At this moment.
Su Zhan abruptly kicked off the ground and charged forward.
Now, the roles were reversed.
The Snake-Tailed Beast swung all four of its arms simultaneously.
Su Zhan lowered his stance, barely avoiding the lowest bony fingers as they grazed past his scales.
His right claw shot out, aiming directly for the monster's left gill-like organ.
"Shhhk..."
A muffled sound of flesh being pierced echoed.
The Snake-Tailed Beast let out a shrill screech.
The creature's tail whip had somehow circled behind him, tearing open a bloody gash between his ribs.
The intense pain only fueled his ferocity.
Instead of retreating, Su Zhan pressed forward, allowing the barbed tail to scrape off large patches of his scales.
His left hand firmly gripped a crevice in the Snake-Tailed Beast's chest carapace.
His right claw continued churning inside the gill structure.
Purple blood sprayed across his face, bringing a corrosive burning sensation.
The Snake-Tailed Beast struggled wildly.
All four clawed arms raked deep, bone-revealing wounds across Su Zhan's back.
Gritting his teeth, Su Zhan suddenly pushed off with his legs, slamming the monster against the load-bearing wall behind them.
"BOOM!"
Amid the dust of crumbling bricks.
Su Zhan seized the moment to free his left hand, fingers joined rigidly as he thrust them deep into the creature's gaping maw.
His fingertips touched soft tissue.
Likely something equivalent to a throat.
The Snake-Tailed Beast's struggles became frantic.
Pain shot through Su Zhan's left forearm as the creature's fangs pierced through his scales.
With a furious roar, his right hand grabbed the beast's upper jaw as muscles bulged across both arms, veins protruding like coiling dragons.
"CRACK!"
The sound of snapping bone and tearing flesh echoed.
The Snake-Tailed Beast's head was forcibly split in two, gushing purple blood.
But...
The tail whip coiled around Su Zhan's neck suddenly tightened.
A python-like strangulation sensation.
"Fuck!"
Su Zhan's vision began darkening.
He frantically clawed at the tail constricting his throat.
Just as consciousness started fading.
His fingers finally found the weak spot at the tail's forked junction.
"RIIIP!"
The entire tail was torn off by brute force.
The Snake-Tailed Beast finally went limp, its mutilated body twitching several times before going completely still.
Kneeling in the pool of blood, Su Zhan gasped heavily: "Really lived up to its snake nature."
Even after death, the creature's tail had still autonomously coiled around him.
Truly "burned out to the last."
Suddenly.
Su Zhan's gaze sharpened.
Standing before the corpse, an uncontrollable craving welled up from his core.
His throat moved involuntarily.
He wanted...
The thought came suddenly yet overwhelmingly.
Su Zhan slowly crouched, his right hand moving uncontrollably toward the remains.
Tendrils of white mist silently rose from the corpse.
Rather than dissipating, the vapor seemed drawn toward Su Zhan's palm as if by some invisible force.
"This is..."
Su Zhan's eyes widened as the white mist rapidly spread along the veins of his arm.
An unprecedented sense of power.
Every muscle fiber sang with vitality.
He was voraciously absorbing the residual life essence from the Snake-Tailed Beast's corpse.
As the white mist continued being absorbed.
The monster's remains visibly withered and desiccated.
Finally disintegrating into fine dust carried away by the wind.
Su Zhan slowly stood, staring at his palm.
Faint purple luminescence pulsed beneath his skin before vanishing.
His wounds were visibly healing.
Controlling this newfound power.
An unprecedented fullness permeated his entire being.
So this was it.
His mutation's evolutionary method.
Not through conventional consumption, but directly plundering the essence of deceased Mist creatures.
Distant sounds of approaching Snake-Tailed Beasts echoed.
Su Zhan turned toward the noise, his lips curling unconsciously.
Now, he couldn't wait to find his next prey.
Scanning the surroundings.
His gaze fell upon a dust-covered Ultraman mask in the corner.
The vibrant red-and-silver color scheme stood out starkly in the dim environment.
Clearly a children's toy sold by the convenience store.
Su Zhan bent to pick up the mask.
The eyeholes were covered by oval yellow lenses.
Pulling it over his head.
Visibility was better than expected.
The world filtered through amber lenses appeared warmer.
But at least he could see clearly.
The mask completely concealed his facial features, with elastic fabric tightly wrapping around his neck.
Su Zhan moved to the checkout counter, efficiently removing his tattered clothing.
Folding and tucking them into the bottom drawer beneath some magazines.
Turning toward the corpse wearing a convenience store uniform.
Su Zhan paused briefly.
The deceased was a young man in his early twenties, a crooked nametag reading "Assistant Manager" still pinned to his chest.
The size should fit.
Never thought he'd be stripping clothes from civilians.
Standing before a shattered mirror.
The reflection showed an ordinary convenience store employee.
Well...
If one ignored the ridiculous Ultraman mask.
And the scaled claws protruding from his sleeves.
Now... the roles had truly reversed.
Retracing his path.
Su Zhan soon returned to the street where he'd initially fought alongside his teammates.
Several Snake-Tailed Beast corpses littered the ruins.
Kneeling by the first corpse.
He experimentally placed his hand on it, waiting... but nothing happened.
Why?
Only this one exception.
With the others, familiar white mist immediately rose and flowed into him.
Su Zhan thoughtfully examined his palm.
Apparently this absorption ability had strict limitations.
He hadn't participated in killing the first Snake-Tailed Beast.
But he'd contributed to all the others.
Meaning.
Only prey he helped kill could trigger the absorption.
Completely unrelated corpses couldn't be plundered.
As the last wisp of mist was absorbed, that corpse too turned to ash.
Only the first, unconnected kill remained intact on the street.
Standing up, Su Zhan felt the increased power within.
Participation in combat was required - assists counted.
Moreover, these group kills provided far less energy than his solo kill.
The more direct his contribution, the more mist was produced.
Solo kills yielded the best results.
...
Xu Hao stumbled through narrow alleys, dragging his injured left leg.
Behind him, two Snake-Tailed Beasts' gill organs vibrated at high frequency.
"Damn it..."
He spat bloody froth, both daggers now badly chipped.
His teleportation energy completely exhausted, even normal running made his vision darken.
A figure suddenly emerged from the next corner.
Xu Hao skidded to a stop.
Before him stood a bizarre figure wearing an Ultraman mask, with gray-black scaled hands and feet exposed.
"Wh-what the hell?!"
Xu Hao instinctively retreated two steps before his back hit the wall.
The creature radiated mutant energy.
The ridiculous mask made the scene utterly surreal.
"Between the devil and the deep blue sea... today's my end."
Complete despair set in as Xu Hao prepared to slit his own throat with the damaged blade.
A clean cut would hurt far less than being eaten alive.
The Ultraman didn't respond, instead suddenly charging past him toward the pursuing Snake-Tailed Beasts.
Xu Hao raised his dagger in hopeless defense, only to watch the figure rush by to engage the monsters.