"What did you do!?"

Finally, Ru'Ah was showing cracks in her collected demeanor. Even though White was trapped like a butterfly in a carefully woven spider-web, it seemed as if the butterfly contained the mental strength of an entirely different kind of animal.

It was that of a panther, silently watching her without flinching. Waiting for the time to strike.

The boy had kept silent, despite all of the injuries he had awoken to. Of course, Ru'Ah was not very happy about it. After all, the quality of Chaos Serum stopped increasing.

Even if he had put up a facade at a time like this, everything was already too late. The parasite still possessed the cards in this game. There was nothing he could do anymore except wait for his time to be eaten alive while his eyes were gouged out for her collection.

The host, whose real name was Eluna and not Lily, became deformed like a cocoon and something putrid came out of her. Her life ended horribly in an instant.

A disgusting looking worm crawled out of the host from the back of its body, like an organ-looking fresh-born. The lime greeninsectoid creature sprouted a pair of weirdly patterned wings and a pair of red antennae. The innards decorated around where the flesh was torn out vividly, were translucent with a dark green glow; revealing many atrocities within its body.

...It contained human body parts, partially digested; A malicious lifeform down to its core-- Something abhorrent that should never exist in this world.

"Sh'tay sh'ill and rh'et m' consh'ume youuuuuuuu~!"

Ru'Ah's voice had become distorted now that she... no, it was speaking from its own vocal organ. It created a shrill and piercing voice. Realizing that her passive ability that resisted mental interferences; Mind Lock was still active, the parasite had decided to continue with its meal since there was clearly no resistance at all.

The continuous stare coming from White felt mildly uncomfortable to the parasite, even though there weren't any grounds for a comeback. Something was still a little off about the youth constricted below its body.

Eventually deciding to trust its instincts, the parasite moved to end things quickly.

Ru'Ah revealed its true form; a mouth for feeding located at the back of its host and several other inhuman organs and feelers protruding out of her body like a disfigured lime green tarantula. That mouth looked like the entrance to hell. Just as revolting as its main body, White could not help but flinch slightly at first sight, although he quickly regained his composure in less than a second. Ru'Ah opened up slowly with saliva strands still sticking onto numerous sharp and small fangs that resembled sickles, creating a spiderweb that seemed to be bottomless. There was something black and sticky wriggling inside its mouth as well, but what it was... it was better left to a person's imagination.

Even at the last moment where it seemed that his demise was imminent, White remained calm and collected... His gaze, never feeling a tinge of despair at all.

"..."

"Gh'byhe, Whi'e! Lh't's sh'art whi'f your ph'rechious eyessss!!!"

"...Ah."

White suddenly made a low voice and widened his eyes slightly to show surprise. Yet the prevalent aura around him only made his facial expression even tighter and fiercer.

"...Oh, she's here. ...I had a feeling."

"Hu-?!"

-Before the fresh fangs of the insectoid sank into the unamused White, it heard a loud crash near the window.

CRASH! A loud sound of glass shattering was heard.

The window in the room was completely destroyed. A person clad in a full black-colored armor plate was kneeling in a distance away from the window. It seemed that the person had jumped right into the window. As if ignoring inertia, the armored person leaped towards Ru'Ah with breakneck speed.

...!!! This!

Realizing the danger aimed at her, Ru'Ah decided to withhold its current favourable position over its prey and prioritize her safety. After all, it could take on a weakling like White any time, and it was virtually impossible for White to run away without any skills or latent abilities.

Ru'Ah leaped upwards onto the ceiling, dodging the incoming sword thrust. It was now right on top of the room, its feelers wriggling intensely from the sudden action it was forced to perform. It seems like it was adjusting itself by releasing a thick liquid to let its insectoid body stick to the ceiling like a spider.

Of course, this action was done subconsciously. Without waiting even a single moment, Ru'Ah returned the favour with a skill of her own.

"-Caustic Spittle!"

[Skill Glossary: Caustic Spittle - Active Skill. Instantly release a string of fast-acting acid onto a close target direction. Deals high sustaining AOE damage.]

A torrent of acid flew downwards the helmet of that figure.

The person reacted quickly as well, but instead of dodging, the sword was used instead to contain the waves of acid flying towards them.

"!!!"

But it seemed to be an action that was done without any proper thought. As a result, some parts of the spit acid still hit parts of their armor, dissolving them rapidly and revealing the person inside.

Pinkish... red hair, and sharp eyes that seemed as courageous as a lion.

White was free from the parasite's grasp at this moment, but he wasn't hurrying to move. He slowly lifted his body up to look at his savior's face, as he tapped his wrists lightly now that he had been freed, albeit temporarily.

This White was an opportunist by nature, so it wouldn't be surprising if White had retaliated during this moment. Yet at this time... He just wanted to prove something, as his red eyes glowed intently under the shadow cast by the moonlight.

Pressing his right hand on his right eye, his mouth curved up slightly as he saw the answer.

Ah. Vlad... Red huh. So this was what this feeling was.

It was but a moment that White was distracted. Knowing that he could not possibly defeat something like Ru'Ah with status akin to a Level 1, he wasted no time in heading towards the window with nimble steps.

"He's not here?"

"Yes, we've never seen him checked in on our records. There was nobody called White who was registered yesterday."

"Huh?! That must be a mistake! Check again!"

"I'm sorry, but... ...Hiiiiiiiii!!!"

Ah, I must've given her the stare. I must've leaked out my frustration.

"...No matter, if he comes over again, please let me know. I will be at the usual place."

Without waiting for the receptionist to reply, I got out of that place and looked around the streets.

It was already close to evening. I was caught up by a faint trace of a parasite just around the outskirts of the city.

In the end after circling around for a long time, I realized halfway that this was pointless since the enemy seemed to have a good grasp of my abilities. I would be toyed around endlessly like a mouse drawn to the scent of cheese.

In the end, I came back empty-handed.

...This doesn't seem like the usual thing, I thought they'd be more bold in appearing and facing people like that.

Looks like this one's a little more smart... I need to change my strategies...

Still, where did that guy go? ...Although I shouldn't have scheduled this meeting in the morning, I didn't expect him to just walk out like that without letting the receptionists know...

Questions, I have so many of them... Maybe I should have asked a few before I left yesterday... That guy. Dressed like that. He's someone from Earth right? That sort of conspicuous clothing and speaking English like that, there's no way I wouldn't recognize that.

...But he's not reincarnated? Is there people who come to this world in this way too? There's too many questions I'd like to ask but he was injured at that time, it wasn't wise to scare him away like that. ...I'm... not who I used to be after all.

Where did he go...

-Just then, I felt something brushing past my body. A conditioned reflex to monsters which called themselves Parasites.

"Goddesses of Parvula, grant me true vision, Clear Eyes of a Saint...!!!"

[Skill Glossary: Clear Eyes of a Saint - Active Skill. Cannot be activated at will and has unknown activation requirements. Induces the user into a state of omniscient perception, including the reading of vitals, HP and MP bars, rate of breathing and recovery.]

A pungent smell suddenly drifted into my senses, as everything became incredibly clear to me. It had a sort of masking scent around itself, but with my ability Clear Eyes of a Saint, it cannot get past anything once activated. I could see everything in numbers and data to its most precise value, even seeing through walls.

...Well, I am lucky that it's complying obediently for now. It's a volatile ability that might switch off anytime, so I'll locate the disturbance quickly.

"It should be around somewhere, I can feel it...! The filthy existence of a Parasite!"

I knew it, the information leaked about parasites being around Siesta was right. Looks like there are more than 1 parasite around here.

My anger started to boil, as I recalled the atrocities that befell my life. Everything began with the appearances of these inhumane creatures.

Unforgivable, this vendetta will never end... I will crush every single one of these monsters, for the sake of this world. ...For the sake of everyone...

"Kuhh..." I had unintentionally brought back some painful memories.

I am Soma de Eschtalier, the Sword Saint of this world. I will not fail-!

My sister remained out in the open, captured right in front of my eyes by one of them. Thinking this was the one this time, my motivation was spurred on even higher.

...Two years. I've scoured these lands for two years...

My senses turned sharper as I headed towards the direction of the creature.

The smell is getting closer!

Shaking away my idle lamenting, I rushed quickly towards an inn where my skill was picking up from.

...An inn? I have a bad feeling about this.

A sudden thought of concern entered my mind again, as I remembered that the person that I had saved yesterday might still be in this city. It was extremely probable that he still was.

...I hope that guy isn't involved in this.

Activating my ability again, I traced the smell from the second floor.

I'm sorry, innkeeper, I'll recompense you later when all of this is over!

I leaped into the room on the second level. The window couldn't withstand the impact and broke easily, I landed onto the ground safely, and looked around quickly.

?! There's two people?!

White Shigaraki?! Why are you here?!

-! And that girl on top of him is ... a parasite!?

My mind switched off at the sight of one of them. Clutching my sword tightly, I rushed forward to engage it in combat.

...!

DIE!!!

I thrust the Sword of Bloodwell forward at its neck.

It leaped up away from the boy I'd encountered earlier and landed on the ceiling.

This parasite is definitely not a weak one! But nothing before this sword!

Briefly looking at the enemy's status window through my Status Check was a bad habit of mine whenever in combat, and this proved to be a huge mistake this time.

"Caustic Spittle!"

! Shit!

Although I was fairly confident it didn't take half a second to trigger Status Check, the parasite had taken this opportunity to fire a torrent of acid towards me!

I was prepared to dodge, but I realized the boy on the bed had been looking at me since a while ago. I still had Status Check activated so I glanced at his status.

I had done so earlier when he was on the sickbed, but I felt something different about him around him as I did so.

...No, not good! The acid is going to hit! I can't let him get involved in this business!

Turning my attention to the situation at hand, I swung the Sword of Bloodwell at the acid. I was confident that this sword was not going to melt from some mere acid, and it would be able to contain the acidic spread to a certain extent.

The problem is-

"Kuhh!"

I braced myself for the remainder of the acid that was unblocked by the sword. Some parts of my armor, including my helmet was beginning to melt away. The boy on the bed was still looking intently at me.

The acid melted away the helmet and the shoulder pad of the armor, revealing the person wearing it.

Her dark red hair appeared luminous under the moonlight. The pearl white sword was glowing yellow. White looked at the breathtaking scene emotionlessly, as he recalled the first time he had met the girl.

"Disappear!"

Soma dashed forward and unleashed a powerful downwards slash.

"BREAKMOON!" She roared a battlecry.

-CRASH!

The floor exploded as the sword made contact. A dust cloud quickly accumulated from the very powerful impact.

It was one of the more explosive skill she had, which showed that Soma wanted to end this fight early. More importantly,

[Skill Glossary: Breakmoon - Active Skill. Can only be used by a Sword Mage while the user controls one or more sword. Creates an invisible bubble around targeted sword/s and releases an expulsion force that deals Area-of-Effect (AOE) damage in a small radius around them.]

"NH'OT NH'EARH' EH'NH'UFF, R'TLE GH'RL! "

Ru'Ah yelled out hysterically.

A tongue flew out of the cloud, lunging towards Soma.

A restriction skill?! Tsk, I can't fight in such a tight space... I have to end this quickly or change locations to avoid unnecessary casualties in the city!

Soma glanced back briefly at White, who had already begun making his way towards the window to escape. She had caught someone dangerous staring at her for a brief moment, but it didn't seem to linger as if he held no more interest towards his saviour.

Her above-average appearance aside, Soma was slightly surprised and irritated that White had not bothered to give a look of gratitude before leaving, but that childish thought quickly dispersed as she knew that was the right thing to do in real combat. The actions of weaklings were to get out of the way as soon as possible lest they get hurt and obstruct the actions of those who can fight.

Still, Soma had noticed White's efficient maneuver with inhuman reaction speed during that instant.

This guy, ...he moved at the moment the parasite suffered from a Crowd Control (CC) effect... was that intentional...? Was he finding the right cues to escape the entire time? ...Still, this is the second floor, he will break some bones from that fall...! The parasite definitely will not let go of him, I need to get him out of here safely first!

...No... I will end it here!

As blood rushed into her head, Soma unleashed another ability in response to the adrenaline coursing through her body.

"Blade Current!"

Soma's sword began to glow and vibrate rhythmically. With that current flowing around the the blade, she slashed the tongue lashing towards her apart.

[Skill Glossary: Blade Current - Active Skill. Can only be used by a Sword Mage and when wielding a sword. Shrouds a draft of wind parallel to the blade of a sword until the swords touches something. Increased movement speed when moving along the direction of the current.]

The pitch black tongue was cut cleanly, but it regrew itself explosively in an instant. Despite that, pain had still registered. A shrill scream of pain could be heard.

"TH'A- TH'AT HURHTSSSS!!! GHUUUUAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! MMMMMY T'HURNNN!!!"

A pair of hands grew out of the parasite's body, exploding out of its skin. Some parts of green mucus stained the ground. Ru'Ah hardened her skin and deflected the slashes by covering her face and body with both arms.

This... it's definitely stronger than usual... Tch... I'll use a few more then...!

Soma squinted her eyes as she looked at her mana gauge through her Clear Eyes of a Saint which bypassed the need to do a Status Check, and used another Sword Skill.

Another small portion of MP was consumed, as she made a quick chant. A look of grimace could be seen on her face, as if she was suffering from a stomachache.

"...-Enchant, Lightspeed Thrust!"

[Skill Glossary: Lightspeed Thrust - Active Skill. Can only be used by a sword-type class and when wielding a sword. The enhanced version of Sword Lunge (Charges forward within a short distance while holding a sword through skill assistance. Inflicts piercing damage. Skill level affects charging speed). Increases Lightspeed Thrust's piercing damage by 10% at LV MAX.]

Adding a word in front before calling out the skill name, the ability seemed to amplify itself with a coating of blue aura around it. This was the physical manifestation of mana points (MP) in this world, and "Enchant" was one of the few ways physical attackers could use to attach additional effects to their skills.

With blinding speed, Soma lunged forward to attack before the limbs coming out of the parasite in front of her had completely formed themselves.

But it was suddenly dodged, as Ru'Ah relocated near the bed now. Soma's attack had landed on an afterimage. She was definitely sure that it had just used an automatic or passive skill to dodge her lunge. It was impossible to react to an attack that rivalled the speed of sound.

"NHO'T FHASHH' ENHUFF!!"

But of course, this wasn't the end of her assault. Soma had only revealed a fraction of her arsenal of Sword Skills as the Sword Saint.

That's because it's a distraction!

Soma chuckled in her mind while enduring the pain from using her skills.

"Wh-?!"

Ru'Ah had also noticed her victorious expression.

Soma had utilized this moment of staged vulnerability after using her ability with "Enchant". Even though a skill attached with "Enchant" would suffer from a skill lag at the end of it in exchange for a small boost in effectiveness, it was all to lower the guard of the parasite.

It did seem as if the parasite had knowledge of "Enchant" and its flaws as well.

Being probed to look around her its surroundings, Ru'Ah quickly noticed a flask tied to a sword suspended in the air. It had not noticed this at all as it was being attacked.

It definitely could not escape in time.

TAKE THIS!!!!

"Sword Rain!"

[Skill Glossary: Sword Rain - Active Skill. Can only be used by a Sword Mage while the user controls one or more sword. Drives targeted sword/s in the air downwards a set location nearby to deal single-targeted damage. Inflicts piercing damage. Skill level affects ability of independent control for each sword used in Sword Rain.]

"!!!"

The sword flew down and Ru'Ah dodged it by a hair's breadth, but the glass of the flask attached to the blade had shattered from the pressure of the collision on the wooden floor.

The flask exploded, and the liquid content splattered all over Ru'Ah's skin. And something happened. Its skin began to dissolve rapidly, revealing an ugly sight. It was a powerful burn that felt like holy water being splashed onto a vampire. Steam was coming out of its body as if being doused by strong acid.

Ru'Ah was clearly thrown off from it, as it was struggling to get the liquid off with its extended feelers. But it only served to worsen the damage as even its feelers were being dissolved from touching the liquid on its body.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! WH' ...THISHHH?!"

An extremely horrifying screech came out of Ru'Ah's vocal organs.

It was a self-concocted bottle of special larvicide Soma had in her possession to fight against parasites. She still had 3 flasks left in her pouch strapped around her waist. With one applied successfully, her special weapon had impaired the parasite's vision and movements for a brief moment.

...Now!

Soma grabbed White's body around her shoulder and tried to leave through the window. She needed to fight on an open ground, while not letting White be killed.

Judging from the personality of the peculiar parasite, it seemed to have a high sense of pride so there was no way she would escape and would try to chase after them instead. Even though Soma still had the intent to kill it, she had to hold down her murderous urges to save a life she had involved into this situation.

Trying to confirm that the parasite had its vision obscured, Soma turned to look. But once again, it proved to be another mistake.

"PETRIFICATION GAZE!"

!!!

Soma attempted to look away, but the skill had already taken effect. Ru'Ah had charged it up even as it had been blinded briefly by the larvicide on its body.

[Skill Glossary: Petrification Gaze - Active Skill. Maintain eye contact with any portion of a living body while uninterrupted for a set amount of time (this duration counts as cast time) to inflict the Petrified status on that area. Petrified areas are turned to stone and can only be healed through dispels or skill negation. Skill level affects cast time.]

-You have been afflicted with Petrified Status.-

An emotionless voice sounded inside of her head. Starting from her right leg, she was beginning to turn to stone slowly.

I was careless...!! ...Tch! We at least need to get out of here!

Soma jumped out of the inn from the second floor and landed onto the ground without any issue at all. Trying to adjust her pace with her legs that were becoming more and more difficult to run with by the second, Soma headed towards the outer gates of Siesta with White resting on her shoulder.