Thanks for the Invitation, I'm on Terra, and I'm a Parasite Chapter 11

They had come.

They had come!

"Ahahahahaha! Just as I thought, you wouldn't abandon your believers! Ahahahahaha!!"

Fine scales had covered Quintus's cheeks, and the abnormalities in his body were causing him immense pain.

Yet he didn't care in the slightest. If anything, his smile had become even more frenzied.

Tap... tap...

Heavy footsteps echoed from the other end of the cavern.

A creature with the faint outline of a humanoid slowly emerged from the darkness.

"Kin... the swarm... senses... threat."

"Eliminate... threat..."

"Yes! We must destroy that threat! Destroy that despicable wretch who stole your great power! We—"

The more Quintus spoke, the more excitedly his voice trembled.

He slowly stepped forward, staring at the creature drawing closer.

He had sacrificed too much for this moment!

But now, in this desperate situation, the messenger of God had finally answered him.

As long as he touched it!

He could cast off this frail, flawed body!

He would return to God's embrace!

He would bathe in eternal glory alongside them!

As long as he reached it!!!

Squelch—

Quintus froze.

A sharp pain suddenly shot through his chest.

He stood there blankly for a moment before lowering his head.

Thump... thump...

A crimson tentacle burst out from the left side of his chest. Its tip had become three sharp claws, clutching a crimson heart.

That heart was blindingly red, as though every beat tugged at his entire body.

Several eyes opened along the middle of the tentacle, carrying cold, livestock-appraising—

—gazes as they all fixed themselves on Quintus.

"So you have a human heart too. And it's red."

A mouth opened on the tentacle, crushing that heart at the same time.

Zuo Jian watched Quintus, watched the madman stare in terror at the heart that had been reduced to a lump of flesh.

"You fear death so much... then why don't you respect life?"

"Ahhh! You damned defective product! Did you steal God's power too?! You mongrels! Inferior lifeforms! What is there to respect? You're nothing but flawed trash! How dare you—"

Something suddenly clogged Quintus's throat, leaving him unable to make a sound.

Laurentina stepped out from behind Quintus, her left hand gripping his neck.

"Is that so? But unfortunately, great and perfect Bishop, your neck is currently in the hands of the defective product you just mentioned—"

"All it takes is one little squeeze... and it'll~"

"Boom."

"Spill all over the ground."

Laurentina stared at Quintus with a cruel smile.

At the same time, her left hand slowly began to tighten.

[Laurentina, let go.]

[He isn't the threat right now.]

Zuo Jian withdrew the tentacle, turning back into Laurentina's shawl.

"...Oh?"

[I left some blood inside him. It should survive for around five minutes.]

[This is... the ending someone like him deserves.]

"...Couldn't tell... you were actually this cruel."

[I'm only... granting his wish.]

"So maybe we really do get along, Zuo Jian."

Laurentina turned away, no longer looking at Quintus lying on the ground.

She raised her weapon and faced the Seaborn before her.

"Cough, cough... Damn it... I..."

Quintus clutched his chest, coughing intermittently.

Damn it, he had been so close! It was all that mongrel's fault! He had been one step away from escaping the prison built from a weak human body!

Just one step away, and he could have—

"Urgh—ah... ah..."

Quintus froze. The itch spreading through his chest made him realize that his current state didn't seem like that of a dying man.

Had the Seaborn extract taken effect?

He frantically tore open his shirt. Then his pupils abruptly dilated.

The hole through his chest was gone.

In its place, a vicious face had appeared on his chest.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

"Ah—urgh..."

Squelch.

Squelch.

Something seemed to writhe beneath his skin. It tore through the flesh, exposing crimson limbs.

More and more red eyes opened across his torso.

At the same time, his organs turned outward, and his cheeks began to split apart, blooming like a five-petaled flower.

He screamed in agony. Every transformation in his body was so vivid that it made him want to die.

Three arms tore through the skin along his spine and burst from his body. As if out of control, they wildly ripped apart his flesh.

They clawed out even more blood and meat.

His roar suddenly stopped as his throat split open down the middle, extending to his ribcage and growing rows upon rows of fine teeth.

The face on his chest bulged outward, tearing open part of his skin and becoming a new head.

The bones in his arms mutated, stabbing outward before curving back into rib-like structures that wrapped around his forearms.

Save me...

My... God...

The no-longer-human Quintus struggled as he extended the one arm that was still relatively intact. The new eye opening in the center of his palm stared at the humanoid figure in the distance.

Yet the other party hadn't moved since the beginning. It simply stood there, not even shifting its gaze.

Wait... could it be!!!

His eyes were bloodshot, revealing madness and despair.

"Kin... danger... leave... threat..."

The humanoid Seaborn stared at Laurentina. It had been staring at Laurentina from the very beginning.

It had never once looked at Quintus, not even for a second.

"Unfortunately, compared to all of you, I'd much rather let a parasite that gets angry over innocent deaths live inside my body."

With that, Laurentina gripped the Meat Saw and charged forward.

Crack!!!

The blade warped, and with incomparable force, carved an incredibly deep gash into the edge of the cavern!

Yet the creature merely raised an arm to defend itself. With a metallic clang, the Seaborn was sent flying!

"Didn't cut through?"

Laurentina narrowed her eyes at the hard, armor-like structure covering its arm.

"Kin... save..."

The Seaborn murmured as its body began to change.

But in the next instant, a black shadow suddenly lunged out!

Laurentina froze. That was... a lump of flesh?

The mass of flesh seemed stitched together from countless limbs that didn't belong to it, and it was madly wrapping itself around the Seaborn.

It seemed to realize something.

Then she turned around and discovered that Quintus had already vanished from where he had been.

[Get ready, Laurentina.]

Zuo Jian's voice rang out without a trace of emotion, as though he were simply telling her to slaughter two animals awaiting the knife.

[This way, it'll cut through.]

Thump.

A heart suddenly bulged from the handle of the Meat Saw in Laurentina's hand.

It beat continuously, pumping blood throughout every part of the blade.

With each pulse of blood, the saw teeth on the Meat Saw began vibrating rapidly from side to side!

"Hah, so this is his ending? You're really 'kind,' aren't you? You let him meet his god, then turned him into the so-called perfect creature."

Watching the Seaborn and the flesh mass pinned to the ground, she raised the Meat Saw in her hands.

Squelch!

Squelch!

Squelch!

(I spent the whole day playing Monster Hunter. I used so many Long Sword Helm Breakers that I nearly broke my own brain before remembering I hadn't updated.)

(Damn it, all the inspiration I had earlier got blasted out of my brain by Helm Breaker. This chapter just doesn't feel right no matter how I write it.)

A New Beginning

Clang!!!

The Meat Saw extended, its teeth letting out a ferocious roar.

Gripping the long handle with both hands, Laurentina twisted aside to avoid the flesh mass's wild struggling, then took half a step back and swung sideways!

Squelch!!!!!