Two days later.
We entered the Heizen Great Forest.
As expected of the Zenzera family's state-of-the-art high-speed grand carriage.
It crossed the Heizen Plains — normally a four-day journey — in just two days.
The name "Blue Storm" was no empty boast.
However, the great forest was too much even for it, so we left it at the nearest subjugation village.
From here on, it was on foot.
"Oh my, magnificent. These giant trees. It's like an Ancient Tree dungeon."
Ambrosius praised the trees of the Heizen Great Forest with a book in hand.
"Oh? Ambrosius, you know about the Ancient Tree dungeon?"
Megadia showed interest.
Ambrosius nodded.
"Of course. I am a dungeon researcher, after all."
"What kind of dungeon is it?"
Mineha was interested too.
"As the name Ancient Tree suggests, every floor replicates an ancient forest environment. The monsters that appear are only forest dwellers — beasts and insects. Moreover, the insects are ancient species, and their size is enormous. The forest environments vary widely — giant trees, man-eating plants, underwater plants, treants — utterly unlike anything in today's forests."
"Ugh, insects... I'm out."
"I'm out too!"
"I already knew about that, so I've never set foot inside."
The women rejected it at the mere mention of insects.
What was surprising was that the twenty-four-year-old Narcissus also refused.
She was the type who'd go "Yay, stag beetles!" — or so I'd always assumed.
"Ha ha ha, indeed, many ancient insects are quite eerie to look at."
"I'd also prefer to pass."
I'd had my fill of insects from that worm.
Even while chatting like this, I kept using Danger Discernment.
So far, no monsters.
None, but... something was different. The air felt different from before.
The same forest scenery, yet it felt like an entirely different forest... a sense of wrongness?
"Anyway, what is this forest? It feels so weird!"
Narcissus sat on the root of a giant tree, looking displeased.
"I think so too."
"Oh? Wof, this is only your second time entering, and you feel it too?"
"Yes. It's hard to put into words, but the atmosphere is completely different from before."
Could a forest change this much just from not entering for a short while?
No, the Witch's Forest had always felt the same no matter how many times we passed through.
Was this Heizen Great Forest a dungeon floor of that kind?
But no one had ever said that, and I'd never heard of it.
"A creepy silence, isn't it? It often feels like this before something shows up."
"I know. It feels like this before a horde of monsters appears."
Mineha took up the "Demon Star Manifestation Spear" instead of the "Spiral Dawn."
It seemed the adjustments weren't finished yet.
"How about it, Wof? Is your Relic picking up anything?"
"Danger Discernment shows... nothing in particular."
Despite the eerie atmosphere, there was nothing abnormal.
But the very absence of anything abnormal made it feel even more ominous.
"Then let's keep moving forward. Our destination for today was the subjugation village, right?"
"Yes. The subjugation village is on top of Finger Rock up ahead."
The trees were so tall that Finger Rock still wasn't visible.
With everything looking the same, it was easy to get lost.
So we'd occasionally stop like this to check the map and compass.
I'd thought a compass wouldn't work inside a dungeon, but it functioned properly.
Narcissus, walking along and humming an annoying tune, suddenly stopped.
Megadia tilted her head, and we all felt a twinge of unease.
"Something's off. It's coming."
"Wof, any reaction?"
"Um... wha!? What is this?"
Without any warning, a massive number of red dots appeared and were heading straight for us.
But there was nothing in front of us — this sensation, it hit me.
"Could it be worms!?"
"Those disgusting underground monsters you were talking about?"
"Yes. This feeling. It has to be."
Bad, bad, bad. The red dots were approaching at incredible speed.
But there was nothing on the surface. Which meant underground. They were underground!
"So they're coming from underground."
"I really don't want them popping out of nowhere."
"Banish!"
I launched Banish at the ground where the red dots had converged.
A section of ground vanished, and worms revealed themselves. Ugh, just as disgusting as ever.
Realizing they'd been spotted, the worms burst out all at once. Whoa.
Their bodies were uniformly slimy — thick, elongated, and bright yellow.
The ring-shaped mouth at the tip was lined with jagged blades, with something writhing further inside. Living organs, presumably.
Tentacles grew around the mouth, with four bulging eyeballs nestled between them.
"Gah! What the hell? This is disgusting!"
Narcissus swung a sickle made with Banish.
A severed portion of a worm vanished, and the living organ inside was caught in the crossfire.
"Black Spot!"
Countless black orbs flew out, swallowing worms whole.
Mineha used the nine "stars" separated from her spear to attack the worms.
Worms were troublesome. You'd think you'd taken one down, and the living organ inside would come after you.
What was going on inside their bodies? Disgusting.
"Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting! Ah, I can't take how disgusting this is!"
Narcissus chanted as she swung her sickle, banishing worms left and right.
The combination of the Banish Relic and the Weaponize Relic was as handy as ever.
I also banished several worms, and we finally wiped them all out.
After that, we checked each carcass and disposed of them properly.
Still, something was off.
The red dot readings should have shown many more... They had all vanished in a lump at some point.
"This is... yes. A Disgusting Worm, isn't it."
Ambrosius calmly examined a carcass that had fallen nearby.
That about summed it up. A truly disgusting worm.
"You know about it?"
"They tend to appear in the deeper floors of insect-type dungeons. The terrifying thing about these worms isn't their appearance — it's what's inside."
"Inside? The living organ?"
"Inside that... this, right here."
Saying that, Ambrosius reached into the carcass of the living organ — please don't touch that — and pinched out... a white maggot? Ugh, this maggot... had a single eye.
It seemed dead, but I really didn't want to touch it.
"That... is..."
"One-Eyed Parasite. It's a parasite. The true body of the Disgusting Worm."
"The true body?"
"When it parasitizes a simple worm-type monster, that's what it becomes."
"Whaaaaat!?!"
Just from a parasite, it became that disgusting? This was the worst.
And the moment I heard "parasitize" — I didn't want to ask.
But there was something I had to confirm no matter what.
"...Uh, um, does this also parasitize humans?"
"It does."
He said it clearly.
"............"
I was speechless. I wished I hadn't asked, but at the same time I was glad I had.
"Ah, well, 'don't worry' isn't quite right, but it won't turn you that disgusting."
"...So what happens if you're parasitized?"
I was relieved, but now I was dying to know what it actually did.
"At first, you don't even notice you've been parasitized. Even if the parasite kills you, you won't notice."
"...Even if it kills you..."
"If you don't notice you're dead, that means by that point you've already become an undead."
"That... that can't be..."
"There! A red gem!"
Narcissus shouted.
We rushed over, and embedded in a tree root was that red gem.
"Banish!"
I destroyed it immediately.
That should do it. But so these things existed...
"Just as Wof said."
"So that disgusting thing is going to come out now?"
"Yes. According to the witch, those are teleportation stones. They create gates to some other dungeon, and insects are sent through from there."
"That's a shame, but if we find them, we'll have to destroy them on sight."
"Hey. Who are you?"
Narcissus suddenly said that, and I looked.
Someone was there. That was — wait?
"Araya?"
Blonde hair and deep red eyes. He wore a monocle with a crack in his right lens.
As an elf, he was naturally handsome — a slender, fine-featured young man.
His clothes were a dirty white jacket over torn black pants.
He had an aristocratic air about him, but otherwise looked rather plain...
He was unarmed. He wore a thin, belt-like strap.
The captain of the Gauro family's exclusive subjugation clan, the Gauro Subjugation Corps.
He'd been part of the Heizen Great Forest survey team, if I recalled... What happened to him?
"What, you know this guy, Wof?"
"A scout, perhaps?"
"Yeah."
Why was he alone?
Araya suddenly raised his hand toward Narcissus. Instantly, I had a bad feeling.
"Cut!"
"Banish!"
The two collided with a heavy impact.
The Relics canceled each other out.
"Araya! What are you doing!?"
"Cut!"
"Araya!"
Why was he attacking?
This wasn't like Araya. But Danger Discernment was blazing red.
He was an enemy. But why?
"Wof. That one reeks of death."
Ambrosius said calmly.
Death... I recalled what they'd just told me.
"Don't tell me he's been parasitized."
"Seems so."
N-No way.
"I don't know who you are or what's going on — but you're an enemy!"
Narcissus turned Banish into a spear and thrust it into Araya.
Most of his torso was annihilated, yet Araya still moved.
Impossible for a human.
"Cut!"
"Black Spot!"
A heavy collision. Canceled again, and Mineha launched the Demon Star Manifestation Spear.
"Starlight Braaaaver!!!"
Nine spiraling "stars" obliterated Araya.
Araya fell apart in pieces.
When the remains hit the ground, a black tar-like substance spread out and sank into the earth.
"New enemy!"
I readied myself, but Ambrosius smiled wryly.
"Don't worry. It's my Relic."
"Ambrosius's..."
"Hey. What kind of Relic is that?"
For some reason, Narcissus was picking a fight. A mad dog, huh.
"Narcissus. You don't just give that kind of information away."
"I've got Banish and Weaponize."
She declared it openly. Quite the mad dog.
Ambrosius answered calmly, his wry smile never faltering. An adult, perhaps.
"My Relic is Darkness and Shadow."
"That sounds kinda cool!"
Well, I had to admit there was something appealing about darkness and shadow.
"That is interesting."
Megadia said, surprisingly, with a hint of sympathy.
Ah, probably because her Relic was Black Spot.
Those black spheres swallowed anything — the origin of her epithet, Black Devourer.
"...Araya..."
I felt a bit sad.
He wasn't a bad person. He was courteous and kind.
Even though it had only been a short while, I never imagined it would come to this.
"So why did he attack? That guy."
"Because he's an undead. He was parasitized somewhere."
"Parasitized?"
"What are you talking about?"
Ambrosius explained the Disgusting Worm's parasitism and such in detail.
The women were thoroughly creeped out.
But still — what on earth was going on in this forest?