Paradigm Parasite

Chapter 198: “Vacant Land”

What was it?

I thought it might be a long fight, but at the end he suddenly stopped resisting.

Well, thanks to that, I was able to finish him off easily, so I don't have anything to say about it, but it doesn't add up.

Anyway, the body was just a matter of regenerating it, but since it was almost digested, my clothes and equipment were in shambles and unusable.

It's a real problem. Can't I just do something about the fact that I lose my equipment at every possible moment?

...I would like to have weapons and armour that have convenient abilities such as being unbreakable or regenerating.

While thinking about such unimportant things, I gathered up what was barely left and wrapped it around my waist as a loin cloth, ready to go.

I scramble through the flesh and pierce through the heart.

When I looked outside, Aspizal, Yonomori, Hieda and the surviving beasts were frozen when they saw me.

...The number of beastmen was slightly reduced, but all the people I wanted dead had survived.

I took a glance around, feeling somewhat disappointed inwardly.

What's with that face? I feel that since I'm a hero's triumphant return, it wouldn't hurt to give me a grander welcome, but what do you think?

"Hey. I'm glad you're okay. How are you feeling?"

Aspizal asks me that with his usual smile, so I decide to be frank and tell him how I'm feeling.

"I'm dirty and I need a bath."

Hearing this, Aspizal and Hieda let out a small laugh.

"Well, You have a big balls, you know that? Thanks for saving my life!"

Looking around, all the enemies have reverted to a mass of flesh, and no one is moving.

It looks like it's over.

I pull out my body, which is half buried in my heart, and jump down.

"It's a hell of a mess, isn't it?"

"Absolutely. I've had a bad time."

I'm covered in bits of flesh and unidentifiable fluids.

In addition, most of my clothes have been digested, leaving me looking a bit shabby, almost naked.

"Can we consider it done?"

Aspizal's gaze turns to the punctured heart.

"Perhaps, but now that the heart has been crushed, it will only be a few minutes before it is completely dead."

The heart is a very important part of the body, and the organs should stop functioning once the magic is no longer circulating.

There's probably no danger, just get out and leave it.

The carcass - it's a fish, it's edible, isn't it? Well, you know what, it's not my idea, and I don't care.

"If it's ......, we'd better get out of here, or it'll be bad..."

What? The expression on Aspizal's face is a little twitchy, but...

I don't have a problem with that. If we leave him alone, he'll die, and we'll wait for that--.

--Wait.

I noticed.

I've completely forgotten where we are.

This is bad, isn't it?

"What's going on?"

"What's going on?"

The two who had been watching the surroundings, Yonomori and Hieda, come closer.

"It's good that you got him, but he's probably going to fall."

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When I said that in Japanese so that even Hie could understand, they seemed to realise instantly.

"Hey, are you serious?"

"Hey... falling..."

The light slowly faded from the thinly glowing walls around us, and the sensation that clung to us also disappeared.

Ah, this is a fall.

"We have to get out of here..."

"We can't make it! Everybody grab on to something! We're going down!"

"Ha-ha-ha, you were so intent on killing it, you forgot all about it."

The two are also in the same boat.

I also braced myself and prepared for the impact.

The moment came immediately.

My body suddenly became lighter, the feeling of being clinging to it disappeared, followed by the sensation of falling.

Screams everywhere. And then the impact.

I clung to the heart as quickly as I could, but the impact ripped it out and I ended up bouncing around the area like a pin pole, but fortunately the surrounding area was a wall made of flesh, so there wasn't that much damage and I only suffered a few bruises.

I got up with a small grunt, but it's hard to see around me because it's pitch black.

When I look closely, I see that everyone was smashed here and there loudly and most of them are moaning in pain, but no one seems to have died. The beastmen are sturdy.

"Oh, shit! What a day... Hey! Everybody's alive!"

The first to recover is Hieda, who starts calling out here and there.

"I mean, I can't see. Does anyone have a light?"

"Is this alright?"

Aspizal activates the [fireball].

The surroundings are illuminated brightly.

"Thanks, man. Anyway, report those who are safe and those who can't move due to injuries! I heard it's over, but anything can happen, so don't let your guard down!"

Hie thanked Aspizal and started sending instructions to the surrounding beastmen.

I exhale a small breath and sit down on the spot while it happens.

There is no danger around, and although the problem at hand has been cleared up, there is one more troublesome matter left to deal with.

What should I do?

I think about it, but the answer doesn't seem to be forthcoming any time soon.

"......... Seriously?"

Hie's trembling voice leaked from his mouth.

Yonomori is also stunned.

"...I should have expected this."

Aspizal also murmurs with an expression of surprise.

After that, we succeeded in escaping from inside the body by piercing a hole in it, just as Aspizal did when we came in, but there was nothing to greet our triumphant return outside.

There was really nothing.

The country of Uzbek Animos had vanished without a trace, and what we saw outside was literally a clearing.

There were remnants of buildings everywhere, proving that at least there had not been a transition and that there had undeniably been a town here.

That's a natural result if you think about it calmly.

That much mass of seawater was right above the city.

As long as it fell, there is not one or two puddles of the city.

The country is a city-state with a single town.

It seems that the city could not resist the massive seawater coming at it from directly above the city.

Are survivors doomed?

Is Savage still alive?

When I contacted him via [Communication], he seems to be alive somehow.

However, it seems that the household members who were with me stayed behind and died when the lord died.

It was a bit of a waste, but let's just chalk it up as a necessary expense.

What, we can just make another one if we have to, and this is probably for the best because we had to leave it behind as long as we're leaving here before too long.

While I was thinking about this, Hie began to search for survivors with the beastmen in tow.

Yonomori seemed to go along with them.

The rest of us, me and Aspizal, were forced to go along and join the search.

Since the area was completely washed out, the search was extremely difficult... or rather, not only did we not make any progress, but we were completely groping around.

In the end, all the survivors took turns to take a break and searched for nearly a whole day, but all we found were a number of bodies floating in the sea and a body trapped in the wreckage of a building.

Currently, there are no survivors. Tragic story.

The search continued until the arrival of troops arranged by Hieda, but without success.

At present, a large number of temporary tents are set up at the site of the Uzbek animos, and quite a few people are busily moving around looking for survivors.

I was sitting on a nearby rubble with Hieda discussing the future with his men.

There's nothing to do, so let's just talk while we can.

Activate [Communication]. Target is Fatima.

--Fatima.

--Is it Mr Rothfeldt?

Hmm? What's the matter with your reaction?

Her voice is slightly raised.

-Is something wrong?

-No, there's no problem with this at the moment.

I felt something stuck in the phrasing, but we'll get to that later.

--So, if you've contacted me, am I to assume that you'll be back soon?

--Yeah, and there's another problem.

-Issues? When you say a problem in a land where we have no contact with ...... could it be a reincarnation-related one?

.............

This one is really perceptive.

-You solve most things yourself, don't you? If you're not doing that, then it's a difficult situation to resolve or eliminate on your own. As far as I know, the relevant people are the reincarnated, Durzain and Gnosis-related. It's hard to imagine Durzain or Gnosis reaching out to such a remote area, so by process of elimination, it's the reincarnated. Mostly, I think it's a case of a person in power in the country being a reincarnated person who has been spotted.

Ha ha ha. I'm scared of her because she's rather spot-on.

--Unfortunately, you're subtly off.

-Let me ask you in detail.

I'm starting to tell her how I came to this country and how it has been up to now.

Torqulu Sarb, which had become a city-state, the surrounding terrain, the beastmen.

Then I tell in order the main story of Aspizal and Yonomori, the attack of the household, Hie, the king, the Deep One, the internal tour of the body, destroying the heart and finishing it, up to the present.

It's good to talk to people like this.

It helps to organise information.

Fatima just chimed in and silently listened to the end.

--I understand your story. The crack where the magic stone is buried is very interesting.I would like to send Congamato and the goblin engineers somehow, but ...... it doesn't seem realistic at the moment.And then there's Darzain? To be honest, it's hard to judge this Aspizar character, because it's hard to get a picture of him just from his story...

I guess. I couldn't explain it well because I'm having a hard time grasping it myself.

Well, if I had to put it in one word, I would only say that he is a 'wonder boy'.

--Are you going to accept the story?

--I'm thinking about what to do. To be honest, I think it would be better to get rid of those two as soon as possible, but if they deal with us properly, we won't have to worry about Dursain in the future, so I don't think it's a bad deal.

The risk is that my identity will be revealed to an unspecified number of people, including them.

The advantage is that the threat of Dursain will disappear.

The benefit in particular is that it will be very useful for my future activities in Urs Laguna.

-I don't think it's a bad option to take either.

--...?

That's an unexpected reaction. To be honest, I thought she would say, yes, let's get rid of them.

Fatima, perhaps sensing this, adds.

--I think it's already too late for the risks Mr Rothfeldt is considering.

--What do you mean?

-As long as they already know that we have been in contact with Darzain, they must be in contact with their subordinates to corroborate Mr Rothfeldt's story.

.............

-In that case, it is highly likely that they know not only about Royal Capital, but also about the Auldia incident.

..........

Speechless.

I am at a loss for words.

When it's pointed out to me, there's a lot of bypassed behaviour and things that are said and done. Frankly, I'm starting to want to hold my head up.

--If the other party doesn't bring it up, it could mean that they don't want to upset Mr Rothfeldt as much as possible, in other words, that they value you that much more.

-If you don't know about it in the first place, you can find it at .......

-It's not possible. I dare say that you should abandon that kind of optimism.

I couldn't argue with you at all, as if you were implicitly telling me to be more careful because you're bypassing me.

- I'll continue. As far as I've heard, I can see the other party's intention to keep Mr Rothfeldt on their side as much as possible. ...However, as long as we don't know what kind of person these two are, we can only speculate from their behaviour, so please keep that as a reference.

I see. If you think like that, their attitude makes sense.

--I understand. I'll think about it in light of that.

--Was I able to be of help?

--Oh, thank you for your help.

When I said that, an eerie laugh came back, so I tried my best not to listen.

Now that this side's story is over, let's listen to the other side's story.

--Now we're talking about that side.

--What are you talking about?

--don't play dumb with me. You said there was no problem at the moment.

-I've been found out, haven't I? I didn't mean to hide it, but there was a bit of a problem...

You're unusually brusque.

--What happened?

--We found out that Gnosis is heading towards the Oratorium, and it's a bit of a problem if they check behind the walls, so we're going to try to drive them back safely, but it may be difficult in some cases.

Now the Gnosis. Another troublesome one.

-It seems to have a clear objective, and I'm concerned that it's heading straight towards us. Worst case scenario, it could be a battle.

--Okay. I'll return there as soon as possible. If Savage gets serious, it shouldn't take that many days.

--Are you sure?

--I'm a little concerned about the Grigori situation.

I'd like to clarify our objectives and so on.

--I understand. Then, I will be waiting for you.

We then had a couple of brief discussions and ended the conversation.

Sigh.

Why do all these troublesome things keep coming up one after another?

I looked up and saw Aspizal approaching me with a small hand raised.

I'm just in time.

I should finish the troublesome conversation.