"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Aiji and Galeva, who retreated in a panic, knocked the wooden doors on the left and right in unison, causing them to fall completely off the frame, and the rising sun cast in It was a golden beam of light, but no one under it felt any warmth.
"Cough——" Bloodshot eyes filled the missionary O'Neal's eyes. He stood there with his arms open as if welcoming the coming of the Holy Saint, and then looked up at nothing with a wide-eyed expression. A low ceiling.
"How-" Mira subconsciously wanted to ask what was going on, but she only made one sound and could no longer say anything else.
The dispersed people froze in place in a subtle gesture, not daring to move and even controlling their breathing to a very small extent, for fear that something unexpected would happen again if they acted rashly.
The not-so-big golden bug was attached to the back of O'Neal's neck. The preacher initially yelled and struggled for a while, then quickly turned into this weird pilgrim-like twitch in a fit of convulsions. Standing posture.
Because the speed was too fast and the scene was too chaotic, even the sage had no time to stop it.
"Anyway, retreat to the next room first and use the wall -" After reacting, Henry stretched out his hand and started to direct everyone to move, but at this moment, the people behind him suddenly saw the bug attached to the back of O'Neill's neck squirming and getting deeper into it. After entering his body, the missionary's mouth and nose began to foam, and his whole body twitched in place as if having an epileptic seizure.
"Let's go!" Under Mira's loud urging, Aiji and Galeva hurriedly got up, protected Lulu and the other two missionaries and fled to the next room. Galeva turned his head again at this time and looked at He asked Mira: "I, let me do it?" He hesitated, but still tried to overcome his fear and stand up.
"You are weaker than me, you will only get in the way." The Luoan girl said this without looking back. Although the young man was a little frustrated, he did not care and quickly evacuated to the next room with the others. . After they all entered, Mira also moved towards the door of the room, preparing to guard here to form a separation. However, she did not run directly towards the door. Instead, she lowered her center of gravity and moved sideways while keeping the tip of her sword pointed at the trembling body. O'Neill.
"Bah-" The crotch of the twitching young missionary's dark blue pants was suddenly dyed dark, and then with a "puff" sound, a stench began to permeate the room.
"What the hell is going on, teacher." Mira pulled up her scarf to cover her face to avoid being disturbed by the smell, and the people behind her looked at this side with fear but still couldn't control their curiosity. Aiji, who had a weak tolerance, turned blue on the spot and started to retching.
"...It's not good." Henry thought for a while and then narrowed his eyes. Then with a "咻——", he grabbed Kramer and rushed forward.
"Teacher?!" the white-haired girl shouted loudly. She was caught off guard by the fact that her teacher suddenly planned to kill the people who seemed to be able to be saved, but what was more shocking than this was——
"Crack!! Click!!" The wooden floor was cut open without any suspense, and O'Neal, who was still in place just now, was left with only the steaming feces and urine.
"...Teacher, did you miss? -" Mira's eyes widened. This kind of situation has not happened before, but the 20-year-old O'Neill missionary who looks frail is not a person who can escape. The person who opened it——
"Wha-" However, Henry's attack never ended at once. He cut the board and quickly turned his hands over, and then the whole sword drew a beautiful arc in the sun.
"Iron Butterfly." Galeva, who was watching the battle from behind, read out the name of this move that impressed him, while Mira, who was watching next to her, felt even more incredible in her eyes - Henry often faced defenseless human opponents. One or two swords could solve the problem, but this time he directly used Iron Butterfly to deal with it with high-speed sword flowers, and the most important thing was that the opponent was actually swinging the sword in such a dense crowd that everyone around him felt breathless. The dodge was successful.
"What's going on? I've never heard that O'Neill is -" The missionaries also fell into confusion and hesitation, and in the process of dodging the sage's attack, O'Neill started twitching again. Henry seized this opportunity and aimed his sword at the neck, intending to penetrate it directly with the bug behind him. However, he twisted his waist in a very weird and almost fractured posture, then reached out his hand to grab the pillar and pulled it to use the pulling force to jump up. Then it hit the roof with a "bang" sound and landed firmly on the ground outside.
"You're lying, I jumped ten meters away in one fell swoop." Mira held her breath.
All this happened in less than two minutes.
The rising sun began to shed its light in large swaths, and O'Neill, who ran outside the house, used his trembling hands so fast that he could hardly see the outline of his body. He tore off the tattered and obstructive clothes on his body, exposing his whole body to the golden light. middle.
"What's going on?" Henry walked to the door, and Mira cautiously approached with her sword in hand, and she asked.
"I'm afraid that thing is a parasitic organism. It was twitching all over and unable to control its excretion just now because it was taking away the ownership of the body." Henry spoke briefly for Mira at a very fast speed, and the Luoan girl swallowed a sip of saliva. Posing his lips: "What about the villagers?"
"Most likely," the sage said calmly, carrying Kramer down the steps and trying to get closer. But as soon as he came over, the other party distanced himself.
"How could the ability to move become so... That's not something a human can do at all." After Mira said this, she suddenly thought of what she had encountered before, and looked at him with wide eyes. Henry.
"Well, it is very similar to the ghoul characteristics of the Witch User. But it shouldn't be the same thing." The sage repeatedly tried various ways to close the distance, but none of them were particularly successful.
"If they are the witch's ghouls, they will not collect weapons and property like them. Although these guys are weird, they are not monsters that go against nature. This kind of gathering of people even has the power to develop the social structure. Undoubtedly biological."
"Is it a parasitic creature that lures humans with its golden shell? But he looks completely irrational. It doesn't look like he can blend into the crowd." Mira glanced behind her and saw Aggie walking out of the room facing the ground. After a while, she covered her mouth and nose with excrement and ran to the side and started vomiting. Galeva's face was livid. Lulu pulled out the mountain sword from her waist and nodded solemnly to her.
"Outflank left and right." The sage gave the order, and the Luoan girl nodded, keeping the tip of the sword pointing while slowly moving to the other side with a side step.
"I think it has something to do with body size. The gold O'Neill stole was very small. Perhaps because of the small size, the parasite cannot fully control the body's functions, which led to convulsions and incontinence." He said, talking to O'Neill in the distance. On sight.
Those blue eyes were bloodshot. Although even his face was no longer under his control, the sage saw a hint of panic and despair in his eyes.
"...He is still conscious." Henry closed his eyes and then opened them again.
"Who?" Mira was stunned for a while, and then reacted: "Ah!"
"What's going on?" Everyone who came out also heard this, and the missionaries began to pray. Lulu, who didn't understand what was being said, also fell silent after being translated by Ai Ji.
"It's so scary." Mira shuddered involuntarily. She had seen things like her body being controlled and turned into a monster before, but this was too scary now. While consciousness still exists, the entire body is controlled by parasites. I can only watch myself taking actions that were not my own decision. I am unable to speak to others. I cannot even express my wish for death. I can only be forced to Watching all this clearly.
Until death.
"I'm in position." The Luoan girl walked a few meters forward and stood behind O'Neill. The parasite seems to simply distance itself based on threats, so if O'Neill dodges when the two form a pincer attack, he will retreat in another direction, and will face one of them no matter what.
"Be careful. After his whole body is eroded, his speed and strength are different from before. Use a defensive structure." Henry said this, and Mira nodded: "Understood." Then she used more In a stable posture, straighten your back and lean forward while pointing your sword forward.
"Plop, tap." The two people who came closer noticed that O'Neill's calf was already bruised, the soles of his feet were swollen, the toes were weirdly twisted, and the skin was cracked. Blood was flowing down the dirty calves and pouring on them. On the surface of the frozen soil, a huge layer of white mist suddenly rose.
"It seems that the increase in physical ability is not without cost. Unlike the ghoul, the body has directly changed." The girl Luo An breathed a sigh of relief, but the sage frowned: "No, if the physical ability is not If it relies on mutation, it can only be provided by insects, so where does the energy of insects come from?"
"Huh?" Mira blinked.
"It's already amazing that such a small parasite can take control of the human body. Originally, parasites obtain nutrients from the host to strengthen themselves. Such inhuman movements consume energy——" The sage said It dawned on me instantly.
It can be used to greatly enhance the energy of the human body.
He actually couldn't be more familiar with it.
"Ka-" O'Neill turned his head in a posture that would make a normal person extremely painful and looked at Mira.
Every part of his body began to make "squeaking" sounds, which was the sound of the skin cracking because it could not withstand this level of pulling force. The blood that spilled out of the broken skin was emitting high temperatures, and mist began to rise around O'Neill.
Hunting mercenaries know one thing. The blood of large dragons and many monsters has a temperature that can burn people. Even magicians from humans or other major races occasionally ignite spontaneously after over-casting spells. Death cases occur.
They use high-temperature blood as proof of magic power, believing that the blood itself contains magic power and therefore generates high temperatures.
This is a conclusion drawn from simple inertial thinking and experience. To a certain extent, it is not wrong. It's just that they got the cause and effect wrong. The blood does not produce high temperature because it contains magic power. The fundamental reason why it contains magic power and produces high temperature is.
blood.
It is the circulation cooling device of the magic pool.
The answer is already obvious.
This is a parasitic creature that feeds on magic power and uses magic power to drive itself. As a living thing, after its own energy is lost due to action, the thoughts that will pop up, combined with the action of "him" looking at Mira——
"Get away!" Henry suddenly shouted. Mira had never heard her teacher be so anxious, but just as she raised her heels to move, she saw O'Neal in front of her in the sun.
Lost trace.
"Phew!!" Because of the speed, the air in front of him stagnated for a moment.
As if being blown by a strong wind and unable to breathe, Mira subconsciously wanted to close her eyes, but as a swordsman, the sense of crisis overcame her biological instinctive reaction. Instead of retreating, she advanced and stabbed forward with her sword. .
"Crack!!——" The long sword in a defensive posture played its role, and the hot blood flowed along the hilt and guard of the sword and filled her hands with the violent repulsion. While the girl was able to confirm that she had hit the target, her palms became sticky and wet, and the hand holding the sword hilt began to slip.
"Wow!" The Luoan girl lost her center of gravity because she wanted to move. After hitting this sword, her whole body started to fall back. At the same time, her hand slipped due to the blood and she let go of the hilt of the sword.
"Bang——!" "Ugh." The weighted ball of the sword hit her own abdomen. Although she was protected by armor, it was still very uncomfortable.
"——" The long sword was pierced through the abdomen. The silent missionary, whose face was stiff and dull, stretched out his left hand and pinched the girl's neck without caring. Although she was hit by the handle of her own sword, Mira, who endured the discomfort, still hurriedly grabbed the slippery hilt and "Hiss--" she pulled it out with blood and internal organs and stopped it with the horizontal sword surface. in front of its attack direction.
"——" seemed to understand that fists were more powerful than slaps, so "he" switched to fist attacks.
"Bang!——" The long sword that was actually hit began to bend in the direction of the Luoan girl, and finally broke into two pieces with a crisp "ding——", and the half that flew out "dang——" The armor on her body bounced off with a loud sound. The long sword faithfully fulfilled its mission of protecting its master. It did not completely prevent the blow, but at least it slowed it down, so that when the fist finally hit the plate armor worn by the Luoan girl, the force was much less powerful.
"Bang!!" The armor plates of the Brigandy plate armor "cracked" under the impact.
"Ahem——" The girl whose center of gravity was unsteady and punched was thrown backward and rolled more than a meter away.
"Dang Qiang——" The broken long sword fell on the hard frozen soil and made a series of metallic sounds. "Mira!" the people in the room shouted, but the white-haired girl held her head decisively the moment she fell and rolled continuously to disperse the impact. Although she felt like she couldn't breathe, her little face was extremely white, but she was lucky. The ground was not seriously injured.
"Ugh—" She held her hands on the ground and vomited out a small amount of stomach contents. O'Neill was about to catch up, but suddenly turned his head again in a strange manner.
Predatory instinct of living things.
Using magic as prey.
Mira was the only one among the group who ignited the magic pool, so it targeted her.
But if someone's magic power overwhelms the Luoan girl due to some change in circumstances.
"Huh--" The mist that filled the air due to the high-temperature blood seemed to be cut open by something for a moment. Then the light in front of O'Neill was blocked. He raised his head and faced a pair of dazzling blue lights. s eyes.
"ha--"
"Bang!!" "Tsk--" Kramer only cut off one arm when he swung it at high speed, and some milky-white tentacles that clearly did not belong to the human body at the port quickly retracted from the body. Henry, who was not injured, turned his head and planned to give him another blow, but realized that the dangerous parasite had controlled O'Neill and ran quickly towards the nearby mountains and forests.
"..." The sage was about to catch up, but stopped because his keen ears caught something.
"Dong dong dong -" That was the sound of dense footsteps, not from humans but from four groups of heavier creatures.
"——!" A white figure appeared on the other side of the road, blocking O'Neill. That was the little unicorn that Mira placed in the backyard of the village chief's house because the tunnel could not accommodate it.
It reacted alertly and even noticed the situation faster than many people. It turned around on the spot and faced O'Neal with its butt.
Then he pressed down, and the back half of his body jumped up.
Horses weighing hundreds of kilograms.
The back kick can knock down walls.
The lightning-quick kick struck the flying preacher firmly.
"Boom!!——" The spilled blood drew a parabola, and the preacher, whose bones were shattered by the kick, flew back towards the sage.
And he lowered the tip of the sword and lowered his center of gravity.
Then, take one step forward.
"Qiang——!"
The severed body in mid-air was filled with blood. After realizing that the host was dead, the parasite quickly squirmed and pulled out countless tentacles, intending to retract into the solid golden shell, but was stopped by the sage in a coherent and accurate manner. The second slash directly split the golden shell into two halves.
"Crack!" "Bang——" "Crash——"
"Mila is fine - vomit, vomit -." Aiji and Galeva, who ran up to care about the scene, held their hands on the ground and vomited after seeing the bloody scene, while Luo An, who looked pale, The girl didn't even have the strength to respond. She wiped the corners of her mouth and collapsed on the ground, trying to stay away from the vomit, but she almost fell down. Lulu quickly put away the knife and ran over to support her.
"I'm fine." The white-haired girl panted for a while and then shook her head bravely, while the silent aboriginal girl reached out and touched her hair.
"Now, he should be dead." Priest Alfonso walked to Henry's side with a pale face, covering his mouth and nose. The blood soaked in the blood that was still exuding mist was off-white and had roots like tree roots. Countless densely branched parasite bodies.
I was unable to observe carefully underground due to visibility and time issues, but now I can clearly see that under the gold surface of the cut section, there is another layer with a slightly different color, which should be the real shell.
What is protected here is the body of the parasite like a slug.
"It's so long and disgusting." Galeva walked over and glanced at the parasite. "The only God is above, brother O'Neill, go all the way. The door to the Kingdom of God will be opened for you, and in that land of blessings and mercy you will obtain salvation and forgiveness. Oh, God, please forgive your loyal servant for being confused for a moment. , accept your followers." And Ai Ji began to pray.
"Judging from the length, does it cover the entire spine?" The sage picked the parasite's slender milk-white body with the tip of Claymer's sword.
"Ahem, thank you teacher." Mira, who finally took a breath, stood up and spoke to Henry, who didn't even look back: "It's the right thing to thank you little unicorn. As a thank you gift, you How about giving her a name that I have struggled with for so long."
"I'm not good at naming." The Luoan girl sighed: "Yeah, um, thank you too, little one." Then she touched the little unicorn that came over and nuzzled her affectionately.
"Where are the shovels nearby?" Priest Alfonso began to direct Aggie and one other person to search for tools. The eulogy had been finished and the body could not be exposed in the wilderness. They planned to clean up and bury it, while the sage picked out the parasites from the pool of blood and began to study them on the side.
Judging from the body structure, his guess should be mostly correct.
This is a special kind of parasite that sucks magic power. Compared with creatures like vampires, it is more "harmless" to a certain extent. Because people who lose their magic power will not die directly, it is safer than losing blood. But taking O'Neal as an example, this kind of parasitism seems a bit overbearing.
From a biological perspective, behavior that directly and quickly damages the health of the host should be detrimental to the parasitic organism. Parasites may cause weakness in their hosts, but death usually takes a long time until they are mature enough to no longer need a host. Considering that the magic power of living organisms is slowly condensed, destroying the host's body so quickly is obviously not the right answer for parasites.
So from this point of view, it would choose to do this because it was wrapped in cloth and imprisoned, feeling unfree and threatened as a self-defense reaction.
In other words, the situation that Missionary O'Neill faced was entirely due to himself - but the sage would not say such heartless words in front of Alfonso and others.
Faced with the unknown, a moment of greed leads to one's own destruction. Similar cases are never rare. But this is not a behavior that can be used to sarcastically say that others are doing wrong as if one has never made a mistake, because even Henry Meyer, a sage, was caught off guard by this situation.
Everyone makes mistakes, and even he is not omnipotent.
"Sorry, thank you." Henry gave a brief greeting to the dead O'Neal. Although many reasons can be found to explain it, it is indeed true that he failed to save this man. But his sacrifice also allowed them to understand a little bit about these parasites, and based on the style of typical parasites, and then contacting the underground armories, the sage suddenly realized that the situation might not be that simple.
"You mean, symbiosis?" Alfonso fell into thinking.
"...The villagers here, and the parasites? Indeed, providing gold to purchase equipment, and spreading the gold during the buying and selling process is equivalent to completing the process of racial reproduction and expansion." The older priest nodded repeatedly. Edge, who was collecting the body parts next to him, vomited several times and turned pale on the way, and finally sat next to him to bask in the sun. It was Galeva who rolled up his sleeves and buried O'Neill with another missionary.
"So, who are those beings who may be villagers and are attracted to the heat?" Mira, who got up, closed her eyes without looking at O'Neill's body and asked Henry.
"I don't know." The sage shook his head.
"Maybe the records kept at the shrine will have the answers we need."
"No matter what, that should be our next destination." He said this, and everyone turned their heads and looked at the hill where the shrine that Lulu mentioned was located.
