Chapter 149: The Bloody Dance
It has to be admitted that although Etemon has all sorts of annoying traits, his bass-playing skills are completely flawless. Fierce, unrestrained, and melodious, his music is deeply intoxicating, especially now that he is performing "GOD KNOWS...", a bass track with an ultra-fast tempo that carries an intensely mesmerizing rhythm. Even if you have never heard it before, simply catching its melody by chance would make you involuntarily sway your body to the beat, let alone having a giant, multi-meter-long bass guitar passionately performed right beside you.
If this were at a concert of some famous pop star, Catherine would undoubtedly be unable to help herself, waving light sticks like a passionate little fangirl to cheer wildly for her idol, intoxicated with excitement. However, that kind of "losing control" in ordinary circumstances is merely a figure of speech, not a literal loss of autonomy; but her wild dancing right now is truly, in the most physical sense possible, out of her control!
Her body completely ignores the commands of her brain, moving like a marionette, spontaneously stepping through dance moves that Catherine herself does not even know, yet vaguely falling in sync with the rhythm of "GOD KNOWS..."! The surrounding apes, flowers, birds, fish, and insects are all doing the exact same thing, as if, at this very moment, the bass-playing Etemon has become the flamboyant protagonist of a grand stage play, his exclusive background music has begun to play, and all other supporting characters must bow down to him and dance gracefully in coordination!
This attack method—completely beyond the normal scope and manipulating others' bodies in a way that defies all common sense—instantly reminded Catherine of Puss in Boots! That cat in boots! His "rabbit trap"-style attack, identical to the ones found in fairy tales, and that completely idealistic form of energy manipulation bore a subtle resemblance to the current situation!
Why?!
Whether it is fairy tales or stage plays, these should merely be forms of human entertainment and ought to possess no lethal offensive power whatsoever! Why do these idealistic art forms, when materialized into the real world, become ultimate special moves for these magical beasts, possessing such terrifying power?
She has no clue!
She cannot figure it out at all!
What on earth is going on in this world?!
Countless questions flooded Catherine's mind, making her feel a chaotic mess inside. However, the scene unfolding right before her eyes quickly told her that now was certainly not the time to ponder the meaning of life!
As the bass track "GOD KNOWS..." gradually entered its climax, the musical tempo grew faster and faster, driving the dancing flowers, birds, fish, and insects to move at an increasingly frantic speed. Because the dancing pace became so blindingly fast, a bulbul wildly bouncing on a tree branch was the first to reach its limit; its slender claws accidentally kicked against the adjacent trunk, and with a sharp snap, its delicate leg broke straight through!
Crimson blood immediately sprayed from the fractured leg. The bulbul contracted its entire body in agony, letting out a shrill, mournful chirp. Yet, a bizarre thing happened: even with a broken leg, the bulbul continued to dance relentlessly! Bizarre and ridiculous though its posture was, both the injured bird itself and its severed leg were convulsing in a frenzied, involuntary dance! Amidst the violent movements, a spray of blood scattered everywhere like a blooming flower in full bloom!
The surrounding ground was dyed a brilliant crimson. The gush of massive amounts of blood made the light in the bulbul's eyes grow dimmer and dimmer, its body drifting closer and closer to a dead, ash-gray hue. First its feathers fell off, then its skin peeled away in flakes, sloughing off like the weathered, mottled plaster on the exterior of an old house. Finally, it flung out shriveled internal organs entwined with wisps of black Qi. In less than five seconds, a perfectly fine bulbul transformed into a pristine bird-shaped skeleton, which shook a few times before collapsing with a crash, finally coming to a halt!
Having lived in the wilderness for years and long accustomed to dead bodies, Catherine still felt a chill run down her spine at the sight of the bulbul's miserable fate! After all, fear stems from the unknown. If even she felt this way, the Dark Gorillas were naturally far worse off. Their frantic dancing had long since worn away the soles of their feet, and fresh blood bubbled forth, quickly pooling into a shallow puddle of gore that dyed the giant apes' massive feet a stark red, making them look as though they were wearing a pair of magnificent red dancing shoes. One by one, they let out terrified screams filled with a pleading tone, as if begging their chieftain and their king to stop—to put an end to this horrifying song and dance!
Yet Etemon turned a deaf ear, even accelerating the tempo of the music to plunge the scene into even greater chaos! Two of the weaker Dark Gorillas had already lost all control, violently slamming into each other amidst their dance! Their flesh and blood seemed to lose all tensile strength, shattering upon the slightest contact. The two apes tore into each other like a pair of interlocking combs; their skin, muscle, and internal organs stripped away from their skeletons like two pools of sludge "flowing" downward. Their intertwined ribs collided with a chilling, creaking chatter before shattering directly into a chaotic mess of broken bones scattered across the ground!
Witnessing this scene, the crest-wearing Dark Gorilla Elder could no longer hold back. Even while continuously dancing, a surging torrent of dark energy roiled across the surface of its body. Within the eye sockets of the various magical beast skulls adorning its entire body, clusters of soul fire flared to life. As these soul fires burned ever brighter and the dark radiance across its body merged into one, the crest-wearing elder finally broke free from Etemon's control in the "Dark Musical" and reclaimed control of its own body! Without a moment to relax, the elder waved a massive arm, and all those soul-fire-burning magical beast skulls took flight into midair, opened wide their jaws, and lunged ferociously toward the continuously playing Etemon!
Although the casting form differed slightly, Catherine recognized it at a glance. This was the renowned Grade 5 Necromancy spell:
Grievance of the Ghouls!
The lunging beast skulls continuously absorbed energy in midair, even condensing spectral phantoms of their living forms behind their respective backs—a pack of skeletal wolves, tigers, and leopards snarling as they pounced on Etemon with terrifying momentum! Yet, facing this authentic Grade 5 spell, Etemon did not even show the slightest intention of moving, nor did his hands leave the bass strings! He merely pointed his chin arrogantly at the crest-wearing elder and laughed loudly:
"Disturbing the order of the dark stage! Unforgivable! On behalf of hell, I sentence you—to death!"
The moment the final two words—"to death"—left his lips, an overwhelming pressure akin to mountains and stars descended upon the entire arena! A pitch-black spatial tear ripped open directly above the crest-wearing elder's head. Countless long, rotting claws emerged from within, grabbing the magical beast skulls and the gorilla elder all at once, crushing them into a single ball of flesh, and slamming them ruthlessly onto the ground to smash into an unrecognizable meat pie!
The moment the crest-wearing elder died, the spatial tear gradually faded away. Etemon laughed heartily in triumphant satisfaction, whipped around abruptly, and cast a malicious gaze toward Catherine!