Chapter 78 (2/2)

Cinzia exhaled the cigarette smoke and continued on.

”That b***h is probably worried about one thing. Us and the Federation joining hands.” (Cinzia)

That sounded plausible. The Federation might have welcomed the Cave Fairies into their coalition, but even then, they were only able to barely hang on against the concerted a.s.sault of the Parasites. And that delicate balance was tilting against their favour all because of the mutated Ogre's entrance.

However, the story might change if the Federation and humans decided to join forces, too. Although humanity was the weakest of the lot, they were backed by the seven G.o.ds representing seven sins, and along with the ma.s.s introduction of the Earthlings, they could no longer be looked down that easily anymore.

But, seeing that the situation had become like this….

”Looks like that b***h is sure of it now after the Arden Fortress incident. And so, she has shown us a brand new solution to her problem.” (Cinzia)

”This should be my first time not wanting to hear about a solution.” (Dylan)

Dylan's feigned weakness brought about a quick chuckle from Cinzia, but she continued on regardless.

”The Federation thinks that the appearance of the mutated Ogre heralds some sort of an evolution in the Parasite's ability to give birth to new life.” (Cinzia)

”Should I take those words as the number of Nests will increase in the future and brand new types of Parasites will appear, too?” (Dylan)

”The latter is correct but not the former.” (Cinzia)

Cinzia shook her head.

”Dylan. The kind of ‘evolution' I'm talking about here isn't enhancing a certain species' already-existing innate traits.” (Cinzia)

”Okay, then what is it?” (Dylan)

”It's the change in the method itself.” (Cinzia)

Dylan tilted his head as if he just couldn't get it.

”Nests are seen as an invaluable item by the Parasites themselves seeing that even Medusas, the so-called final evolution of their kind, are born from those things. A Nest has never really appeared in a battlefield before, and the rumour mill goes, there aren't that many to begin with. Do you know why that's the case?” (Cinzia)

”No, I don't.” (Dylan)

”That's right. No one knows. However, there is a reason for everything. Maybe they experience some kind of unknown losses. Whatever the case may be, there is something we don't know yet. If not, Nests would have appeared as a d*mn army and have swept us away a long time ago.” (Cinzia)

”…….”

”The conclusion? Nests can't be ma.s.s produced. However, what if the Parasite Queen began thinking about that problem this way?” (Cinzia)

Cinzia's voice became a little higher as she spoke up to here.

”Is there really a need to increase the number of Nests while suffering from unknown losses?” (Cinzia)

”Mm?” (Dylan)

”If you're talking about the ability to give birth, you can borrow the bodies of other species, no?” (Cinzia)

Dylan's expression froze up almost instantly.

”Cinzia, there's no way.” (Dylan)

”Why not? The ability to give birth….” (Cinzia)

Cinzia formed a subtle smile and placed a hand on her chest.

”I possess it.” (Cinzia)

She then pointed at Agnes standing behind her.

”Agnes here also possesses it. And, even if it's not human females, I'm pretty sure that the Paradise is practically overflowing with fertile females. Wouldn't you agree?” (Cinzia)

Dylan shook his head.

”That makes no sense.” (Dylan)

”Why do you think that?” (Cinzia)

”The main combat force of the Parasites is the corpse army. We know this. Those things take over a body and start controlling it, sure, but it's still a d*mn zombie and nothing inside of it works anymore. But then, one of its internal organs is still functioning?” (Dylan)

”What if you get caught while still alive?” (Cinzia)

Dylan's words of vigorous denial came to an abrupt halt. Cinzia spat the cigarette out and quietly carried on.

”Such as, being taken as prisoners.” (Cinzia)

”Are you saying there are living prisoners?” (Dylan)

”Dylan, you should stop with your lackadaisical thought process. The Empire, the Beastmen Alliance…. the number of nations destroyed by the Parasites aren't just one or two here. Just the number of species that lived there, you won't be able to count at all. And well, I don't think the Parasite Queen is a dumba*s who doesn't know the concept of taking prisoners when she's capable enough to devour the main G.o.d of this world.” (Cinzia)

”Even still, that's just bull.” (Dylan)

Dylan looked at a loss now.

”Even if we say that your supposition is right, you still need…..” (Dylan)

”You should also discard the idea of prisoners being only females while you're at it.” (Cinzia)

Cinzia spoke, her tone almost entering the territory of ridicule. Dylan now looked as if he had nothing more to say.

”And so….” (Dylan)

Capture living males and females, infect them with Parasites, and transform their innards to whatever the h.e.l.l they wanted. And then…

”Extract all the s.e.m.e.n from the male until it's dead, and as for the females, repeatedly impregnate them and make them give birth…. Wow, just imagining it gives me the chills. This crisis is a lot worse than anyone can expect, you know.” (Dylan)

”That's right. I guess it's time to get to the point of my visit.” (Cinzia)

Cinzia uncrossed her legs and leaned forward.

”The Federation has provided us with this information. The solution the Parasite Queen came up with this time isn't a single mutated Ogre. No, it's the mutated Orcs.” (Cinzia)

”Mutated Orcs?” (Dylan)

”Right. Unlike with Ogres, you can ma.s.s produce the race of Orcs. There are quite a few heads when a litter is born, and the burden on the ‘mother body' is on the low side, and to top it off, they can become a viable combat force very quickly. Or so they say.” (Cinzia)

”What on earth is this about now?” (Dylan)

”Listen to me. The Parasite army that has taken over the Tigol Fortress chose not to press their advantage. No, they chose to stay put and bide their time, instead. Not only that, they even diverted quite a few of their numbers towards the regions that border human territory. However, they haven't invaded yet. What does this signify?” (Cinzia)

”…F*ck.” (Dylan)

Dylan closed his eyes shut.

”The Federation thinks that the enemy already possesses the ability to ma.s.s produce. If we sit back and simply do nothing, soon we will see the torrential flood of mutated Orcs in truly nonsensical numbers invading this very land.” (Cinzia)

Strengthen their military forces by changing their previous method - if such a scheme becomes reality, there would be no meaning in the Federation and humanity joining hands. No, you could even say that all dreams and hopes would be lost completely.

”And one more thing. The facilities to ma.s.s produce their soldiers are all evenly spread around our borders. So, now. Can you finally guess where I'm going with this?” (Cinzia)

Simply put, they would ma.s.s produce the expendable mutated Orcs and invade humans with them, while the main Parasite force would focus on the Federation. It was at this point Dylan realised the purpose of Cinzia's visit to his office.

”So, what have the seven kingdoms decided to do?” (Dylan)

”They are already making their move. Haramark is no exception. We need to destroy one of the facilities.” (Cinzia)

”And the army?” (Dylan)

”Didn't I say it earlier? Parasites have relocated some of their main fighting forces and placed them in several locations near ours. The moment the Haramark army tries something, they will get devoured in no time.” (Cinzia)

”And so, the conclusion is?” (Dylan)

”Pick the best, talented people to form a small elite squad and infiltrate their camp. That is all.” (Cinzia)

Dylan rubbed his face.

”G.o.d d*mn it. I'm telling you, I'd like to get involved in a mission that's not life-threatening once in a while.” (Dylan)

”Hehe. I feel exactly the same. In any case. As this matter requires our haste, Agnes has been chosen to act as the header. And from the royals, the old geezer and the Lewd Pink will partic.i.p.ate. Also….” (Cinzia)

Dylan was silently listening until then, before opening his mouth.

”By any chance, can Hugo partic.i.p.ate as well?” (Dylan)

”Hugo?” (Cinzia)

”I was thinking that I might need a Warrior I'm in sync with.” (Dylan)

”Well…. I guess at Hugo's level, it should be fine. Do what you want.” (Cinzia)

Cinzia shrugged her shoulders.

”Oh, and also….” (Dylan)

Dylan finally lifted the cold tea cup again and threw another question.

”Where is that facility located?” (Dylan)

”And well, they somehow avoided the patrols and got near their target, but then….” (Cinzia)

Cinzia finally ended her lengthy explanation and looked at Agnes on the bed, before taking a long inhale of her cigarette smoke.

”Long story short, the mission was a splendid failure. Only two people managed to come back. That's what went down.” (Cinzia)

And here he was, hoping for the best, too. Faces of Dylan, Hugo, and Teresa Hussey momentarily fleeted in and out of Seol Ji-Hu's brain. He felt his heart tumble to the floor and hesitantly asked.

”Which means….” (Seol Ji-hu)

”We can't make that conclusion, yet.” (Ian)

Ian interjected right then.

”I've seen it with my own eyes. Mutated Orcs were roaming around. That means, the enemy indeed possesses a facility to ma.s.s produce….” (Ian)

Ian blurred the end of his sentence, but Seol Ji-Hu didn't need to hear the rest to figure it out.

”They could be held as prisoners.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”….I can't be fully certain of it, but correct.” (Ian)

Ian formed a wry expression.

The expedition team was near their destination but got discovered during their infiltration and had to fight their way out of the siege of enemy forces seemingly rus.h.i.+ng in from all sides. The only reason why Ian managed to come back alive from that was all thanks to Agnes. If it weren't for her desperate struggle, these two wouldn't have been able to break past the siege nor shake off the enemy's pursuit.

However, Agnes was still a human at the end of the day and there was only so much she could do. They were already fighting against overwhelming odds, and she simply lacked the ability to rescue everyone else when the expedition team members had been separated from each other.

A short bout of silence later, Seol Ji-Hu raised his opinion.

”We need to rescue them, don't we?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”We're here to discuss that problem.” (Ian)

Ian replied first.

”Even putting the mission itself aside, we, of course, want to rescue them somehow.” (Ian)

”But, then why…..” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”But, how?” (Ian)

Ian's head faltered as an indescribable expression clouded his face.

”We basically formed the best team possible in Haramark and yet, we still failed. And since we were discovered once already, the security should have tightened up even further. Unless we risk total annihilation and go for a frontal a.s.sault, we estimate that the odds of rescuing them is near zero.” (Ian)

Even the frontal a.s.sault itself presented a problem. The differences between attack and defence were as great as heaven and earth itself.

Humans had never taken the initiative to attack first ever since the invasion began. Not only that, they were already in a bit of tight spot trying to defend themselves. But now, they were going to attack the enemy camp? It was already unknown whether the a.s.sault would even materialise, and even if it did, it'd not be much different than delivering themselves to the open jaw of the tiger, anyway.

”What about cooperating with the Federation?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”We already thought about it. They were the ones that gave us the information, to begin with, so they must be operating their own infiltration squads, but….” (Ian)

Ian pondered deeply for a while, before shaking his head.

”They most likely have suffered tremendous losses trying to defend themselves until now. More importantly, judging from the fact that they had to give up on Tigol Fortress, we should consider that the Federation is also having a very hard time as well.” (Ian)

Seol Ji-Hu unconsciously gripped his fists tighter.

To this extent…. Were the differences in strengths this great? Did this mean he had no choice but to watch from the sidelines while sucking on his thumbs?

”The notion of a rock and a hard place never felt so truer in my life before. We're still trying to find a way, yet we can't seem to find an answer.” (Ian)

What should I do? Seol Ji-Hu desperately combed through his memories. Unfortunately, there was no way he'd remember the contents of a dream he had so long ago.

‘I should've jotted down everything as soon as I woke up.' (Seol Ji-Hu)

”If only someone like Seong s.h.i.+-Hyun was still around….” (Ian)

The dejected Ian lamented with an energyless voice.

It was then Seol Ji-Hu opened his mouth again.

”Where?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Mm?” (Ian)

”That facility. Where is it located?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Ian didn't immediately answer but chose to seek out Cho Hong's response, instead. However, although she looked mighty unhappy right now, she still didn't say anything. No, she simply tutted and avoided making eye contact. Ian guessed what was in her mind and cautiously spoke up.

”Seol, I must emphasize that this is not a matter that you can interfere with. It's not possible, and it should not be.” (Ian)

”Master Ian.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

”Please, do not misunderstand me. I'm not looking down on your capabilities. However, both the events of the Forest of Denial and the defence of Arden Fortress were child's play compared to this one. No, more importantly, this matter could be the epoch-changing event that decides the flow of history from henceforth.” (Ian)

”You can still tell me the location, can't you?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

Ian licked his lips a little. He took a bit of time to decide, before…

”….Well, if it's only the location.” (Ian)

He spoke with a helpless expression.

”It's in Delpinion Duchy.” (Ian)

And, at that moment….

”It's the royal laboratory.” (Ian)

….Seol Ji-Hu's eyes gleamed brightly.

< 78.=”” ”i=”” don't=”” want=”” to=”” live=”” like=”” that.”=”” -2=””> Fin.

(ED: The subsequent chapters that make up this arc are probably some of the best in the story, IMO. Hope you have fun while reading as much as I did when I machine TLed ? )