Shocking Change

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

The monster possessed a humanoid torso, but its head and both arms had transformed into long whips made of flesh and fascia. Overall, it looked like a bloody, skinned mass of meat.

Each of these fleshy whips was tipped with two or three sharp blades, lashing out at the group at speeds that exceeded normal human visual perception.

Normally, after a Parasyte takes over a human body, it devours the brain to control the flesh, becoming a pure, rational, and cold killing machine devoid of pain or emotion. They can also freely control the muscles and cells of their host.

Once an ordinary human is parasitized, they can generally step into the high-level Tier 1 range, as both the speed and strength of a Parasyte far exceed human limits.

The Parasyte in this battle, Gotou, was actually five Parasytes sharing a single body. Aside from his feet, which were needed for balance and movement, his arms and head had all transformed into bloody blades, which he swung to launch his assault.

Blocking his attacks head-on was Shinichi Izumi, the protagonist of the Parasyte world—a special existence who had been parasitized but whose brain remained unconsumed.

However, only Shinichi's right hand was parasitized. While he might have been able to win against a single Parasyte by relying on human intellect and the creature's combat prowess, his opponent clearly exceeded the limits of a standard Parasyte.

The combined power of multiple Parasytes represented a peak that ordinary ones could never reach.

Migi, the Parasyte that had replaced Shinichi's right hand, transformed into a fleshy whip, dancing frantically to parry the onslaught of Gotou's three-pronged attack from his two arms and head at speeds beyond the human eye.

A moment later, seeing Migi struggling to keep up, Gotou finally seized an opening. A sharp blade of flesh pierced through the defense, aiming straight for Shinichi's heart.

Just then, a whip made of blue lightning struck first, slamming directly into the menacing blade of flesh.

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

The power of the Storm Release was undeniable; this single strike killed one of the Parasytes within Gotou instantly.

The fleshy tentacle was scorched to a crisp and withered away by the Storm Release. Gotou made a split-second decision, severing the dead Parasyte from his body like a lizard dropping its tail.

With the Parasyte in his left arm necrotic, Gotou continued to suppress Shinichi with his right, while his head retracted and returned to normal. It twisted a bizarre 180 degrees, staring with emotionless eyes at Darui, who had launched the sneak attack from behind.

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

Gotou's head split open, launching itself like a complete, serpentine mass of flesh, swinging a blade in an attempt to execute Darui.

In the face of death, Darui used the Body Replacement Technique to dodge the fatal blow.

Although his ninjutsu had enough offensive power to pose a lethal threat to the monster, the creature clearly realized this and kept up a relentless assault, denying Darui any opportunity to cast further techniques.

As a Genin, Darui had plenty of offensive power but lacked the physical constitution to match—or rather, most ninjas in the Ninja World were like this, their attack power far exceeding their physical capabilities. His body was only slightly stronger than an ordinary person's and could not break through the limits of the mundane through physical prowess alone.

Under the monster's attacks, which moved faster than the human eye could track, the group would have been wiped out on the spot had Saeko Busujima not stepped forward, desperately blocking several of Gotou's strikes with her metal katana.

Now, only five people and one monster remained on the field. Shinichi was the main force, while Koala and Satomi Murano had acquired two handguns during the first mission. However, they had miscalculated the damage those weapons could inflict on Gotou during the second mission to assist Shinichi, leading to them being noticed by the monster and suffering severe injuries that rendered them combat-ineffective.

The other nameless Reincarnators had unfortunately either been eliminated in the previous mission or killed during the initial siege on Gotou.

It was precisely because Murano had been wounded by Gotou that Shinichi, seeing his girlfriend hurt, erupted with immense combat power, holding Gotou off single-handedly.

Darui and Saeko, as the two strongest combatants in this reincarnation mission, were also doing their utmost to pin Gotou down.

Finally, through their combined efforts—with Migi desperately entangling Gotou, Saeko providing support, and Darui delivering the final Lightning Release ninjutsu—all five Parasytes within Gotou were killed, though everyone was left wounded.

Once the kill was confirmed, the main quest of the Parasyte world was effectively 95% complete.

This final battle, which should have belonged to Shinichi alone, had been altered by the intrusion of the Reincarnators; Migi had not been severely injured or forced into a deep slumber, and Shinichi's parents had survived due to previous missions.

It could be said that during the time he was parasitized, his fate had become deeply intertwined with the Reincarnators. While the Reincarnators from the Main God Space had helped him, they had also harvested the majority of his destiny.

When the strongest Parasyte was defeated by the protagonist, the remaining destiny of Shinichi, the child of fate, was largely absorbed by the Main God Space.

Zhu Shen, who had been quietly observing from mid-air, realized that he could now designate Shinichi as a Reincarnator.

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

The world had lost its child of fate, and the world's consciousness seemed to realize something was wrong; the heavens and earth began to change in an inexplicable way.

Everything had shifted. The people present felt a sudden wave of malice emanating from the world itself, as if staying for even one more second was unbearable. They felt an urge to return to the Main God Space immediately, yet after the mission was completed, the Main God Space did not provide an option for an immediate return.

"Hey, Saeko, didn't you say that completing the mission would allow us to return to our original world immediately?" Darui asked, looking confused.

Saeko was in the middle of bandaging her left arm, but she too felt that something was wrong. She shook her head in confusion and said, "I'm not sure. Usually, after the main quest is completed, we can choose to return immediately or stay for 24 hours before an automatic return. But this time..."

She paused, saying uncertainly, "It feels different. I feel as if this world has come alive, and it seems to be rejecting us!"

"I have that feeling too!" Koala had recovered enough to speak.

Just as they were discussing this, a heart within Gotou's corpse gave a bizarre, sudden twitch. A small mass of tissue with an eye suddenly erupted from Gotou's back and bolted straight toward Shinichi.

Shinichi was holding his severely wounded girlfriend, Satomi Murano, and was completely caught off guard by the sudden change. The Parasyte drilled directly into Murano through the wound on her hand.

"Shinichi!"

Migi had reacted, but having exhausted a massive amount of energy in the previous battle, both he and Shinichi—who shared the same body—were pushed to their absolute limits. With their guard down, they failed to react in time to stop the monster.

After the Parasyte from Gotou drilled into Murano's body, it moved rapidly toward her brain, on the verge of devouring it.

Migi entered a combat stance a few seconds too late, instantly manifesting two small blades and hacking toward Murano's head.

Just as the blades were about to mince Murano's skull along with the Parasyte inside, a hand grabbed Migi's fleshy whip.

"Shinichi?" Migi's large, wide eye looked at his host in confusion.

"Migi, no~"

Shinichi Izumi's eyes welled with tears as he pleaded with Migi, unable to bear the thought of Satomi being killed alongside the monster.

Yet, he understood that since Satomi had already been parasitized, if he didn't kill her now, her only fate would be to have her brain consumed.

However, because of the Reincarnators' interference, he hadn't lost his parents, nor had his heart been pierced, which meant he hadn't fused with Migi's cells to become the cold, rational, and emotionless powerhouse he was meant to be.

But the very next second, a sharp blade flashed, and Satomi's beautiful head soared into the air, wobbling as it rolled to a stop at Shinichi's feet...

"Keeping her alive would only be a liability. Besides, we can always resurrect her."

Saeko Busujima calmly sheathed her sword. Because her strike had been so fast, there wasn't even a single drop of blood on the blade.

Shinichi felt as if his brain had exploded; the sudden shock and the bizarre words of the woman before him shattered his entire worldview.

Before he could react, a sharp, searing pain erupted from his abdomen as a bone blade made of flesh and blood pierced through him.

The "Satomi" in his arms slowly retracted the blade and stood up with an eerie grace.

Saeko Busujima recoiled instantly, hair standing on end as she retreated to Darui's side.

"Damn it, it's not dead yet!"

After rising, the Parasyte "Satomi" did not continue its slaughter, but instead let out a roar toward a spot in the sky.

Just then, a sigh echoed in everyone's ears.

"Sigh, is this your counterattack? It's a bit naive, isn't it?"

Zhu Shen's figure materialized in mid-air. He currently wore the ordinary face of his past life, looking entirely unremarkable, yet he stood with his arms crossed, hovering steadily as if gravity didn't exist, exuding an overwhelming aura.

Upon seeing Zhu Shen appear, the Parasyte "Satomi" became even more frantic. It bent its knees, its leg muscles bulging violently, and it launched itself dozens of meters into the air in an instant. A sharp, bone-like spear extended from its severed neck, thrusting directly at Zhu Shen.

Zhu Shen didn't dodge or parry; he simply erected a telekinetic barrier in front of him. The Parasyte slammed into it, and its entire reinforced spear shattered into pieces!

Then, its whole body was frozen in place by Zhu Shen's telekinesis.

"So that's how it is. The world's fortune has been bestowed upon you, strengthening you, monster. Interesting!"

Seemingly sensing Zhu Shen's power, the monster struggled frantically. Though its body remained motionless, the veins all over its skin began to bulge and its muscles writhed. Under the strain of its desperate struggle, it finally exploded into a mist of blood in mid-air!

Zhu Shen frowned and flicked his palm. A whirlwind whipped up out of thin air, and all the flesh and tissue were annihilated into basic particles, as if being erased bit by bit by an eraser, vanishing into nothingness...

Zhu Shen summoned another small whirlwind and a cloud of water vapor to thoroughly purify the area before nodding and slowly descending to the ground in front of the group.

Shinichi Izumi had already fainted from the series of shocks and his severe injury, his abdominal wound bleeding profusely.

Since he was once a Child of Fortune and now an employee under his command, Zhu Shen naturally wouldn't let him die in vain.

Zhu Shen snapped his fingers, and the wound on Shinichi's abdomen began to heal automatically. A moment later, it vanished completely, leaving not even a scar.

Cold sweat drenched Saeko Busujima's back. Her intuition told her that this person before them was completely unstoppable, yet she was the only one present who could barely put up a fight.

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

Zhu Shen smiled faintly and replied, "No need to panic. We come from the same place."