This is a story that goes back to a time when the fruits of chaos are still being formed, the cruel fates yet to be revealed.

In another volume of his journey through the Underworld, the “Adam’s Heir” will fight memorable battles and meet people who might have the answers he is looking for.

Origins, convictions, and duties. Everything will be put to the test once more.

Underworld Level -4, Restricted Block

Lied, Zaccharias and Mare went on their way as soon as the human finished his Unda training and regained his energy. Meanwhile, they heard a bang that came from the floors below. The three of them managed to cross the Level -3 – the Animus’ lair – without being noticed by the monsters, thanks to a barrier the talking crow created that hid their presence.

They found themselves in the first prisons of the Restricted Block, the blown-up surface could barely hold itself up. That was when they started hearing voices of people coming from Level -5. They were Pantera, Blasius and Jirou, along with a few more prisoners who broke out of their cells following the fight between Susumu and Martyr.

“Lied” the talking crow, who was perched on his shoulder, warned him as he felt powerful auras emanating from them.

“I know. Mare, you should back away” the boy stopped walking and told the girl without looking at her.

The young aztec nodded and took a few steps back.

“Spirits. Did they escape from prison? So, the noise from before was…” Lied thought.

Blasius and Jirou just stood there in silence as the young human prepared for imminent combat. Pantera giggled after assessing his strength.

“What is this? Some more unknown faces” Pantera said, ignoring Lied “I don’t fight weaklings. But you, with the Plasticity… is another story” the hunter then looked at Zaccharias and said.

“No” the teacher refused the man’s challenge on the spot and pointed to his student “Your opponent… will be him” the crow said and flew towards Mare flapping its wings.

“Huh? Didn’t you hear me? Like the other kid, he’s no match for me!” Pantera said.

“The other kid…?” Lied thought.

“I, too, would rather avoid unnecessary fights” Blasius said, averting his gaze from him.

“Then… he’s mine” Jirou said with a smile on his face as he took one step forward, which did not bode well for the boy.

“I’ve seen him before. Where did I…?” Lied thought.

“Haaaaah… student, right?” the psychopath asked before activating his Spirit Mode and closing in on Lied “First is… THE LIVER!”

The teenager promptly activated the Spirit Mode as he dodged Jirou’s surprise attack. The man did not give up and pressured him with his unusual movements. Lied was struggling to fight back due to the fact that he was unaware of his opponent’s power.

“I remembered. You are… the serial killer, Jirou Isaak!” the lad exclaimed.

Lied watched him several times on TV. The second of three children, Jirou Isaak was the perpetrator of the most violent crimes that happened in Ganeden. He killed dozens of people, mostly students, with the supernatural ability he awoke in himself. In the end, he got tired of going after easy prey and committed suicide in hope of finding something fun beyond death. He ended up in the prison of Mictlan. And finally, many years later, he would satisfy his hunger.

“Hehe… once I put my eyes on an organ… I GOUGE IT OUT!” the killer said.

“He’s completely crazy…!” the human thought.

“Judging by his words, he will target a specific body part and then extract the organ with Penetrability. A very annoying first opponent in a real match, but it’s nothing you can’t handle as you are now, Lied. You just need to pull yourself together…” the talking crow thought to himself.

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The growing nervousness was affecting Lied’s instincts, his inexperience set his teeth on edge. The young man took two deep breaths and faced his opponent as he entered the zone. On the other side of the floor, there was a strangely calm young man with dark green eyes among the prisoners looking at Lied as if he knew him from somewhere.

“It looks like he’s gonna stop running” Pantera said seeing him motivated.

Jirou never let go of his smile, and the change in psychological state of his prey only increased his appetite. Lied charged towards the psychopath. The boy was getting the better of his fellow countryman in hand-to-hand combat as he started using Visibility. The killer’s opposition had drastically waned for some reason.

“Could it be that…? Even though he’s a Spirit Mode user like me?” Lied thought.

“You finally noticed” Zaccharias thought.

“How can you predict all my movements?!” Jirou became irritated and fatigued.

“There’s no mistake. He doesn’t know about the properties!” Lied thought as he dodged the enemy’s attacks one last time.

“In truth, not all Spirit Mode users necessarily learn the spiritual properties” the crow was explaining to Mare.

“Unlike Jirou, who spontaneously awakened the Spirit Mode, the kid went through some training. He has the ‘fundamentals’” Pantera said as he followed the same line of thinking.

“In other words, this is one of those fights wherein the SSL hardly matters” Blasius said.

“Exactly. Jirou may be more experienced with the Spirit Mode, but experience without foundations isn’t real experience” the hunter was saying “He’s all mouth and no trousers… pathetic” Pantera mocked his fellow inmate.

Even without hearing them, the psychopath understood that the other prisoners were making fun of him. Jirou was full of anger as he hurled himself towards Lied craving to kill, or worse, maim him for the unprecedented humiliation.

If the enemy was unable to use either Visibility or Sensitivity, then there was nothing to fear, or so Lied thought. However, it was from that moment that Jirou instinctively learned to use these properties, therefore the odds evened up.

“FIRST I’LL TAKE YOUR LIVER OUT, THEN THE STOMACH, THE BOWELS, THE LUNGS… ALL THE ORGANS OF YOUR BODY!!” the killer roared as he put the teenager under pressure.

“What’s going on? I thought he couldn’t use the properties…!” Lied thought.

“It’s not just your spirit that evolves in the face of adversity” the talking crow thought.

The teenager was forced to adopt a defensive stance as he retreated to analyze the situation. This sudden turnaround rendered Lied’s chances of winning very small. The psychopath had no intention of letting him recharge his energy and attacked him from the flanks with mesmerizing speed.

“Focus. All that training effort wasn’t in vain. My foundations… are on another level!” Lied thought and countered Jirou’s attacks with his Sensitivity and Visibility.

The young man paddled against the tide as he once again caused an upset and hurt the enemy’s pride twice. The killer was feeling ashamed of himself.

“I wanted to end this… preferably without having to use the Anima Sancta” Lied said in a low voice.

“Huh?!” Jirou did not hear him.

“Gonna try it, Lied?” Zaccharias thought.

“I will test something on you” Lied said and positioned himself properly.

“T-Test? Don’t… DON’T JOKE WITH MEEEEE!” the killer shot out towards the lad like a cannonball.

🐍🐍🐍

We step back in time to Lied’s training…

The teenager fired the Unda at the wall as Zaccharias and Mare watched closely. Despite not leaving the same marks as the crow’s Unda, something special happened upon impact.

“This is…” the talking crow said.

“It was… different from Zaccharias’ Unda” Lied said, looking at his right hand.

🐍🐍🐍

Back to the present moment, Jirou went berserk while Lied was getting down to business. Pantera raised his eyebrows.

“First step…” the young man said as spiritual energy surrounded his whole body and he channeled some of that energy into his right hand, then stabilized it in his palm.

“Lied…!” Mare thought, antsy.

“Show us ‘that’!” the talking crow thought, keenly expectant.

“Second step…” he said while setting his imagination free and remembering the time he spent with his parents, namely the ocean waves on that day.

“Yes… within my spirit, you will live forever” the lad thought.

Jirou did not slow down and neither Lied hesitated before the oncoming threat.

“When I was alive, no one could match my strength! Knowing this, I asked myself: will I find worthy prey beyond death? AND I WAS RIGHT! THEY ARE HERE, SCATTERED AROUND THE UNDERWORLD! DO YOU REALLY THINK I’LL BE DEFEATED… BY JUST ANOTHER HUMAN TRASH?!” the psychopath gave a bellow of rage.

“Third step…!” the boy exclaimed as he finished shaping the prana with Expandability.

“DIIIIIEEEEE!” the killer loudly shouted a few centimeters away from the young man as he stretched out his left hand to gouge the liver out, which he was able to see with his Spirit Mode.

However, the Adam’s Heir swerved to avoid his stroke as Jirou was left disoriented, giving Lied enough time to stick his right foot in the ground and aim on the opponent’s abdomen. The unexpected happened and the Unda broke a second time before detonating.

“In a lucky accident, he applied the Density property to reformat the Unda so that it broke twice, doubling the impact of the explosion. That is, two Undas in one” the crow said.

Jirou was sent flying after receiving the 2-Kai Unda. The psychopath’s body collapsed right in front of the dozens of gobsmacked inmates.

“Zaccharias explained to me why, but I have another not so technical explanation…” Lied thought.

“My Unda is special… because of these precious memories!” he shouted, inspired by the waves he had seen in the company of his eternal parents.

Lied’s current SSL: 40%

[END OF CHAPTER]