Chapter 737: What Responsibility?

His essence still belonged to the insect.

Even if human memories had been inserted into him, he had no hesitation about following the parasite’s instincts.

Until now, he had hunted countless living beings and turned them into his own kind.

But.

'Humans.'

This was the first time he had seen humans.

Humans were weak beings in this world.

Many of them had already disappeared in the early days of the apocalypse, so among the living beings of this land, they belonged to an extreme minority.

On the other hand, the insects had achieved rapid evolution.

The zombies with reason used strategies to a certain degree, and within those strategies, they were always assigned the role of hunting powerful monsters.

While he was bewildered by that sight.

Slide.......

The Sword Demon moved to hunt as if nothing was wrong.

The humans looked shabby and covered in dust.

People who must have barely extended their lives by hiding here.

The moment the Sword Demon’s sword moved, their lives would vanish in an instant.

'What should I do?'

For a brief time.

The human brain and the insect’s thoughts spun at tremendous speed.

The conclusion that came out was all too obvious.

'I have to join the hunt.'

That Sword Demon was absurdly strong.

It was a being he could not defeat even if several of his kind on a similar level attacked together.

To begin with, had he not hunted other lives perfectly well until now?

There was no reason whatsoever to hesitate over hunting at this late stage.

The reason he had been bewildered after seeing them was merely because of his memories from when he was human.

The current him was not human.

This was nothing more than an error caused by the influence of the body he had taken as his host.

But.

'......The native species of this land.'

Through evolution, the insect’s intelligence had risen.

He knew how the invasion of this world had been carried out.

He also knew that the reason the peaceful lives of those people had collapsed.

Was because they had gnawed away at the barrier of this world.

'I have to join the hunt.'

He clenched his teeth and crushed down the thoughts brought up by the human brain.

'I want to live.'

The first moment he opened his eyes through this body.

Had he not thought that he wanted to live?

If he chose a different path here, he would die.

He would absolutely not survive.

No other option existed in the first place.......

“Mommy.......”

At that moment.

Something entered his eyes.

As the Sword Demon approached.

Countless people fled from the approaching zombie.

But among them, there was one whose steps were especially slow.

A small human who had fallen.

And, as if trying to protect that child.

One human stopped the feet that had been running away and instead spread their body out toward this side.

When he saw that sight.

Something rose from within the human memories.

The owner of this body had not been healthy or wise.

Even so, the reason he had survived this apocalypse for a while.

And the reason he had been able to awaken at the end of it.......

'Mother. Brother.'

Was because there had been certain beings who prioritized someone else over their own survival.......

Beings who, from the insect’s perspective, were utterly foolish.

Urgh.......

Nausea surged up.

A sensation he had already felt many times.

But he had survived by turning his eyes away from this nausea again and again.

He had thought that, for the sake of his own life, he could endure this much revulsion.

But.

'The reason I thought I wanted to live...... was because it looked beautiful.'

That was why he had struggled to live.

'But this is.'

Turning away from his own kind, who could not even resist as they headed toward their predetermined deaths.

Turning away from those who would die after being invaded.

Thinking only of his own life.

'This is not beautiful.'

It was not what he had wanted.

And.

The very moment that thought rose in his head.

Slide.......

His body moved without thinking.

'......!'

Even the insect himself, who had moved the body.

Did not properly understand what intention had caused that movement.

Without even realizing why he had moved, his body was moving...... at that exact moment.

Ding!

There was a sound from somewhere.

It was not a sound heard through the host human’s hearing.

[You have awakened!]

The insect inside him.

It was a sound that rang through his soul.

***

In the brief instant when the zombie’s body was about to move.

[Awakened: Parasite B-36S Aberrant Mutant Individual (Fifth Evolutionary Body)]

A message appeared before his eyes.

A transparent window with translucent text written on it.

[Lv.69]

From that window.

Some alien power surged into him.

And beyond that window.

'That is.'

The insect.

Felt the presence of a certain man.

THUD, thud......!

At that presence.

The insect forgot to breathe for a moment.

With brilliant radiance wrapped around his body.

Holding in one hand a sacred-looking knife that seemed as though it would appear only in a creation myth.......

A divine giant.

CLANG, clang!!!

Every time he swung that knife.

The translucent window before the insect’s eyes, which possessed terrifying power.

That “system,” capable of grasping and shaking the fate of an entire world, was forcibly revised.

And.

It was not long before the insect could understand what that divine giant had revised.

[Common Traits]

[Combat Power Meter]

[Absolute Taste]

Every time his knife moved and revised that window.

New powers were engraved into the insect’s soul.

[Stats]

[Skills]

[Ability - Parasite]

And.

By the time the power flowing from that window had safely settled into his body.

CRRRRUNCH.......

The giant, who had been revising the laws.

Engraved something in one corner of the transparent window.

This translucent window had already taken root in the insect’s soul.

Those were words that would be engraved into the souls of everyone who shared that window.

Even if he did not know that language, the meaning contained within it would have been conveyed to him, but.......

Ridiculously enough.

The insect knew that he would have been able to understand it even if it had not been engraved in his soul.

Because.

[The Legion stands with you.]

The knowledge engraved in that brain.

Could read those words.

He had wanted to resist the absurdity.

But he had lacked the courage to act.

He was weak.

And he thought no one would agree with him.

He thought that if he resisted the impossible, only death would be waiting for him.

That was why he had endured the revulsion and turned his eyes away.

But.

'It says it stands with me.'

If.

He was not alone.

If there were other helpers who stood with him.

Then.......

CLANG!

“......What are you doing?”

Even if it was a rough road.

“Are you planning to obstruct the hunt, kin?”

That road.

He thought it might be worth walking.

***

{At first, I did not know who that being was. But that is no longer the case.}

The battle against those five zombies.

This creature had been watching that fight.

{It was you. You are the one who drew me onto this path.}

The power I had wielded in that fight.

It must have felt some sense of déjà vu from that power.

I opened my mouth blankly and asked.

“......Why did you hide that until now?”

{Because I was afraid.}

The creature covered its body with that gray-white energy as it spoke.

{My essence is an insect. My flesh is not mine, but my host’s.}

“......?”

{Originally, I had no hesitation about showing this. I had never once hidden my appearance like this. But after I chose to walk this path...... I suddenly felt fear.}

In the end.

That creature was an insect that had stolen a human body.

{Our essence is that of beings made for destruction. And I felt fear...... fear over whether a being like that was allowed to show such an appearance.}

The creature had been afraid that this fact would become known.

{I gathered courage and asked humans for cooperation, but I was afraid they would feel disgust when they saw my appearance. I was afraid they would refuse to stand with me because I was an ugly being that had taken over the body of one of their own kind.}

At those words.

I recalled how some of the hostages had suspected me of being a zombie even after seeing my appearance.

People who had mistaken me, who looked perfectly human to anyone’s eyes, for a zombie using the bodies of corpses.

At the time, I had wondered what the reason was, but.

'They were people who had seen this creature’s appearance.'

This creature began hiding its appearance after that system window appeared.

Before that, it would have gone around revealing its appearance.

So among the hostages, there must have been people who had seen this creature before that.

Through them, the fact that there were zombies with perfectly human appearances must have become known.

And.

The reason this creature, which had hidden itself until now, had ultimately decided to reveal its appearance was.......

{You were the one who first said you would stand with me, so.......}

It probably could not trust the other humans.

It must have been afraid they would turn hostile the moment they saw its appearance.

But.

{Surely. You will not deny those words now.}

The system rooted in the creature’s soul.

The words written there, saying that we would stand together.

It was because the creature had realized that I was the one who had engraved those words into its soul.

I opened my system window with my mouth hanging open blankly.

And dug through the old logs.

[New Species]

[B-36S Aberrant Mutant Individual]

'......It really was there.'

A list of new species that had briefly appeared in my mind.

I saw the name engraved there.

It was something I had done.

But I had not even imagined that the result.

Would be an awakened appearing among the zombies.

And what was even more shocking was.

[Divine Power: 1]

'.......'

That level.

Was not ordinary at all.

That power was the thing I had tried to inform all awakened people about.

I had hoped they would obtain that power and endure until the Legion arrived.

The prince had already obtained that power.

It was easy to tell where that divine power had originated.

'The zombies of this city.'

Beings that originally would have been no different from the zombies that had invaded the city.

It had persuaded those zombies that had merely followed instinct.......

And had succeeded in awakening divine power from them.

'......No, what kind of thing do you have to do to make that possible?'

Persuading those zombies and obtaining divine power from there.

Even the current me would wonder whether something like that was possible.

After I changed the awakening conditions of this system, and after that creature went through its awakening.

It was hard to even imagine how much it must have experienced over those months.

'......The giants that invaded the city said these creatures had weakened.'

That was probably.

Referring to the monsters beginning a civil war centered around that prince.

'The reason for that creature’s strength, too.......'

I had wondered how a zombie of that level had appeared in such a short time.

The reason was too absurd.

'The system and divine power.'

Borjin had been the same.

The moment a shaman who originally possessed powerful strength received the support of the system.

In only a few weeks, he had become a being capable of reviving the Green Mane tribe.

Unlike awakened people who fought entirely with the system’s power.

This was the result of a monster that already possessed strong power also receiving the system’s support.

And.......

When it fought those five zombies.

The reason it had been able to overwhelm those five zombies at the final moment as well.

I had no choice but to understand that better than anyone.

Because.

[Absolute Taste]

The power of that skill.

Was something I knew better than anyone else.

The food I had fed that creature, which originally should only have possessed an ordinary level of buff.

But the effect of cooking changes depending on the one who eats it.

That buff must have been applied to its body after being strengthened without limit through absolute taste.

The result was exactly that.

{......This is the reason you must help us.}

And.

{You drew me onto this path...... so take responsibility.}

That creature.

Looked at me with eyes that trembled slightly.

Its own...... no, the fate of all its kind was at stake.

Its fate would be decided solely by my choice.

That must have been why it was trying to persuade me with such trembling eyes.

But.

“Take responsibility?”

When I heard those words, I could only be dumbfounded.

Because.

'This creature is seriously misunderstanding something.'

I felt like I knew what it was thinking.

Before that Sword Demon began slaughtering the humans.

This creature must have been torn countless times in that brief moment over whether to stop it or not.

And since what appeared at the end of that conflict was that system window.

Only after seeing the words engraved on that system window.

Did it make the decision to stand with others.......

'......Or so it must think.'

Yes.

It was truly.

'A ridiculous misunderstanding.'

But I knew.

I was the one who had revised this system’s awakening conditions.

And the condition that only I knew accurately was.

'......Those who wish to live together on this land.'

Yes.

This creature believed that it awakened, and that its behavior changed to match that awakening.

That was why it was telling me to take responsibility.

But.

'Trying to push responsibility onto me for this? How absurd.'

To be precise.

It was the complete opposite.

'It wasn’t because of me.'

When it did not even know about something like the system’s help.

At that very moment, when taking action as it was.

Meant that unavoidable death was as good as confirmed.

'That creature was first.'

Even while knowing that path would not be easy.

Even while knowing better than anyone that its chances of survival were 0%, exactly that.

Grin.

'That creature moved first......!'

It.

'Chose to live together.'