Chapter 20: Rat Roasting

"I will silence you now."

Upon uttering those words, the room was distorted with spirituality and symbolism. An illusory sea formed around him, contorting the various maids and bodyguards into Lovecraftian nightmares. Their bodies were decorated with countless eyes and tendrils that moved sporadically. Pieces of hair, fingers, nails, and legs alluded to their formerly human state, but they could no longer suppress their madness.

This was the ability of the Colian tribe, [Parasitism].

Elizabeth Abraham and Valora Tusec prepared for combat, their spirituality shaking the room like a raging storm. Upon awakening her Witch Factor, Elizabeth's hair stood on ends, as though electrified. The almond-colored hair transformed and turned jet black. 

Valora noticed something strange within Elizabeth's Factor. Her hair color, demeanor, and even her spirituality all resembled a man she once knew during the Gordou Era. Though she wanted to deny it, she couldn't help but notice the resemblance. She decided to keep her mouth shut for now, as bringing up the matter in such a dire situation may have ruined her focus.

The parasites immediately hurled the grill towards Elizabeth and Valora, but Valora easily intercepted the attack. As a maid of the Tusec family, she was trained in various forms of martial arts to protect her master.

Behind her, Elizabeth was preparing her application technique through various hand signs and magic circles. A strange symbol appeared on her tongue. 

She picked up a small knife from the floor and said, "This knife can slice through parasites."

With a flick of her wrist, the bodies of the parasites were sliced into pieces with ease. This abnormal power was born from a "lie". It was the result of her application ability, [Fool's Gambit].

At the cost of a subject's lifespan, Elizabeth could temporarily create a lie that was more "real" than the truth. Her very words became reality. This was the power of a rank 4 devotee of the Witch tribe.

She rushed towards the parasites and sliced them down, clearing a way for Valora Tusec to deliver the final blow. She split Frank Harrow's head open with an axe kick, but the body morphed into dozens of maggots.

It was a fake body! He must still be on this floor.

Immediately, Elizabeth expanded her 'Authority' and scanned the floor for Frank Harrow. The signs of light signified the various life forms within the room. 3…5…9…12. The number of people residing on the floor kept increasing!

He likely planted different hosts within this floor to parasitize them and use them as distractions. He managed to swap between his previous body and a new body within a few seconds of combat. There's no telling which body he belongs to either since all of their Factors are identical. 

"My dear Valora, hand me that wire. Make sure you duck as low as you can."

"Yes, master."

She stretched out the coiled computer wire and crafted a new lie. "This wire is as sharp as industrial strength steel."

Using the empowered wire, she swung the wire overhead and unleashed an omnidirectional attack. It instantly sliced apart the various walls, chairs, and whiteboards on the floor. She carefully avoided the windows that separated the interior of the building from the outside, as she didn't want the entire floor to collapse. 

The total number of parasites went down from 27 to a mere 6. Elizabeth could easily win so long as she could avoid being parasitized. Elizabeth ordered Valora to attack the conference room, while Elizabeth attacked the bathroom.

Valora would need to deal with 4 parasites, but it wasn't an issue. She was confident in Valora's fighting ability and didn't feel worried about her safety.

She rushed towards the bathroom and found two parasitized people on the floor.

They defensively put their hands up and screamed. "P-please don't kill me! I'm not one of them, I promise!"

So they aren't even aware he's been parasitized. You're a cruel man, Harrow.

Her enhanced fork and computer wire had already shattered due to her application technique, so she had nothing to rely on except extra combat talismans to increase her physical power.

The tall office worker began to convulse and vomited dozens of maggots at Elizabeth. She easily dodged the attack and kicked the man down. Her next attack was aimed at the short office worker. Elizabeth lunged forward and lodged her thumb into the neck of the office worker, piercing his jugular and killing him instantly. The spirit maggots erupted his body as well and attacked her. Luckily, a talisman of flame was enough to put down the two parasites.

Damn, Harrow wasn't in either of the bodies. That must mean he's fighting with Valora. Shit, I'm not sure if she'll be able to win in her doll body!

She left the bathroom and made her way to the conference room. In front of her was a crippled Valora, violently convulsing on the floor as parasites invade her body. Frank Harrow didn't meet Elizabeth's glance. Rather, he merely stared at the parasitized Valora. 

"A doll body inhabited by a spirit. I'd say she may even be a rank 3 saint. It is too bad you're stuck with an artificial body and a soul tied to an heirloom. You may have beaten me if you weren't constrained."

"Do you usually speak so much?"

Elizabeth interjected. "Get away from my servant." She dashed towards Frank Harrow, intending to deliver a lethal blow, but the parasitized Valora intercepted the attack.

"I'm sorry...master...my body...won't listen..."

The two exchanged blows as Frank Harrow sat back and observed the battle. He was a man that hardly ever fought an opponent himself, so his priority was to use his newly found puppet to cripple Elizabeth before dealing the finishing blow.

Elizabeth couldn't keep up with her expertise in martial arts, and she didn't have enough spirituality for another cast of Fool's Gambit. She was completely out of options. In a slight lapse in judgement, Elizabeth failed to dodge Valora's kick and was beaten within an inch of her life. With her ally gone and her spirit drained, the game had come to an end. Elizabeth would surely die.