Illimitable Until Death - Chapter 26

“Not human?”

Ikoma was completely stunned.

At that moment, Mumei suddenly dashed forward and reached Ikoma before he could react. She firmly grabbed his cloak.

“Rip!”

With a tearing sound like ripping silk, Mumei tore Ikoma’s cloak apart, exposing his body underneath to the air.

As Ikoma’s body was exposed, everyone present gasped in shock.

His body was covered in metal plates like unyielding bandages, wrapping around nearly one-third of his body.

Moreover, Ikoma’s skin not only had an unusual color but also had red veins-like patterns running across it, extending towards his heart.

And within Ikoma’s chest, there was an illuminating object.

It was Ikoma’s heart.

A glowing heart.

An identical heart to Kabane’s.

“K… Kabane!”

The surrounding crowd screamed in unison.

“You…?!” Konochi Kurusu’s expression tightened, his face completely replaced by a chilling aura. He exclaimed, “You, you’re Kabane after all!”

“N… No!” Ikoma took steps back, as if betrayed by the whole world, unwilling to accept the truth. He shouted, “I’m not Kabane! I’m not Kabane!”

Unfortunately, faced with the undeniable reality, no one believed Ikoma.

Konochi Kurusu no longer intended to say anything. He aimed his Steam Gun at Ikoma’s heart, and his finger moved towards the trigger.

However, just before Konochi Kurusu could pull the trigger, a hand suddenly reached out and pressed it down.

“I say, when will your seemingly calm but easily impatient nature change?”

It was Fang Li who pressed down Konochi Kurusu’s Steam Gun.

“Take it easy,” Fang Li didn’t look at Konochi Kurusu but kept his gaze on Ikoma. He said, “Give him some time to explain.”

“Explain?” Konochi Kurusu’s expression remained unchanged. Like Fang Li, he continued to gaze at Ikoma, his eyes still cold. He said, “What else is there to explain? Doesn’t that heart prove that he is a Kabane?”

“But have you ever seen a Kabane so human-like?” Fang Li sneered and said, “Besides, someone just vouched for him, saying he is not a Kabane, right?”

Upon hearing Fang Li’s words, the first one to react was not the others but Ikoma himself.

Ikoma turned his head and looked at the indifferent Mumei, who had teared his cloak, causing the current situation, and has been yawning and watching the situation unfold as if an indifferent bystander.

But before Ikoma could speak, Mumei explained on her own.

“I’ve said it many times. He is not Kabane, But he is no longer human either.”

Mumei seemed to regain some spirit as her lazy eyes began to shine. She scanned everyone around.

“He… or rather, we are something between humans and Kabane — Kabaneri.”

Saying these words, Mumei turned her back, suddenly removing the coat she was wearing, exposing her back to everyone’s eyes.

At that moment, the expressions of the people changed.

“You…” Ikoma exclaimed in shock. “Are you… the same as me?”

Indeed.

The same.

On Mumei’s slender and fair back, at the location of her heart, there was also an illuminating heart.

Witnessing the glowing hearts of both Mumei and Ikoma, everyone fell silent, unable to react.

Only Fang Li, who had already understood everything, remained calm.

——Kabaneri.

As Mumei had described, it was an existence between humans and Kabane.

Those who are bitten by Kabane and die will be transformed into Kabane.

This is common knowledge in this world.

Even if one is bitten but doesn’t die, they will gradually transform into Kabane after an incubation period, turning into monsters.

However, the world never lacks for special cases and exceptions.

When someone is bitten and infected by Kabane but for various reasons the virus fails to reach the brain, that person won’t fully transform into Kabane. Instead, they become an existence between humans and Kabane.

This existence is called a Kabaneri.

Kabaneri possess the physical abilities of Kabane while retaining their human heart.

The reason why Mumei is so strong is mainly because of this.

For some reason, this girl became a Kabaneri and underwent specialized training, gaining exceptionally strong combat skills.

As for Ikoma, he only transformed into this existence without even knowing about the existence of Kabaneri.

In the original plot, when Aragane Station fell, Ikoma escaped from prison. In order to fight against Kabane, he returned home to retrieve his Tsuranuki Zutsu, and thus engaged in a battle with Kabane but got bitten.

In desperation, Ikoma came up with a solution: he welded metal plates onto his body to prevent the Kabane virus from invading his brain. Ultimately, he succeeded and didn’t turn into a Kabane.

However, even though his brain wasn’t invaded by the virus, Ikoma’s body still transformed into a Kabane.

Thus, Ikoma became a Kabaneri and a non-human existence.

Of course, Ikoma managed to preserve his human self and didn’t become a monster that only attacks people.

Naturally, the rest of the people who didn’t know about this couldn’t accept it.

At this moment, however, Mumei suddenly put on her cloak again, turned around, and looked into the distance, saying this:

“Let’s put aside what comes next for now. The Kabane you’ve been talking about is already here.”

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback and reflexively turned their heads to look in the direction Mumei was staring at.

There, a wave of darkness surged forth.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah———-!”

A terrifying roar of unprecedented magnitude transformed into a wave of sound, spreading through the entire air.

Hundreds of thousands of Kabane swarmed densely like a dark tide, resembling a galloping herd, surging towards this direction.

That scene caused the hearts of every person to tremble and fear to rise.

“Quick!” Fang Li exclaimed without hesitation.

“Hurry to the Iron Fortress!”