Chapter 107 : Parasite
Chapter 107: Parasite
Swoooosh....
The atmosphere changed instantly.
The opponent was powerful enough to wipe out even Jin Hoa and the Blood Wind Squad in the blink of an eye.
She was undoubtedly one of the higher-ranked Parasites.
“When I was in my Feeding State, even skills shouldn't have worked on me. So how did you figure it out? Did I make some kind of mistake?”
Mary looked at Kang Yohan with her narrow, slit-like pupils.
“Haa...”
Kang Yohan let out a long sigh.
So much for letting this pass peacefully.
How was it that nothing in this damned Forbidden Book ever unfolded quietly?
He thought he had been through enough by now.
Yet somehow, he still couldn't get used to it.
“If anything, I'm the one who wants to ask. Why are you so desperate to kill me?”
“Let's just say... you're someone who stands in the way of our race's prosperity.”
A prophecy?
A revelation?
Or perhaps someone had given them advice.
Well then...
Let's probe a little.
“I must've earned quite a bit of hatred from Samuel. To think he'd even advance the Fourth Episode just to kill me.”
“...If you're trying to fish for information, you should stop.”
Mary answered with a gentle smile.
However...
Kang Yohan noticed that her reaction had been delayed by roughly 0.2 seconds.
She didn't know.
The name Samuel.
Then...
Who was behind all of this?
Whoever it was had enough experience with the Forbidden Book to start the Third and Fourth Episodes simultaneously.
He should have used the invitation Lee Saerom had given him at the Louvre Museum.
If he had...
He could've learned much more about the others who had read the Forbidden Book.
Tsk.
Nothing he could do about that now.
For the moment...
He had to deal with this poisonous insect first.
Kang Yohan quietly rearranged his mana.
“Hm. Are you actually thinking of fighting me?”
“If necessary.”
“If necessary...”
Mary smiled.
“So you still don't understand anything.
You still have no idea why you've managed to come this far without being attacked.
Or who made that possible.”
“……!?”
Jin Hoa was already nothing more than a puppet dancing in Mary's hands.
Naturally...
That meant the Beast Race working alongside Jin Hoa was also in league with Mary.
“You thought you could survive, didn't you?
Picking up little victories one after another...
Believing you were almost at the finish line.”
Snap!
Mary flicked her finger.
“That time is over.”
Now...
The real game began.
“KROOOOAR!”
“Attack!
Kill them all!”
Voices erupted from every direction.
The Beast Race led by Belond.
Their Demonic Beasts.
The Murim assassins led by Jin Hoa.
All of them flooded in from every side.
The place where the expedition had been resting instantly filled with the smell of blood.
The Safe Zone...
Had been breached.
Or rather...
Mary had clearly tampered with something at the outer boundary of the Safe Zone.
Right.
That was why she had come out here alone.
And on top of that—
Boom!
As if things weren't bad enough...
Behemoth's mana could also be felt in the distance.
It had resumed its pursuit.
At a speed incomparable to before.
Had it used [Advanced Stealth] along with [Erase Presence]?
Rumble!
Pitch-black mana rapidly drew closer.
At this speed...
They would be caught long before reaching the summit.
“Are you really okay with doing this?
The Beast Race won't be very happy once they learn you're actually a Parasite.”
A poisonous insect that secretly manipulated everything while parasitizing other lifeforms.
Once its true identity was exposed...
It would only be a matter of time before everyone united against it.
“It doesn't matter.
I'll kill all of you before that happens.
And the Beast Race as well.
Every last one of them will become hosts for our kind.”
“Hmm.”
That was certainly one way to do it.
Very efficient.
Very impressive.
He'd give it ninety-nine points.
“Then how about this instead?
I know a much better method than putting in all this effort.”
“At a time like this...
You're trying to negotiate?
Go on then.
Let's hear it.”
“What I can offer you is only one thing.
You and your...”
“You and your?”
The very moment Mary's attention focused on Kang Yohan's lips—
‘Bloodline Spear Arts.’
He drew the Elemental Spear behind him.
‘First Form.’
His movements flowed naturally into one another.
Completing the first technique.
‘Blood Spear Piercing Break.’
BOOM!
What followed...
Was a crimson flash.
He had deliberately lured her attention into the conversation.
Lowered her guard.
Then aimed directly for her head in a single strike.
Some might call it a dirty sneak attack.
But...
In a one-on-one fight...
Only fools let their guard down.
However—
The spear, fast enough to be called instantaneous...
Missed by the width of a sheet of paper.
Splurt!
A droplet of blood slid down Mary's pale cheek.
He had believed it to be nearly perfect.
Yet all he had managed was peeling away a layer of skin.
“That was... dangerous.
If not for this...
There would've been a hole in my pretty face.”
In Mary's hand...
Was a familiar rabbit's foot.
Rabbit Foot.
So that was where it had gone.
That was dangerous.
Kang Yohan leveled his spear once more.
However...
Mary moved first.
The legs protruding from her back lunged forward at astonishing speed.
Boom!
“Ghk!”
Kang Yohan barely managed to knock the attack aside.
His wrist throbbed painfully.
She was already this powerful.
And she had still prepared such a meticulous setup.
“So I really was trying to kill you...
You're better than expected.
Before we continue...
Let's first see whether you're hiding anything troublesome.”
[Holy Relic ‘Colony Designation’ has been activated!]
Blue mist slowly spread beneath Kang Yohan's feet.
[One of your possessed items has been randomly sealed!]
She really had every trick imaginable.
‘Colony Designation’ was a Holy Relic possessing Absolute Judgment.
All he could do was pray that luck sealed something worthless.
Reality...
Cruelly stole away even that tiny bit of luck.
[Due to the effects of ‘Rabbit Foot,’ your highest-ranked item has been selected!]
[‘Fate of the Falling Star’ has been partially sealed!]
The SS-Rank item obtained from the Collector using the Trait Plunderer.
The hidden trump card prepared for Behemoth...
Was now locked behind a crimson seal.
‘Damn it...
Of all things...’
Kang Yohan swallowed his curse.
However...
He wasn't the only one who had lost his composure.
“I even used my race's Holy Relic...
And it only achieved a partial seal?
What are you?
How...
How can you possibly possess an item of that level?”
Even Mary's tone had noticeably sharpened.
She was that shaken.
Especially since she had even combined it with Rabbit Foot.
‘Oh?’
If played correctly...
He might actually be able to use this.
Kang Yohan calmly brushed back his hair.
“Tsk.
Looks like one of the items I brought is unusable for a while.
Well...
It was more of a burden than anything.
Maybe this is actually for the best.”
They said every crisis could become an opportunity.
Time to act like a Ranker overflowing with SS-Rank items after possessing the Collector.
“……”
Mary slowly licked her lips while maintaining her distance.
She no longer approached recklessly.
That alone...
Wasn't a bad outcome.
Because—
“Found him!
The one who's been interfering with us this whole time!”
“Sir Yohan!
There you are!”
It was about time both allies and enemies arrived.
Jin Hoa.
The Blood Wind Squad.
The Beast Race.
On the allied side...
Scarlett and the soldiers of the Hestia Empire also arrived.
Everyone radiated heat and bloodlust, having already fought fierce battles of their own.
Mary exchanged glances with Jin Hoa.
“Eliminate him first.
He may still have hidden tricks.
Attack him all at once.”
Jin Hoa immediately ordered the Blood Wind Squad.
“Wait.
That man's ours to kill.
Didn't we agree you'd hand him over if the opportunity arose?”
Belond protested at once.
“The situation has changed.
Eliminating the dangerous one comes first.
If you insist...
I'll give you half of his corpse.”
Honestly...
This sounded like the women standing before King Solomon.
Arguing over cutting someone in half.
Listening to it made his faith in humanity disappear.
“Belond.
Do you want my head because I killed Jakan?”
“Someone must avenge a warrior's grudge.”
“Wow.
What a touching sense of loyalty.
But...
If killing one member makes you that angry...
Then what kind of punishment should someone receive for trying to wipe out your entire race?”
“What do you mean by that?”
What did he mean?
‘Exactly this.’
He had deliberately stalled for time.
Waiting until everyone gathered in one place.
Kang Yohan took out another item from his pocket.
[Using ‘Sapphire That Stores Memories.’]
Hummmm!
A dazzling light spread outward.
Replaying the scene he had recorded moments ago.
—The Beast Race won't be very happy once they learn you're actually a Parasite.
—It doesn't matter.
I'll kill all of you before that happens.
And the Beast Race as well.
Every last one of them will become hosts for our kind.
The owner of the voice.
And the meaning behind those words.
Were delivered exactly as they had been spoken.
A heavy silence fell over the Beast Race.
“M-My... My words were manipulated!
He tampered with that jewel!”
Mary shouted desperately.
Wow.
Even now...
She was still trying to force the issue.
Unfortunately for her...
Her opponent couldn't have been worse.
“That treasure came from our own vault.
More than anyone...
I know exactly whether it's genuine or fake.”
Belond's expression twisted viciously.
As though declaring...
Their alliance ended here.
“Kill them all!”
Mary ordered Jin Hoa.
“Leave not a single filthy parasite alive!”
The Beast Race's blades instantly changed direction.
BOOOOM!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Those who had protected each other's backs moments ago...
Were gone.
Only sworn enemies remained.
Now then.
Where had he put the popcorn?
Watching enemies fight each other...
Was always the most entertaining part.
Internal strife.
There was no better situation in war than enemies destroying one another's strength.
If...
The enemies here were the only pieces on the chessboard...
Then he could simply sit back and watch.
However...
“In that case...
You can all just die.”
Jin Hoa and Colony Designation weren't the only cards Mary had been hiding.
[Holy Relic ‘Price of Treason’ has been activated!]
Crunch!
The black pill hidden between her teeth shattered.
Then—
[The title ‘Servant of Death’ has been erased from all individuals within a 1 km radius.]
[Using the accumulated ‘Tithe Offering,’ Behemoth manifests.]
By erasing the only title that guaranteed safety from Behemoth...
She gained the ability to teleport Behemoth itself into the area.
This...
Was her final gamble.
Whoooosh!
Black flames erupted.
Despair descended upon the shattered Safe Zone.
“T-This can't be...”
“Your Majesty!
Our titles have vanished!”
The screams spared neither ally nor enemy.
Although...
They didn't last very long.
BOOOOOOM!
The serrated greatsword swept across the ground.
Until now...
Everything Behemoth had done had merely been hunting prey.
However...
After suffering injuries to both eyes...
Things changed.
The black smoke churned.
Something emerged from within it.
“Ghk!?”
“Gaaah...!”
Those pierced through their entire bodies by black spikes died instantly.
“N-No!
AAAAAH!”
Even Jin Hoa desperately tried to flee.
Only to become nothing more than a splash of blood.
Not even Kang Yohan had expected Behemoth to be summoned directly into the center of the battlefield.
His movements became frantic.
‘There's no choice now.’
Now that the worst had happened...
There was no point saving anything for later.
[Using ‘Fate of the Falling Star’!]
[Its abilities are restricted due to ‘Partial Seal’!]
Whoooosh!
Indescribable flames began manifesting through the magic circles.
[Void Magic has increased by +2 tiers!]
[Maximum durability consumption is limited to 30,000!]
Three magic circles appeared above Behemoth's head.
Sparks scattered wildly.
Unknown characters floated through the air.
“T-That's unbelievably high-level magic!”
“What in the world is that...?”
Not only the Hunters.
Not only the Imperial soldiers.
Even the Beast Race stood frozen at the sight of magic they had never seen before.
Mana surged violently.
Preparing the strongest attack possible.
‘Black Lightning.’
What emerged from between the magic circles...
Was Void Lightning.
Lightning that erased color itself.
An ominous, alien radiance unlike anything ever witnessed pierced straight through Behemoth's skull.
Craaack!
Bone fragments exploded in every direction.
“KROOOOOOOAR!!!”
Behemoth roared.
It was in pain.
Void Power was one of the very few abilities capable of affecting beings of higher ranks.
Just a little more.
Just...
A little more...
At the very least...
He had to inflict [Paralysis] or [Stun].
Otherwise this meant nothing.
Blood flowed from Kang Yohan's eyes.
[Blood Vessel] frantically circulated his blood.
Optimizing every ounce of mana.
Throb!
His muscles felt as though they were being torn apart.
Thump!
His heart desperately cried out for oxygen.
He wanted to give up.
His body, already beyond its limit...
Ordered him to stop.
However...
He had to endure.
If he collapsed here...
Everything would end.
“Don't...
Make me laugh.”
Did they really think he'd give up?
He steadied his trembling knees.
Swallowing blood back down his throat.
The descending lightning became even fiercer.
Void flames erupted around Behemoth as bolts of lightning spread in every direction.
At the same time—
BOOM!
An overwhelming impact swallowed Kang Yohan whole.
＊
His vision went black.
Everything...
Was darkness.
‘What...
Hit me?’
It hurt like hell.
He had to move...
Yet he no longer possessed the strength to lift even a single finger.
Boom!
He could feel Behemoth approaching.
He heard Scarlett screaming as she ran toward him.
She couldn't come.
There was no point.
Even if she tried to help.
Just then—
A warm presence gently embraced his wounds.
Step.
A being covered in pure white fur appeared before Kang Yohan.
Dark storm clouds slowly began filling the surrounding area.