Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Body Snatcher (2)
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It was a lump of wriggling flesh about the size of a child's head.
No legs, no arms, no eyes... but it could slither along with its flexible, elastic body or extend parts of itself like tentacles.
It was a magical byproduct I'd practiced and researched for a while.
In that it was created using life-system spells, it was similar to the one I'd used in the underground parking lot last time, but this was the latest improved version, several steps beyond the previous one that had been hard to control.
*The research data I smuggled out of Holistic was pretty helpful too.*
I beckoned to the lump of flesh, which had been undulating in place on its own.
It accepted my command and split into two pieces, moving in a way that mimicked cell division.
"Good. Well done."
Compared to [Black Goat's Fluid], which could turn humans into monsters, it was a pretty underwhelming spell.
*It can't do anything impressive yet... but who knows what it'll become once I research it more later.*
I sent a mental command to the wriggling lumps of flesh, then whispered softly.
"Go."
The lumps began rolling away at a ferocious speed. Avoid the surveillance team and head inside the building for now.
*Good. Now...*
I gestured toward Chae Tae-won, who was waiting at a distance. Preparations are complete, so feel free to come out if you're ready.
[Leap]
The leap spell activated, forming a dazzling magic circle on my clothes.
*Whoosh... taat!*
I sprang forward with tremendous force, closing the distance to the surveillance team in an instant while chaining off several spells.
First, lock down their movements.
[Grasp of Frost]
*Crackle, crrrack...*
Frost and ice began rising from beneath the surveillance team's feet.
Before they could even scream in surprise at the sudden attack...
[Sound Refraction]
I created a barrier of distorting magic toward the warehouse entrance. No matter how loud it got here, those inside wouldn't hear a thing.
"I-It's the enemy!"
"Come out! Enemy!"
One of the surveillance members, a man whose legs were frozen solid and unable to flee, took a [Butcher's Hook] straight to his body.
*Crunch!*
[Essence Absorption]
*Zzzzzuuuuur...*
A unique spell I'd acquired from the [Dreamland Dense Net Scripture]. With its necromantic properties, it synergized perfectly with the Butcher's Hook.
[S-rank Weapon 'Butcher's Hook' unique functions 'Evidence of Slaughter' and 'Time of Slaughter' activated.
// Time of Slaughter: All attacks against 'humans' have a 100% increased chance to inflict critical hits and bleeding.
// Evidence of Slaughter: Necromantic spell power increased by 100%.]
The Butcher's Hook absorbed the man's blood and essence.
"Gaaarghhh..."
Drained of fluids in seconds, the man collapsed without resistance, reduced to bones and skin.
The woman beside him drew a gun from her coat...
"You really gonna shoot that?"
"W-What...!?"
[Ignition]
[Spell Enhancement: Range Increase]
A 0th-circle basic spell that heats flammable materials to ignite them. A magic circle containing the ignition formula appeared behind the gun in her hand.
*BANG!!*
The target, of course, was the bullets loaded in the gun.
"Kyaaah!!"
She's making the exact sound you'd expect.
A few grenade fragments flew my way, but thanks to the distortion field, any that might've hit me veered off in random directions.
[Blood Whip]
A whip made of bright red blood extended from the Butcher's Hook and lashed the woman's body.
The ferocious swing tore her in two.
From her left shoulder diagonally down to her right waist. The massive spray of blood from her body flowed straight along the whip into the Butcher's Hook.
*It's a bit overkill, but...*
They'd already been dead the moment the parasites took their bodies.
The first step in a parasite dominating a human body was devouring the brain.
This was the kindest way for them.
The easiest way to deal with parasites was overwhelming, rapid attacks to destroy the bodies they controlled.
Once their ride became unusable, they'd reveal their true forms.
"No way... Even a wizard can't..."
"Destroying my body... You vile human bastard..."
*Crack-crunch—splatter-crackle—.*
The heads of the two immobilized bodies split open like exploding fruit.
Long-rotted, blackened brain matter splattered everywhere... and grotesque creatures burst from their skulls.
Dwarf-sized beings small enough to curl up inside a human head.
These were the parasites that had controlled the bodies.
At a glance, their silhouettes resembled humans, but up close, they were grotesque things no one would want to compare to humanity.
Compound eyes that induced nausea.
Skin glistening with blood and brain matter.
Twisted nerve clusters sprouting like plant roots where limbs should be.
A bizarre maw that split sideways instead of up and down.
It gaped open, unleashing an earsplitting screech.
"Kishiiiieeeek!"
"Give us your body, your body!"
Just looking at them made you want to puke.
[System: Attempting resistance to fear via Mental Strength stat. Mental Strength check failed.]
A fragile human mind could shatter just from encountering those shapes and noises.
[System: Unique trait 'Madness of the Abyss' activated.]
Of course, I was the exception.
Without the trait, I'd have lost it here and fallen into danger.
The creatures extended the nerve clusters sprouting in place of limbs.
Those clusters contained powerful hypnotic toxins that could steal control and will from the target.
But... right now!
Chae Tae-won burst from behind the parasites, spinning his body at tremendous speed.
*Whoom!*
His sharp kick flew toward the parasite with a terrifying whoosh of cleaved air.
*Smack!*
A sturdy boot reinforced with metal plates. The alien lifeform, evolved to parasitize other bodies by shedding most defenses, turned to mush and flew off from one kick.
At the same moment, my spell activated.
[Rope Manipulation]
*Whip-crack!!*
The nearest rope. I'd always used this spell on intestines rather than ropes, but today it targeted something else entirely. Not intestines, and not a rope.
It activated on the nerve cluster of the flying, pulped parasite. My Rope Manipulation instantly dominated the dead creature's tentacle, sending it whipping in a random direction.
Straight toward the other parasite that hadn't been hit by Chae Tae-won's attack.
"N-No, stay back!!!"
No use.
*Slash! Shlick-shlick!*
Dozens of nerve clusters tangled together.
The two parasites knotted and twisted until they were bound too tightly to unravel normally.
"Ah, was this a situation where you didn't need my help?"
"It was, but... you were helpful. Thank you."
"No trouble at all."
"L-Let me go!!"
The last one's desperate cries as it tangled with its ally's corpse. It struggled to escape the dead tentacles, but the more it moved, the more hopelessly entwined it became.
"Having fun?"
"Untie this now or I'll kill you all!!!"
Otherworldly races tended to look down on humans in general, but these guys were on another level.
"You're talking nonsense. You think begging will make me let you go?"
"You fucking bastaaard!!"
They'd been screaming so much I checked if the [Sound Refraction] at the warehouse entrance was still holding.
These little shits sure had lungs.
Parasitizing and controlling human bodies was just the beginning. They kept infiltrating higher-status humans, eventually taking over the elite to manipulate humanity from the shadows.
"You trash human! You're nothing but livestock to us! We eat you, we ride you. Kill me now, it won't matter! We keep multiplying, and you can't find us! Someday your family, your friends, your lover's body will fall into our hands. When that day comes... Mmph! Mmphmm!!"
So damn noisy. I manipulated the still-under-my-control tentacle to gag it. Even then, it wriggled desperately to escape.
It was starting to look like a neat ball of yarn.
"Keep squirming like that, and you'll never get free."
"Mmphmmph!!!"
Its bronchial structure was human enough that leaving it like this would let it choke itself to death.
I ignored the now-silent one and reactivated my detection spell. Exactly 60 mana sources inside.
Two mana signatures per body, so the actual number of parasites in there...
"Thirty more of these things inside."
"I..."
Chae Tae-won looked a bit dazed as he spoke. He'd apparently passed his sanity check on seeing these abominations, but he was still pretty shaken.
"I've seen monsters before, but nothing like these. What the hell are they?"
"Illegal immigrants the Management Bureau's after. Except they're aliens, not foreigners."
"Do you know how to fight them?"
"Nothing special. Kill 'em once, their true bodies burst from the head. Touch their tentacles, and you get hypnotized or body-snatched. Just don't let them touch you."
"You make it sound easy. Was this why you refused backup?"
Bringing a sloppy crowd could've led to someone getting taken over, causing instant chaos.
Worse, if they'd attacked me after I took out the possessed Triad members, I'd be framed.
"I wasn't certain, but I suspected they might be here. Yang Seo-ho wouldn't move for no reason."
"I see. Wait. Does that mean the girl they kidnapped...!?"
Exactly.
One per head, so even numbers don't add up.
Including the kidnapped Jung Hyun-ah, the mana signatures in the warehouse should've been odd-numbered.
"They're holding their coming-of-age rite for her in there right now."
"Coming-of-age rite? What's that?"
"A ritual to grant new bodies to their larval, bodiless forms."
[! Time Limit: Jung Hyun-ah dies in (30) minutes. !]
And the subject was Blue Tiger's daughter, whom they'd snatched today: Jung Hyun-ah.