Chapter 113: The Most Important Thing for a Family Is to Stay Together

An overwhelming demonic aura surged into the sky, and the sound of frogs croaking erupted throughout the apartment.

Matsuzaka Takao’s body began to swell like a sponge absorbing water. His shirt was torn asunder by rapidly expanding muscles, black, fleshy nodules sprouted across his skin, and his limbs thickened into monstrous proportions. Amidst a terrifying vortex of demonic energy, a colossal toad appeared before Su Cheng.

"So this is Matsuzaka Takao’s true form. That punch earlier wasn't enough to kill this demon." Su Cheng’s expression darkened. Given the creature's size after transformation, that previous strike had caused significant injury but was far from fatal.

"Croak!"

The demonic croak echoed through the living room. Su Cheng felt as if he had been struck by an invisible mental blow, his expression momentarily dazed.

By the time he recovered, a wet, slimy tongue had lashed out from Matsuzaka’s gaping maw, striking toward his chest like a bullet.

However, Su Cheng’s enhanced neural reflexes far exceeded those of an ordinary human. The moment Matsuzaka made his move, Su Cheng had already reacted. He leaned backward, twisting his body into an impossible arc to dodge the tongue strike. Then, a crescent-shaped black blade of light spun from his hand, slashing toward the demon’s long tongue.

*Splat.*

A spray of blood erupted. The sharp strike hit Matsuzaka’s iron-hard tongue, carving a horrific gash into it.

The next second, before Matsuzaka could retract his tongue, Su Cheng appeared before him as if he had teleported, delivering a powerful kick directly into the creature’s distended belly.

The massive force landed with a thud, followed by the sound of snapping bones. Matsuzaka’s gigantic body was sent flying, slamming into the wall behind him. The sheer power shook the ground, leaving a spiderweb of cracks across the wall.

After reaching the Bronze Stage II, Su Cheng’s physical prowess had risen to a new level; his raw strength alone now matched that of a fully cultivated demon.

"You’re not Hirano! What kind of monster are you?" Matsuzaka, who had been blown away by the kick, wore an expression of disbelief. The searing pain radiating through his body told him this was no dream. How could a human possess strength even greater than their own? How was this possible?

"Me? I am human, of course."

A blur streaked forward like lightning. A dark blade of light cut through the night, surging with killing intent as it slashed toward Matsuzaka’s head. No matter how strong a demon's regenerative abilities were, decapitation meant certain death.

But then, a gust of demonic wind struck from behind.

"Finally decided to show yourself?"

The corners of Su Cheng’s mouth curled upward. His feigned attack on Matsuzaka was intended to force this snake demon to intervene. Compared to Matsuzaka, he was far more wary of this woman.

Su Cheng’s phantom-like figure vanished, causing Sangutani Mami, who had attempted to ambush him from behind, to strike at thin air. Yet, the moment she attacked, she had revealed a flaw.

"Infinite Shadow Blades: Scattering Flowers!"

Countless dark blade-lights, like lotus petals falling in the wind, slashed toward Sangutani’s serpentine body, carving deep crimson gashes into her.

Seeing the wounds on her, Su Cheng frowned. The power of the Shadow Blades was too dispersed to deal a fatal blow to this snake demon. If he couldn't kill these demons before his spiritual energy ran out, he would be in grave danger.

*Hiss.*

With a serpentine shriek, Sangutani turned into a white blur and lunged forward, her tail whipping around to strike him.

With a loud *bang*, Su Cheng was sent flying by the tremendous force, landing right in front of Matsuzaka.

*Croak!*

Matsuzaka’s blood-red eyes burned with endless hatred as he opened his abyssal mouth to swallow him whole.

***

In mid-air, Su Cheng stabilized his stance and brought his foot down hard onto Matsuzaka’s hideous, grotesque face.

Matsuzaka’s face caved in under the pressure, his features crushed together as his two copper-bell-sized red eyes bulged out. At that exact moment, a serpentine shadow flew into his field of vision. Sangutani Mami’s mouth stretched to her ears, revealing two black, venomous fangs as she lunged for his neck.

The Grim Reaper had arrived.

In that instant, Su Cheng became eerily calm. Killing intent surged in his eyes, and his aura exploded. Gripping his blade, he met the attack head-on without flinching. In a narrow confrontation, the brave prevails; to retreat at this moment was to die.

He swung his blade. The sharp edge tore through the air, flashing like a fleeting shadow as it struck the snake demon’s neck.

The blade flashed!

The cold steel tore a gruesome wound into her. The snake-shadow, lunging at Su Cheng in mid-air, suffered a heavy blow and was sent flying backward at an even greater speed.

Blood spread through the air. Sangutani let out a pained cry, her crimson snake-eyes filled with endless resentment.

"Still not dead?"

That strike had been nearly the strongest attack Su Cheng could muster in his normal state. He hadn't expected to only severely injure the snake demon rather than kill her outright. The vitality of these demons exceeded his expectations.

However, the tide of this battle had turned. These two demons were unlikely to cause any more trouble.

Just then, a sharp pain shot up from his lower leg.

He looked down to see the gecko-like demon boy clinging to his calf, gnawing on it with relish as if it were a bone. The boy’s eyes were filled with bloodlust—clearly, this was not his first time consuming human flesh. His terrifying fangs had left a row of bloody indentations on Su Cheng’s leg.

"Get off!"

Su Cheng kicked the brat away and swung his blade, silently slashing toward the snake demon’s head.

*Slash!*

In that moment, Sangutani’s crimson eyes widened, staring fixedly at Su Cheng as endless blood-red light erupted from them. Under her gaze, his movements slowed down as if he were in a slow-motion sequence.

Su Cheng’s heart skipped a beat; he hadn't expected the snake demon to possess such a bizarre ability.

The snake demon, unaffected, wore a sinister and cruel smile. She leaned in toward Su Cheng with a seductive grace, exhaling a puff of fishy, sweet-smelling mist.

"Hirano-kun, I can’t wait to eat you." Sangutani chuckled charmingly, her fingertips tracing his cheek and moving upward. At this moment, a slight movement of her fingers would be enough to pierce Su Cheng’s eyeball.

"Just like you did to Yamashita and the others?" Su Cheng asked with a cold smirk.

"Hmph, those lustful ghosts deserved to die. But since they let me enjoy myself before they died, their lives weren't entirely wasted." Sangutani licked her red lips, seemingly pondering how to torture this man before slowly devouring him.

"In that case, Mr. Matsuzaka is the most pitiful of all. To have a wife like you—wearing one green hat after another."

The snake demon didn't understand Su Cheng’s idiom, but she felt an extremely dangerous aura locking onto her. A woman’s intuition told her this man was lethal; if she didn't kill him now, she might be the one to die.

A shocking amount of demonic energy whistled out. The moment Sangutani made her move, a black blade of light—as if summoned from the depths of hell—filled her vision.

*Demonic Light, Wave, Slash!*

***

The moment fear, despair, and regret flickered across Sangutani’s face, the swift blade-light swept across her neck.

The blade fell, and the gates of hell opened!

A beautiful head, half-human and half-snake, flew high into the air. Sangutani’s headless corpse collapsed with a thud, her beautiful face still frozen in an expression of disbelief.

After slaying the snake demon, the hand holding the *Shadow of the Gale* trembled slightly; that strike had nearly drained him dry. If that hadn't killed the demon, he would have been in serious trouble.

"I’m going to eat you!"

Suddenly, a terrifying black shadow loomed behind Su Cheng, and the aura of death descended instantly.

Matsuzaka Takao’s voice roared from behind, black demonic energy pouring from his body. His size doubled, filling the apartment living room to the brim.

Following that, Matsuzaka opened his maw and inhaled deeply. A terrifying suction force emerged, and from the darkness, a series of desperate wails and roars erupted.

The spirits wandering the apartment building were dragged, wailing, into Matsuzaka’s stomach. After consuming these ghosts, the demonic energy on his body surged, swelling as if he were about to burst.

Su Cheng’s head buzzed, and his body was involuntarily pulled toward Matsuzaka.

At the critical moment, his spiritual energy surged wildly, and he activated his [Janken] technique once more.

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

His hand gestures shifted rapidly before freezing on "scissors."

[Janken: Scissors]

Skill Type: Fist Technique / Spiritual Art

Effect: Condenses spiritual light into a blade of energy to purge the demons and ghosts of the world.

A sharp blade of spiritual light slashed out, acting like a giant pair of scissors that sheared Matsuzaka’s massive demonic body in half.

The next second, Matsuzaka’s bloated body deflated rapidly like a punctured balloon. The overwhelming demonic energy dissipated instantly, vanishing without a trace.

Having slain both Matsuzaka Takao and Sangutani Mami, Su Cheng’s footsteps were unsteady, his face pale. Although the plot and setting of this horror story were quite frightening, the ending had been a close call.

"To run into a boss fight in the very first scenario... I fear the upcoming horror stories will be even more difficult." The first scenario hadn't required much puzzle-solving; simply following the plot and clearing the path with brute force had been enough. It was simple, albeit rough.

He surmised that the first horror story was merely to let players get used to the rhythm; the real tests were yet to come.

Suddenly, a gray shadow flashed past Su Cheng’s eyes at blinding speed, darting toward the apartment door.

Su Cheng’s gaze turned cold, and he flashed forward to block the small demon.

"The most important thing for a family is to be together. Go to hell with your parents."

As he spoke, Su Cheng stomped down, crushing the escapee. This little gecko demon had killed and eaten humans as well; it was steeped in sin and deserved to die.

"Apartment of Demons scenario complete. Horror stories collected (1/4)."

The game’s voice echoed. A mist shrouded Su Cheng’s vision, as if he had fallen into a bottomless, foggy swamp.

About a minute later, the mist cleared, and a gloomy, ancient castle appeared before him.