### Chapter 264 – Room ???, The Cursed Room – ‘????’ (2)
—
– Han Kain
I stepped out of the tent with the warriors, chasing after the ‘Wriggling Teeth.’ The barren landscape full of low weeds and crumbling gravel had transformed into a dense forest, obstructed by pitch-black trees.
There was fear in the movements of the once-bold warriors. Why had this forest, supposed to be filled with abundant fruits, clean water, and plump game, become such a terrifying place?
As if calling us back, the culprit emitted a high-pitched sound from the west.
— Ooooh!
“Didn’t we say the Wriggling Teeth can’t fly?” one warrior questioned.
“That’s right. It dashes through the ground like the wind—”
“No! I swear it looked like it climbed trees and flew!”
“Idiot! It didn’t fly; it just leapt from the trees with incredible force!”
“Hey, I definitely saw it flapping—”
“Sorry, could you two just shut up for a moment?”
What kind of monster confuses whether it flies or crawls?
— Crunch!
At that moment, a tree began to splinter, revealing a massive figure lurking within the forest. The warriors who had followed me backed away in terror but raised their makeshift spears and began shouting.
— Screech!
Something wriggling moved from the opposite side. Could it be two creatures? Maybe more? This environment wasn’t favorable. While I couldn’t see clear shapes yet, finding one in a dark forest at this hour was no simple task.
As Old Wolf Claw shouted, the warriors formed a defensive line around me with their spears. Their intention to protect and fight was admirable, but the raised spears obstructed my view and distracted me from focusing on the grimoire.
“Lower the spears!”
“Uh? You mean, newbie-”
“Don’t block my view!”
“Ughhh!”
Just as a guttural growl echoed from behind, a man who had been slightly out of formation was caught by the creature’s extending appendage. In an instant, the unfortunate guy was being devoured whole. Sorry to say, but that allowed me to get a clear look at the monster.
With its long, writhing tendrils looking like massive branches but covered in coarse black fur, this thing was filled with countless sharp teeth. Now I understood why it was called the ‘Wriggling Teeth.’
I clutched the grimoire and focused my mind on the monster’s body to steal control.
Sure enough, despite its immense strength, it wasn’t a particularly high-tier entity, so it couldn’t resist the possession. But if I committed suicide in this state—
…
Nothing could be seen or heard.
I realized that the body I had seized lacked eyes, ears, or any normal sensory organs. Instead, I felt an endless hunger pulsing beneath its writhing skin. Simultaneously, an infinite pain that felt like my soul was being scraped alive—
“Gahhh! What on earth is this?”
“Wha, what’s happening? You weren’t trying to take control, right?”
There was no time to talk. Shoving the old man aside, I stared intensely into the depths of the forest. Had the monster taken my previous threat as an ‘attack’? It had already vanished deeper into the woods.
“… It’s not just one of them.”
“What?”
“Are those appendages each separate creatures? Then what’s the main body? No, is what I see a parasite-corpse relationship?”
Moments earlier, I possessed not the monster itself but one of its ‘appendages.’ The ‘Wriggling Teeth’ was absurdly some form of a colony creature! But through the brief possession, I garnered even stranger knowledge.
“Is the appendage devouring the main body as well? Is it just a mass of flesh that tries to eat everything that touches it?”
The old Wolf Claw didn’t seem to grasp my words. Thankfully, he had enough sense not to disrupt me with annoying questions and was successfully directing the warriors.
The battle wasn’t over yet. Even still, the forest was dense with a predator’s scent and a feral aura that made humans shrink away. Whatever happens, I needed to seize one of the main bodies. Just controlling an appendage wouldn’t suffice.
“If another piece of meat flies my way, stab it and pin it down! Got it?”
Looking into the faces of those warriors, their courage was long gone, and I started to worry about whether they’d follow my orders. But this time, they need to pull their weight.
With all of us extending our spears outward like a gigantic hedgehog, we slowly moved forward. Crumbling trees, the sharp stench filling the air, and the three shadows swaying ahead.
Fortunately, the three monsters weren’t coordinating to ambush us. Based on my brief possession, while I didn’t know the main body’s level, the appendages attacking us lacked that kind of intelligence.
— Screech!
“Ugh!”
“Stab! Stab!”
It wasn’t going well.
The power of each appendage from the Wriggling Teeth was strong enough to snap spears made from solid wood like toothpicks. Thanks to that, our spear formation was still somewhat effective.
However, pinning an appendage down with a spear was another issue altogether. Those who barely managed to stab an appendage were quickly pulled away like children losing their grip on a toy.
“One person stabs, then the next, combine everyone’s strength!”
Finally, there was a noise as something thumped against the ground. When I turned to see, one particularly large warrior was struggling with a single appendage, clenching his teeth. Other warriors rushed in to help, and soon several spears pinned that appendage down.
“Get back.”
“Uh? Yes? All of a sudden—”
I dashed forward. Now that the appendage was pinned down, the main body shouldn’t be able to move easily! The moment I began to sprint, the warriors’ eyes widened.
Just then, another appendage cut through the air beside the swaying trees. Oddly enough, I ‘sensed’ its trajectory.
The sky was now completely dark, with only the remnants of daylight remaining such that I couldn’t see it. Yet, for some reason, I felt as if I understood the movements of the flying appendage. I could see the trajectory drawn in the darkness and sensed where the main body was tussling with the warriors.
Bending slightly at my waist, the monotonous arc drawn by the appendage brushed past. This time, I leaped slightly upwards. It wasn’t like the low-intelligence appendage could strike me in complex angles or perform any flashy moves; I didn’t need to make grand gestures to evade.
I pivoted to the side and dodged, then took five steps forward. Now’s my chance. With an intense pull in my gut, I flew across the forest in an instant.
Finally faced with the ‘main body,’ it was a bizarre sight. A beastly head atop a grotesque torso, sprouting branch-like appendages everywhere. It was as if someone had clumsily mashed up features of animals and plants and shoved branches into it.
“That body, hand it over.”
Slowly, the wave of ‘Han Kain’ began to engulf the monster’s flesh. Before long, I found myself towering over the entire forest.
The first thing I did after stealing the monster’s body was to protect ‘Han Kain’s’ human form. As I had confirmed earlier, this monster was a colony creature. Just because I controlled the main body didn’t mean I could control its appendages, and vice versa.
I prevented the branch-like appendages from devouring the ‘human body’ that had collapsed unconscious in the forest. Next, I took the chance to bite down and rip off one of the gigantic appendages from the wrestling warrior.
Unbearable baseness surged within me. Even though I had lost control over the body, there were still traces of that hunger! In an instant, thoughts of devouring everything around me flooded my mind.
Impulse. Impulse. Impulse.
An unfathomable hunger and ferocity, a desire for violence washed over me like a wave. Thankfully, other creatures capable of enduring that violence still lurked within this forest.
With senses far surpassing humanity, I detected another form lurking on the other side of the woods. Without hesitation, I charged forward, breaking trees as I went while dashing toward it. The two ‘Wriggling Teeth’ that had previously targeted humans rushed to distance themselves, looking startled.
Unfortunately, the creatures were unsuccessful in their escape. It wasn’t either fast or slow that sank the ship.
There were beings that simply did not want to avoid the fight.
The tendrils from the two Wriggling Teeth twisted together, disregarding the intent of their main body. Eventually, the two beasts began to tear into one another’s flesh. Not caring for my own flesh, I opened my mouth to bite into the opponent’s belly. Meanwhile, I found out that my enemy was indeed tearing into my back leg.
Rip, swallow, tear, bite.
The brilliant full moon now hung in the sky, casting its light upon the chaos of the two beasts. A fitting end was approaching for the two predators overwhelmed by an insatiable appetite.
*
“Oof… My head’s hurting a bit.”
“Are you awake?”
As I regained my senses, the worried expressions of the warriors surrounded me. While I had been in the midst of the beasts’ bloody brawl, it appeared they had been guarding my defenseless body.
“Right. I took care of the two, but what happened to the other one?”
“It seemed to be fleeing.”
A bit disappointing we didn’t finish off all three, but what could I do? There definitely wouldn’t be just these monsters in this horrific world, so I’d need to recuperate.
“Let me take a look at the monster corpses. No matter how I think about it, it seems too strange.”
It really did feel odd. The questions I had while controlling the appendage only increased after possessing the main body. Initially, I thought it was merely a gigantic monster with appendages. Next, I realized those appendages might be separate beings, considering it an example of a colony creature.
After partly possessing both, I began to clarify some truths.
The only concept akin to the Wriggling Teeth might be none other than ‘cordyceps.’ A foreign organism, the appendages were parasitically consuming a huge beast while pouring insatiable hunger, thirst, and brutality into it.
What on earth were those appendages? I’d bet my limbs they weren’t results of natural evolution!
Someone, an exceedingly evil being surely crafted them. Someone spread those appendages across this primitive world. As a result, a horrifically unnatural monster filled the world.
Supported by a warrior next to me, I rose my tired body and began walking through the forest. Then, suddenly, I felt the warrior’s body tremble.
“What’s wrong? Why are you shaking?”
“Y-you are!”
“Hmm?”
“Truly, you’re a god! You are no mere human. Divine beings like you are truly invincible!”
As I shifted my gaze, the warriors immediately dropped to their knees and prostrated themselves. I saw tears flowing from someone’s eyes. Some even began crawling along the ground.
… Honestly, I didn’t feel that great. It was all so weird. I even had a slightly uncomfortable feeling.
Old Wolf Claw lightly grabbed my arm from behind.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to examine the corpse of the Wriggling Teeth? Shall we move?”
“Oh, right.”
“… Congratulations. Today’s feat will be sung and remembered by all your clan for generations to come.”
“Sung?”
“Of course. Tomorrow, we’ll hold a small feast. Don’t you enjoy ‘songs’? They contain the history of our clan, don’t they?”
‘Songs with history,’ huh? That’s a ‘plot hook.’
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