Void Cultivation

This thought was still in Grey’s head when the temperature suddenly dropped by several degrees.

Ice and snow suddenly appeared on the ground around him. In the instant after they appeared, a pair of footsteps suddenly revealed themselves in the snow, as if an invisible being had just stepped onto the frozen ground.

The moment Grey saw this, he stopped in his tracks. A chill immediately ran down his spine.

It was as if a huge creature was breathing directly down his neck, its presence looming over him despite the fact that he could not see anything behind him.

The feeling that a calamity was about to befall him suddenly descended upon Grey.

Immediately, every instinct in his body told him that he had to retreat.

He had to leave this place. Hence, without wasting a single second, Grey turned around and prepared to leave.

However, the moment he turned, hollow singing suddenly rang out from all around him at once.

The singing seemed to come from the countless shops and houses surrounding them. It was as if a song was being sung by countless invisible ghosts hidden throughout the entire city.

The contents of the song were unknown, yet they caused Grey’s mind to buzz violently. Not only that, the mournful cries made him feel as if he was hearing something that he was never supposed to hear.

Blood trickled down from Grey’s seven orifices, and the veins on his face bulged visibly. His eyes gradually turned red as he desperately resisted the strange urge to sing along with the voices.

It was not like before when he had heard the mournful singing through the ears of the shadow.

Although it had still affected him back then, its influence was nowhere near what it was now. This time, Grey was hearing the singing directly.

Grey felt that if he succumbed to the singing voices, he would begin to sing as well and eventually join them, becoming a part of the invisible choir that sang their sorrowful song throughout the city.

Worse still, he could not move an inch.

It was as if the singing voices had completely sealed his movements. He could not even raise his hand, much less move his feet and leave this place.

A sense of dread filled Grey’s heart when he realized that he was in serious trouble.

This Bizarre existence was incredibly powerful, and it was clear that it would not take too long before he died.

He did not know how it had managed to find him so quickly or how it had appeared here so fast.

But he could not worry about that right now.

The most important thing was to successfully escape from this situation and flee the city as quickly as he could.

’Think! What can I do in this situation? What can I use to change the situation of this battle?!’

Grey said inwardly as his mind rapidly ran through several thoughts on how to escape from this predicament.

Just as he began thinking, Grey saw the footsteps that had appeared in the snow suddenly begin to move towards him.

Step.

The moment the invisible being took its first step, Grey heard the mournful singing become even louder.

The countless voices seemed to overlap with one another, filling his mind with an unbearable buzzing sound.

More blood flowed from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Grey could feel his life slowly slipping away from him. His vision was gradually becoming blurred, and a feeling of death permeated his entire body.

Iria, who was still unconscious in his arms, was in the same condition. Blood flowed from all seven of her orifices, while her expression became increasingly deathly pale.

Even the shadow was the same.

It had already been weakened after their first encounter and could hardly muster any strength to fight back. However, despite its weakened state, it still displayed an intense unwillingness to die here in a place like this.

The distance between the footsteps and Grey rapidly decreased in the blink of an eye.

It was strange.

The footsteps clearly seemed to be moving normally, yet the distance between them and Grey appeared to blur all of a sudden.

Another step sounded. Then another.

With each step, the invisible being seemed to cross an enormous distance.

Before Grey knew it, the footsteps had already arrived directly before him.

And then... the being that had created those footprints was standing right in front of him. The hollow singing that was coming from all directions suddenly stopped.

But just as Grey thought that he was about to die, he suddenly heard a small humming sound coming from within his mind.

It was faint.

So faint that Grey almost thought he had imagined it.

However, in the next instant, the sound became slightly clearer.

Inside his Sea of Consciousness, the rusty nail that had been concealed all this time suddenly revealed itself.

The semi-transparent nail trembled slightly before its figure abruptly blurred.

Then, it disappeared from his Sea of Consciousness.

A fraction of a second later, the rusty nail suddenly appeared outside of Grey’s body.

The moment it did, a loud buzzing sound erupted from the nail.

Bzzzz!

The sound was strange and ancient, carrying an indescribable pressure that caused the surrounding space to tremble faintly.

Before Grey could even react, the rusty nail suddenly shot forward.

Its speed was so fast that it was impossible for the naked eye to perceive its movement.

It seemed to ignore the distance between itself and its target, piercing forward as though space itself did not exist.

A fraction of a second later, the mournful voices appeared again.

However, this time, they were no longer singing a song of sorrow.

They were crying out in agony.

Their voices echoed throughout the surrounding area, filled with pain and fear.

The countless mournful cries that had previously caused Grey’s mind to tremble were now filled with terror.

In the space where the rusty nail had pierced through, the surrounding space suddenly shattered.

Cracks spread outward like a spiderweb, and an intense devouring intent suddenly erupted from the nail.

It was an indescribably terrifying hunger.

The rusty, transparent nail seemed to have suddenly transformed into a living organism that had just awakened from a long, deep slumber.

And after awakening—

It was hungry.

Incredibly hungry.

It was as if the most scrumptious and delicious meal in the entire world had suddenly appeared directly before it.

The hunger radiating from the nail was so intense that it almost seemed capable of devouring everything in its path.

Even space itself seemed to be viewed as nothing more than an obstacle between the nail and the source of its nourishment.

It would consume anything.

Space.

Matter.

Energy.

Perhaps even existence itself.

Nothing seemed capable of satisfying the hunger emanating from the rusty nail.

The moment it emerged from Grey’s Sea of Consciousness, it was as if the sun had suddenly appeared in the middle of the frozen world, beaming down its warm light upon the icy surroundings.

The oppressive cold instantly began to recede.

All the ice and snow that had accumulated across the ground rapidly melted, turning into streams of black water that flowed through the streets.

The terrifying influence that had previously frozen the entire area was being forcefully suppressed.

Grey’s body, which had been completely immobilized by the mournful singing, suddenly loosened slightly.

However, Grey did not have the time to pay attention to any of this.

His gaze was fixed upon the rusty nail.

The Bizarre existence that had created the footprints also seemed to be stunned by the sudden appearance of the rusty nail.

For the first time since its arrival, it appeared to hesitate.

Yet it did not retreat.

Instead, the Bizarre existence suddenly charged forward.

It seemed to have decided to confront the rusty nail head-on.

The distance between them disappeared almost instantly.

Barely an instant later, they clashed.

BOOM!

The moment the two terrifying existences collided, the surrounding space violently trembled.

The black water on the ground surged in every direction as the invisible force generated by the collision swept outward.

And in that instant, the hunger of the rusty nail was fully revealed.

It was no longer merely an aura. It was an instinct.

An absolute, primal desire to devour.

The rusty nail trembled violently as the space surrounding it began to collapse inward. It was as if the nail had finally found the nourishment it had been waiting for.

The Bizarre existence had not encountered a weapon.

It had encountered something hungry. Something that had awakened... and found a meal.