"Hmph, trying to run?"

Alex sneered, his wings beating violently as he lunged forward like an arrow released from a bow. He locked onto the nearest clone, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

"Lightning Netherworld Burst!"

Black lightning, crackling with destructive power, was summoned by Alex. Like giant dragons, the bolts tore through the night sky and crashed onto the path of the fleeing clone. The violent explosions sent soil and stone flying high into the air, carving massive, charred craters into the earth.

The further development of his lineage, brought about by the third-stage gene lock, had given him a deeper understanding of his superior vampire bloodline. Those ink-green flames were the "Vampire Crimson Flame Magic" he had realized through the evolution of his bloodline, further elevated by his demonic heritage into a more powerful, lethal force.

Similarly, the black lightning was a talent unearthed from his superior demonic lineage, its power further amplified by the resonance of his vampire blood to achieve terrifying destructive results.

"Taste this!"

Alex laughed boisterously. As he manipulated the ink-green flames and black lightning to merge, a ferocious dragon of thunder and fire took shape, roaring as it charged toward Kurumi.

Kurumi did not stop. She swerved sharply toward the corner of a building. The dragon of thunder and fire, as if possessing a life of its own, tracked her change in direction, banking around the building to pursue her once more.

However, just as the dragon crossed the building, it collided head-on with a gorilla-like alien that happened to arrive on the scene, having been drawn by the massive commotion.

Neither side had time to react before the impact occurred. Dazzling light erupted, and destructive energy swept in all directions, completely engulfing the gorilla’s massive, ten-meter-tall body.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Kurumi clone slipped into the shadow of the alien, evading the terrifying blast.

"Heh."

Alex descended slowly from the sky. He looked down at the gorilla alien—which had been blown to the ground and severely damaged, yet was still struggling to move—and could not help but sneer.

"You mongrel, you’re quite hardy."

With that, bolts of black lightning flew from his hands, striking the creature’s skull repeatedly until the entire head, including the human brain inside, was smashed to pieces.

[Killed one giant biological weapon. Awarded one C-grade side quest and 2000 reward points.]

Alex, who once struggled to win even in one-on-one fights and would have had to flee in panic if faced with multiple squid aliens, could now simply unleash his techniques to effortlessly eradicate such enemies.

This was true power—the third-stage gene lock, a fully realized superior vampire bloodline coupled with demonic lineage... Damn it, with such terrifying strength, what could the North Ice Continent team possibly use to resist him? How could they stop him?!

Alex swept his eyes across the area; the Kurumi clone had already fled into the distance... but he could catch up in an instant if he wanted to.

Yet, just as he prepared to do so, he felt that something was not quite right.

Alex looked at the remains of the gorilla alien on the ground, gazed at the fleeing clone in the distance, and then glanced back at the trail of destruction he had carved through the city, falling into deep thought.

"Just now... I killed one of them, didn't I?"

After the feverish catharsis faded, a sense of cold logic finally returned to his mind.

"They should have been members of the North Ice Continent team, but if that were the case... why didn't I receive a notification from the Main God when I killed one of them?"

The sense of dissonance finally took hold of Alex. An inexplicable chill crept into his heart, and he gulped as the brain-enhancing effects of his third-stage gene lock began to fire.

"Wait."

At that very moment, a barrage of gunfire suddenly erupted. Alex’s body stiffened. He looked down to see several bloody holes appearing in his chest, from which green blood poured incessantly.

"This is..."

A look of disbelief crossed Alex’s face. He looked up to see dozens more Kurumi clones appearing in the sky, each holding a holy-glowing Gatling gun, their muzzles pointed directly at him, spewing tongues of flame.

He suddenly recalled the scene he had witnessed earlier. He remembered those Kurumi clones—they were beautiful, and the Gothic dresses they wore were incredibly mesmerizing...

If Alex had been a hardcore otaku, he might have recognized Tokisaki Kurumi... but alas, he was not. Even if he were, he wouldn't necessarily know the character, as the *Date A Live* anime adaptation aired in April 2013, and *Infinite Awakening* began serialization around May 2013; judging by the timeline, the probability of him knowing this character was not high.

But Alex searched his memory, recalling the moment he first encountered those clones.

On their hands, on their wrists... there were no signs of being a reincarnator. There were no "reincarnation watches" at all!