Chapter 730: Kin-Devouring

“Sh...... shu...... shuk......?”

It tried to open its mouth for something.

But all that came out of the human with a snake’s lower body was the sound of leaking air.

'That makes one.'

The command words that thing had used as its main weapon were now unusable.

Its physical abilities were not something I could ignore either, but compared to the other monsters, they were hopelessly lacking.

'The next annoying one is.'

While receiving the attacks of the monsters assaulting me, I sent my gaze into the distance.

[The Devouring Ghoul’s gaze turns toward you.]

[Spiritual decay is progressing.]

A monster with a ghostlike appearance.

The thing watching me from far away.

PAK!

I tried throwing a kitchen knife toward it, but.

Sssrk......

That kitchen knife merely passed straight through its body.

'So they can even parasitize spiritual bodies.'

The thing moved around freely in a spiritual state while staring at me.

The longer I remained touched by that gaze, the more I could feel my rank lowering.

It had no physical form at all, yet it could shave away its opponent’s power just by looking.

It was enough to make me wonder what kind of thing that was.

According to what that prince said, these things infiltrated any kind of world.

Among those worlds, there would surely be worlds inhabited by beings without physical substance.

Which meant those parasites could even parasitize those kinds of life-forms.

An enemy without substance was extremely troublesome.

If there was one fortunate thing.

[Introduction to Soul Cooking]

It was that this troublesome quality.

Did not apply to me.

GRAB!

{......!}

While avoiding the enemies attacking me, I approached it.

Maybe because it thought it was safe as a spiritual body, or maybe because it had to remain within a certain distance to maintain that curse.

The thing was not fast, and the distance was not that great, so grabbing it was not difficult.

SAAAAAAAK!!!

The moment it was caught in my hand, an ominous green light began radiating from its face.

An unsettling energy burrowed into my mind.

I could feel its soul attempting to infiltrate my mind.

But.

[The effect of the title - King Slayer activates.]

In the end, it was a being of lower rank than me.

Mental interference from something like that did not work on me.

SHNK!

I gouged out its eye sockets.

Since the thing had the face of a skull, there were no eyeballs to speak of.

[The Devouring Ghoul’s gaze collapses.]

[The lowered rank and spiritual decay are lifted.]

Fortunately, I had fought curses before.

In the end, the medium for that curse was its gaze.

When I removed the eye sockets that sent that gaze, the curse vanished as well.

'That takes care of the two most annoying ones.'

I turned my head and looked at the remaining three monsters and the swarm of zombies.

The three monsters were different in type, but they were all monsters with strong physical force.

Judging purely by combat ability, they were three creatures that might even be stronger than Ariella had been when she was still a count.

They were certainly not easy enemies to deal with, but.

CLANG!

That side had been weakened by my cooking.

Somehow, a proper exchange was still possible.

As for the countless annoying swarms of zombies.

[Air Dish]

PAAAAAAAAANG!

It was a dish I had not been able to use while the hostages were present because it damaged even those nearby.

But through the “Air Dish,” I was somehow able to handle them.

The reason I could fight this well was simple.

Because I was stronger than that prince...... unfortunately, that was not it.

The first reason was.

That those things had already been considerably exhausted from their battle with the prince in the first place.

And the second was.

'Because I had time to watch the fight from the ground.'

What kind of monsters these things were, and what kinds of weaknesses they might have.

I had already figured those things out to some extent while helping the humans escape on the ground.

Once information was understood, I could attack their weaknesses.

On top of that.

They were beings designed so the five of them could work together to fight one strong individual.

It was not that each one of them was outstanding in every area like a perfect hexagon.

They were specialized in maximizing one strength, covering one another’s weaknesses, and attacking a single powerful enemy.

Because they were so focused on one strength like that, their weaknesses were also clear in return.

For me, opponents with weaknesses this clear were easier to deal with.

{Danger.}

{Unexpected variable.}

If those things had known about me, there might have been enemies suited to counter me as well.

But they seemed to have only expected a battle against that prince.

I had merely struck at that opening.

Perhaps that fact had also become fatal to them.

{A decision is required.}

{Regrettable, but.}

{The removal of the mutant that appeared within the species takes priority.}

Those things.

Made some kind of decision.

***

{A decision is required.}

'......A decision?'

When I first heard that word.

I only frowned because I did [N O V E L I G H T] not know what it meant.

But soon.

I was able to understand what that meaning was.

The countless zombies on the ground.

The zombies I had inwardly thought were even more annoying than those five began approaching those five.

CRACK......

Then they began tearing open their own bodies.

And from inside those bodies, torn apart like that.

[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]

[Parasite B-36S-Type Mutant Variant (Third Evolutionary Form)]

Their main bodies.

They pulled out the parasites.

Parasites connected all over by nerve bundles formed inside the host bodies.

The things raised those parasites as if offering them up to the five monsters.

And the five zombies that saw that.

CRUNCH.

'......!'

Those worms.

Began to eat them.

'What the......!?'

An enormous number of zombies.

They began being devoured by those five zombies in an instant.

If there were enemies more troublesome to me, they were not those five, but the great number of zombies.

It was a sight of that number decreasing, but.

'Kin-devouring?'

As I watched it.

I felt a powerful chill run through me.

'I have to stop this.'

However.

{Krrroooooorgh!}

“Kh......!”

Zombies blocked my path.

[Air Dish]

BOOOOOOOOM!

I used what little wide-area attack method I had to sweep them away, but.

Those things did not even feel fear of death.

{Krrroooooooooooooorgh!!!}

Corpses blocked my path even though they knew they would die.

I kept bursting them apart with Air Dish, but.

Unlike other mages’ wide-area attacks, Air Dish affected me too.

It was impossible to pass through while ignoring that effect.

In the end, time was delayed.

{Ah......}

And in that brief span of time.

They finished feeding enough.

{With that just now.}

{We have lost countless possibilities.}

Beyond the space that had burst open because of [Air Dish], I could see the five zombies.

The presence of the things I had clearly driven almost to the point of defeat had changed strangely.

And.

What I felt from them was regret over loss.

And.

'Hostility toward me.'

PAAAAAAAAANG!

“......!”

The monster with the greatest speed among the five.

The red beast charged at me.

'It got faster......!'

I barely moved my knife through the prediction of [Martial Arts].

But.

CLAAAAANG!

“Kh......!?”

The arm I had blocked with hurt as though it were about to break.

The monster had been fast, but its power had been somewhat lacking.

Now even that power had become threatening.

BOOOOOOOM!

The giant charged in from behind it.

While suppressing the pain in my arm, I somehow evaded the giant’s fist, but.

FWAAAAASH......!

'......It only grazed me?'

It had not even struck me directly. It had merely grazed me.

Yet the aftermath alone tore away my skin.

And.

The two monsters with powerful hand-to-hand combat abilities.

Aiming for the opening created while I defended against those two monsters’ attacks.

SAAAAAAK!

“......!”

That Soul-Devouring Ghoul.

Approached from behind me.

Its eye sockets had been removed, but.

It was a monster of that level.

Naturally, there was not only one method for it to inflict a curse.

Tap.

Its hand touched my body.

At that moment.

[You have been touched by the Plundering Hand.]

[Your rank decreases, and soul decay begins.]

The curse that should have been dispelled covered my soul once more.

No...... it was an even stronger curse than the one I had dispelled just before.

'This time, it’s the hand.'

If I cut off its hand.

That curse should also be lifted, but.

PAK!

At that moment.

The slime swelled its body massively, as if to block my vision.

“Getting in the way......!”

SHNK—

My knife cut through its body, but.

Its body had been made of a liquid form like slime in the first place.

Just as a knife could not cut water, the part of its body that had been cut away instantly returned to its original shape.

But.

'This thing...... isn’t attacking?'

The thing only swelled up to an enormous size in front of me.

It did not lunge at me in that state.

While I was wondering about that.

'That is.'

The slime-shaped monster.

Beyond that liquid body, I saw one wavering shape.

'The Lamia.'

The corpse of the snake woman.

That corpse looked at me and opened its mouth.

Her vocal cords had definitely been removed by me, but.......

{Please.}

From her throat came a voice beautiful enough to make my skin crawl.

I looked at it with a hollow laugh.

The throat I had stabbed.

Something strange and tentacle-like had taken root in that throat.

'With its own main body.......'

It greatly resembled the parasite I had studied with Howard.

The nerve bundles created by those parasites.

'It replaced the vocal cords.'

In that short time.

That thing had “evolved” so it could replace the vocal cords it had lost.

And the result of that was simple.

{Please slow down.}

PAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!

Her voice became sound waves and poured toward me.

The voice traveled through the air as its medium, then even penetrated the slime’s liquid body before reaching me.

Because that slime was blocking the space between us, it was impossible to eliminate the medium with “Air Dish.”

[You have been exposed to a command word!]

This command word was a request to slow down.

The command to “stop” that she had released just before had failed because my rank was higher.

That was why, with more precision.

She had made a request for me to “slow down.”

A command word with a clearer and more limited domain.

Its effect was only too certain.

Slowly......

“Khup.”

My body slowed down enough for me to feel it.

I could feel that my movement speed had dropped by almost half.

And.

[Corpse of Raior the Red Beast]

The beast charged toward me.

Just before, I had at least been able to predict and block it.

But with my current speed, even if I predicted its path, I could not block it.

'Do I have to use another method?'

At that thought.

Just as I was frowning.

CLANG!

“......!?”

Something appeared.

And deflected that beast’s claw.

***

CLANG!

“......!?”

An attack I had thought I could not block in my current state.

A shadow deflected the red beast’s claw.

I looked at it with startled eyes and murmured.

“Chancellor?”

A goblin holding an old dagger.

It had blocked the attack in my place.

{Sword Demon.}

{Why does the greatest of our kin help the traitor!}

It seemed I was not the only one startled by its appearance.

The minds of the zombies pushed back violently.

But as if it had no interest in those things.

{To the prince......}

“What?”

The thing spoke while protecting me.

{To the prince...... deliver...... the corpses of our kin......}

At those words.

I opened my eyes wide and looked behind me.

{.......}

A faintly wavering ashen-gray energy.

That prince lay fallen there.