Thanks for the Invitation, I'm in Terra, and I'm a Parasite

Given the current situation, did he really have to start with the local church?

After thinking for a moment, Dario glanced at his student.

Irene kept her head down as she followed him, saying nothing.

She would have to face these things sooner or later, once she became an Inquisitor capable of standing on her own.

But not now.

"Irene."

"I'm here!"

Apparently not expecting her teacher to call her so suddenly, she reacted somewhat strongly.

"There's been a change of plans. I'll investigate the church district. You'll handle the residential area."

"Understood, Teacher."

Irene nodded, then headed down another route without wasting any more words.

Obedience to orders was also a compulsory lesson for an Inquisitor.

Watching Irene disappear into the distance,

Dario rested a hand on the hand cannon at his waist.

Then it was time to visit the place that currently aroused the most suspicion.

"What beauty! What greatness!"

"From every possible angle, this is a creation of the gods!"

"A powerful life-form with unparalleled adaptability—but why?! Why won't it wake up?!"

Lai Ke stared bloodshot-eyed at the enormous mass of flesh before him.

That tiny clump of matter had been able to continuously assimilate and absorb other living organisms to replenish itself. Once he discovered this, Bishop Lai Ke had nearly gone mad with excitement.

At that moment, several twisted faces could still be seen within the mass of flesh.

It required an enormous amount of nutrients to swell to such a size.

Clearly, Lai Ke had found the most suitable "feed."

But why?

Why was it merely absorbing and expanding itself?

No matter how he stimulated it, he could not alter its current lethargy.

It was as though it had fallen into hibernation...

"No, it shouldn't be just this!"

As he spoke, he recalled the believers of the Church of the Deep...

"That's right, it shouldn't be just this! There simply aren't enough of them—"

He growled, his expression turning deranged.

[?]

"What's wrong?"

As Laurentina walked through the streets of Saltwind City, she noticed that Zuo Jian seemed to have been off for an instant.

[I feel like... I connected to something?]

"?"

"Connected?"

[It's a very subtle feeling. It feels like I've connected to a thread.]

"Can you tell where that thing is coming from?"

[No... that presence is very faint.]

"Faint..."

Laurentina froze for a moment, then seemed to recall something and abruptly asked,

"Wait, Zuo Jian. If blood leaves my body and you don't deliberately control it, it withers into blood mist within seconds, right?"

[That's correct. Keeping parts that have left the body alive would waste nutrients from the main body.]

"Then how long can blood drawn while you were unconscious, before you woke up, survive?"

Laurentina asked seriously.

Zuo Jian instantly understood what she meant and answered.

[Hard to say. If the amount isn't large, even a month wouldn't be a problem. And if it gets too far from the main body, it will unconsciously feed to ensure its survival.]

"We need to find the local church! Damn it, I should've followed that Inquisitor. He must be here for this too!"

"Can you control it once we get close?"

Without further hesitation, Laurentina leaped onto the roof of a nearby residential building and began searching for structures resembling a church.

[Theoretically, yes. But for a part of me that has been separated for so long, I need to come into contact with it again.]

"What if you don't? What will it become?"

Zuo Jian pondered for a moment, then remembered the one request he had made when he was reincarnated.

[Survive.]

If survival was the goal, then nutrients were necessary.

And the most readily available source of nutrients was...

"People?"

"Damn it, how did I not think of that?!"

"Those lunatics from the Church of the Deep had better not do anything brain-dead with that blood!"

[My instincts tell me that's probably impossible—wait... the feeling is getting stronger?]

[Someone is providing it with nutrients? Hiss... wait... something's wrong.]

Pain showed in Zuo Jian's eyes.

[What disgusting thing did he feed it? That thing is—wait, that part seems to have been stimulated awake?]

"What?!"

Chapter 18, Mutation

"What? Why would people from the Inquisition come here?!"

Lai Ke grabbed a believer by the collar and roared out of control. Before the latter had any chance to explain, Lai Ke shoved him away.

Then, his eyes bloodshot, he stared at the huge mass of flesh behind him, enclosed in a high-strength glass case.

At that moment, at the center of the flesh, a blue tumor seemed to have been forcibly stitched onto it, brimming with an eerie vitality.

"Just a little more! It's about to be awakened!!"

"Columbian profanity, do you expect me to abandon this existence before my eyes just like that?"

"Bishop, these things are not worth your—"

"These things?"

"You call It 'these things'? And say It isn't worth it? What do you know? If It isn't worth it, then what do you think is?"

At that, Lai Ke suddenly sneered.

"That's right, I remember now. Everyone here is nothing but a bunch of fools with unrealistic fantasies about those defective life-forms in the sea."

"Bishop, even you should not say such things."

Unexpectedly, the believer before him spoke up in rebuttal.

He had long heard that the bishop before him had no respect for the gods, but the man's accomplishments in research had forced him to maintain a basic degree of

respect.

Even so, he had never imagined that the man would so openly demean the Church's faith.

Was it because of that mass of flesh? What kind of ominous thing was that?

Just looking at it made him feel a deep, chilling revulsion.

"But now isn't the time to argue about this. We should evacuate, Bishop. Nothing buried in the church basement can escape that Inquisitor's eyes."

"...You're right..."

"You understand, then—"

"?!"

Before the believer could react, Lai Ke jabbed a syringe of red liquid into his neck with lightning speed.

"AAAAARGH!"

"You're right. The great creation before us cannot be taken away right now, but no matter what, I will never abandon It!"

"For that, I need a womb capable of transferring It."

"As for the completed results here... I'll leave them for that Inquisitor."

Lai Ke spoke with a crazed expression, then dragged the fallen believer's body into the hidden passage and pressed a button.

With the creak of machinery, the glass enclosure surrounding the enormous mass of flesh opened.

Drip... drip...

Hard-soled boots stepped across the cold, damp floor. The stench of decay and blood filled the cramped space.

Dario removed his mask and lightly sniffed the air in the basement passage. After confirming it was safe, he lit the lantern in his hand.

Purple-red flames spilled from the Inquisitor's lantern, dispelling the darkness around him and illuminating the path ahead in full.

He crouched down and examined the muddy ground marked with footprints.

"Very fresh... but was I still too late?"

After thinking for a moment, he chose to continue onward with his lantern.

The collective disappearance of the believers after learning that an Inquisitor had arrived was already suspicious enough, but he needed more evidence.

Evidence proving how great a threat this Church of the Deep posed to Iberia.

"If nothing unexpected happens, there should be traces of those missing people here as well."

"Save... me..."

!

As he contemplated this, a faint cry for help, as soft as a mosquito's buzz, reached his ears.

The passage on the left?

One hand on his sword hilt and the other holding the lantern, Dario ran toward the source of the voice.

Soon, as he advanced, the darkness scattered by the firelight revealed a figure lying on the ground.

Judging from the clothing, the person seemed to be an ordinary nearby resident.

However, his complexion was even weaker than those outside. Clearly, he had not eaten properly for a long time.

"Save... me..."

Dario did not hesitate at the plea. He quickly stepped forward, but just as he was about to help, his pupils abruptly widened.

As the firelight drew near and illuminated the figure sprawled on the ground, Dario discovered that the man's body only had its upper half?!!

A massive wound looked as though something had directly gnawed through him, exposing a mangled spine. Scattered across the ground was a red carpet paved with viscera and blood.