He did not feel fear.
He simply took a deep breath and entered the place. Each step aware of every millimeter of that abandoned temple. He passed through the same traps he had set, without being struck, without misstepping even once.
When he reached the place where he planned everything, where he put his alchemical knowledge into practice, he felt that he could no longer turn back.
Medusa had already sensed his presence, and the snakes crawled across the ground with fury beyond measure. The fingers of his hand wandered over the named cubes. He knew what those substances would do to his body, yet he still felt... insecure.
Perhaps it was not what he would inject or drink, but what he would become after placing all of them within himself.
But, upon thinking again, he had already made his choice. To give up would be to fail once more.
And he did not want to make any more mistakes.
As he felt his legs being covered by the serpents, without hesitation, he took each cube and consumed them all at once.
The Renkai Energy had already begun to take effect in his body.
It was like feeling his heart being squeezed with immense, relentless force.
The extra ingredients even prevented the Test of Sin, but that was the least of his problems.
Ah... when he found himself before the colossal Beastly Destroyer, she screamed in rage at his delay. The snakes invaded his body without his permission. She wanted to claim him, to control him, as everyone else had.
Krythos was no different. He tried to do the same, like two hunters fighting over a single prey. The devil's darkness enveloped him. The snakes had already filled half of his being, and the voices, the voices were the only things keeping him conscious of everything.
The effect of the malevolent energy began to take over his spirit, like a cancer trying to weaken its host while fleeing its predators.
And what was happening to his body was the most terrifying of all.
He felt his back widening, veins standing out like a constant force, and the sensation that something was emerging from his back was both strange and agonizing.
The limb lost so many years ago began to resurface, with overwhelming pain as muscles and bones molded themselves for regeneration. That was no longer just healing. It was breaking the laws of a world.
The eyes, which had already lost their spirit to return, began to be born forcibly. They deteriorated and were born again, again... and again.
Then the mutation adapted. Those leaves that covered the eye sockets became part of his flesh.
And his scream echoed even through the satanic darkness that enveloped him. The two beings trying to claim him smiled with pleasure as they watched him suffer. Satan laughed at his attempts, and Medusa insisted that he give up fighting.
But when victory already seemed complete in their minds...
Slady was reborn.
The shadows exploded into the air, slime splattering against the ground and the face of the great serpent, which recoiled at the sight of the figure born before its eyes.
A man with six arms. The two arms above his shoulders flexed, displaying their strength. The two arms below his shoulders positioned themselves beside his legs, while his original arms gripped the ground.
The lost arm was like a thick shell covering reddened skin. And on his face, the leaves that once protected him had now become a mask that could never again be torn from his visage.
He pulled the staff out from within himself, using it to rise to his feet. Slady turned his face toward Medusa, saying that he could not only see her...
but that he could foresee the submission he would impose upon her. Without any mercy.