Spread, Scatter, and Abandon (3)
I felt Indikron shudder and pull back slightly. She’d read my thoughts. Well, it couldn't be helped. Since she’d already figured it out, I decided to think it openly. I was going to eat Indikron. I didn't see any other way.
Indikron seemed genuinely surprised by my raw, naked desire. Just then, as I was in the middle of pressing Indikron, Kashnakas chimed in with a triumphant voice, scolding her.
She was clearly trying to seize the opportunity to oust Indikron and take charge of my soul. Her intentions were transparent. I couldn't let that slide. I had to say something to Kashnakas, too. Honestly, Kashnakas had a bit of a sociopathic, emotionless streak that terrified me, but I couldn't miss this chance.
“Lady Kashnakas. Why didn't you stop her?”
“No, Lady Kashnakas, you could have easily stopped Lady Indikron. Why did you just watch?”
Kashnakas seemed lost in thought. It was a bit scary, but I decided to push forward. If I played this right, I might be able to fix my twisted relationship with her.
“In the end... in the end, it’s all the same. No one trusts me... You all said I was the only one, yet you put me to the test. Gods... to you, I’m just a bug...”
As I delivered a convincing line meant to induce regret, Kashnakas suddenly started laughing.
Kashnakas’s sly, oily grin looked incredibly sinister. My act of pouting wasn't working at all. In fact, seeing her enjoy even this reaction made me feel the endless, obsessive love of a tentacle monster. I couldn't handle this. It was time to retreat. Besides, the clown’s circus tent would be appearing soon, so I needed to wrap this up.
“F-fine... just give me back my skills... I have nothing more to say.”
“Excuse me?”
Spend time together...? And just the two of us... 'I think... I’ve walked into something wrong...' As expected, I shouldn't have messed with Kashnakas. I’d fallen into a trap. A swamp I couldn't escape...
“Th-the ultimate... pleasure?”
Gulp. I swallowed my saliva involuntarily.
This insane evil god... was she offering me sexual favors? This is crazy. I was trying to film a regret-filled tragedy, but I ended up getting caught and eaten. This was my mistake. I could punish Indikron, who gained power from human emotions like despair, with emotional torment, but this crazy, materialistic tentacle monster didn't give a damn whether I was pouting or not. 'This is insane... she couldn't get what she wanted, so she just offered herself up...' I found myself nodding at Kashnakas’s looseness. I couldn't help it. The pleasure guaranteed was too great to refuse. I wanted to feel it again. That sensation from the Forest of the Missing, where it felt like my soul was being sucked out. The pleasure that felt like it would melt my spirit...
As I stood there, slightly dazed, Indikron shouted in a fit of rage.
“Yes?”
“Ah, well. Yes.”
“Yes? D-directly, you say...”
A reward from Indikron? And directly... What... what could it be? I hurriedly shook my head. Now wasn't the time for this. Right, not yet. I had to rescue Cheshire first. Of course, there was an 80 percent chance Cheshire had escaped on her own, but something could have gone wrong. The fact that she wasn't responding to the pager was deeply worrying.
“I-I’ll take both of your words for it. Honestly, I’m not that hurt, so don't be too discouraged... But I will definitely take the reward. Please give it to me directly.”
The two evil gods started fighting again. My brain was starting to throb from their voices. Just then, a tiny voice whispered into my ear.
“Ah, Lady Botamilli...”
My power returned in an instant. Botamilli had quickly restored my skills and scored points while Indikron and Kashnakas were busy fighting. As expected, the ultimate opportunist... she’s the best. Even contrary to her claim of having no power, Botamilli silenced the voices of the two evil gods who had started fighting using my head as a medium with incredible ease. It seemed she had blocked out the other gods so that only she and I remained. I felt something wrapping around me. A sensation of being encroached upon...
“I will remember your help, Lady Botamilli.”
I nodded at Botamilli’s encouragement and jumped into the circus tent.
“Haa... haa...”
“Hm? No way... you...! You finally came alone!! Wow!! Welcome!!!”
The clown, who had always scowled and been hostile toward Cheshire and me, bloomed with a radiant smile the moment I jumped into the circus tent alone. 'They said he treats you well if you visit alone... he’s really dying of joy now that I’m here alone... Disgusting...' That damn bastard. He was thrilled because Cheshire, who always protected me, wasn't there. He was probably planning to swindle me with some weird contract or turn me into a slave for his collection. Dirty, filthy bastard...
“I have no business here today!”
“What? W-wait!! Have a cup of coffee before you go!!! Hey!!!”
The clown slave trader came running toward me like a madman, trying to grab me. Feeling a terror almost on par with Pennywise, I hurriedly bolted out of the circus tent. Nothing good would happen if I got caught by that bastard. As I stepped out of the circus entrance, my body floated into the air again. Please, let me go to the drug den this time.
Meanwhile, the parasitic trees that had lost Jojun were spreading throughout the entire Black Market. Their principle of action was simple. The owner's owner had suddenly disappeared. They had to find the owner's owner. But they didn't know where they were, so it was difficult to find them. Therefore, they had to increase their numbers. That would make it easier to find the owner's owner. Let’s increase our numbers. As always, if they kept proliferating, they would find the answer. Thus, the parasitic trees began attacking the bipeds to keep increasing.
“Hm...? Who are you...”
The central plaza of the Black Market. The parasitic tree host that appeared there approached a biped sleeping on the street, whose face was riddled with holes.
“Urrr...”
“Wh-what... get lost. I don't have any coins...”
“Uraaaaaa...”
Parasitic trees were creatures that were essentially incapable of conversation. They were monsters with nothing but an inexplicable obsession with their owner and an endless desire to proliferate.
-*Splatter!!!*
“Kieeeee!!!”
The homeless biped in the central plaza of the Black Market let out a scream. The finger bones of the parasitic tree host had been driven into the homeless biped’s chest.
“Help me!!! Pleaaaaase!!!”
The parasitic tree infiltrated the homeless man’s body through his fingers. Before he could even try to resist, the biped died as his heart was wrapped in the parasitic tree. However, no one paid any attention to the homeless man’s dying screams. This was the Black Market. It wouldn't be strange for those without money or power to be slaughtered at any time. Thus, the other bipeds assumed another victim had just been claimed, as always. Right. Because there wasn't a single Good Samaritan in the Black Market, because it was filled only with Bad Samaritans, and because no one paid any attention to the weak... the disaster could not be nipped in the bud.
“Wh-what are those things!!!”
“I-I don't know!! Call the security force!!”
“Kyaaaaaa!!!”
“Damn it!!!! Get out of the way!! Kyaaaa!!!”
Bipeds were being torn apart. Bipeds were dying faster than the parasitic tree hosts were being killed, and as a result, the number of parasitic tree hosts kept increasing. And the increased parasitic trees formed an army and spread throughout the Black Market. From the food alley to the drug den, the circus tent where the slave traders were, and the twisted alleys. The security force finally stepped in, but it was insufficient to stop the thousands of parasitic trees that had taken over biped bodies and begun to move in earnest.
“This is clearly an act of biological terrorism... what on earth are those things?!”
“They are presumed to be an extinct species called parasitic trees.”
“What? An extinct species?”
“Yes... they were already dealt with long ago because they were too dangerous... why are things like that walking around in broad daylight...?”
“Wait... first of all, who is the culprit? Is it the poacher’s doing? If it’s an extinct species, he’s the most likely suspect...”
“That... analysis results suggest it’s a human from Earth named Son Haeun. And that human has a separate owner...”
“A human from Earth committed terrorism... who is that Son Haeun’s owner?”
“A human from Earth named Jang Jojun... the one who is a person of interest in the Black Market... and the one rumored to be the partner of that wild Cheshire...”
“J-Jang Jojun? I thought that guy was... dragged away by Boxman earlier...”
They had identified the culprit, but his whereabouts were unknown. If they didn't find him quickly, the entire Black Market would be teeming with corpses. If that happened, they might have to ‘disinfect’ the entire Black Market. Just like when the underground security force came up last time.
That was when someone pointed at the rattling manhole cover.
“Th-that is...”
To make matters worse, even the underground floor of the Black Market began to stir. Soon, the manhole covers burst open all at once, and the underground security force poured out. Furthermore, low-level demons without names poured out to find Jojun... The central plaza was being devastated. Buildings that had been expanded at will collapsed, and the weak bipeds who had nowhere to run fled toward a very sturdy shop that was standing firmly even in this situation.
“Please!! Open the door!!!”
“Get lost!! We don't accept people without money!!!”
“M-money!! I have enough coins!!! Open it quickly!!”
“Shit!! They’re coming!!!”
Only the shop swarming with flies could survive this catastrophe...
“My goodness, the evil gods are helping me...”
Perpero, a heinous merchant who sold his own kind for money, realized that now was the golden opportunity to increase his sales.