Parasite α (18): The Infested City's Eerie Bustle

After the new governor took office, the city brimmed with more vitality than ever. But that energy was profoundly strange. Women dominated the streets, most of them visibly pregnant. However, the things growing inside them weren't normal babies. They were swarms of parasites that brainwashed humans into puppets.

To facilitate smooth reproduction, most hosts had mutated into bodies perfectly suited for nurturing them. The Parasite β that infected the city's residents reshaped its hosts based on the original mother bodies that had first borne it—namely Rena, Ray, Sylvia, and the others. As a result, the streets overflowed with women who looked exactly like those three: pointed ears with narrow waists, overflowing milky breasts, and wide, birthing-optimized hips.

During the transformation process, most hosts had their sense of self completely devoured, reduced to mere living breeding farms. These breeding vessels forgot how to think for themselves, becoming utterly passive entities that did nothing without orders. Yet outwardly, they seemed perfectly normal. That was because the Parasite β controlling them mimicked their absorbed memories to replicate their behavioral patterns flawlessly.

The women who had fallen into parasitism rose at dawn, washed themselves, ate breakfast, dressed, and went out to engage in economic activity just like anyone else. But people whose appearances, builds, and even genders had drastically changed overnight couldn't possibly perform their normal jobs. So the parasites assigned these breeding vessels the one thing they were best suited for now: prostitution.

Their modified bodies were tailor-made to seduce men, making it all too easy. Prostitution was also an ideal vector for spreading the parasites—just infect them during the heat of the moment. Plus, semen was one of the parasites' favorite foods, packed with tiny bits of experience points from the sperm.

Day by day, more women plied the streets selling their bodies, and the number of men vanishing without a trace grew noticeably. Around that time, the few remaining uninfected citizens began to sense the conspiracy unfolding in the city. But it was far too late.

The governor had been assassinated, and the strife between the adventurer's guild and the alchemist society dragged on. Yet the city felt strangely serene, as if all that chaos had been a lie. No more anxiety, no arguing voices, no haggling in the markets. No one cared about any of it anymore.

As uninfected residents became scarce, the breeding vessels turned to each other. Sporting beautiful feminine faces and bodies with fifteen-centimeter cocks jutting proudly between their legs, they fucked anywhere and everywhere—homes, building corridors, public spaces, even the middle of the town square.

"Heard the new governor's taken office?"

"Hng♥ Yeah. She seems like a wonderful leader who'll guide the city well... I'm so excited. Ahng♥"

They rutted like beasts while exchanging such mundane chit-chat.

"Fufu...♥"

Yustia gently stroked her taut, swollen belly with a loving smile. It was the smile of a true mother. In fact, it wasn't much different. Feeling the life stirring within her, Yustia was enveloped in an emotion she'd never felt before—pure, perhaps even noble. Motherly love.

"No rush... eat slowly, okay? Mommy has plenty. All your favorites."

Yustia knew the things wriggling in her womb weren't normal babies. She knew they were devouring her memories to grow. But she didn't care. Compared to the preciousness of these children, her own well-being meant nothing.

The fruits of her love with Mael. Mael's very essence. Mael. Mael. Beloved Mael. Mael?

Yustia tilted her head blankly, her eyes empty. She couldn't remember who that was. Had her children consumed even that? A faint ache tugged at her heart, but if so, then so be it. Her love for Mael wouldn't change anyway. She could just make new memories. Once her children had their fill and quieted down, she'd go to Mael and beg him to plant his love in her again. Lots and lots. So she'd never forget her love for Mael. He'd allow it—he was so kind...

Yustia gazed wistfully with a distant smile.

"Yustia."

Someone called her name amid all this. Lifting her head, she saw a woman shrouded in dark aura, exuding a somewhat sinister vibe. Horned, with an arrowhead tail.

"Who...?"

"I am the Twister of Fate. I've come to collect your warped destiny. Do you love this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fate of yours?"

"This... fate...? Yeah... I love who I am now."

Yustia answered with a dazed expression. Mael was by her side now. Everything she loved was whole. So.

"Would you give everything to protect this fate?"

"...Yeah."

Protecting what she loved—it was a sensation all too familiar to Yustia. No need for hesitation.

"Then I shall make you a guardian of twisted fates."

The horned woman extended her hand toward Yustia.

"Now, take my hand."

Yustia reached out. At that instant, a desperate voice cried out.

But the voice never reached Yustia, intercepted by the woman. Yustia grasped her hand. Black energy flowed from the woman, traveling up her arm into Yustia.

"Ah...♥"

A warm touch caressed her skin, seeping into her head, her heart, emptying her brain and soul, then refilling them with only what was needed: devotion, worship, submission.

Yustia realized it. This was the ultimate love she'd always craved.

"Darling♥"

At the doorway stood Yustia, her aura utterly transformed.

She wore a sheer, gossamer outfit reminiscent of a wedding dress. But the black color lent it a decadent edge.

"Where'd you find that? The outfit."

"Lady Succumea gave it to me."

Yustia stepped inside, pressing close and sliding her hand to my crotch as she spoke. Now I noticed the vulva tattoo etched on her lower abdomen. Hidden by the dress, but unmistakable in shape and hue.

"You've become a collectible, huh?"

"Not quite. I'm originally the ark's chosen hero, after all. I still have the power passed down from it. That's why I can wield my full abilities even when summoned to other worlds."

Come to think of it...

I recalled the park ambush. She'd blown away Ea and the others in an instant. Far stronger than the rest.

"Lady Succumea let me retain that power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠while corrupting me. So I can protect you with it, darling. Now I'm the app's guardian."

"Doesn't that mean this world's done for? Why not return to your original world?"

"Because this is our world now, darling. It doesn't end until we declare it so. There's still more to do, right?"

Yustia clung tightly, wrapping her arms around my neck. I kissed her. She greedily sucked down my saliva, then pulled back with a mischievous grin.

"Your cock's throbbing so hard, darling."

Her fingertips teased my crotch.

"Who do you think it's for?"

"Dunno. I was a pure virgin until recently, after all."

"Not anymore."

"Still. You gotta spell it out specifically, or I won't know~"

Yustia smirked playfully, feigning innocence. Had she picked up Succumea's personality in the corruption too?

"First, let's get rid of the nuisance."

I grabbed the hem of her dress and yanked it off. Best to rip the wrapping off a gift box.

"Kyaa?! You beast, stripping a woman's clothes so roughly."

"Just spread 'em already."

Yustia obediently perched on the bed and said primly.

"Wh-what are you planning now? Don't tell me you intend to shove that ferocious beast lurking in your pants into my pussy and thrash it around? Think the Silver Knight and ark's hero Yustia will submit to you just like that?"

She said it with the face of a horny bitch in heat.

"Wipe that drool first."

"Slurp. Th-this is just... I'm hungry!"

"Hungry for cock?"

I stripped off my pants, climbed onto the bed, pinned her down beneath me, and loomed over her.

"...Yeah, that's true."

Yustia grinned slyly like a cat.

"But it's all your fault, darling. You came to my world, twisted everyone, even me... I was a virgin right up until recently. I could've ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stayed that way forever. You made me know a love and happiness I never should have... So it's all on you."

She accused me playfully, then gazed up with eyes brimming with affection.

"So... Yustia will serve you. My owner... the master of my love."