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Chapter 264: Room ???, Cursed Room - ???? (2)
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- Han Kain
I left the tent with the warriors and pursued the “Writhing Fangs”.
The barren landscape, filled with dry grass and crumbling stones, soon transformed into a dark forest dense with towering trees that blocked my view.
The warriors, who had boldly set out with me, now moved hesitantly.
It was a forest that should’ve been abundant with fruit, clean water, and plump game—why had it become a place of fear?
The answer called out to us once again from the west with a piercing scream.
- Oooooo!
“The Writhing Fangs... you said they couldn’t fly, right?”
“Yes, they propel themselves off the ground and move like the wind—“
“No! I definitely saw them climbing trees and flying through the air!”
“You fool! That wasn’t flying; they just jumped off the trees with incredible force.”
“Hey, I swear I saw flapping—“
“Both of you, shut up.”
What kind of monster was this that even its basic movement—whether it slithered or flew—was unclear?
- *Crunch!*Suddenly, from one side of the forest, a tree splintered apart, and I caught a faint glimpse of a massive figure.
The warriors behind me recoiled in terror, raising their crude spears while shouting.
- *Kreeeek!*From the opposite side, something wriggled and moved.
Are there two of them?
Maybe more.
The environment wasn’t in our favor.
The darkness of the forest made it difficult to make out their forms.
Beside me, Old Wolf Claw barked an order, and the warriors quickly formed a protective formation around me, their spears pointed outward.
Their loyalty was admirable, but the raised spears blocked my vision—an issue when I needed to use my grimoire.
“Lower your spears!”
“What? But, Divine One—“
“You’re blocking my sight!”
- *Aaargh!*A guttural scream rang out behind us as one of the warriors, standing slightly apart from the group, was snatched up by a writhing mass of flesh from the forest.
He had no chance to fight back—he was devoured alive in an instant.
It was a gruesome sight, but thanks to that, I was able to clearly see a part of the creature.
The elongated, twisting appendages looked like massive tree branches covered in rough, black fur.
Countless jagged, fang-like structures lined its body.
Now I understood why they were called the “Writhing Fangs”.
Gripping my grimoire tightly, I focused on the tendrils, attempting to seize control of the creature’s body.
As expected, despite its immense power, it lacked resistance against my possession.
If I simply made it kill itself—
...
I saw nothing.
I heard nothing.
The stolen body had no eyes, no ears, no nose—none of the senses a normal creature should have.
Instead, all I felt was an endless hunger, gnawing at me like a beast consuming my soul from within.
“Kh...! What the hell is this?!”
“W-what’s wrong? Weren’t you trying to control it?”
No time to explain.
I shoved the old man aside and focused on the forest once more.
Whatever had just happened, the Writhing Fangs had retreated into the darkness.
“...That thing... it’s not just one entity.”
“What do you mean?”
“Each tendril is a separate creature? Then what’s the main body? No... is there even a main body at all?”
I had attempted to possess one of the tendrils, not the whole creature.
The Writhing Fangs were, absurdly enough, a hive organism.
But the brief possession gave me even more disturbing insight.
“The tendrils... are eating the main body, too? They’re just mindless masses of flesh that devour everything they touch?”
Old Wolf Claw didn’t seem to grasp what I was saying, but thankfully, he was competent enough to direct the warriors without bombarding me with questions.
The battle wasn’t over.
The oppressive aura of bloodlust still lingered in the forest.
Regardless of what these things were, I needed to take control of one of the main bodies.
Controlling just a single tendril wasn’t enough.
“If another tendril comes at us, stab it into the ground and pin it down! Got it?”
Looking at the warriors’ faces, I wasn’t sure if they’d actually manage to do it.
The courage they had shown back in the tent seemed to have nearly disappeared.
But this time, they had to hold their ground.
They formed a tight formation, resembling a giant porcupine with spears sticking out in all directions, advancing slowly through the forest.
Trees splintered, the air filled with a putrid stench, and three shadows lurked between the branches.
At least they weren’t coordinating their attacks.
From what I had experienced earlier, the tendrils weren’t intelligent enough to strategize.
The main body, if it even existed, was another matter.
- Kreeeek!
“Ugh!”
“Stab it! Hold it down!”
It wasn’t easy.
Each tendril of the Writhing Fangs was strong enough to snap thick wooden spears like twigs.
But our formation held.
Pinning them down, however, was a different matter.
Even when spears managed to pierce the tendrils, they simply dragged the warriors along until they lost their grip.
“If one person stabs it, others should join in! Work together!”
Finally, I heard a satisfying thunk as something was pinned down.
Turning my gaze, I saw one of the larger warriors gritting his teeth, wrestling with a thrashing tendril.
Other warriors quickly followed, stabbing their spears into the ground to lock it in place.
“Step aside.”
“What? But—“
I dashed forward.
With the tendril pinned down, the main body wouldn’t be able to move freely!
The warriors’ eyes widened as I suddenly sprinted ahead.
At that moment, another tendril slashed through the air toward me.
Strangely, I felt its trajectory.
Even though the sky had long since darkened, and I couldn’t see, I instinctively sensed its movement—the way it curved, the position of the struggling main body.
I ducked, narrowly avoiding the strike.
Then, I leaped forward.
The tendrils were too simple-minded to feint or change their attack angles, so my movements didn’t need to be flashy.
Another sidestep.
Five more steps forward.
Now.
I felt a pulling sensation in my stomach, and in an instant, I crossed the forest in a single leap.
The “main body” was a bizarre sight.
A beast’s head, a grotesquely twisted torso, and tendrils like tree branches writhing all over its form.
It was as if an animal and a plant had been haphazardly fused together.
“That body—it’s mine.”
Slowly, the essence of “Han Kain” seeped into the creature’s flesh.
Soon, I found myself towering over the forest, looking down on everything.
The moment I seized control, my first action was securing my human body.
As I suspected, this creature was a hive entity.
Just because I controlled the main body didn’t mean I could control the tendrils.
They still operated independently.
Even now, the tendrils that were connected to this body were blindly trying to devour my unconscious human form.
I forced them to stop.
Then, I turned my attention to the other massive tendrils still entangled in battle with the warriors.
With a grotesque, gaping maw, I bit down and ripped one apart.
An unbearable, monstrous instinct surged through me.
Even though I had taken control, there were remnants of its insatiable hunger, its primal urge to consume everything.
Hunger. Hunger. Hunger.
An overwhelming, unnatural bloodlust coursed through my new body.
Fortunately, there were others in this forest who could take the brunt of it.
Sensing the presence of more creatures beyond the trees, I launched myself forward, shattering branches as I charged.
The other two Writhing Fangs recoiled in surprise.
Unfortunately for them, escape was no longer an option.
Not because I was too fast, nor because they were too slow.
But because their own tendrils refused to let them flee.
The appendages, seemingly operating on their own, had entangled their bodies together, preventing them from running.
And so, they turned on each other.
The once terrifying monsters now sank their fangs into each other’s flesh.
I ignored defense entirely, lunging forward to rip into one of them myself.
Pinning its body down with my monstrous claws, I clamped down and tore out its abdomen—only to realize it had bitten into my hind leg in return.
Rip. Tear. Bite. Devour.
Above us, the moon shone eerily bright.
And as the insatiable hunger consumed us all, the battle neared its inevitable, violent conclusion.
***“Ugh... my head hurts a bit.”
“Have you regained consciousness?”
As I came to my senses, I found myself surrounded by warriors with worried expressions.
It seemed they had done a good job protecting my defenseless body while the beasts were locked in their bloodthirsty battle.
“Yeah. I think I took care of two of them, but what happened to the last one?”
“It appeared to have fled.”
It was a bit of a shame that I couldn’t finish off all three, but it couldn’t be helped.
In a world as twisted as this, there were undoubtedly more horrors lurking around.
For now, I needed to recover my strength.
“Let me take a look at the monster corpses. The more I think about it, the stranger this all seems.”
Something was definitely off.
The questions I had when I possessed the tentacle only deepened after I took over the main body.
At first, I thought it was just a massive beast with tentacles.
Then, I realized the tentacles were separate creatures, leading me to believe it was some kind of hive organism.
But only after experiencing both sides did I grasp the truth.
The closest comparison to the “Writhing Fangs” was none other than Cordyceps—a parasitic fungus.
The tentacles were an entirely different species, parasitizing massive beasts and drowning them in an insatiable hunger, thirst, and uncontrollable aggression.
What were these things?
I’d bet my life that they weren’t the product of natural evolution.
Someone—some vile, twisted being—created these abominations and scattered them throughout this primitive world.
As a result, an unnatural horror had overrun the land.
With support from a nearby warrior, I stretched out my sore limbs and began walking through the forest. That was when I noticed the warrior trembling.
“What’s wrong? Why are you shaking?”
“You... you are truly...!”
“Huh?”
“You are a god! You are not human. Divine One, you are an invincible, absolute being!”
I turned to scan my surroundings, only to see everyone instantly drop to their knees, pressing their faces against the ground.
Some had tears streaming down their faces.
Others were outright crawling along the dirt in reverence.
...Honestly, it didn’t feel good.
A strange, almost unsettling feeling stirred inside me.
It wasn’t pleasant, and, if anything, it felt a little disturbing.
Behind me, Old Wolf Claw lightly grasped my arm.
“Didn’t you say you wished to examine the Writhing Fangs’ corpses? We should go.”
“Ah. Right.”
“...Congratulations. Today’s triumph will be remembered and passed down through the generations in song.”
“A song?”
“Of course. Tomorrow, we will hold a small feast. Divine One, have you not always enjoyed songs? You said they carried the history of the tribe, did you not?”
A song that contains history.
This is a clue. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
