After the meal, Simu arrived at the laboratory while carrying Hidan. When our Archbishop saw Hidan being carried by the hair, he rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly.
"Simu, I know Hidan possesses an Immortal Body, but you still shouldn't—"
He was interrupted by Hidan before he could finish.
"Cut the crap, old man. Why did you call us here?"
The Archbishop glanced at Hidan, the words of advice sticking in his throat. Originally, he felt that although Hidan's personality had been slightly vile since childhood, at least he was someone he had raised personally. Surely that was better than a Divine Son like Simu who had just popped out of nowhere?
Now, however, the Archbishop wished Simu would just chop him into several more pieces. Even Simu was somewhat curious about how a guy like Hidan had managed to survive until now, considering he didn't have an Immortal Body before.
"Ahem!"
The Archbishop was, after all, the leader of a religion. He was relatively good at controlling his emotions, unlike a certain someone who liked to cut people's heads off the moment he moved. He looked at the two chosen children before him, a flash of indiscernible jealousy and resentment crossing his eyes.
"I called you both here because I want to know what abilities you received from Lord Jashin."
As if to maintain his persona as the leader of the Jashin Religion, he added, "Lord Jashin wields thousands of powers. I want to see what blessings you have received."
Actually, he should have asked this yesterday, but he had been left dazed by Hidan's antics. God damn it, that cat was thirty-seven years old!
Hearing this question, Hidan immediately got excited. He arrogantly tilted his head, causing it to roll right off the table and thud onto the floor.
Uh...
After about three seconds of awkward silence, Hidan's face turned bright red as he roared, "Bastard Simu, hurry up and pick this great me up!"
Simu hesitated for a moment. Eventually, he extended two fingers, carefully grabbed Hidan's hair, and dragged him back onto the table. Having lost face while trying to act cool, Hidan gritted his teeth and endured the unpleasantness of having his hair pulled.
"Ahem!"
Hidan cleared his throat and spoke again with grand momentum, "As Lord Jashin's most beloved spokesperson, I have inherited his Immortal Body and the power of curses."
"No matter what kind of damage I take, I will not die. Not only that, my Death-Controlling Blood can synchronize any damage I receive onto my enemies!"
At this point, Hidan's gaze became dangerous and crazed. He couldn't help but stick out his tongue and lick his lips.
"As long as I can get the opponent's blood, I'll even kill the Sage of Six Paths for you to see!"
Having said that, he looked at Simu and threatened, "Bastard Simu, you better be careful. Once I get your blood, only endless pain awaits you!"
Simu adjusted his glasses, completely unbothered by the threat. It was true that Hidan's ability was quite troublesome. As long as the secret was kept well, he could silently eliminate enemies from thousands of miles away. After all, who would expect that a single drop of blood left on a battlefield would become the blade that ends their life? It was a very strategic and practical skill.
However...
Simu glanced sideways at the slicked-back head on the table. He didn't look like the type to kill someone in secret at all. If this guy really wanted to kill someone, he would probably swing his weapon out in the open, screaming "Long live Lord Jashin" while charging at the enemy, right?
This was exactly why our Archbishop felt so unbalanced. Why did Lord Jashin bestow a blessing on a head-chopper like Hidan instead of his loyal self? He was clearly here first!
Unfortunately, based on Simu's observations, it seemed Lord Jashin didn't have much of a choice. After learning of Hidan's ability, the Archbishop nodded slightly. The Jashin Religion could develop new business ventures through Hidan's trait, such as long-distance curse assassinations.
"In that case, show me your power."
The Archbishop stood up slowly and had men bring in Hidan's body, which they tied to a cross.
"Hey, hey! I don't mind the experiment, but watching my own body being experimented on is just too weird!" Hidan complained with great dissatisfaction.
One couldn't blame him; any normal person would find such an experiment unacceptable. However, Simu was not a normal person.
"Simu, give him a few hits."
"Yes."
Hearing the Archbishop's words, Simu used his [Koukaku · Mantis] without hesitation to give Hidan two quick slashes.
"Ah~~"
Hidan instantly let out an indescribable sound. The expression on the Archbishop's face turned unnatural for a moment, as if he were trying his best to restrain something. After a few seconds, he leaned in close to Hidan's wounds.
"As expected, this self-healing ability is simply too exaggerated," the Archbishop couldn't help but remark. Within a few short seconds, Hidan's wounds had already closed.
"Since the self-healing is fine, let's test the other ability."
The Archbishop clapped his hands, and a subordinate immediately dragged in a slave.
"Simu, help him put himself back together."
"Fine."
Only then did Simu place Hidan's head onto his neck.
"Bastard Simu, you put it on wrong again!" Hidan, now facing his own back, roared loudly.
"Sorry."
Simu pushed his glasses and used one hand to rotate Hidan's head 180 degrees.
"There, much better."
A smear of a smile appeared on his face as two appendages snapped out from his back. They danced rapidly at the severed neck, spitting out spider silk to fuse Hidan's head and body together.
"This great me is finally back!"
Hidan spread his arms as if reborn. He looked at Simu and, after thinking it over, decided not to settle scores for now. Once I get his blood by surprise... Heh heh heh! Then Simu will have to obey my every command. If I tell him to go east, he won't dare go west!
Simu looked at the idiotically happy Hidan and frowned. "Did your brains flow out with the fried pork cutlet earlier? What are you smiling about?"
"What did you say?" Hidan glared fiercely at Simu.
"Enough!"
The Archbishop called a halt to the two, feeling exhausted. "Quickly, demonstrate your ability for me."
"Fine, I'll let you all see what the true power of Jashin looks like!"
Hidan's expression became incredibly sinister. He looked at the bandit brought in by the followers and, under the man's terrified gaze, decisively pierced his... skin.
The bandit let out a massive sigh of relief like a deflating balloon. He thought he was about to die!
"Have you ever felt despair?"
Hidan brought the blood-stained black spear to his mouth and licked it with his pink tongue.
"Truly... delicious!"
Following Hidan's somewhat perverted actions, the skin across his entire body turned black and white. He used the spear to cut his own arm, letting the blood spill freely onto the ground. Then, he used his toe to trace a pattern on the floor—a circle with an inverted triangle inside.
"Are you ready to welcome despair?"