Sudden Change

In a remote mountain forest in the Parasyte world, several people were locked in a fierce battle with a monster.

The monster had a humanoid body, but its head and arms had transformed into long whips of flesh and sinew. It looked like a bloody lump of meat that had been skinned alive!

Each whip ended in two or three sharp blades, which it swung at the group at a speed beyond normal human vision.

Normally, after a Parasyte infected a human, it devoured the human brain and took control of the body, becoming a killing machine with no sense of pain or emotion—utterly pure, rational, and calm! It could also freely control the cells and muscles of the body.

An ordinary human, once infected, could probably step straight into the advanced first tier, because Parasytes had already surpassed the limits of human speed and strength!

But Gotou, the Parasyte in the middle of the battle, was made up of five Parasytes sharing a single body! Apart from its legs, which it needed to maintain balance and move, its arms and head had become crimson blades, which it swung to attack!

The one meeting its attacks head-on was none other than the protagonist of the Parasyte world, Shinichi Izumi—a special case who had been infected by a Parasyte but whose brain hadn't been devoured.

However, only Shinichi's right hand had been infected. Against a single Parasyte, he might have easily won with his human intelligence and the Parasyte's formidable combat power. But the enemy clearly exceeded the limits of an ordinary Parasyte!

The combined strength of multiple Parasytes represented a peak that ordinary Parasytes could hardly reach!

Migi, the Parasyte in Shinichi's right hand, had turned into a bloody whip and was lashing about furiously, moving faster than the human eye could follow as it fended off the attacks of Gotou's two arms and head—three Parasytes in total.

In the next instant, after Migi had barely managed to hold off the assault, Gotou finally caught an opening. A sharp blade of flesh pierced through the defense and shot straight toward Shinichi's heart.

Just then, a whip of blue lightning struck first, hitting the menacing blade of flesh head-on.

"Storm Release: Laser Circus!" Darui panted as he unleashed this Kekkei Genkai technique.

There was no doubt that Storm Release was powerful. That single strike killed one of Gotou's Parasytes outright!

The fleshy tentacle was charred and shriveled by the attack. Gotou acted decisively, severing the dead Parasyte from its body like a lizard shedding its tail.

The Parasyte in Gotou's left arm had died, while its right arm continued to suppress Shinichi. Its head pulled back and returned to normal, then twisted around a full 180 degrees. Its eyes remained utterly impassive as it stared at Darui, who had attacked from behind.

"An unknown energy attack. Your body seems to have even greater potential."

Gotou's head split apart, springing up like an intact serpent made of flesh. It swung its blades, slashing at Darui in an attempt to kill him!

At the last moment, Darui used the Substitution Technique to evade the fatal blow!

Although his ninjutsu could deal a deadly blow to the monster before him, the monster had clearly realized this too. It kept attacking, giving Darui no chance to use another technique.

As a Genin, Darui had plenty of offensive power but lacked physical strength. In fact, most ninja in the entire Ninja World were like that: their offensive power far outstripped their physical abilities! Darui's body was only much stronger than an ordinary person's; he hadn't managed to transcend the limits of the flesh.

Under the Parasyte's attacks, which moved beyond the limits of human vision, the group might all have died on the spot if Saeko Busujima hadn't stepped forward and risked her life to block several of Gotou's attacks with the long metal sword in her hands.

Only five people and one monster remained on the battlefield. Shinichi was the main fighter. In the first mission, Koala and Satomi Murano had obtained two pistols, but during the second mission—to help Shinichi kill Gotou—they had misjudged how much damage firearms could inflict on Gotou. He noticed them too soon and grievously wounded them, leaving them unable to fight.

The rest of the nameless Reincarnators had either been eliminated during the previous mission or killed early in the fight against Gotou.

It was precisely because Gotou had wounded Satomi that Shinichi had exploded with such formidable strength after seeing his girlfriend hurt, holding Gotou off all by himself.

Darui and Saeko Busujima, the two strongest fighters in this Reincarnation mission, were also doing everything they could to keep Gotou at bay.

Finally, through the combined efforts of the group, Migi desperately restrained Gotou while Saeko Busujima supported him and Darui completed one final Lightning Release technique, killing all five of Gotou's Parasytes. By then, everyone was wounded.

Once they had killed Gotou, the main quest in the Parasyte world had progressed to about 95%.

This had been the final battle of Shinichi Izumi alone. Because the Reincarnators had entered the picture, Migi hadn't been gravely wounded and fallen into a deep sleep, and Shinichi's parents had survived thanks to the previous Reincarnation mission.

It could be said that during the time he'd been infected, the Reincarnators' fate had already become deeply entangled with his. The Reincarnators from the Main God Space had helped him, but had also reaped most of his fortune.

And after the protagonist defeated the strongest Parasyte, most of the fortune surrounding Shinichi, the Child of Destiny, was absorbed by the Main God Space.

Zhu Shen, who was hovering invisibly in the air and watching, discovered that he could now set Shinichi as a Reincarnator!

He immediately issued the Reincarnator Assistant System to Shinichi. At that moment, Zhu Shen felt as if the entire Parasyte world had "come alive"!

The world had lost its Child of Destiny, and its consciousness seemed to realize something was wrong. The whole world began to change in ways no one could see.

Everything had changed. Everyone present suddenly felt a hostility coming from the world itself. Staying here for even another second felt unbearable, and they couldn't help wanting to return to the Main God Space at once. Yet after the Reincarnation mission was completed, the Main God Space didn't offer the option to return immediately!

"Hey, Busujima, didn't you say we could choose to return to our original world as soon as we finished the mission?" Darui asked, confused.

Saeko Busujima had been bandaging the bleeding on her left arm. Now she, too, felt that something was wrong. She shook her head in confusion.

"I'm not sure. Usually, after the main quest is complete, we can choose to return immediately or stay for 24 hours before returning automatically. But this time..."

She paused, sounding uncertain. "It feels different. It's as if this world has come alive and is trying to drive us out!"

"I feel it too!" Koala had recovered by then.

While the group was discussing what to do, a heart inside Gotou's corpse gave a strange thump. Suddenly, a small lump of flesh with eyes burst out from Gotou's back and charged straight at Shinichi!

Shinichi was holding his gravely wounded girlfriend, Satomi Murano, and was completely unprepared for the sudden turn of events. The Parasyte burrowed straight into him through the wound on Satomi's hand!

"Shinichi!"

Migi reacted, but the battle had already drained a huge amount of energy from its body. At that moment, both it and Shinichi were exhausted to their limits. Since they shared a body, neither the human nor the Parasyte could react in time while their guard was down.

After Gotou's Parasyte suddenly burrowed into Satomi's body, it quickly moved to her brain. It was about to devour her brain!

Migi was a few seconds late in shifting into combat mode. Two small blades instantly sprang out, and it chopped at Satomi's head!

Just as the blades were about to hack Satomi's head—and the Parasyte inside it—to pieces, a hand grabbed Migi's fleshy whip.

"Shinichi!" Migi's large, open eye stared at its host in confusion.

"Migi, don't..."

Shinichi's eyes filled with tears. In an almost pleading voice, he stopped Migi. He couldn't bear to see Satomi and the monster killed together.

But he also understood that since Satomi had been infected, if he didn't kill her now, she would only end up having her brain eaten.

However, because the Reincarnators had entered the picture, he hadn't lost his parents, nor had his heart been pierced and fused with Migi's cells. As a result, he hadn't become the powerful, rational, cold-hearted man who had lost his emotions.

But in the next second, a sharp blade flashed past, and Satomi's beautiful head soared into the air before tumbling to a stop at Shinichi's feet...

"Leaving her alive would only create a future threat. Besides, she can be revived."

Saeko Busujima calmly sheathed her sword. She had swung it so fast that not a trace of blood remained on the blade.

Shinichi felt as though his mind had exploded. The sudden shock, combined with the strange words of the person before him, shattered his entire worldview.

Before he could react, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his abdomen. A bone blade made of flesh had pierced straight through him.

The "Satomi" in his arms slowly withdrew the blade and stood up in a bizarre manner.

Saeko Busujima recoiled in an instant, bristling like a startled cat, and retreated to Darui's side.

"Damn, it's not dead!"

But after the "Satomi" Parasyte stood up, it didn't continue killing. Instead, it gave a furious roar toward a spot in the sky.

At that moment, a sigh sounded in everyone's ears.

"Sigh. So this is your counterattack? It's a little childish, don't you think?"

Zhu Shen's figure appeared in midair. He now had the ordinary looks he'd had in his previous life. He looked utterly unremarkable, yet stood steadily in the air with his arms folded as if gravity didn't exist, exuding an imposing presence.

When the "Satomi" Parasyte saw Zhu Shen appear, it became even more frenzied. It bent its legs slightly, its foot muscles bulging wildly, and launched itself dozens of meters into the air. A sharp bone spear extended from its severed neck and thrust straight at Zhu Shen.

Zhu Shen didn't dodge. He merely raised a psychokinetic barrier in front of himself. The Parasyte slammed into it, shattering its reinforced spear to pieces!

Then Zhu Shen used psychokinesis to immobilize its entire body.

"I see. The world's fortune was bestowed upon you, strengthening this monster. How interesting!"

Perhaps sensing how powerful Zhu Shen was, the monster struggled frantically. Its body remained completely motionless, but every blood vessel began to swell, and its muscles twisted. As it fought desperately, it finally turned into a cloud of blood in midair!

Zhu Shen frowned and casually waved his hand. A whirlwind sprang up out of nowhere in front of him, and all the flesh was obliterated into its most basic particles, as if someone were slowly erasing it with an eraser, until nothing remained...

Zhu Shen then summoned another small whirlwind and a mass of water vapor, thoroughly purifying the area before nodding. He slowly descended from the air and landed in front of the group.

Shinichi had been knocked unconscious by one shock after another, compounded by his serious injury. Blood was still pouring from the wound in his abdomen.

He had once been the Child of Destiny, and was now an employee working under him. Naturally, Zhu Shen wouldn't let him die for nothing.

Zhu Shen snapped his fingers, and the wound in Shinichi's abdomen began to heal on its own. A moment later, it had disappeared completely, without even leaving a scar.

Cold sweat poured down Saeko Busujima's back. Her instincts told her that the person before her was completely beyond their ability to resist. Yet she was the only person present who could still put up any kind of fight.

So she gathered her courage and asked, "My lord, is there anything we can do for you?"

Zhu Shen smiled faintly and said, "Don't be alarmed. We come from the same place."