113. Human Garden (2)
113. Human Garden (2)
The Healer Adventurer escaping the Human Zoo all too easily.
"S-Sorry...!"
Yui, who was no longer human but had completely become a creature like Amber, slammed her head against the floor so hard it seemed like she'd draw blood.
"It's fine. After all, this is precisely why we set up these measures in the first place."
The Human Zoo was created to collect, preserve, and observe special and interesting humans.
Ultimately, those kinds of humans would each possess their own unique and special power.
There's no need to put powerless humans in the Human Zoo, nor any reason to observe them. They simply have their heads separated so their brains can be eaten.
The humans who enter the Human Zoo are all special individuals, so they won't give up easily.
They will definitely refuse, struggle, and try to escape.
Since all the humans I'm trying to put into the Human Zoo are special, they will try to escape using all kinds of methods.
That's why I planned to test the security of the Human Zoo zone using the humans I recently kidnapped as test subjects.
But I never expected they would escape the Human Zoo in under an hour.
Yui's mana currently exceeds 100, reaching a staggering 105.
This mana level is now higher than Prodisia's. For a human, she's already strong enough to be called a Grand Mage, yet I never expected the Healer Adventurer to undo the spells Yui had set.
Especially when the Healer Adventurer's mana is only 90.
Well, come to think of it, I know that breaking a lock is always easier than making one.
When creating security, you have to consider tens of thousands of methods, but someone breaking through only needs to find a single vulnerability.
I don't have talent for magic and don't understand it well, but it's probably similar.
The Healer Adventurer quickly found and rescued an archer who had been undergoing experiments nearby.
This was intentional.
Originally, I could have prevented even a single sound from leaking out, but I deliberately allowed them to find the archer.
I wanted to observe how long gradual corruption would take, how much control could be maintained, and how much resistance was possible, rather than doing complete assimilation.
The Healer Adventurer and the archer walked tirelessly to escape the maze-like Human Zoo.
Even with their limbs severed, they created legs with magic and kept walking—truly impressive.
Is it because they're not ordinary humans? Their determination not to give up and to escape from here was palpable even to me.
The Healer Adventurer's unique ability allowed them to avoid my children that were scattered about.
But it wasn't long before they realized something strange.
"I feel like we're going in circles."
The archer touched the cave wall with her hand.
"This wall here... we definitely passed by an identical wall before."
"Really? What should we do...?"
"Let's leave a mark and keep going, just in case identical walls actually exist."
The archer lightly infused some mana into the wall and continued walking.
After walking for about ten minutes and returning to the original spot, the archer nodded while looking at the mana trace she had left.
"We've been going in circles this whole time."
"That's impossible. We only went straight..."
"An illusion...? Hallucination...? What the hell is this?"
That maze was none other than a creature itself.
To be precise, it could be called Yui's physical body.
"Wait a second... This...!"
It seemed the archer had caught on.
The archer coated her hand with mana and thrust it into what looked like a cave wall.
Thwip—!
The wall tore like paper being cut, revealing a wall made entirely of vines inside.
"This is..."
"Ugh!"
Countless vines were writhing.
"Yui."
"Yes."
"Is it okay if that gets attacked?"
"It's fine. It's under my control, but I don't share its senses."
"I see."
I looked at Yui, who was standing still, and touched the flower blooming on her chest.
It was sudden, but the flower growing on her chest caught my attention.
"H-huuuh..."
"Ah, sorry."
The moment I lightly touched the flower, Yui's body trembled violently and she let out a moan, so I immediately pulled my hand back.
"N-no, it's fine."
"But isn't it hard being this sensitive?"
I hadn't even grabbed her chest roughly or stimulated her nipples—I just barely brushed the flower growing on her chest, yet Yui reacted almost as if she were climaxing.
"When someone else touches it, there's no reaction at all. It's because it's Your Majesty..."
Yui turned her head away, her face flushed.
Ah, come to think of it, that flower isn't just a flower—it's a creature.
All creatures love my touch. More precisely, they're madly devoted to me.
To the point where they would die without a second thought at a single command.
Right now, Yui's body isn't a human body anymore—her entire physical form is filled with those flowers and vines.
So when I touched that flower, her entire body connected to the flower responded with pleasure, producing that kind of reaction.
'I want to devour her.'
I always think this—Amber and Yui look truly delicious.
Both as food and as objects of carnal desire.
But right now, I have more thoughts as a Queen than human sexual desires, so I'm simply not laying a hand on them.
==
"The entire place is within her palm..."
"Her?"
"Yui, the one I mentioned earlier. That woman named Yui had those vines and flowers inside her body. Everything—from trying to kill my sister to managing this entire massive space—seems to be her doing."
"Then that means... she might be watching us right now. If so, why is she watching us?"
"I don't know. But one thing is certain—she's underestimating us. I think now is our chance to escape."
The Healer Adventurer had been conserving her mana and holy power, unsure when a fight might break out.
But now that she knew this place was a massive maze made of creatures, there was no reason not to use her holy power.
She had already realized from rescuing the archer that creatures are weak to holy power.
The Healer Adventurer thought again as she gathered her holy power.
'How the hell was that monster able to absorb holy power?'
Every creature she had encountered until now had been heavily shocked by holy power.
But the monster that had annihilated their party wasn't just immune to holy power—it became empowered by it.
If the mage hadn't been neutralized and they had used holy power from the start, they would have been annihilated even faster.
'For now, let's focus on escaping this place.'
[ Kiiiiiyeeeeeeeeeek—!!! ]
As holy power radiated outward from the Healer Adventurer, all the nearby creatures began screaming and retreating, finally revealing the true appearance of this place.
"Which direction?!"
The archer shouted, carrying the staggering Healer Adventurer on her back as she used her holy power.
"That way!"
It was now a race against time.
Even if the enemy already knew they had escaped, they might try to stop them if this was such a major incident.
The Healer Adventurer used her unique ability to point her finger in the direction where their companions were.
The archer ran quickly in the direction the Healer Adventurer pointed.
Fortunately, since the archer had speed surpassing even the hero and had sustained no damage, she could run at her full speed.
"Turn right up ahead!"
The moment the archer turned in the direction the Healer Adventurer indicated, she stopped in her tracks.
"Ugh—!"
"Wh-what is... this..."
What appeared before their eyes was a countless number of humans.
More precisely, humans undergoing various experiments.
The most common sight was pregnant women.
They were so buried in tentacle-like creatures that it was easy to mistakenly think they were being devoured.
Their faces, chests, and genitals were all overtaken by tentacle creatures.
"Huuh... huuh... Jena. Stay calm and tell me where our companions are."
"Uh, okay...! Th-there, that direction."
Even though they were the hero's party, they passed by countless humans and ran toward where their companions were.
"W-wait a moment...!"
The Healer Adventurer urgently stopped the archer as they arrived right before where she sensed the goodwill of their companions through her unique ability.
"There's... a massive hostile presence ahead...!"
"Tch! Of course it wouldn't be that easy."
"But it's not the hostility of that monster."
"Well, that's somewhat relieving."
The archer silently approached the door before her without making a sound.
Opening this door would mean confronting the creature with the strong hostility the Healer Adventurer had mentioned, but on the other hand, it also meant their companions were currently with that creature.
"Ready?"
"Yes...!"
The archer reinforced her body by wrapping herself in mana, and the Healer Adventurer further strengthened the archer's body with holy power.
Bracing herself, the archer opened the door slightly, immediately frowning at the overwhelming stench of rot, and moved her gaze through the crack.
"...!"
There, she saw their companions—the hero and the mage.
But they weren't in normal condition.
The archer urgently raised one hand to cover the Healer Adventurer's eyes.
'There's no hope...'
They were in a state so horrifying it was difficult to even describe.
Among them, the mage—in the most gruesome state—made even the archer, who had seen countless corpses, gag.
Her entire skin had been peeled off.
Particularly, her upper body wasn't just missing skin—her muscles were gone too, leaving all her organs completely exposed.
Her heart was still pumping, making it even more chilling.
Her head had been cut off above the eyes, exposing her brain.
A creature resembling the owner of the tentacles they had seen earlier was touching the mage's fully exposed brain with its tentacles.
"Eugh. Ugh. Agh."
The mage could only let out intermittent moans whenever the tentacles moved.