Chapter 32

〈 Episode 32 〉Lucia’s Transformation

Asha and Walter were blocking the East Gate in place of the militia, fighting against the Tentacles. Among them, the most active was not Walter or Asha, but Lucia.

“Lucy, please protect the villagers too.”

“Okay!”

She, who could temporarily paralyze the attacking Tentacles, jumped up and paralyzed the Tentacles that were attacking the people or rushing towards Asha or Walter.

Screech!

The Tentacles that stopped moving were either split in two by the farming tools held by the villagers or crushed by Walter’s staff.

Lucia was influencing countless Tentacles and changing the tide of the battle, but the Tentacles acted as if she didn’t exist. Thanks to Lucia’s ability, Asha and Walter continued the battle with an awkward level of ease. Asha, holding a shield and wielding a sword, couldn’t hide a strange expression.

“Ugh… Of course, it’s good to be comfortable, but it feels weird…”

“If you face death dozens of times, you won’t say that, Asha.”

“That’s true… I wonder if Georg is doing well?”

“It’s better to worry about the villagers with him than to worry about that guy. I’ve never seen him get hurt except when he’s fighting Eva.”

“Is he that strong?”

Asha knew that he was far stronger than herself, but Walter’s words made her wonder if she had underestimated Georg’s strength more than she thought. Walter told her about Georg with an expression that seemed to say it was obvious.

“He’s not on the same level as someone extraordinary like Eva, but he’s the second strongest man in the tribe. You can assume that he won’t get hurt in ordinary hand-to-hand combat. He’s been trying to beat Eva for the past three years, but she’s terrifyingly strong. I don’t know how it is now.”

Asha’s eyes widened at those words. In Asha’s mind, Eva was just one of the victims like herself who had been attacked by the Tentacles.

“Was Eva that strong?”

“If she were here, it wouldn’t take her a few minutes to clean this place up. If she had enough stamina, she might even win if she fought our entire tribe.”

Asha recalled the Orc warriors who were grinding the swarming Tentacles like a mixer. It was hard to imagine that she could fight them all alone and not know the outcome.

“Wow… They’re both amazing…”

Asha and Walter carried out the battle without difficulty while chatting. The villagers were also bewildered but relieved as they fought off the Tentacles.

“Asha! We’ll join you!”

When the militia, who had finished reorganizing, joined them, they were able to push the Tentacles away from the village entrance. After pushing the Tentacles beyond a certain radius, the battle became surprisingly easy.

The villagers, no longer threatened by the Tentacles, poured out even more fierce attacks, and Lucia was less burdened as she only had to pay attention to the militia and Asha.

The battle at the East Gate ended in the middle of the night. At one point, as the corpses of the Tentacles piled up, the Tentacle horde tried to climb over the fence on the corpses, but Walter’s quick response buried them alive along with the corpses.

“Haa…”

The militia and the villagers were all sprawled out or exhausted from the long battle. There were no more Tentacles rushing towards this place, but Asha hurriedly moved to the opposite side. Unlike the East Gate, the battle at the West Gate was still uncertain.

“Georg! Are you okay?”

When Asha arrived at the West Gate, she saw a mountain of corpses, just like at the East Gate, and Georg crushing them one by one. Georg, who found Asha running towards him, continued to crush the Tentacles and answered.

“No problem. Is the battle over on the east side too?”

“Yes! Lucia helped a lot!”

“That’s a relief. We’ll be able to get through this safely.”

Asha realized from Georg’s words that the Tentacle attack might not be over yet.

“Ugh… Will they attack like this again? If the Tentacles attack like this several times, it’s impossible to hold out.”

“If that many more come in an hour, we won’t be able to hold out even if we’re here. If that happens, we’ll have no choice but to escape before we’re surrounded.”

Asha looked uneasy at Georg’s words.

“I guess so… But everyone survived this time. It’s all thanks to Georg and Uncle Walter. Thank you so much!”

“I just did what I thought I had to do. It’s nothing.”

Georg replied without showing any emotion to Asha’s gratitude.

Crack-

He continued to mechanically dispose of the debris. The militia members approached them as they were talking. One of them scratched his head and said.

“We’re sorry that people from outside are working even after the battle is over. Thank you so much. We wouldn’t have survived today without you.”

“I’m really glad you survived.”

Everyone nodded at Asha’s words and joined Georg to continue disposing of the debris. Burning it was easier in many ways, but the village had almost run out of stored oil, so they had no choice but to continue manually.

Asha, who joined the group and was disposing of the Tentacle debris, saw her daughter when Lucia pulled her hand.

“What’s wrong, Lucy? Are you sleepy?”

“No, I’m still okay. Mama, I can eat those things over there.”

Asha was flustered when Lucy pointed to the mountain of Tentacles.

“Uh, huh? Wouldn’t it be bad to eat something like that? Lucy, would it help you?”

Asha was worried that it would have a bad effect on her daughter even if Lucia could eat those things, but she asked Lucia first. Lucia nodded and continued.

“Even completely broken ones have small amounts of power and information. More intact ones can even give me a body. Lucy, it’s okay for me to eat that.”

Asha believed her answer because Lucia had been so clear-headed until now. But there was one more thing Asha had to worry about.

“Really? Um, what should I do… I’m a little reluctant to show people Lucy eating in front of them…”

Lucia looked at Asha with wide eyes at her answer.

“Lucy, reluctant…?”

Asha was startled by Lucia’s words and hurriedly denied it.

“No, no… Mom would never be reluctant to have Lucy. But showing people that you’re deviating from your human form isn’t a good thing, Lucy. Always remember that.”

“Okay.”

Lucy still remembered being hostile to the Orc Village in the past, so she nodded at Asha’s words.

“Anyway, the more intact it is, the more helpful it is, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s talk about it first.”

Asha had been talking to Lucy and staying behind, but she approached those who were disposing of the bodies again.

“Hey, everyone! Shouldn’t we do the disposal later?”

“Why is that, Asha? Those things gradually recover their wounds unless they’re completely killed. It’s better to dispose of them now.”

“But it’ll take a while for them to recover, right? I think it’s better for everyone to rest and conserve their strength first. What do you think?”

The militia’s faces brightened at Asha’s suggestion. The West Gate militia members were also exhausted from the long battle and didn’t even have the strength to swing their spears once. They came here after seeing Georg disposing of the bodies, but the members’ faces were still pale.

“It’s an unsettling but welcome suggestion.”

“I don’t get tired easily with this much.”

“Come on, come on… Georg should rest when he can.”

Asha pulled Georg’s arm, and he reluctantly turned around and returned to the village. As Asha took the villagers and Georg back to the village, Lucia approached the Tentacle debris. Lucia changed her entire left arm into thin strands and began to absorb the intact Tentacle debris first.

‘I don’t want Mama to have a hard time.’

Lucia didn’t want her mom to be tired and working. Asha, who had been with her since she was born, was the strongest motivation for Lucia’s actions.

To relieve Asha’s work, Lucia began to accept the Tentacles. The Tentacles, which wriggled even when they were in pieces or more than half crushed, stopped moving after Lucia’s strands touched them. The Tentacle connected to Lucia’s strands gradually shrank and disappeared completely after a while.

Lucia was accepting the Tentacles’ Mana, thoughts, and memories. The propagation of the species, unity, hostility, and countless emotions dug into Lucia’s heart. Eliminate those who are hostile and prosper the species…

Lucia recalled Asha’s words.

‘Mama, do you want Lucy to grow up more?’

Asha listened to Lucia’s words and pondered before saying.

‘Uh… It’s a good thing if Lucy grows up, but Mom likes you the way you are!’

“Mom said she likes Lucy the way she is. Your thoughts… are not needed.”

Lucia’s nature shouted to absorb everything, but Lucia only accepted the Tentacles’ memories and power, and gathered the emotions and took them out of herself. She continued to absorb the Tentacles, and the work that started at night was not finished until dawn.

The mountain of Tentacles that had been piled up as high as the village had completely shrunk and only a small amount remained at Lucia’s feet. Lucia, who had absorbed the debris from the east and west sides of the village, was gradually collapsing and wriggling due to the aftermath of excessive absorption.

Tzzzzz—

The emotions she hadn’t absorbed stained the ground black and rippled under Lucia’s ankles. Lucia invisibly shattered them and scattered them.

After finishing the absorption, Lucia grew from about 120cm to 150cm, and now there was not much difference in height between her and Asha. Lucia, looking at her grown body, muttered.

“Mom told me not to make it obvious that I’m not human…”

She shrank back to her previous size. Lucia, who had reduced her body, thought of something else.

“It’ll be awkward if the mountain of Tentacles suddenly disappears. I have to maintain the appearance at least.”

Lucia took out some of the Tentacles she had absorbed and inflated them to create a small mountain of Tentacles. They only had a weak regenerative power and were wriggling slightly, so people who didn’t know would not be able to tell the difference. Lucia, who had finished all the disguises, quietly returned to Asha at the Village Chief’s house.

Lucia didn’t know. How much influence could the memories of the Tentacles have on her, who had not even lived for a year… After all, personality and habits were also created from memories.