Chapter 9: In the End, Still a Wild Beast

"Damn it, I've been waiting for you for three hours," Cyrus muttered impatiently under the streetlight.

Not far behind him, another figure stopped alongside him.

"Damn it, I've been waiting for you for three hours," the figure's voice was stiff, as if reciting word for word.

Cyrus turned to look at the follower who had been trailing him. The middle-aged man looked ordinary, his white shirt stained red with blood, his face pale under the moonlight, devoid of any vitality in his eyes.

Realizing he had been noticed, the middle-aged man instantly abandoned his concealment and, like a wild beast, launched an attack towards Cyrus.

As he moved, several cracks appeared on his face, splitting into multiple flaps of skin embedded with countless sharp teeth, like a grotesque and disgusting mass of flesh.

"Disgusting," Cyrus muttered.

Quickly gripping his long sword, Cyrus swung at the attacking tentacles. Upon contact, the black cloth wrapped around the iron sword instantly shredded, the immense force transmitting to Cyrus's right hand, a strength beyond human capability to resist.

Forced to retreat several steps to avoid being dismembered by the pursuing tentacles, Cyrus realized the parasitic creature before him was a formidable opponent.

"Huff, huff!" Blade-like tentacles formed from flesh whipped through the air like steel whips towards Cyrus. He could barely parry, and worse, after several exchanges, his iron sword showed varying degrees of damage.

"This guy must have eaten many people. I can't afford to tire myself out with him. I have to finish this quickly."

Clang!

Cyrus struck the parasitic creature's tentacle again, the fierce collision causing small cuts on his sword-hand, the handle quickly soaking red with blood.

The creature seemed to smell the bloody scent emanating from Cyrus, driving it into a frenzy, attacking relentlessly.

The blade tentacles extending from its head swung even faster.

At this moment, the streets around them were marked with gouges of various sizes from the creature's attacks.

"Huff..." A tentacle narrowly missed Cyrus, the looming sense of death causing him to gasp heavily. Suddenly, he felt something dripping from his chin. He wiped it with his hand, the sharp sting of fresh blood in his eyes.

"Damn it... hit me so quickly," Cyrus muttered, looking at the blood in his hand, his mind surprisingly calm.

Realizing he would surely die if he continued like this, it seemed he had to take a risk to kill this parasitic creature.

Fortunately, having recently become a parasitic creature, its attacks were somewhat clumsy. Moreover, the directions in which its tentacles swung were predictable, a sign that controlling so many tentacles simultaneously was beyond its current mental capacity.

Seizing the opportunity, Cyrus advanced instead of retreating, rushing through the crossfire of attacking tentacles to reach behind the parasitic creature.

Under the moonlight, he gripped his long sword tightly, eyes locked firmly on the middle-aged man before him.

The parasitic creature would naturally not let Cyrus go. It immediately turned its head and rushed towards him.

Suddenly, its upper body leaned forward, the tentacles extending from its head momentarily losing control. It turned out the parasitic creature had tripped over the gouges it had created, causing its upper body to lose balance and begin to fall.

"As long as it hasn't evolved human intelligence, it's still just a wild beast."

Seeing the plan succeed, Cyrus decisively smashed a bottle of concentrated sulfuric acid towards the parasitic creature's head.

Bang! The glass bottle shattered, the concentrated sulfuric acid instantly enveloping the entire head of the parasitic creature.

Intense pain caused all the tentacles it had extended to withdraw. With a sizzling sound, wisps of white smoke drifted from the bloody mass of flesh.

"Die!"

Splurt! Cyrus thrust his sword into the parasitic creature's heart.

Perhaps concerned that this injury wasn't sufficient, he immediately began to agitate the blade, slicing through the creature's heart until it was completely shredded.

The parasitic creature, which had been writhing in agony just moments before, seemed as though God had pressed the pause button on its life. Its knees bent, it knelt before Cyrus, gradually losing all signs of life.

"It seems Jesus is still giving me, Cyrus, some face," he said, before swiftly slicing off the fleshy mass that was its head.

All was settled.

Cyrus found a motorcycle nearby, apparently belonging to some unlucky person. Twisting open its gas tank cap, he pushed it over the creature's body, then pulled out a lighter from his pocket, igniting the gasoline pooling at his feet.

Boom! Flames surged upward, engulfing the entire corpse.

Under the blaze, Cyrus's figure gradually faded into the distance.

...

In a barbecue restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo, Cyrus, with adhesive bandages on his face, was savoring the barbecue in front of him. As he chewed on the thick slices of beef, the rich oil and perfect meat fragrance instantly filled his mouth, and Cyrus was so happy he was almost fainting.

What could be more satisfying than having a late-night snack?

Moreover, this was a restaurant he had struggled to find, especially since it was so late and most shops were closed.

"Not bad," Cyrus patted his stomach contentedly.

At this moment, he opened the interface.

[Talent Ability: Shapeshifting]

[Analysis Condition: Kill a parasitic creature]

[Analysis condition unlocked. Would you like to integrate the shapeshifting talent ability?]

"Integrate."

[Shapeshifting talent integrating, current progress 2%]

Cyrus could clearly sense that his body was undergoing some kind of strange change, seemingly from a genetic level. His whole body felt itchy, but soon this feeling disappeared.

"To speed up the integration of the shapeshifting talent, maybe I need to observe or fight other parasitic creatures," Cyrus thought, drawing from his experience of integrating the swordsmanship talent earlier.

Furthermore, he now had an idea that perhaps, as parasitic creatures matured, they could develop other talents.

And so, Izumi Shinichi, Tamura Reiko, or the original work's final boss, Goto, these three were perfect subjects for observation.

After paying the bill, Cyrus left the barbecue restaurant.

His residence had already been arranged by the interface. Upon returning to his one-bedroom apartment, Cyrus began experimenting with his newly integrated shapeshifting ability.

Cyrus recalled the blade-like tentacles extended by the previous parasitic creature.

As he imagined and controlled his right hand, through his relentless efforts, his right hand gradually changed. It could be seen that his right hand melted like rubber, then gradually turned into a curved blade shape... and then, that was it.

With Cyrus's current integration progress and physical strength, this was all he could achieve for now.

"Damn, can this thing even be effective?" Cyrus poked the table with his soft right hand, feeling helpless and frustrated.