Thanks for the Invite, I'm on Terra, and I'm a Parasite: Is Having Me Not Enough, Zuo Jian?

Most of the wounds could barely be treated.

Even so, Dario—the man known as the Grand Inquisitor—still stood before her, his body almost completely wrapped in bandages.

"You're a Hunter."

Dario swept his sharp gaze over the thoroughly bored Laurentina and asked calmly.

"So what if I am? So what if I'm not?"

"Hunter, bounty hunter, painter—I don't care what you call me."

"...Church of the Deep, were you the one who saved me and dealt with that monster?"

"You were still conscious back then?"

Now it was Laurentina's turn to be slightly surprised.

No, seriously, he'd been beaten that badly and still had consciousness?

"No... I only vaguely remember seeing a lady in equally flamboyant hunting attire before I collapsed."

"Fla... mboyant... I really don't want to hear that from people who stuff pink lining into their Inquisition uniforms."

Though Dario's taste annoyed her, it seemed he didn't remember how he'd been saved.

That barely counted as good news.

"Then why are you standing here, blocking my way?"

"What? Should I let you run to the coastline and become Seaborn feed?"

Laurentina mocked him without the slightest courtesy.

"Someone has to step forward..."

"Yes, yes, someone has to step forward. That's why the stubborn idiot from my side is dealing with the problem at the shore right now."

"An old man whose wounds haven't even healed should stay put. At least then your little bird won't worry herself sick."

Laurentina impatiently waved him off, telling Dario not to cause trouble.

"Is that so? It seems you trust your companion very much."

"But this is Iberian soil in the end. Aegir, no matter what happens, Iberian Inquisitors should always stand on the front line."

"Rather than watch outsiders stand before us with their arrogance, wearing expressions that look like pity."

Dario drew his longsword and pointed it at Laurentina.

"How am I arrogant... Forget it. You're much less interesting than your student."

Arrogant? When had she ever acted arrogantly?

No, perhaps the behavior Aegir were accustomed to really did seem arrogant to people on land.

...Honestly, if Zuo Jian were here, this wouldn't be happening.

Laurentina sighed and didn't form a weapon.

She'd just use her fists.

Come to think of it, why was Zuo Jian taking so long? It was only a bunch of Seaborn—did it really take this much effort?

..

"Kin?"

The nun sitting on the cliff's edge revealed an eerie smile and pressed a Seaborn's head against her face.

"Kin... delicious."

At that moment, emotions of immense malice and plundering desire, aimed solely at a particular race, were infinitely magnified within that body.

Whether they were Seaborn in the ocean or individuals walking upon the land, all of them felt a deep, instinctive revulsion.

As though some predator had fixed its gaze upon them.

...Some corner of this land.

A silver-haired girl wrapped head to toe in a black hooded coat suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

Then, for no reason at all, her whole body began to tremble.

"?"

"What happened... Why does it feel like something's watching me?"

"So, you people really are stubborn beyond saving."

"I just hope your student never becomes like you—"

Laurentina took a step forward, and the tremendous force cracked the stone road beneath her feet!

Within a few breaths, the distance between them had closed.

She raised her fist. Though she'd held back her strength, this punch would probably leave the Inquisitor lying on the ground watching the sunrise.

Yet Dario was only slightly surprised by Laurentina's brief burst of power. He showed no panic whatsoever.

His composure was unnerving.

"Tch, it's fine. Now that we're close, your longsword has practically no room to work. It's over!"

"Lie down here and go to sleep!"

She growled and threw a punch carrying a gust of wind!

"Though I may be far less experienced than you Hunters when facing Seaborn—"

"When it comes to facing humans, though, I have plenty of experience."

"What?!"

Laurentina suddenly froze.

Dario's left hand, the one not holding the sword, suddenly pulled a silver hand cannon from his waist.

She stared in shock at the pitch-black muzzle aimed directly at her.

The instinctive sense of danger in her blood blared like an alarm in that instant.

Damn it!

She couldn't dodge it.

She didn't think her fist could move faster than a trigger being pulled.

She had never felt danger this great before. The threat of death crawled from her ankles up her spine.

Zuo Jian's body wouldn't die.

But her brain was different.

No...

"Zuo... Zuo Jian!!!"

"BOOM!!!!"

Dario pulled the trigger, and a deafening roar erupted.

At the same moment—

The muttering nun at the coastline suddenly raised her head.

Her blue pupils regained their clarity almost instantly.

"Laurentina?"

"...?"

"You're okay? Wait... what was I doing just now?"

Zuo Jian blinked, his face full of confusion.

"Cough, cough... What the hell was that... No, am I okay?"

In the smoke and dust, Laurentina coughed as tears continuously seeped from the corners of her eyes.

She opened her blurry eyes and looked at the half-formed chitinous hardened shell on her arm.

Had Zuo Jian blocked it?

No, if that were the case, she should have felt at least a faint sensation.

"And... cough, what is this smoke... It's so irritating..."

"A tear gas grenade?"

The structure of her eyes changed. The parts injured by the acrid smoke were directly replaced, and new structures formed, neutralizing and ignoring the irritants in the smoke.

"I'm not cold-blooded enough to kill the benefactor who saved my life, Hunter."

"Besides, you look about the same age as my student."

Laurentina froze. She realized that Dario had already crossed a considerable distance while she'd been disoriented.

He'd been trying to open up the distance?!

Laurentina's eyes widened as she watched him move with vigorous strides. His previous posture, supposedly hampered by his injuries, seemed as though it had never existed.

Had he deliberately made her lower her guard, then closed the distance so he could use his hand cannon??

Damn it! Pretending to be injured and then pulling out a hand cannon while holding a sword were both the most shameless tricks imaginable!

"You despicable land-dweller!!!!"

Laurentina shouted unhappily, then hurried after Dario.

"Impressive adaptability. It was only prepared for dealing with local riots, but ordinary people struck by this Columbia-made tear gas wouldn't recover for at least half an hour."

"Damn it! Aren't you the Grand Inquisitor?! Using such underhanded methods—what will your student think?!"

"Hunter, if you intend to stay on land for long, I suggest you get used to the 'despicability' of land-dwellers as soon as possible. In some ways, humans are worse than Seaborn."

"As for my student, as long as enemies and evil can be eliminated, the process doesn't matter. Inquisitors prioritize practicality."

Dario moved at high speed and still had enough breath to talk with Laurentina.

Damn it! She wasn't going to catch him.

Laurentina unwillingly watched as Dario neared the coastline. She could no longer intercept him before he arrived.

Damn it... Had she failed to help Zuo Jian... She'd even called out to him for help back then...

[No, you did well enough.]

[After all, as a Hunter, Laurentina had rarely fought humans, hadn't she?]

"Zuo Jian?! You're back?"

[But... Dario, huh? He's really impressive.]

"Huh? He's just a despicable bastard. If he hadn't used such underhanded tricks, I'd have knocked him unconscious already—"

Halfway through speaking, Laurentina suddenly saw Dario stop.

"Hah, what, not running anymore? Did you realize that even if you go over there, you'll just be causing trouble—"

Laurentina caught up with Dario. Just as she was about to mock him a few more times, the figure on the coastline suddenly stunned her.