Chapter 22: Giant Brain, Trapped Beast Fight!

Luo En closed his eyes, trying to capture the source of this strange feeling, but the sound disappeared in a flash.

"Strange..."

He whispered to himself in his heart, turning over and getting up with some unease.

Just at this moment, the sound next door intensified suddenly.

That was no longer a sound that a human could make, but more like the painful howl of some wild beast, mixed with strange metal friction sounds.

"It seems that the thing I least expected has really happened..."

Luo En whispered to himself, a strong sense of ominous premonition surging in his heart.

He quickly turned over and got up from the bed, his movements light and fast, without making a sound.

Back in the kingdom, the hunting training that his father forced him and his brothers to participate in occasionally came in handy at this moment.

The sound next door became more urgent, occasionally mixed with the muffled sound of heavy objects hitting the wall.

It seemed that something was struggling, hitting, and roaring in that small room.

Luo En hesitated for a moment, thinking quickly about his current situation.

As Darren's direct neighbor, he was the one most easily affected.

Andre had specifically warned him about the horror of those aberrations in the Black Mist Forest.

In the early stage of aberration, most mutants could still maintain the most basic sanity, but as time passed, sanity would be gradually swallowed, and finally, they would completely become monsters that only knew how to kill.

What was even more terrifying was that once sanity completely disappeared, the power of the aberration would skyrocket at an astonishing speed.

Relying on the complete liberation of one's own limits and crazy feeding to obtain nutrients, they could even reach a terrifying level comparable to advanced apprentices in a short period.

There were still two months until the assessment, and he couldn't take risks here.

"Darren has already started to mutate, it will definitely be too late when the law enforcement team finds out..." Luo En thought quickly: "Must leave here immediately."

Putting on his clothes, he grabbed the wooden sword and tucked it into his waist, stuffing his valuables into his bosom.

"Better you die than me." Luo En whispered to himself: "Survival is the priority, wait until dawn."

Just as he finished organizing his things, he heard the strange sound next door stop suddenly, replaced by a more terrifying silence.

This silence only lasted for a few seconds, followed by the sound of bone fractures and the sticky sound of muscle squirming.

Luo En's heart beat faster, he carefully walked to the door, gently opened a crack, and looked out.

There was no one in the corridor. Most candidate apprentices were either resting or practicing in their own rooms, completely unaware of the danger lurking among them.

He had to stay away from here and wait until he reached a safe place before considering notifying the law enforcement team.

Luo En took a deep breath, opened the door silently, and prepared to leave quickly.

Just at the moment he stepped out of the room, the wall suddenly burst, and a twisted figure broke through the wall like a cannonball, rushing directly into the corridor.

Bricks, wood fragments, and dust splashed everywhere, mixed with a non-human howl.

Luo En, who reacted quickly, instinctively retreated two steps, which avoided being directly knocked away by the monster rushing over.

"Damn it!"

That was... the former Darren?

He widened his eyes, almost unable to believe what he saw.

Standing in front of Luo En was no longer that slightly chubby researcher, but a deformed monster.

Darren's body seemed to be twisting in pain, his clothes were torn, revealing the constantly squirming muscle tissue underneath.

But the most terrifying thing was his head—the entire skull seemed to be pushed open by some force from the inside, and a huge, beating, semi-transparent brain broke out of it.

The surface of that deformed brain was covered with constantly squirming blood vessels, and some areas even emitted a faint blue light, as if electric currents were shuttling through it.

"Luo En..." The monster actually recognized him, and with a voice overlapped by two voices, it spat out a few words with difficulty: "Run... away."

But this spark of humanity disappeared in a flash, Darren's eyes quickly became empty, and his pupils dilated into pitch black.

"Wu... ao!"

Its words turned into a beast-like howl halfway through, and the light on the surface of its exposed brain also became more dazzling.

Luo En felt an invisible shockwave attacking him. In an instant, he felt as if he had been hit in the chest by a sledgehammer.

Thanks to the physical enhancement brought by the Knight Attendant profession, he barely resisted this attack, but still felt his internal organs were in extreme pain, as if they were being kneaded by invisible big hands.

If it were his former self, he would have probably had internal organ hemorrhage from this force.

The mutated giant-brain monster no longer responded to the call, but emitted a series of harsh shrieks, and every sound wave attack was more powerful than the last.

The wooden railing of the corridor began to show cracks, and several doors nearby were shaken to the point of crumbling.

Luo En understood that the situation was beyond redemption.

Darren had been completely mutated by the potion and turned into a dangerous aberration.

In the Black Mist Forest, there was only one way to deal with this situation—eliminate the threat!

Looking at the wild posture of the monster with muscles all over its body, and the continuous powerful penetrating sound waves, he didn't think that if he turned and ran away now, exposing his back to the other party, there would be any good outcome.

Thinking of this, Luo En's eyes became cold and focused, and all reluctance and timidity were suppressed to the deepest part of his heart.

At this moment, there was only one thought in his heart—survival!

The mutated Darren seemed to feel the threat, let out an angry roar, and then rushed towards the target.

Its speed was surprisingly fast. Its thick legs covered with muscles stomped on the ground, and it crossed the distance between the two almost instantly.

Luo En did not attack in a panic. He followed the essentials of "Corona Sword Technique", his breathing and movements perfectly matched, and he dodged the attack at the last moment.

At the same time, he held the sword in his right hand and slashed accurately at Darren's leg.

[Perfect dodge counterattack! Basic Sword Technique Experience +2]

The sword hit the target, making a muffled sound.

Darren felt the pain and staggered, but soon stabilized his body and turned to attack again, but the speed was significantly reduced.

This time, it did not rush directly, but opened its mouth and emitted a special sound wave tremor.

The energy in the air began to twist, forming semi-transparent sound wave rings, attacking Luo En.

Luo En tried to dodge, but those sound wave rings were surprisingly fast, almost impossible to dodge completely.

He barely dodged the first wave of attacks by turning sideways, but the second wave of sound wave rings hit his shoulder directly.

"Ah!"

A sharp pain came, and Luo En felt his right arm temporarily lose sensation.

This was not just a simple physical shock, but an attack combining mental power and sound waves—it was exactly the embryonic form of the sonic spell that Darren had been researching.

He struggled to try to pull away, but Darren suddenly raised his head and emitted a harsh shriek, and a circle of more powerful sound waves spread from his mutated brain, forming an all-around shock.

A trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Luo En knew he had to end the battle as soon as possible, otherwise he would definitely be shaken to death alive.

Seeing the other party accumulating power again, preparing to launch a stronger sound wave attack, he had a flash of inspiration and cast the zero-ring spell he had mastered.

"Slime Splash!"

Accompanied by the surge of mental power, a mass of sticky liquid shot out from his fingertips, accurately hitting Darren's feet.

The liquid solidified rapidly, sticking the giant-brain monster's feet firmly to the ground.

[Accurate hit! Slime Splash Experience +2]

The mutated Darren let out an angry roar, trying to break free from the restraint, but the slime was unusually strong.

It could not move its steps and could only stand in place and continue to launch those sound wave attacks.

The binding effect of the slime was weakening rapidly. In less than a few seconds, Darren had already broken free from one leg.

If it broke free completely, he would definitely die.

Taking advantage of the target being briefly restrained, Luo En dodged the sound wave rings while looking for an opportunity to attack.

Soon, he noticed that every time Darren launched a sound wave attack, there would be a pause—the mutated brain needed to rest after the attack.

"That's it!"

Grabbing the gap when the sound wave attack ended, he quickly circled behind Darren.

At this distance, Luo En could clearly see the beating blood vessels on that deformed brain.

No longer hesitating, he raised his sword—and stabbed with all his might at the exposed vulnerable part!

(End of chapter)