Ch.71Third

There is no way to restore humans infected with parasites.

They must all be killed.

Before they infect humans in other cities.

“Mister! You’re so tall!”

Just as I was collecting my thoughts, a young child approached and spoke to me.

Seeing the child’s innocent appearance, the mother came over and greeted me.

“Hello, I don’t think I’ve seen you before?”

I left without acknowledging the mother’s greeting.

I feel disgusted by the all-too-human appearance of things that are no longer human beneath their skin.

Afterward, the more I walked through the city, the worse my disgust became.

“Wait~! Slow down a bit!”

“Ahaha! The one who got caught is it!”

These humans are clearly dead.

Ghosts living without realizing they’re dead.

Yet why are they so happy?

Why is my heart beating?

I feel complicated in many ways because my senses still perceive them as human.

But I won’t hesitate to kill them.

I’ve already seen them commit suicide under the parasite’s control several times.

Their human-like behavior is just an act, an afterimage of humanity displayed by the parasites occupying their brains.

Again, dong, dong, the bell rings, and the infected humans bow their heads and stop, facing toward the sound.

The building with the large bell hanging from a pillar appeared to be the largest in D City.

Surely, the host must be there where the infected are bowing their heads.

As I turned my head thinking this, the citizens who had been standing quietly looked at me with blank eyes.

“An outsider.”

“It’s an outsider.”

A sense of alienation different from their human-like appearance moments ago.

The infected, recognizing me as someone behaving differently, blink their eyes as if identifying a foreign substance that has invaded D City.

The people who had been showing vigilant gazes approached me one by one as soon as the bell stopped, displaying friendly attitudes.

“Are you from another city?”

“Hello, is this your first time in D City?”

The parasites that were visible just moments ago are now thoroughly hiding themselves.

On the surface, they look completely human.

The people who approached me all pointed in one direction without prompting.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen someone from outside D City.”

“If you’ve come to D City, I recommend going to the cathedral first to pray.”

“In times like these, only God protects us.”

“Ha.”

I laugh at their blatant attempt to guide me to where the host is.

Following a sudden thought, I went along with where the people were leading me.

To kill the parasites, I must first kill the host.

It would be troublesome if it escaped while I was killing the infected.

And so I arrived at the center of D City, the Three Principles Church cathedral.

Is this what they call sacred? From the magnificent building decorated with colorful glass, songs praising God flow out.

“This way, please.”

Following the woman guiding me, the large doors of the cathedral quietly opened.

Inside, children were standing in orderly fashion, singing.

Among them, one child approached and offered me a flower.

It’s a flower full of insects invisible to human eyes between the petals.

Just as I dropped the flower to the ground, a man conducting the song in the center of the building opened a book.

“The apostle of God descended to this land to punish sinners.”

“I am a sinner, and the sins of those who acknowledge their sins are forgiven.”

“I feared death and turned away from my neighbors.”

“I will offer my body to love my neighbors.”

“Suffering and anguish are attachments to living.”

“I will not live for suffering, but will be united and happy forever.”

After the prayer to God, the man bowed his head in silence with the infected children, then raised his head with a bright smile.

The man, who touched his forehead, left shoulder, and opposite shoulder with his fingertip, came down from the platform looking at me.

“Oh… may God’s blessing be upon you.”

“May blessing be upon you.”

Facing the man, I frowned while building up my killing intent.

The resonance emanating from the man’s body in the same rhythm as the bell.

This is the resonance of a monster core.

“I didn’t receive word that an outsider had entered D City, which is surprising. Welcome. I’m just a nobody who holds the position of leader of the Three Principles Church.”

“A person, you say.”

Woong, woong, the resonance spreads incessantly.

I realized that the man before me was the host of the parasite monsters.

“These days, even parasites call themselves people.”

“Parasites…?”

A puzzled reaction. Perhaps he’s just a human infected by the host parasite?

Even so, it doesn’t matter.

“Keuuk…!”

Chwak! After monsterizing, I bit the man’s neck in one go, crushing his head.

The parasites burning to death in my flame-filled mouth burst the dying human’s thoughts.

The thought of not wanting to die, memories full of holes, gratitude and worship.

Though thoughts are read similarly to when devouring humans, it tastes so different from humans.

“Grind… grind….”

A taste that is neither monster nor human… if I had to describe it, it’s like chewing on a human that rotted and crumbled long ago.

The monster core that swallowed thoughts of gratitude rather than curses shows a trembling I’ve never felt before.

There’s only one thing I can be certain of.

What I ate was not human.

“Apostle!”

“The apostle of God has come!”

“Please devour me!”

Children kneel before me after I so easily dispatched the parasite host.

Despite eliminating the host, there was no change in the infected.

They feel no fear at the corpse of the middle-aged male infected or the floor stained with blood.

Children offering their heads, asking me to bite and swallow them.

Confirming they can’t be saved actually puts my mind at ease.

At least to ensure they feel no pain, I was about to blow their heads off with a sense of bitterness when one of the kneeling children stood up.

“…Well, I heard that a monster called Black Cat follows humans, so I was just curious if such a unique variant could be tamed even if it’s a Despair-rank monster.”

A strange atmosphere flows through the white cathedral.

With an inexplicable sense of alienation, a pattern of three overlapping circles appears on the child’s forehead.

Simultaneously, a monster core formed inside the child who until just now was merely a parasite.

This young child has now become a new host.

Not just transformed into a host.

It possesses the exact memories of the man I had torn apart.

“To think Black Cat could transform into human form.”

[You are….]

As I raised my guard, the new host walked down the central aisle, stroking the heads of the children who were bowing.

“Could it be that you are an experiment?”

Experiment—noticing how I flinched at that word, the host smiled broadly with delight.

The fact that it uses the word “experiment” means the creature before me is also an experiment like me.

“Oh, a fellow experiment comrade. Come, shall we have a drink and chat for a moment?”

The host said this while approaching the platform, bringing a jewel-decorated knife and goblet.

Then, stabbing the knife into the heart of a nearby child, it collected the blood and offered it to me.

“Freshly squeezed blood. It’s delicious.”

When I just glared without saying anything, the host lifted the blood-filled goblet and emptied it clean.

Inside the emptied cup, parasites were wriggling.

“To resist fresh human blood right in front of you, your patience is quite remarkable.”

[You can transfer your consciousness to a body infected with parasites.]

“Correct. I call this the power of resurrection. I’m demonstrating that when monster, human, and soul become one to reach divinity, even death can be overcome.”

[So… unless all parasites are killed, you won’t die.]

The residual thoughts of the middle-aged man remaining in my mouth recall the term “hive mind” from fragmented memories.

An ability to transfer to another nearby parasite at the moment of death, with a range of… the entire D City.

How could such an absurd ability exist, or rather… is it not an ability but a characteristic of the monster itself?

The host grinned and plopped down on the corpse of the middle-aged man I had killed.

“What number are you?”

[I’m CXI.]

“CXI? What’s that? I asked for your number.”

[What number are you?]

The host tilted its head like a child upon hearing my identification name, then held up three fingers.

“I am Number 3.”

Number 3, a single-digit Numbers.

An entity created far earlier than me.

Probably a number from the very beginning of the laboratory.

“That’s unfortunate. I thought I could easily get my hands on a Despair-rank monster, but you’re an experiment.”

Number 3 expressed disappointment yet clapped with a smiling face.

“Still, I’m relieved thanks to you. You protect humans because you’re an experiment, so the laboratory’s direction hasn’t changed? That means I’m on the right path.”

[What does being an experiment have to do with protecting humans?]

“Hmm…? Well, the purpose of the laboratory is… ah, CXI… that’s Roman numeral notation? Then, you’re Number 111? They’ve made quite a lot.”

Number 3 spoke with wide eyes, as if just realizing something mid-conversation.

Does it not know about Romania? More importantly, what does an experiment protecting humans have to do with anything?

Number 3 looked at me pondering these questions and sighed.

“How ironic that they’ve made so many but still haven’t produced a finished product…”

The tone suggested it knew I was a failure rather than a success of the laboratory.

I’ve been feeling that we have different information about the laboratory and experiments.

“Since it’s come to this, CXI, how about becoming one with me?”

[Become one?]

“Exactly as I said. Please become a part of me.”

Number 3 made this absurd proposal while reaching out toward me.

The thin worms visible at the fingertips—becoming “part” of it means becoming an infected like them.

“You’ve seen D City, haven’t you? I’m already standing right in front of our goal.”

[Goal?]

“…You don’t know what the goal is?”

Nothing but incomprehensible words. Number 3 frowned and sighed.

“Perhaps they don’t explain it to recent experiments… Well, it is quite a far-fetched goal. Those after Number 10 probably aren’t voluntary experiments anyway.”

[Tell me what the goal is.]

“You’ll naturally understand if you become one with me.”

[I refuse.]

“Then…”

The conversation ends here. I tore it apart, killing it core and all.

Immediately, the child next to it displayed three circles on its forehead and transformed into a host.

“Even by force…”

Kwaduk! When I completely crushed the entire space inside the cathedral, the infected that it was switching between burst and died at once.

The parasites crawling on the blood-soaked cathedral floor gathered in one place, hardening into a form similar to a monster core.

Woooong! Along with a loud resonance similar to a bell, a monster alert sounds throughout D City.

The Despair-rank monster alert I’ve heard several times in W City.

Outside the cathedral, ability waves flying from far away resonate loudly with the bell sound.

The superhumans of D City—not just one.

Pyeong! As the cathedral ceiling flew away, numerous heroes revealed themselves before me.

“You have no choice but to become one!”

On all their foreheads were drawn three circles.