Chapter 192: The River King
The madman's roar almost echoed throughout the park.
The silence of the night was broken in an instant, and even many birds in the dark woods were startled and flew away by the screams.
And amidst this shrill roar like a pig being slaughtered...
The drug addict turned around and spread his legs and ran as fast as he could into the distance. He moved so fast that he didn't even care about his hands that fell to the ground - of course, after losing his hands, he had no way to pick them up again.
Bucciarati had no interest in chasing him.
He had done what he had to do, and the drug addict had received the corresponding punishment.
Regardless of whether this guy has any chance of changing in the future, now that he has lost his hands, he will never be able to do anything to hurt others again.
And this future is not something that Bucciarati needs to consider.
He was fighting for something greater, fighting to prevent the tragedy he was witnessing from happening again.
So, Bucciarati stopped looking at the drug addict and prepared to leave the woods with Abbacchio as soon as possible.
But at this moment...
The drug addict who had just escaped not far away suddenly screamed again:
“Devil…devil!”
“Ahhhhhh!”
The next second, this annoying guy was suddenly thrown backwards by something.
He crashed heavily into a tree, and his injuries were finally so serious that he could not move.
In the dim light of the forest path, Bucciarati and Abbacchio saw his tragic image of spitting blood.
"this…"
Their expressions suddenly changed.
The surprise was certainly not because of the injuries on the drug addict's body, but because at this moment, a mark suddenly appeared on his body.
The mark looked like a fish, emitting a faint red fluorescence in the night.
Apaki had just beaten this guy, so of course he knew that the other party didn't have this strange supernatural mark on his body a dozen seconds ago.
Obviously, this is a stand-in attack.
"hehe."
At this moment, a light laugh suddenly came from the dark woods:
"A demon..."
"That description is quite accurate."
As he spoke, the owner of the voice slowly approached from the forest.
He ignored the useless drug addict who was already unable to move, and simply showed himself in front of Bucciarati and Abbaccio without any disguise:
That was a young boy.
He was wearing a well-fitting black suit, a tall top hat, and polished leather shoes.
"Bucciarati..."
"Apache..."
"Yes, you two are my targets."
The boy took off his hat and saluted his enemy slightly.
His every move was very delicate, and he behaved like an aristocratic gentleman that only appeared in TV dramas:
"Anthony Kench."
"Gentlemen, please give me your advice."
The young man named Anthony revealed his identity, told his home address, and openly stood in front of him to issue a challenge.
However, Bucciarati and Abbaccio's attention was not on each other at all.
Because their attention was drawn to the stand-in next to the young man:
That was a very strange stand-in.
It was about three meters tall, and its round and plump body formed a huge contrast with the young Anthony.
At first glance, it looks like a human double, but it is not a human double:
He has short limbs, a fat body, and black skin that shines brightly under the light.
A long and huge tongue hung out from the gaping bloody mouth, and on both sides of the mouth grew two strange tentacles that kept trembling.
It doesn't look like a human at all, but it is wearing a human suit and a human top hat.
All in all, it looks like...
"Toad?!" Buccellati was slightly stunned.
"Catfish?!" Apache blurted out.
"It's a toad..."
"How can a catfish have such a long tongue?"
"No… I think it's catfish."
"Look at those two whiskers. Only catfish have whiskers like that."
Because the enemy's stand was too strange, the two of them couldn't help but argue at this critical moment.
"shut up!"
The face of the noble boy, Anthony, was distorted instantly.
His previous elegant demeanor disappeared in an instant, and he roared angrily like a dragon whose reverse scales were touched:
"It's not a toad! It's not a catfish either!"
"It's a demon—"
"Mysterious and noble demon, do you understand?"
When the Stand awakened, Anthony, a middle school boy, happened to be at home secretly performing some black magic summoning ritual according to the instructions in a third-rate supernatural magazine.
As soon as the "magic circle" was drawn, the big black toad appeared.
Therefore, he has always been determined to believe that his stand is the abyss demon with whom he has signed a magic contract.
Anyone who questions this is Anthony's greatest enemy:
"How dare you humiliate my familiar like this..."
"The boss is right, you guys really deserve to die!!"
He exploded with rage in a way that no one could comprehend.
And the demon standing in front of him...
The big black-skinned toad, which was more than three meters tall, took a heavy step forward.
The smell of gunpowder on the battlefield suddenly became extremely strong.
Everyone could see that the battle would begin in the next second.
In the blink of an eye, Abbaccio cast a look at Bucciarati.
Although they had only known each other for a short time, after two days of intense fighting, Bucciarati had been able to understand the signals sent by the Apache:
"Let me take action and use the Melancholy Blue to test the opponent."
Melancholy Blues's combat effectiveness is not strong.
There is no doubt that Bucciarati and his steel-chain fingers are now the main force in this battle.
But that's why Apache wants to let his melancholy blues take the lead -
I can't help in the battle, but at least I can help test the enemy's Stand abilities.
This is a tactic similar to Tian Ji's horse racing. Using Melancholy Blues to take the riskiest first round of attempts can ensure that Steel Chain Fingers will gain a greater advantage in subsequent battles.
"Well, you go first."
Bucciarati did not refuse Abbaccio's kindness.
Although this is dangerous for the Apache, victory is the top priority now, and they must choose tactics with a greater chance of winning.
So, when that big black-skinned toad approached this side quickly...
Apache was the first to meet him:
"Melancholy Blues!"
The blue-purple humanoid substitute instantly appeared in front of him.
Compared with the three-meter-tall humanoid toad, Melancholy Blues' figure looked extremely thin.
But Apache was not afraid. He wanted to use his body to gain the greatest advantage for his companions:
"Go ahead!"
Melancholy Blues suddenly threw a punch forward.
“Shua——”
A sound of breaking through the air suddenly rang out.
The fat toad suddenly opened its mouth, and its long, thick, wide and large dark red tongue suddenly popped out forward.
Just like a toad preying on insects in nature, the tongue breaks through the air so fast that people can only see a shadow.
The next moment, the fist and tongue collided violently in the air.
Melancholy Blues stumbled back instantly, while the black-skinned toad was unharmed.
"That tongue is very fast..."
"In terms of speed alone, it's almost as fast as your steel chain fingers."
Apache's figure trembled immediately.
But he didn't care about the additional injuries on his body at all, and instead took the time to summarize the information for his companions:
"But, its power doesn't seem to be very strong."
"It's a bit stronger than Melancholy Blues, but at least I wasn't seriously injured by it."
"but…"
Apache paused slightly.
He saw the Fist of the Melancholy Blues:
On the fist, where the big tongue had just licked it, a shiny red fish-shaped mark appeared.
"That homeless guy also had..."
"What does this fish-shaped mark mean?"
Apache couldn't understand the meaning of the sign, but he subconsciously felt it was dangerous.
At this time, the enemy's attack had already continued.
The thick, long tongue attacked at an incredible speed, leaving Melancholy Blues, who was not fast enough, with no way to avoid it.
Then, the long tongue hit Melancholy Blues on the shoulder.
The damage was actually not that high. At least Apache was still able to stand intact after taking the second hit.
but…
As the tongue touched Melancholy Blues' body, a second "fish" suddenly appeared on Melancholy Blues' body.
"Two fish-shaped marks, and nothing has happened yet."
"Does it mean that the catfish will only be able to truly display its Stand ability once a certain number of marks have been accumulated?"
Abbazi still stubbornly called the substitute "Catfish" in his mind.
He still didn't understand the other party's ability, and the huge tongue slashed at him for the third time as an illusion.
The speed was so fast that it was impossible to avoid.
Whether he wanted to or not, Melancholy Blues was hit by the black-skinned toad's long tongue for the third time without any suspense.
A third "fish" and a third fish-shaped mark soon appeared on its body.
"Ha ha ha ha."
Anthony, who had been hiding behind the black-skinned toad, laughed out loud:
"You're asking the weak Melancholy Blues to take action in order to test the ability of my familiar, right?"
"Well, let me show you..."
"The King of the River——"
"Swallow it!"
The demon opened its bloody mouth.
In that instant, silently, the melancholy blues disappeared.
※※※
PS: Stand-in panel.
Alternate name: [River King]
Anthony Kench
Destructive power: C
Speed: B (tongue speed A)
Range: E
Sustainability: A
Movement precision: B
Growth: E
Abilities: Appears as a three-meter-tall, gigantic humanoid toad wearing a dress hat.
It can apply fish-shaped markings to objects by licking them with its tongue, and the markings will automatically disappear after a period of time.
When the number of fish-shaped marks reaches three, the [River King] can send the marked object into the strange space in his stomach.
Unless there is an order from Anthony or Anthony as the real body dies, objects trapped in the alien space will never be able to escape.
