Chapter 33

〈 Episode 33 〉Liberation

The next day, Asha continued to clear away the remains of the Tentacles with the villagers. While working, Asha quietly asked Lucia,

“Lucy, did you eat all of this?”

“Yes. I ate it all.”

“I thought you didn’t eat it because there was some left, but you ate it all. Okay, Lucy.”

Lucia looked at Asha, who was crushing a Tentacle, and asked worriedly,

“Mom, you must have been tired yesterday. Shouldn’t you rest a bit?”

“I’m not tired at all. Thanks for worrying about me, Lucy.”

Asha felt a sense of incongruity between Lucia from the day before and the Lucia of now.

‘Lucy’s way of speaking has changed a lot… Did she grow again?’

Lucy’s appearance was that of a seven-year-old child, but in reality, Lucy’s age should have made even babbling impossible. It was abnormal for her speech to change so suddenly in a single day, but Asha was used to Lucy’s rapid growth and brushed it off without much thought.

“It looks like it’ll be over soon, so wait for me!”

“Okay, I will.”

Lucia squatted down at a distance, watching the people clear away the remains. She was thinking about something else.

‘I love Mom. I want to be with her always. But if I love Mom, what should I do? What does Mom like?’

Lucia, who had simply been with Asha without much thought, had grown mentally enough to think about the relationship between her mother and herself, less than a day after absorbing the Tentacles. She quietly watched Asha and began to think about what she should do and her plans.

Unaware of the changes her daughter was undergoing, Asha was engrossed in the aftermath with the others.

“Hoo… It’s as hard as fighting. But it feels easier than yesterday, maybe because we rested?”

A Self-Defense Force member, holding a wooden club and crushing a Tentacle, responded to Asha’s words.

“Now that you mention it, it does seem that way. I’m glad nothing else happened in the past day. I hope this is the end of it.”

“It would be fortunate if this is the end, but that would be naive. If their numbers are beyond imagination, they might come back three or four times.”

The faces of everyone who heard Georg’s words turned pale.

‘Lucy’s ability to control the Tentacles won’t be limitless… Even if she can handle it twice, we’ll have to leave here if they come a third time.’

“I’ll go ask the Village Chief what we should do.”

“Yes, I understand. Please go quickly.”

“Take care! Let’s go, Lucy.”

“Okay, Mom.”

Asha took Lucy and went to the Village Chief’s house. She met the Village Chief, who was discussing with Self-Defense Force Captain Jonathan and Walter. The Village Chief, who had stopped the Tentacles with Georg at the west gate, was talking to them without even wiping off the Slime that had splattered all over his body.

“Uncle Walter, you’re here.”

“Huh? Asha, it’s you. I was discussing future plans with the Village Chief.”

“You came at a good time, Asha. I was about to call you anyway.”

“Village Chief, what should we do next? Georg said there’s a possibility the Tentacles might attack several times. What do you think is best?”

The Village Chief listened to Asha’s words and bowed to Asha and Walter.

“First, I want to say thank you, Asha. If you hadn’t brought them here, we would have been dead long ago. I’ll say it again, thank you. Walter.”

“I only helped because I could. Don’t worry too much about it. Let’s talk about what to do next.”

Asha answered before Walter could speak.

“Should we leave after all? If we’re surrounded and attacked like last time, it’ll be too late to evacuate then.”

After pondering for a moment, Walter asked the Village Chief,

“There’s a right time for every action. Village Chief, what were the casualties from the last battle?”

“Out of the 347 villagers who remained, 13 died, and 2 of them were Self-Defense Force members. If Walter had arrived just a little later, the damage would have doubled.”

The damage was worse than imagined, and Walter’s face darkened. The decrease in the number of villagers was dangerous, but an even greater threat was the reduction in the number of Self-Defense Force personnel, who were the combat force.

“This is serious… If this kind of damage happens again just once or twice, it will be difficult to maintain the village.”

“That’s right. The villagers are exhausted, and it’s unlikely that the damage will be less next time…”

“Village Chief, how much oil is left?”

The Village Chief shook his head at Asha’s words.

“We didn’t have much oil stored up in the first place. It’s mostly what we squeezed from animals and plants, and there’s not much left now.”

“If we don’t keep the torches lit properly, the Tentacles will crawl underground from all directions, not just the east and west gates.”

The state of the people and the status of the stockpiled supplies, everything pointed to evacuation.

“I suppose so… I don’t know if it will be temporary or if we’ll have to leave for good, but it seems best to get out of here first.”

“Uncle Walter, if we evacuate, where should we go?”

Hearing Asha’s words, Walter rested his chin on his hand and pondered.

Crack-

As he unconsciously put strength into his thigh, the wooden chair he was sitting on shattered. He lost his balance and fell on his backside. Walter dusted off his buttocks and stood up.

“Ah, sorry about that, Village Chief. It’s a shame the chair broke for no reason.”

“It’s alright. I’ll bring a table made of iron.”

Walter sat on the table the Village Chief brought and suggested to the group,

“It’s better to go down into the Orcs’ territory after all.”

The Village Chief was a little taken aback by Walter’s suggestion.

“Um… Do you think they’ll welcome us? Wouldn’t it be better to choose either the Artuana or Bluea Kingdom and go there?”

Walter rejected the Village Chief’s opinion.

“They won’t welcome us, but they won’t capture and kill us either. But at the borders of other kingdoms, they might arrest villagers who don’t belong to any country. Keep in mind that the two countries don’t have a good relationship. In the worst case, they might even be shot on the spot.”

The Village Chief nodded at Walter’s words.

“I see. I’ll do as Walter says. I need to tell the people quickly so we can get out of here.”

“You’ve made a good decision. I’ll help as much as I can if there’s anything I can do.”

The Village Chief, Walter, and Asha finished their discussion and left the house.

The Village Chief told the villagers about the evacuation. Opinions were somewhat divided about going to the Orcs’ territory, but no one disagreed with the evacuation itself.

This was because many of their families and neighbors had already died in the previous battle, and everyone was terrified of the horrible Tentacle swarm. Some people’s eyes were still red from the loss of their families.

The people quickly prepared for the evacuation. Most people had already packed their belongings to some extent due to the ominous atmosphere, and everyone was aware of the seriousness, so they all acted urgently.

The evacuation procession was led by Asha and the Village Chief, with Self-Defense Force Captain Jonathan and Georg in the middle, and Walter at the rear. Some people with livestock pulled carts loaded with luggage with cows or donkeys, but most people pulled small carts themselves and joined the procession.

Fwoosh-

Around the time the humans were desperately holding off the Tentacles in the village, Eva was rushing through the forest and had arrived in front of the Labyrinth. Having smashed through every obstacle in her path, a straight line of missing trees and bushes marked her trail. Eva had come to the Labyrinth to deal with the Tentacles, but she was wondering what to do.

“It would be a waste to go in there and blindly search for the Tentacles. Hmm, what to do… I think I can do it now, should I give it a try?”

She knelt on one knee and placed her hand on the ground, spreading Mana into the Labyrinth like tree branches extending. Eva, grasping every place the Mana reached as if she had it in her hand, diffused the Mana throughout the underground of the Labyrinth, sensing the Tentacle’s main body and the people there. This level of skill had been impossible for Eva until recently, but after her body had completely changed, her control had improved beyond comparison.

After confirming the structure of the Labyrinth, Eva created a blue-tinged spear and threw it at the Labyrinth on the ground.

Whoosh– Kuguung!

The spear Eva threw collided with the Labyrinth, creating a shockwave and piercing straight through the Labyrinth walls. As the Magic Spear that Eva threw pierced through the already unstable Labyrinth, the walls in that vicinity completely collapsed. Eva decided to take this opportunity to demolish the Labyrinth altogether, as it would not benefit her tribe.

“I need to rescue the captured people, but it’s better to get rid of the Labyrinth altogether.”

After throwing more spears several times and turning the first floor of the Labyrinth into a pile of rubble, Eva cleared away the obstacles and entered the ruined Labyrinth, heading towards the place where the Tentacle was.

The Tentacle sent Tentacle groups around to collect more prey and Breeding Ground. After thousands of Tentacle groups attacked, most of the Tentacles died, but they were able to capture as many additional hosts as they had gathered so far. Although 30% of its group had disappeared in this attack, the number of Tentacles would naturally increase over time, so the Tentacle simply focused on endlessly increasing its group.

Since it had annihilated the creatures nearby while searching for prey, there were plenty of stored nutrients. It had stopped attacking places where resistance was strong, but it had sent a Tentacle Army to weak places for a second time, so the captured seed bearers would soon be brought here again.

The Breeding Ground, once filled with the screams and moans of people, was now shrouded in an eerie silence. The people who had been captured to create the Tentacle’s armies had all had their wombs overworked in a torture-like pleasure, and within a few days, they had all lost their minds.

“…”

No one could make a sound anymore, and the only sounds in the Breeding Ground were the squelching of the Tentacles moving back and forth between the women’s vaginas and anuses, and occasionally the sound of Tentacles being born inside the women’s bellies.

The woman formerly known as Jamie was now barely conscious, her thoughts almost impossible. Staring straight ahead with unfocused eyes, she could no longer feel pain or pleasure even as she gave birth to Tentacles. Jamie, who had been in the same position with her arms and legs buried for days, no longer felt even discomfort.

Poojijik, patter–

‘Another one is being born…’

This time, Jamie gave birth to countless Leeches. Her vagina, which had been stretched to its limit by dozens of births, easily expelled them without her even having to exert herself. Jamie only recognized the newly born offspring, but felt no emotion.

Thwack!

After giving birth to the Tentacles, she was once again being penetrated in both holes, but she was merely swaying blankly without moaning. She looked at the others with blurry eyes, but no longer knew where Rosie was.

‘I’m sorry, Rosie. I said I would love you forever… I guess I was only capable of this.’

Discarding the last thought she had, Jamie also became an Objet of the Breeding Ground like the other women. Just before she completely lost her reason, thunder rumbled in the room.

Kwarreureung–!!

It was literally blue thunder. As something like a ray of light swept over the Breeding Ground, the Tentacles there were torn to pieces. The surrounding Tentacles, having lost control, scattered and released the people they had been restraining, and the people freed from the Tentacles collapsed or slumped down powerlessly.

Kureung! Kwagagak!

The blue thunder did not harm the people in any way, but skillfully attacked only the Tentacle Wall several times. Like thunderbolts striking the ground in a storm, dozens of rays completely dismantled the Breeding Ground. Jamie was also released from her restraints and collapsed onto the floor of the Breeding Ground.

“Ah…”

She wriggled slightly, still unable to exert strength in her body. Stubs of Tentacle stalks, broken in the middle, remained embedded in Jamie’s vagina and anus. A woman came into view in her eyes, which were slowly regaining their light.

Neither human nor elf, but resembling a goddess from legends, she looked around at the people and gestured to move them, laying them down comfortably in one place. Jamie was also laid down next to them.

“There were more people than I thought. It would have been dangerous if I had been any later. Wait just a moment. I’ll go finish up and come back.”

‘Don’t go!’

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Jamie wanted to call out to her, but she could only tremble her fingers and couldn’t even move her hand. The woman, not hearing Jamie’s groan, disappeared beyond the Breeding Ground.

Tears flowed from Jamie’s dried-up eyes. Whether her tears were coming from gratitude for salvation or from misery about herself, she herself could not tell.