Chapter 94 – Truth (2)

Dozens of people were hanging from the dark ceiling I looked up at. An alien creature was visible among the people dangling, wrapped in something that looked sticky.

The moment I recognized it, the bizarre-looking monster growled and let out a low howl.

“Prepare to attack! Prepare to attack! Aim for the monster on the ceiling!”
“Oh my god. What is that? I’ve never even heard of a monster like that.”
“That huge monster was above our heads? Where did that thing even come from!”
“You damn monster. How dare you do this to Joseph? I’ll tear you to pieces!”

Confusion, shock, fear, anger.
Even amidst the dizzying mix of emotions exploding, the mercenaries and guards were preparing to attack the monster like the veterans they were, which was quite reassuring, so I leisurely observed the monster.

‘It looks like an alien at first glance. Was there a monster with an alien appearance in this game?’

I’ve played this game countless times.
I knew the early storyline inside and out, and I’d played it so much that I could even recite the lines of the main NPCs… but I’ve never seen a monster that looked like this.

In a fantasy-based world, what the heck is a monster that looks like it came straight out of a sci-fi movie? A growling sound came from its opening mouth, and a long tongue slid out between the rows of sharp teeth.
Where did this thing even come from?

“Priest! Th-those people hanging there… they seem to be alive.”
“Hmm?”

Alive?
I had been holding back to avoid provoking the monster, but now that I needed to observe it more closely, I gathered divine power and created a sphere of bright light in the air, raising it high.

The light from the sphere floating towards the high ceiling chased away the darkness, gradually revealing the monster’s appearance.

‘A long, smooth head… Is that a pupil reflecting the light? It seems to have reason, judging by how it’s constantly moving and observing us. The gaping hole in the middle of its face must be its respiratory organ? It seems to be breathing, judging by the twitching nostrils and the rising and falling chest.’

The alien-like monster seemed to shrink away from the light as the bright sphere approached, emitting a strange sound.

At the same time, the monster’s constantly moving eyes scanned us… It was like it was sizing us up. It’s quite intelligent, unlike how it looks.

“Th-there…! All the people hanging there are women!”
“And they’re all pregnant. Where did they get all these pregnant women! Damn it, you filthy monsters. Why pregnant women… This is disgusting.”
“……Hey, aren’t their bellies too swollen, even for pregnant women? When my wife was pregnant with twins, it wasn’t this big.”
“Wait. Their bellies… are twitching?”

The dozens of people hanging around the monster like lumps of meat were all women. And they were all pregnant women with large, swollen bellies.

The huge bellies of the pale-faced pregnant women were constantly moving like waves.

“H-hey. Are pregnant women’s bellies supposed to move like that?”
“What are you talking about, how are pregnant women’s bellies… What, what is it? Why is her belly twitching like that?”

Why are the pregnant women’s bellies twitching like that? I moved the light sphere closer to get a better look.

“Oh my god…! What’s inside their bellies?”

Their unusually large bellies were constantly moving like waves. The skin tissue, stretched to its limit, was almost transparent, and I could see worm-like things wriggling inside the women’s swollen bellies.

“Those women… they’re carrying monsters in their bellies! Oh, my god! God! Priest, are you just going to stand there and watch? Let us attack the monster!”
“They don’t seem to be able to move, so now’s our chance. Let’s smash that damn monster!”

I ignored the mercenaries’ angry shouts and watched the monster. It was all hunched up, rolling its eyes around. Was it scared? Should I attack it now?

That’s when it happened. A slimy tentacle emerged from the monster’s back, stuck to the ceiling, and slowly moved, grabbing one of the hanging women and carefully lowering her.

“What… what is it doing?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the slimy tentacle gently placing the woman in front of the people who were recoiling in horror at her limp body and swollen belly.

“Is it saying, ‘Here, take this and don’t touch me’?”

It’s quite cute for something that looks so disgusting. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll let it off the hook.
Whether it could understand human speech or simply sensed that the atmosphere wasn’t friendly, the slimy tentacle went back up to the ceiling and pulled down another woman.

The monster was trying to show some kind of goodwill, but it backfired. Anyone would feel disgusted seeing the worm-like things wriggling inside the women’s thin, stretched bellies.

“You disgusting monster!”
“Ugh… I, I can’t look. Ugh!”

The tentacle, startled by the intensified hostility, wriggled frantically. It’s quite a smart monster.

“Yurian. You’re not just going to let this go, are you?”
“Well… what should I do?”

I deliberately trailed off my words in a loud voice in response to Irian’s question, and as if waiting for that, the tentacle pulled down three or four more women.
I knew it. It understands human speech. Even if it doesn’t work, should I try to trick it?

“It’s still not enough. The people we’re looking for aren’t here.”
“Yurian? What are you…?”
“……Just stay quiet.”

I ignored the clueless Irian and gave Diana a look, and she quickly responded.

“That’s right. The people who came in recently aren’t here. Ah… Could this monster have harmed the people we’re looking for?”

The tentacle, which had been still as if observing the situation, twitched spasmodically and went back up to the ceiling. It pulled out a few people from where they were hidden by the monster’s body, placed them far away, and retreated again.

“Parish leader!”
“Th-they’re alive! They’re still alive!”
“Diana, heal them.”

The alien-like creature was surprisingly intelligent enough to understand human speech. I quickly whispered to Cha Hyewon to aim for the monster’s head and cast a buff.

‘Rise Ability, Bless Shield.’

Cha Hyewon’s figure, who had shot out like an arrow, kicked off the floor and soared into the air, enveloped in white light.
Cha Hyewon’s sword, having received a simple buff, cut through the tentacle blocking her path and instantly pierced the monster’s head.

Kieeeeeeeek!!

With a huge scream that shook the underground, the monster’s body fell to the floor. Thud, a disgusting sound, and slimy liquid splattered everywhere. I created a reverse barrier around the monster to block the slime from spreading, but I couldn’t stop it from falling on the floor.

“Don’t get close. Attack from a distance.”

Seeing the slime on the floor emitting smoke, it didn’t look good to touch. It would be better to attack from afar than to fight in close combat and get hit by the slime.

Soon after, magic poured down on the monster, which was thrashing around with a sword in its head, and the monster’s movements stopped after it was torn to pieces.

It’s weaker than I thought. Was it acting submissive because it lacked combat power?

“Yurian! Here, these women! Healing doesn’t work!”

While I was dealing with the monster, Irian, who had been trying to heal the pregnant women, cried out urgently. I ordered the mercenaries and guards to bring down the women still hanging from the ceiling, and then approached the place where white light was emanating, where Irian was constantly pouring out divine power.

Irian’s divine power poured down on the woman lying in a straight position, breathing weakly, but her pale eyes remained the same. At least her breathing was becoming more comfortable, so it wasn’t completely ineffective… but I didn’t have a good feeling about this.

“Quickly…! My, my healing magic isn’t enough.”

I stopped Irian, who was stubbornly pouring out divine power despite it not having much effect, and tried to heal the women myself. As expected, it felt like I was pouring it into the air, and it simply dissipated.

“……Yurian? Why did you stop? These women’s bellies are still swollen.”
“Unfortunately, there’s nothing more I can do.”
“What do you mean… you, you can do it. Right? You… you’re good at everything. Right, Yurian?”

Irian’s red hair, which had grown to her shoulders, shook pitifully. She looks tough, but she’s soft at heart… Even so, what can’t be done, can’t be done.

Divine power is not omnipotent. It only works when a person is injured, and these women are not injured.

“Healing or cure spells for pregnant women only help their health. You know that too, Irian.”

That’s right. These women have only ‘conceived’. So that’s why divine power doesn’t work.

“N-no way, are you kidding? Pregnancy… These, these women… are carrying that monster’s babies…?”

Inside the thin membrane of their swollen bellies, the grotesque shapes of the monsters wriggled. The pregnant bellies were undulating so much that it looked like they would burst at any moment, and some of the watching mercenaries were even gagging.

“Then… then if we just take the monster out? If we pull out the monster and heal them!”
“…It’s too late. These women have already lost their reason. I don’t know if the monster destroyed their minds in some way, or if they lost their minds from the shock of conceiving a monster… but there’s no way to fix this.”

I lightly touched the shoulder of the distraught Irian and turned to Diana. Fortunately, the atmosphere here wasn’t bad.

“Parish leader! Are you conscious!”
“Where am I… Ah, the monster, where is the monster!”
“We have dealt with the monster. Thank goodness, Parish leader. We were so worried when you suddenly disappeared… Are you alright?”

Seeing them rushing to the parish leader and showering him with words, it seemed he was quite popular. Just by looking at him, with his white hair, white beard, and kind face, he looked like a typical clergyman.

“Listen, everyone! The monster, the monster is not the problem. The demon… we must stop the demon!”

What is this old man suddenly talking about? A demon?
I was confused, but the people’s reaction was enthusiastic.

“Indeed! Don’t worry, Parish leader! The Saintess has come here to defeat the demon, so we’ll be able to defeat the demon in no time!”
“When that priest over there said we had to stop the demon, I thought it was nonsense… but now that the Parish leader is saying it, I believe it.”

Seriously, these guys. I had no idea that these bandit-looking people were thinking like that. My head was spinning. Somehow, the parish leader struggled to his feet, came to me, grabbed my hand tightly, and stared at me with wide eyes.

“No, aren’t you Yurian!”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
“Ah! And that’s Sir Ian over there! Indeed, indeed! The Saintess has come to defeat the demon! This is all God’s will! Oh, God.”

……Where have I seen him before? He said he was dispatched from the Holy Nation of Hespote, but I don’t know.

“This is not the time for this. Listen, Yurian. This is a big problem. Over there, beyond that door… there’s a demon! A demon in human form who is controlling this monster!”
“Controlling the monster? Is that true? Please tell me more.”

At that moment.
Creak.
The heavy door that the parish leader was pointing at opened.

“What is this now? Why are there so many of these riffraff?”