Chapter 299: Orochimaru: I am a Ghoul, and I specialize in eating ghosts

Orochimaru, who was being hunted by Konoha and the Navy,

never expected to encounter such high-quality experimental material in the Grand Forest.

Without the Life Lock, if one dies, they will randomly drop equipment, skills, and even their Bloodline.

He had originally intended to simply ignore the other party,

but the abilities displayed by Muzan Kibutsuji made Orochimaru eager to hunt.

"Lucas destroyed too many of my high-level undead; it's a pity that players cannot completely kill each other, otherwise I would really like to add you directly to my Necrotic Army."

Orochimaru felt regret,

but although he could not kill the other party, he could still use them for research.

"Arrogant, seeking death."

Muzan Kibutsuji did not say much; having held a high position for many years, he maintained an attitude of absolute arrogance even when facing the Upper Rank, which led him to refuse to back down even after realizing Orochimaru was no simple foe.

Black Blood Thorn!

Skin tore, and countless amounts of fresh blood sprayed from within his body, twisting into iron-wire-like thorns that lunged at the defenseless Orochimaru.

"You can even control blood independently? This is getting more and more interesting."

Orochimaru stood still, and the iron-wire thorns shredded him directly, his body falling to the ground in several pieces.

"Hmph, weak human."

Muzan Kibutsuji looked disdainful, straightened his suit, and turned to leave.

In the Demon Slayer World, there were no humans or demons who dared to provoke him, and he never expected there to be such a fool in the game who didn't know the meaning of death.

The next second, a faint voice came from behind: "So that's how it is. It sounds like you aren't human; could you tell me your race?"

Squish.

The gelatinous texture of skin—an arm belonging to a ghoul—pierced through Muzan Kibutsuji's chest.

There was doubt and surprise in Orochimaru's eyes; the doubt was because the moment the arm pierced the other's chest, his necrotic aura had already been released.

The necrotic aura that spread throughout the other's body fed back information,

and it seemed the other party possessed multiple hearts and brains; what a peculiar creature.

Furthermore,

from this brief contact, he had already judged that the other party appeared to be a novice player who had not undergone any Reinforcement.

In other words, the Muzan Kibutsuji before him was a non-human player from another world.

And not one of those human players who had exchanged for an alternative Bloodline.

"Not dead? How is that possible?"

Muzan Kibutsuji's gaze was horrified; he looked down at his pierced torso, feeling as if he were dreaming.

He was a near-perfect creature, and the moment the iron-wire thorns made of blood pierced the other's skin, he could sense the other's life fluctuations.

He should have been completely dead.

How could he still be alive? What kind of thing was the other party? "Are you surprised? I am a Necromancer, and I have the Ghoul Bloodline; strictly speaking, I have long since died."

Orochimaru extended his other arm and directly crushed one of Muzan Kibutsuji's brains.

There are many types of ghouls: the lowest-level scavengers, the undead who control Dark Energy, vampire ghouls, and even the rarer Ghoul Kings.

They all share a common characteristic, which is death.

Therefore, trying to sense life energy from a ghoul is a very foolish thing to do.

"Ghoul?"

Muzan Kibutsuji struggled, wanting to escape,

but he was pinned firmly to the ground by two gray-black Bone Spears, the necrotic aura constantly eroding his body.

"A type of undead from legend that feeds on corpses and ghosts."

Orochimaru was very happy to explain the confusion to the other party, just as in the original destiny, he was willing to help Sasuke grow and promised to help him kill Itachi Uchiha.

An exchange, each taking what they need.

Every life has its own meaning, rather than disappearing for no reason.

"Eats ghosts?"

A low growl emanated from the depths of Muzan Kibutsuji's throat, and the hair all over his body stood on end; the other party's abilities were very Weird, and he could not judge at all whether he could win.

Especially upon hearing that the other party could eat ghosts, he didn't even consider the possibility that the other was lying and immediately prepared to activate his most powerful ability: self-division.

Even Tsugikuni Yoriichi, who had mastered Sun Breathing, had been unable to kill him with this move.

Splitting into 1,800 fragments,

as long as a single fragment remained, he could use his own recovery ability to fully restore himself.

This was his strongest life-saving measure!

"What a chaotic other world, there are even monsters that eat ghosts. Bastard, when I become a truly perfect creature, I will definitely make you pay in blood!"

Muzan Kibutsuji was furious inside, but felt even more fear; since the death of Tsugikuni Yoriichi, he had not felt the fear of near-death for nearly a thousand years.

Even though Hantengu had told him that one would not die in the game, he was unwilling to take the risk before seeing it with his own eyes and having concrete evidence.

Escape if he could.

A crack appeared on Muzan Kibutsuji's face and rapidly spread.

His entire body was about to turn into fragments to escape.

Suddenly,

Orochimaru revealed a smile and said, "Dividing? I advise you not to do that."

The necrotic aura erupted violently.

Bone skeletons, scavenger dogs with rotting flesh, the Blue Wing Dragon bone circling in the sky, and thousands of vengeful spirits instantly surrounded the area completely.

"What is going on?"

Kibutsuji Muzan froze in place.

His body, which was on the verge of self-destructing, had its splitting fragments forcibly brought to a halt.

He could feel it;

the strange fluctuations radiating from those undead creatures were greedily circling him, as if they had spotted prey.

Once he self-destructed, they would swarm in frantically and devour every last fragment.

His limit was 1,800 fragments,

which wasn't even enough for each of these undead creatures to have one.

Gulp.

Kibutsuji Muzan swallowed hard, but recalling the resurrection Hantengu had mentioned, he gritted his teeth and prepared to continue his self-destruction.

With his ability to control thoughts, Hantengu should not dare to betray him; since he said resurrection was possible, there should be no mistake.

"You haven't bought a Life Lock yet, have you?"

Orochimaru smiled with a sense of Weirdness, seemingly offering a reminder: "If you die, the game will randomly deduct one of your abilities."

Deduct an ability?

Kibutsuji Muzan's mind went blank; it seemed Hantengu hadn't mentioned this? When reading his memories, he had vaguely accessed content regarding the Life Lock, but since his focus was mostly on the Mall of the Samsara Game, he had overlooked some basic rules.

And Hantengu, who had logged into the game at that time, hadn't been as unlucky as Muzan; being naturally adept at lurking and disguise, he had long since blended into the town, purchased a Life Lock, and had not had any abilities deducted after death.

Therefore, he hadn't emphasized that aspect.

"Damn that Hantengu, to think he dared to hide such important intelligence!"

Kibutsuji Muzan's eyes were filled with horror; if death truly meant losing an ability, he absolutely could not die.

Everything he possessed was due to this mutated body; if it were just a matter of losing a Blood Demon Art or something else, it would be fine, but if this body were deducted by the Samsara Game,

he would be reduced to an ordinary human.

If that happened, it would be fine if all the demons flowing with his blood also died as a result, as he could still hide somewhere else and make a comeback.

But if only he became human and those demons remained unaffected, the moment he returned to reality and appeared in the Infinite Castle, he would be killed by Nakime.

On this point,

Kibutsuji Muzan still had a very clear sense of self-awareness;

he absolutely did not trust the loyalty of his subordinates, and all his confidence was maintained on the condition that he could control the life and death of the other demons.

(End of chapter)