Chapter 330: Chapter 31 - Dead... Dead?!
Inside Ron’s Infinity Castle.
Time passed quietly.
Two hours had already gone by.
Tatsumaki, petite and slender, sat on the beach hugging her knees, gazing out at the sea. The ocean breeze lightly lifted her curly green hair, and though it should’ve been a peaceful and picturesque scene—
Her cute little face was darkened with irritation and fury.
"Damn it! Just how the hell am I supposed to get out of here?!"
In the past two hours, she had tried every method she could think of—but nothing worked. She was stuck here.
And that only made her more anxious.
That purple alien was insanely dangerous. He might even be the true mastermind behind that alien mothership. Even if the heroes of the Hero Association joined forces, they’d be no match for him.
Right when they needed every bit of fighting power—she, the top powerhouse of the Hero Association, was trapped in a place like this...
"You bastard! Couldn’t you have sent me out before you decided to fall asleep?!"
Fuming, Tatsumaki sprang to her feet and turned to glare at Ron, who was lying motionless on the sand.
"I mean, seriously! You can heal yourself just fine—so why drag me in here too? Don’t tell me you thought I’d be taken out by that kind of attack?! Hah! What a joke. I’m the strongest esper there is! S-Class Rank 2 hero! That earlier stuff didn’t count—I wasn’t even going all out yet. If I were serious, that thing... that thing wouldn’t be a match for me!"
She stomped over angrily, fists clenched.
"So hurry up and wake the hell up! Then get me out of here right now! Without me, the Association can’t do a damn thing..."
"Hey! Are you listening—?!"
...
Ron lay broken on the ground, not moving a muscle.
His entire body emitted a faint cyan glow, with bits of flesh slowly regenerating from his wounds.
Tatsumaki’s voice echoed clearly in his ears—but right now, Ron couldn’t afford any distractions.
His condition was far from good.
That blast from Boros—Collapsing Star Roaring Cannon—was devastatingly powerful. The destructive energy left in his flesh was like a parasitic curse, radiating death and destruction, constantly gnawing away at his cells and snuffing out every spark of vitality inside him.
Even with the regenerative power of the Sage Body, recovery was no easy feat. According to his estimates, if he focused purely on breathing technique and healing without interruption, it would still take him ten full days to fully recover.
Ten days was too long.
Boros really lived up to his name. Even if he wasn’t officially classified as a "God-level" threat, he was close. Definitely quasi-god-tier. Just brushing up against the divine.
Ron’s current strength... was still lacking.
"Is there anything... I can use?"
His consciousness drifted through the system’s inventory space—and surprisingly, he found three things that might help.
Only one Senzu Bean left.
A vial of the Perfect Demon Transformation Serum.
And a single drop of pure blood from Norton, the King of Bronze and Fire from the world of "Dragon Raja." Once consumed, it could turn someone into a high-bloodline hybrid.
Becoming a hybrid would definitely elevate his lifeform tier beyond ordinary humans. But Ron already possessed the Sage Body—it was hard to say whether this blood would provide a significant benefit.
If it only marginally boosted his regenerative ability, it wouldn’t be very useful right now.
As for the Senzu Bean, legend said that consuming one would instantly restore stamina, regrow lost limbs, and fully heal wounds—but it couldn’t eliminate viruses or internal invaders.
And the energy rampaging inside Ron felt very much like a virus.
So... probably not very effective either.
Ron’s gaze finally settled on the vial glowing with a mysterious golden-red light.
The Perfect Demon Transformation Serum.
A reward he had received in the Demon Slayer world via sign-in. Once consumed, it would transform the user into a being that feared neither sunlight nor death—a creature that could regenerate infinitely from even a single cell.
The only cost... was humanity.
He’d no longer be a human being—he would become an immortal, inhuman, mysterious anomaly.
Ron stared at the serum floating before him for a moment. Then, with a quiet sigh in his heart...
"...Screw it. If I have to let go of my humanity, so be it."
His consciousness tapped the vial. And at that moment, a familiar voice—etched into the depths of his DNA—rang out inside his soul:
"I reject my humanity, JoJo!!"
[Perfect Demon Transformation Serum]
Confirmed—Activate!
...
Tatsumaki had been rambling for a while now, but Ron still showed no signs of movement. Her frustration was boiling over.
She was this close to tossing him into the stratosphere with her powers.
But... she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
"What the hell is this annoying feeling...?"
"So damn frustrating!"
Flying into the air, she vented her irritation by manipulating the sand below. It twisted and surged upward into the form of a massive sand dragon, which collided with a rising water dragon she formed from the sea. The two crashed mid-air, creating a spectacular splash of sand and water.
She extended her hand again, and every grain of sand and droplet of water froze in midair.
With a flick of her fingers, she compressed them into a single, massive sphere of mud, suspended above the ocean.
She was just about to fling it into the sea when—
Whoosh!
Behind her, a brilliant red-gold light exploded outward.
"?!"
Tatsumaki’s eyes widened, and she turned around sharply.
From the beach behind her, a towering pillar of gold and crimson light shot up into the sky, illuminating everything in sight with its divine glow.
Inside the beam—
Ron’s naked, mangled body floated, suspended.
Tatsumaki stared in shock as bulging lumps of flesh suddenly began sprouting all over his body. The muscle masses twisted and morphed grotesquely, warping his form far beyond anything remotely human.
"What the...?"
Her face went blank.
And a single terrifying thought rose in her mind.
Could it be...?
He’s a... monster?!
Just as the notion took shape—something even more horrifying happened.
BOOM!
In an instant, Ron’s grotesque flesh-ball form exploded, sending blood and gore flying in all directions. Shards of flesh and fragments of bone scattered in the air, drifting within the golden-red light.
"...?!?!"
Tatsumaki’s brain shut down. She stood there, dumbfounded.
Dead... he’s... dead?!