◈ 581. [STAGE 35] Insects (3)
《The first ‘me’ was a mutant fly.] The
old fly, sitting cross-legged, began to talk arbitrarily.
《A single female fly that has abnormally grown to the size of a pig.》
《… .》
The midnight sun stayed still and listened to what the other person was saying. Paris continued.
“The humans on the farm who found me as a newborn tried to kill me. what is not natural To them, flies are pests that deserve to be killed, and I was rarely even huge.” 《
… .”
“I was beaten and my wings were ripped off, my antennae were lost, and my legs were also crushed. Now I was a mutated fly.”
The fly giggled.
“With death on the verge of death, I crawled endlessly on the floor. At that time, my mind was full of resentment, anger, and hunger.”
《… .”
“Then I ran into a human. He stopped while walking down the street and looked down at me as I was dying. I thought he would kill me.”
The fly rubbed its front legs in front of its chest.
《That person saved me.》
It looked like a leg rubbing motion unique to Paris, or like rolling a rosary.
“It was an old priest. He was a skinny old man who distributed alms-given food to beggars and the sick, saying that he should be merciful to the poor.”
Paris let out a sneer.
“It seems to him that I am also one of the poor. Or maybe he was a sentient being to be saved. Anyway, the priest gave me medicine and distributed food.》
《… .”
“So I survived. I ended up lying in the courtyard of a crumbling temple where the priest is staying.”
The Midnight Sun listened to the story of Paris and looked around alertly.
Thinking about how to swallow that existence.
“Time has passed. I grew fatter and he, on the contrary, emaciated. It was natural. Even that share of food was taken away from me.”
“… .”
“But he never showed displeasure. Instead, he sat next to me as he gobbled up the food he had brought for alms and recited the sutras of his religion. I didn’t understand a single word he said, but he didn’t care and continued to recite the sutra.”
The voice of Paris, who was talking about the old story, suddenly became faint.
《According to him, all souls do something called reincarnation. In my next life, I could be a cow, or an azalea, or, like me, a fly. It is said that it is decided according to the karma accumulated so far.》
《… .]
《I was born as a fly because of the deep sins I committed in my previous life, but if I pay for those sins in this life, I will be able to become a human someday at the end of reincarnation and reincarnation.》 The fly shook its head
.
《The priest died shortly thereafter.》
《… .》
《A child in the village threw a stone into the temple as a joke. The temple, where dirty flies and old priests live, was a good place for children to be grumpy. The stone was thrown at me, but the one who got hit was the priest who was meditating next to him. The priest suffered a serious head injury and never got up again after falling down.》
《… .”
《The many beggars, the sick, the homeless, the poor, whom he recited sutras and distributed food for begging all his life. Those humans who had been hovering around him like flies all their lives just to get a piece of rice to eat didn’t even come close to him while he was dying. He tore his life to shreds and ate it, not even knowing it. He died so vain, wounded and hungry.”
The fly let out a long breath.
“Before he died, he told me. If you die, eat yourself. don’t be sorry Eat your own corpse like a fly.”
“… .]
《What do you think I am?》
Midnight didn’t answer, but Paris continued talking to herself as if she didn’t care.
《I didn’t eat it.》
《… .”
“Beside the corpse of that priest, I don’t know why, but I imitated him. I recited a sutra I didn’t know the meaning of and tried to imitate the meditation posture.”
The fly’s red eyes flashed.
“And the moment I saw other flies swarming his rotten body and newly born maggots crawling…” … That’s when I realized.”
Looking back at the moment of Don Oh (頓悟) realizing his own truth.
“Ah, the birth of a fly from the death of a person is the cycle of reincarnation!”
The fly was mad.
《Life flows into death, and life is born again from that death. Creation leads to destruction, and destruction leads to creation!”
The fly slowly drew a trajectory with the tip of its leg.
It was shaped like a figure eight turned sideways.
It was infinity (∞).
“The difference between living and living is a piece of paper. If so, isn’t there a difference between a fly and a human?”
《… .》
《Flies devour the deaths of others, but humans devour the lives of others. same as you and us no… .”
The compound eyes of the fly stared straight into the midnight sun.
“At least our flies didn’t have the heart to harm you indiscriminately for no reason. But you humans, our flies… … No, you are harming everything in the world and even yourself.”
“… .]
《Even that old priest who repeated only begging for alms and giving was stoned to death without guilt because of your human malice.》 The
fly’s voice was filled with rage, like paint smeared.
《From our point of view, you guys who kill and harm everything regardless of survival… … It is a pest that destroys the world.”
Right after that, the fly slowly opened its legs to both sides. As if you were trying to give a loving hug.
《We will get rid of your vermin.》
《… .》
《Kill everything in this world, rot it, and lay eggs on it… … let me be born a fly In the end, everyone in this world will become a fly.”
The voice of the fly sounded like a dream.
“If you experience life in Paris like that, you will understand. The joy of life that puts everything down and shares life together at the bottom.” 《
… .]
《The happiness of being able to live with gratitude even if there is only rotten food and dirty water. I will share it with everyone in the world.”
The White Night let out a low sigh.
《… Is the Dog Poop Philosophy lecture over? Crazy Paris? Then let’s see the end soon.”
“If you can change your mind, you can talk more about Nayuta’s time.” He
looked down at the midnight sun as if looking at Paris with utmost pity.
“Hey poor. I have mercy on you.”
“… !”
“Don’t try to solve it by taking away hunger. I’m willing to share my barn.”
Hwaaaaaagh!
The white night, enveloped in dazzling light, screamed.
“Shut up your mouth and give it all to the barn, you disgusting flies…” … !]
《You’re deeply guilty, sentient being.》
The fly laughed.
《If you are born again, you will surely be reincarnated as a fly.》
The next moment, the midnight sun rushed like a bolt of lightning and put both hands on the fly’s head.
Although he is talking proudly, the fly in front of his eyes is, in the end, just a collective consciousness of the whole of Paris. Even if hundreds of millions of flies gather, they will not be able to match the computing power of the Midnight Sun.
Take away the control right away… … .
《Huh?》
But the moment after he came to his senses, the whole body of the midnight sun melted and disappeared.
Only his neck remained, rolling on the floor, and Baekya opened his eyes.
“You still don’t understand?”
the fly muttered in a laugh as it looked down at the midnight sun.
《The moment you wake up here, you have already been ‘digested’ by us.]
***
Bang! bang! bang! bang! bang!
The ceiling was torn apart and mutant flies poured out.
“shit!”
I gritted my teeth and raised the magic wall high. It has been confirmed that the power of those mutant monsters is not normal.
First of all, solidify the defense and prepare the battle line… … !
Charleureuk!
The gray walls rise and take the form of a fortress, and my captured monsters and 15 heroes are ready for battle.
and – crash.
thud! Koo Goo Goo!
The body wall of the mutant flies crumbled at once and the captured monsters fell out in a heap.
Each of these mutant flies is an elite level monster.
It was an elite monster that was not like Paris, which had been pushing for quantity. It was really powerful.
Of course, this wasn’t the only thing that happened.
oh oh oh!
As the roaring Kraken swung its huge tentacles like a fly swatter, the flies that were not ready to defend were allowed to strike and flattened.
Kwagwagwang-!
Hercules also killed several flies with his long horn.
Heroes such as Quylan Verdandi Burnout and Body Bag are also elite among elites. If you could put an attack, it was possible to knock down the flies.
The problem was the barrier the flies were using.
Once they pulled up the barrier, there was not even a scratch from this side’s moderate attack. I shuddered.
‘Did they imitate our technology… … ?’
How is that possible?
I’ve heard that they’re monsters that evolve in real time, but is it possible to steal their technology as well… … ?
Anyway, while the defense line on this side held out, the two Dwarf warriors I brought to my party used the Dungeon Escape Teleport Scroll with the casualties.
Flash! Flash!
The dead and wounded managed to escape first. I internally let out a sigh of relief.
“huh?”
However, there were those who did not go despite the order to retreat together.
It was Junior Kelly Bay Kellyson. Although these three looked exhausted, they stood behind me and held on.
When I chinned my chin to mean, “I’m not going quickly, what are you doing?” Junior asked in reverse.
“Your Highness?”
“I told you. We will advance as far as we can.”
“But that mutant is strong… ! If you fight too hard here, you will suffer harm.”
“We’ve barely made it this far, but we need to get as much information as possible.”
I glared at the magic barrier used by the mutant entity.
If they continue to appear in the future, we need to establish a strategy here.
Junior and Kellison Kelly Bay, who followed my gaze, gave me advice one by one.
“I was going to tell you more later, but yes. I think our barrier technology is right.”
“But they’re just big flies at best. The level of the magic core inside the body is low. And that skill is a hippo that eats mana.”
“In other words, you won’t be able to leave it on for a long time.”
If it goes in the form of a war of attrition, it will eventually go out.
Indeed, as the battle lengthened, the mutant flies could no longer maintain the barrier and retreated.
However, the barriers were created again on the bodies of those who stepped back, took a short break, and jumped into the front line again.
“My back hurts… Junior, yes, you were able to cancel that barrier with [Element Dismantling], right?”
“yes. But as you know, this isn’t magic that can be used at will… … .”
Junior looked at me. I drool.
Kelly Bay added.
“You’ll need something like Junior’s magic that completely disintegrates the magic elements, or something powerful enough to pierce the barrier like [Standard Superstition] installed in Geronimo.”
At that moment, an idea came to my mind.
I sighed and pressed my temples hard.
“… It’s not like there’s no means on this side either.”
I’m reluctant, but what can I do?
Let’s do a test.
I put my hand into the inventory, and then, after picking up the item I wanted, I quickly took it out.
A long sword appeared that spread evil energy in all directions. Immediately after, the sword quacked in my head.
‘Give me food!’
At the same time, it spewed out evil spirits in all directions.
The frightened heroes around jumped up and retreated. Junior, wide-eyed, stuttered and asked.
“Your Highness? That sword… ?!”
“A knife that can eat anything.”
I said the name of the sword with a sigh.
“It’s an X-Carnival.”
A demonic sword stolen from the fallen king.
Excarnival was in my hand.
