I Became an Ancient All-Host Lifeform - Chapter 17

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

017 Fire Hell Water Hell

Cutting through the thick smoke and darkness.
Gyusik—a single assassination rodent—hunts for his enemies’ lives.
In darkness near absolute black, few could stand against a small rat that materializes without warning or trace.
And if such a master existed, they’d hardly be catching rats in a backwater like this.

Slash! Crunch!

Leading the charge, I drove my Plague Teeth—slick with Neurotoxic Saliva—deep into the ankles of two men in quick succession.

“Argh! What—what is this?”

One fast, perfect thrust. A single clean movement.
I’d bitten both of them in an instant.
The vanguard of the pursuit crumbled at once.

“Gahhh… my legs… won’t move!”

Perfect. Let them writhe on the ground in agony, choking on the smoke until the end comes slowly.
The Mage cried out in panic.

“What—what is happening?”

What indeed. Just the pitiful screams of your subordinates dying from your own arrogance.
Then one of the fallen guards shouted from the ground.

“A rat, sir! There are crimson footprints on the floor!”

‘Crimson footprints’—quite the poetic turn of phrase.
I’d better give this aspiring poet a little bite on the cheek so he can’t reveal my position anymore.
Perhaps in your next life you’ll be reborn as a true poet. Crunch!

“Ah, ack! Uh… uh…”

With his face now paralyzed, he could no longer expose my location.
Good. Time to finish the rest.
From that point, I drove forward without hesitation.

“Ahhh!”
“Khack!”

It was just as I was weaving through the darkness, eagerly targeting human ankles.

Whiissshhh!
[Skill “Survival Instinct Lv. 1” activates.]

My spine tingled, my senses sharpening to a razor’s edge.
Gyusik’s Survival Instinct—encoded in his genetic essence—had triggered.
In that instant, by pure instinct, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Clang!

Yow! Hell, that was close!
Sparks flew before my eyes, and a sharp metallic ring cut through the air.
A Throwing Knife with a razor-sharp edge had lodged itself inches from my snout.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
God, I just aged ten years. If I’d kept running forward, I’d have been rat kebab right now.
But how did they manage to aim at me in this suffocating darkness and smoke?
At that moment, I heard the Mage’s companion swallowing back a curse of regret.

“Tsk, did I miss? I could’ve sworn that was the direction…”

Insane. He just threw it on a hunch?
So the real assassin was here all along?
I sincerely apologize to this true master for calling him an Assassination Rat without knowing my place.
I broke into a cold sweat as I stole a glance at his status window.

【Bern (Veteran Hunter) lv 21】

【Traits】
「Tracker」, 「Survivor」, 「Veteran」

【Skills】
「Throwing Technique lv 7」, 「Aura Detection lv 6」, 「Marksmanship lv 5」, 「Vital Point Strike lv 4」, 「Hunting Instinct lv 3」

Insane. Those are brutal stats.
Of course, level doesn’t always correlate with strength, but for Gyusik, who’d only just crossed level ten, this was clearly an opponent I couldn’t handle.
I’d thought the Invisible Presence skill had completely concealed my aura, but that was a miscalculation.
Before the combination of his Aura Detection and Hunting Instinct, my tail was bound to be caught.
And given that I’d been flaunting myself as an Assassination Rat, openly biting at humans’ ankles…
Really, it was a miracle I hadn’t been discovered until now.
Before another knife came flying, I needed to stay perfectly still—silent as a dead rat.

‘…’

I held even my breath and didn’t so much as twitch.
Then I heard Bern’s voice falter.

“Hm? The aura vanished all of a sudden…?”

So his detection had limits too—he couldn’t fully track me once my aura was suppressed.
For now, I’d lie low like a dead rat and wait for my opening.
Just then, the Mage urged him on from behind.

“What are you doing? Find it and kill it already!”
“Tsk… This bastard, did it figure out I was reading its aura?”

That one has good instincts, no question.
A creature like that can’t be left alive. It would be a disaster waiting to happen later.
After a moment of thought, Bern finally spoke.

“Everyone, fall back for now!”

The Mage objected to his suggestion.

“Excuse me? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“This creature is no ordinary rat. It realized I was reading its aura and is now hiding motionless in the darkness. The environment favors it right now, so let’s pull back, regroup, and devise a strategy…”

But the Mage, arrogant beyond measure, ignored Bern’s warning.

“Stop spouting nonsense, Bern! Everyone, clear the way!”

Heh, perfect. Yes, just like that. I’m nothing but a small rat.
At that moment, an urgent cry erupted from the Forehead Jewel.

— It’s firing again! Dodge!

Dodge? No—this is the chance!
I didn’t miss the moment the Mage stepped forward for an indiscriminate flame sweep.

[Activating Skill «Instant Acceleration Lv. 2».]

Survival Instinct was already active from Bern’s assault.
This charge was the highest speed Gyusik’s body could muster!
As I rocketed toward the Mage at full velocity, flames erupted from his Staff.

Whoosh—!

The fire swept across the empty space above Gyusik’s head, incinerating everything in its path.
Just as I’d suspected—the Mage was firing blindly, with no idea where I actually was.
Well, this is one time being small pays dividends.
The moment I lunged to drive my Plague Teeth into the arrogant Mage’s ankle—

Screech—!
[Critical danger detected. Skill «Lizard Tail» automatically activated.]
Squeak!

As Lizard Tail activated, Gyusik’s entire body became transparent for the briefest instant.
Immediately after, a cyan Throwing Knife pierced through my afterimage.

Clang! Ping!

All that was left stuck in the knife—embedded in the floor—was the severed tip of Gyusik’s tail.
Seeing this, Bern’s eyes narrowed.

“Tch. Got nothing but the tail?”

God. That was close. Genuinely close.
Moving this fast in the dark, and he still landed a clean shot on my torso?
No—a direct confrontation with Bern is premature. To come this close to death twice, even in favorable conditions, proves it.

Whoosh—!

Now the Mage’s flames were exposing both of us, our positions clear as day.
I couldn’t afford to waste another second here.
I gave Gyusik an immediate command.

‘Gyusik! Spit—shoot me at that bastard’s face, along with your venom!’
Squeak!

Praying that Gyusik had practiced spitting well enough…
I immediately released Parasitism.
In the same instant, Gyusik ejected me from his mouth at maximum force toward the Mage.

Splurt—!

Launched from Gyusik’s jaws along with Neurotoxic Saliva, I flew straight toward the Mage’s face.

Screech—!

Good. At this velocity, I’d definitely reach that smug face intact.
Fired through Gyusik’s mouth, I activated a skill mid-flight.

[Using Skill «Spore Dispersal Lv. 1».]
Shrieeek!

In that brief moment hurtling through the air, I released spores in all directions.
The final gambit I’d prepared beforehand—Hallucination Spores from the Red-Haired Hallucination Mushroom.
As the Hallucination Spores spread in all directions, the pupils of everyone nearby dilated before they began seeing things that weren’t there.

“Ahhhhh! Ghosts! We’re all doomed!”
“No, demons! A fire-breathing demon has appeared!”

In the Underground Cavern, shrouded in absolute darkness,
the murky haze choked the field of vision,
and now phantoms danced before their eyes.
How many could keep their sanity in such conditions?
In an instant, the scene transformed into a nightmare hellscape.

“R-run! Ahhhhh!”

Consumed by terror, the security personnel threw down their weapons and fled.

Thunk.

In the chaos, I landed cleanly on the Mage’s cheek.

“Kgh! U-u-u-u….”

By Gyusik’s Neurotoxic Saliva, the Mage’s arrogant face froze in place.
Heh heh, so that insufferable mouth won’t flap about so freely anymore.
This also cut off any danger of him revealing my existence to his allies.
Now came the final step.
I crept forward deliberately, burrowing into the creature’s nostril.

[Using skill Parasitism lv 3 on target.]
[Parasitism successful!]
[Acquired Genetic Essence of ‘Human’.]
[Target is a ‘Fire Attribute Mage’. Acquired Genetic Essence of Flame Sorcerer’s Aptitude.]

Checkmate!
Heh heh heh! I have a human host! And a formal Mage of the Magic Tower, no less!
A brilliant future bloomed in my mind—commanding flame-wielders like extensions of my own will.
Then the Mage’s reaction flooded directly into my thoughts.

– W-what? Something has entered my mind!

Is Parasitism new to you? You’re certainly startled.
I decided to calm the panicking creature down.

‘Settle yourself, human.’
– A voice? Who are you? Reveal yourself!

But of course—telling someone to calm down doesn’t instantly make them calm. That’s not how minds work.
Hmm, so what should I say to soothe this panic-stricken wretch?
After a moment’s consideration, I spoke.

‘…I am no threat. A thoroughly harmless presence. So….’

Hmm… I’d given it careful thought, but it seemed to have the opposite effect….
The creature screamed.

– A demon? Or a monster? Ugh! Rather than surrender my body to such a wicked thing… I choose an honorable death!

What the—why is this fool suddenly escalating like this?
I had to calm the rash Mage down somehow, before he did something irreversible.

‘Wait, wait! Hey, hold on! Calm down! That’s not what I’m after here—!’

But the Mage, having already lost his composure, paid no heed to my desperate explanations.
In that instant, a warning from Morgul reached me through the Collective Consciousness.

– Get out of there right now! That lunatic is going to collapse his own Mana Circle!

Mana Circle? What’s that supposed to be? I think I’ve heard it mentioned in web novels before.
In any case, I didn’t fully understand it, but I grasped well enough that the creature had just hit his self-destruct switch.
I immediately released my Parasitism and fled outside.
And I curled my entire body into a tight ball.

[Activating skill “Hardening” level 1.]

Ah, this skill was only level 1? Damn it, is this really going to cut it?
But there was no more time.
An enormous surge of mana condensed around the Mage’s body, and then came a violent explosion.

Boom—!

The shock of the blast and searing flames engulfed my entire body.
Was this how it would end—so pathetically?
Short though it may have been, or long depending on how you counted it, this fantasy life had been quite entertaining. So I had no real regrets.
But would Gyusik and Morgul be all right? The explosion had been incredibly powerful.
Caught in the blast at such close range, without some special means of protection, surely they’d have been reduced to cinders?
After that, I found myself flying through the air, still curled into a ball.

‘…….’

Hmm…. I’m flying quite far.
I keep sailing diagonally upward—shouldn’t I have already crashed into the cavern ceiling by now, under normal circumstances?
Ah, is it possible I actually died in the moment of the explosion?
And right now I’m on my way to the afterlife.
Ha, so I’m headed to heaven?
After I worked so hard in life. Naturally I deserve to arrive in paradise and enjoy wealth and glory.
Then came a dizzying sensation of falling, washing over my entire body.
Ah, damn it. Guess not.
My apologies! It must be hell.
Should’ve been nicer in life, shouldn’t I?
The ascent had been long, but the descent was short.
Soon my body plunged into a cold liquid.

Splash.

In that moment, my entire body, burning hot from the blast, began to sting as if being torn apart.

Ahhhhh! Ow ow ow…. It seems I’ve suffered severe burns across my entire body from the force of the explosion.
At least this doesn’t appear to be hell.
Normally the standard hell is the Fire Hell, isn’t it? I’ve never heard of a Water Hell.

‘Hmm? But why does the air around me feel like it’s vibrating with… a smell….’

I snapped my eyes open.
And I was horrified by what lay before me.
The stench that shimmered in the air, the rotting sewage flowing all around….
If such a place as a Water Hell existed, surely it would look like this?

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————