Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Body Snatcher (4)
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The humans visible to the eye were actually innocent victims whose bodies had been taken over by extraterrestrial beings. This horrific scene of abducting a child to implant a parasite... They were the true masterminds behind this incident—the alien body snatchers.
Your mind can accept this shocking truth?
[System: Attempting resistance to fear using the Mental Fortitude stat. Mental Fortitude check failed.]
Staring at stuff like this all the time would drive anyone insane, their reason flying out the window...
[System: Exclusive trait 'Abyssal Madness' activates.]
Yeah, that's more like it.
Today, [Abyssal Madness] is really pulling its weight.
No, this isn't the time to be happy about a trait activating.
If I leave things like this, Jeong Hyun-ah's body will be taken over.
A bright red, elongated tongue slithers out from the adult parasite.
It's a grotesque tongue that looks more like a monster's tentacle than anything human.
The adult parasite smacked its lips with that repulsive tongue for a moment, then spoke to the juvenile parasite, who hadn't yet claimed a body, as if giving an order.
"Enter this human's body."
"Use this child's body to kill her parents and take theirs as well."
"Or it's not bad to commit suicide right in front of them and let them taste despair."
"Give them inescapable despair."
[! Time Limit: Jeong Hyun-ah will die in (1) minute. !]
"Kieeeek!!"
The moment the juvenile parasite let out a bizarre screech and tried to enter Jeong Hyun-ah's mouth.
The flesh mass I'd infiltrated in advance shot forward at high speed.
Flesh Burst!!
Splat!
A bizarre lump of flesh suddenly intrudes into the center of their consciousness.
"W-What?! What is that thing?!"
That grotesque magical creature, wriggling like a giant amoeba or a phagocyte, instantly wrapped around the juvenile parasite's body and began assimilating it with its own flesh.
"Kiek... Keeek!!"
The juvenile parasite desperately sent a plea for help toward the adult.
"S-Stop! My child!!!"
But it was already too late. The flesh mass that had completely enveloped the juvenile parasite bounced back up and fled outside the pentagram. Now it would quietly finish its devouring in the darkness.
"D-Dammit! An intruder! Someone's interfering with our consciousness! Find it! Kill it!!!"
Now it's time to smash that yapping mouth that's starting to spew nonsense.
I left Chae Tae-won behind and moved as close as possible to them. When I could no longer hide my body, I spoke toward them.
"You bastards, cut it out."
"Who's there!"
The typical response permitted to villains.
At the same time, the adult parasite screamed.
"You dare interrupt our sacred ritual and kill my child! Kill that bastard!"
Some of the ones outside the pentagram pulled out guns.
Our country still bans gun ownership, so why are there so many armed thugs? Bald-headed bruisers in black suits. Looks like they're from the Three Heads Society. Ah, so they used those guys to kidnap Jeong Hyun-ah?
[R'lyeh's Mist]
'The same strategy I used last time with Curtain Call should work best.'
Shiiiii...
A sinister, thick fog spreads around my body.
R'lyeh's Mist is a 2nd-circle wide-area confusion spell.
This magical fog, which blocks not just visibility but even mana detection, spreads ferociously, completely engulfing the warehouse.
"W-What?!"
"Shoot! It's a wizard! Just shoot!"
"Don't give it time to cast!"
Bang! Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat!
[Leap]
They fired away excitedly, but I was already gone from that spot.
These guys aren't that tough.
Their Mental Fortitude stats are way higher than mine, so they're almost immune to mental or curse magic, but they have no real resistance to getting grilled.
'But I have to fight without harming Jeong Hyun-ah right in front of me...'
The silver lining is that she's brainwashed, so no risk of her panicking?
"Over there!"
"W-What, where?!"
"No, there!"
"Kill it!!!"
Rat-a-tat-tat! Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat!
The enemies, plunged into chaos, started firing wildly in every direction.
Some bullets flew my way, but thanks to the distortion field I'd set up in advance, none hit me.
'No, wasting bullets like that.'
I channeled mana to add new properties to the distortion field.
Expand the range... and spin.
Bullets that touch the distortion field spin wildly like they're caught in a vortex.
After a few rotations, gaining new trajectories, the bullets fly back toward the enemies.
"Argh!"
"There are more than one or two enemies!"
"The Immigration Control Bureau brought a whole unit!"
Keep fighting among yourselves.
They can't see my position, but I can see them clear as day.
"Where, where are you!"
"You human bastard!"
"Argh... Shot, I got shot!"
Some collapse from their own bullets and stop moving, others wail and thrash about.
They're "ruling species from another dimension" or whatever, but they're still limited by the abilities and intelligence of organic bodies.
'Time for the big one to step up.'
"Get out of the way, you worthless fools!"
I sense the adult moving through the fog.
Bright red light beams from its eyes.
Then, thin, root-like tentacles extend from its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
Not tentacles—their nerve clusters.
Lesser ones wield them directly as weapons, but an adult can draw out more power.
Bzzzz... Bzzzzz...
Dazzling light forms at the tips of the nerve clusters, extending into tentacles.
'That's annoying...'
A unique ability usable only by certain parasites... [Mind Whip].
A whip made of psychic power so potent it takes on physical form.
Bwoooom!!!
The glowing tentacle extends in an instant, sweeping the surroundings.
Crack! Craaaash!!!
Objects caught in the whip-like tentacle shatter to pieces.
It's a mix of telekinesis, telepathy, and hypnosis.
It can deal physical damage and dominate the mind of anyone hit, but from the defender's side, you can't touch it—it pierces distortion fields and barriers.
'Totally a cheat skill.'
It still can't see me, but it's using its wide attack range to...
Bwooooom!!
Narrow down where I can dodge.
Doesn't matter—it has no idea what I can do.
I projected mana toward the outside of the warehouse.
[Magnetic Control]
[Spell Enhancement: Maximize]
Ziiiiing...
With a strange sensation making my body hairs stand on end, one of the 2nd-circle spells activates.
'A spell that manipulates metal using magnetism.'
Kruuung...
Metal pipes scattered around the warehouse float into the air.
Piuuuung!!
Pipes brimming with energy fly toward the parasites.
"Useless!"
Slash! Crunch! Boom!
The [Mind Whip] is pure manifestation of thought, without weight or substance.
The whip, swung at light speed, deflects all incoming pipes.
"No matter what, you're just pathetic humans who haven't received any god's grace."
Why do all these aliens spout the same crap...
The pipes I launched scattered everywhere, but that was exactly what I aimed for.
Whirrr... Thunk!
Pipes stab into the floor.
Thunk! Thunk-thunk-thunk!!!
Metal pillars arranged as if encircling them.
Of course, not coincidence.
All under my magnetic control.
[Thunder Wave]
Crackle, bzzz... Zzapzapzap!!!
The chain lightning waves I unleash bounce between the pipes, forming a barrier of electricity.
Overwhelmed by the blinding white thunder curtain, they hesitate and fall back.
"Tch, it's useless! You can't stop me, blessed by the Great Will, with this petty current!"
It swings the glowing whip again.
Trying to smash the surrounding iron pipes and destroy the electric barrier.
Bwoooom-.
Bzzzzz!!!
But things don't go as it planned.
The Mind Whip, colliding with the power grid, tangles with it, slips its control, thrashes wildly...
And dissipates.
"W-What is this? This... What!? What did you do!"
[Telepathy]
I cast a spell to make my voice seem to come from a random direction.
Look over there instead of here, folks.
"Didn't you know? Guess you're not that old after all?"
"W-What are you talking about?"
That psychic whip pierces barriers and distortion fields with its insane performance, but it has one weakness.
"Your psychic whips go out of control with overreaction when they touch electromagnetic waves of specific frequencies. Guess your Mahhsh didn't tell you?"
Mahhsh... Roughly "mother" or "clan leader" in their language.
Horror and fear bloom in its eyes. Then it spasms, snatches a gun from a nearby minion...
"D-Die!! You monster!! Die!!!"
Bang! Bang-bang! Rat-a-tat-tat!!!
It unloads toward where my voice came from, but I'm not there.
"Who's calling who a monster?"
I activated [Chains of Dominion] and hurled some nearby boxes.
Crash, whoosh!!
Oh, these boxes are full of books. Makes sense—this used to be a printing plant.
Good, books won't kill Jeong Hyun-ah or Chae Tae-won if they get hit.
[Leap]
I leaped again to perch on a suitable shelf and crouched down. Then cast another spell.
[Chains of Dominion]
[Spell Enhancement: Multi-cast]
Rattle!!!
Dozens of gleaming golden chains lash out in all directions. They touch the stacked book crates nearby... and issue a command.
『Fly.』
The sight of hundreds of books flying toward the widespread fog was quite the spectacle. Well, they're just books anyway.
"Argh!!"
But the ones shrouded in fog, not knowing what's incoming, freak out and scream the moment something heavy hits them. Now, time to move to the next phase...
"Wizard!"
Luckily, Chae Tae-won timed it perfectly. Slipping into the fog amid the chaos, he's now running out with Jeong Hyun-ah slung over his shoulder.
The adult finally grasps the situation and screams.
"You idiots, grab that guy!!!"
"Too late."
Bang! Rat-a-tat!
Several gun barrels spit fire toward Chae Tae-won.
[Chains of Dominion]
[Spell Enhancement: Multi-cast]
[Great Gale]
But I anticipated this. A beat earlier, I activated Chains of Dominion and summoned a gale strong enough to lift boulders, sending hundreds more books flying. The books briefly blocked the bullets, and Chae Tae-won vanished behind the shelves with Jeong Hyun-ah.
Smart guy—he'll handle escaping or securing a safe spot.
A few bullets came my way, but I deflected them with the distortion field... and leaped again!
Ta!
From afar, they look trapped in a prison of blinding white lightning.
'Definitely inexperienced.'
The evil mana gathered from that ritual earlier is still pooling around.
If they start using that, it'll be trouble.
Ideally, I'd tie them up like this and interrogate, but... better to wipe them out before things escalate.