Single Wish: Rise Of The Omniscient Paragon-Chapter 732 - 731: A Third Faction Appears

Neon

In the Underworld, one of the hottest topics and product was surprisingly a narcotic. A narcotic that could be afforded even by poor Tier 0s and Tier 1s.

It was a product that some worshipped because of how it had saved their lives due to its effect.

All Shall Breathe Neon.

This was the codename for those that smuggled and sold the drug in secret, and also for those that were addicted to it and worshipped it and its creator.

However, what nobody knew was that the creator had not created the narcotic out of the goodness of his heart.

Neon was not just a narcotic, it was a poison.

It was a poison that had been recently modified to be able to affect even Tier 4s, and Tier 5s to a certain extent.

----

The Underworld never slept.

And no matter the situation, its cities thrived in madness. Even as demons crawled out of their gates and portals, fully intending on devouring the Underworld and New Earth as a whole, the residents fought, schemed, and survived in a hell that demanded more than strength.

It demanded cruelty.

And somewhere within that madness, a bloom began.

It started like a cough.

On the streets of the Outer Area, a street vendor, no older than fifteen, found the opportunity and crazy idea to sell explosives that could assist the Outer Area residents who were weak but finding ways to kill the demons.

The teenage boy who was just a Tier 2 grabbed three explosives, intending to hand them over to the Tier 3 mercenary resident in front of him.

However, he suddenly clutched his stomach and staggered. The customer who did not care had an impatient expression and grabbed the boy's shoulders, intending to push him and and rough him up a bit.

But the boy suddenly vomited glowing blue liquid onto the explosives.

The customer's expression twisted and he pushed the boy into the floor in anger and shouted at him for dirtying what he bought.

The light in the boy's eyes vanished, and his limbs twitched once... then twice.

He rose.

Not as himself, but as something less, and something far more dangerous.

His body cracked unnaturally, and his joints dislocated with wet snaps. His veins glowed neon-blue and pulsed like a second circulatory system. Glowing mucus dropped from his eyes, and his mouth widened in an inhuman grin as he lunged at the soldier who had taken several steps back in fear.

The kid had consumed Neon.

------

In the southern area of the Inner Area of the crumbled City of Sin.

The air sizzled with Infernal heat as the Underworld residents fought tooth and claw against horned, blood-drenched demons. Explosions cracked open the battlefield, and mana-laced bullets zipped past.

A Tier 4 Underworld resident crouched behind a shattered bunker wall with blood smeared all over his face as he panted heavily.

His partner had been disemboweled minutes ago.

"Damn it all! Fuck these useless Underworld bastards! They terrify us with news about how impenetrable and exceedingly powerful their defenses are, but look at all this shit!"

The Tier 4 Underworld resident cursed with gritted teeth as he wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve.

"The countless formations. The god-like defenses of the Underworld Sky. The machines they have. All of them crumbled in the blink of an eye... Fucking useless bunch of kidnappers and slave traders."

The Tier 4 reached into his pocket and pulled out a glowing blue capsule.

"Luckily I have this. Heck, it has saved me a lot of times... All shall breathe Neon."

He bit into it, and then, froth laced his lips. His body shook.

"Status report, Banshee Three?" a voice buzzed through his comms.

But he couldn't answer.

His spine snapped backwards like a whip. Blue mist hissed out of his pores. His eyes rolled up. His limbs stiffened, and then flexed with unnatural strength.

He stood unnaturally with his mouth wide open and extremely long tongue hanging out.

Around him, other Underworld residents unleashed their attacks on the demons, too distracted to notice... Until he turned on one and sank his teeth into her throat.

She screamed briefly, and then her blood turned blue. Her flesh glowed, and her body twitched.

A second later, she too rose. Her body jerked uncontrollably, a shrill shriek escaped her pale blue lips, and her eyes burned with a Neon-blue flame despite being dead.

Gunfire, chants, and clangs of metals were mixed with growls now.

In the chaos, none could tell friend from foe. The infected didn't care. They attacked demons and humans alike, spreading Neon with every claw and bite.

The battlefield had just grown a third faction.

-----

Located in the Eastern part of the Central Area was the Headquarters of the Devourers, the Maw.

The Maw which was once the proud place of the Devourers was now a blackened, cratered no-man's-land.

The Maw was one of the key locations that could summon a portal to the Internal Realm. Just like the entire Underworld, they were taken by surprise when an Internal Gate suddenly appeared above their headquarters.

Tiered spells with mystic mana clashed the Infernum spells of the demons, and the screams of the dying melded with the metallic rhythm of clashing weapons between the Devourers and the demons.

At the center of it all stood Prince, the leader of the Devourers.

A peak Tier 5.

Gone was his usual calm and arrogant demeanor he usually had. Instead, his expression was one of a terrifying ruthless and cold beast that emitted thick and immense bloodlust.

He was shirtless, scarred in numerous places, and on his hands were gauntlets which were soaked in demonic fluids.

A cold and savage light burned in his eyes as he tore a demon's jaw clean off and hurled the head aside.

He looked around, and he observed his squad who were fighting like a pack of wolves, covering his flanks, and pushing the demon line back inch by inch.

"Prince! Right flank's collapsing!" Jamal, the second in command shouted.

"I'll hold it! Push forward!" Prince roared and turned toward the breach.

But in the next moment, a sharp internal pain assaulted him. He stumbled.

His heartbeat... was off. It was slower... and thicker?

He dropped to one knee.

"What the-?"

A baffled light flashed in Prince's dazed eyes.

Jamal ran over. "Sir?!"

But Prince was shaking, and then he began convulsing.

His veins lit up in faint neon blue beneath his skin, and Prince frowned with a hazy gaze.

"Neon blue?... Neon-?"

He suddenly remembered the bottles of powdered Neon he always snorted in his free time, and the feeling of death gripped his soul.

Reluctance, Defiance, and Rage filled his soul, and he roared. His roar tore through the battlefield, but it wasn't a roar of pain but of all these emotions.

It was also a war cry.

Although he tried to fight off the infectious nature of Neon, he had consumed far too much of it, and it had infected every single part of his body and soul.

His eyes glazed. His muscles twitched, then tore. His bones cracked and reformed, making him to become leaner but gave him an increase in height.

Claws burst through his fingertips, and spikes rippled from his shoulders. An extremely black viscous liquid spread out from his head and covered his entire body, and then he turned to his squad.

They hesitated.

"...Sir?"

He charged at them, and they reacted.

The Devourers were elite. They were fast, brutal, and efficient, but they weren't ready for him.

He ripped through his comrades, and their bloods flew into the air in an arc.

Other members of the Devourers who had also consumed Neon transformed, and they turned towards their comrades.

Every bite turned another Devourer into a snarling Neon-thrall.

The East of the Central Area didn't just fall, it collapsed into a massacre. Demons, Underworld residents, and Underworld officials alike were overwhelmed by Prince's growing horde.

Especially his ability after becoming a Neon-liek zombie.

The demons who were previously the dangerous invaders now felt danger towards this new force that had emerged.

Even they weren't sure what this new force was.

Had the Underworld truly become Hell?