I Became an Ancient All-Host Lifeform - Chapter 38

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

“The Merchant Caravan has arrived. Clear the way!”

A deep, resonant hum echoed through the air.
The moment the mercenary announced the Caravan’s arrival at the entrance, the Spider Web walls of the Spider Garden shifted of their own accord, parting to create a passage.
Like Moses parting the sea, a perfectly straight corridor opened from the entrance all the way to Belladonna’s Mansion.
Thanks to this, the Caravan procession reached the mansion’s entrance without incident.
As the carriages came to a halt, the Arachne maids who had been waiting in advance stepped forward to greet them.

“Welcome. Thank you for coming, Malkado.”

Emily bowed politely in greeting, but Malkado’s face twisted into a lecherous grin as he spoke.

“Heh. Yes, indeed. Have you all been well in my absence? Did you miss me terribly?”

His sticky gaze swept across the maids like a predator sizing up prey.
Emily masked her expression and led the way forward.

“Her Majesty is waiting in the reception room.”
“Come now—after so long apart, straight to business?”
“… This way, if you please.”

At Emily’s cold demeanor, Malkado let out a derisive snort.

“Tch. Always so stiff. You were never my type anyway. What good is a pretty face? You’re just a Magical Beast, after all.”
“…….”

Malkado followed Emily into the mansion.
His Caravan was the only trading partner through which the Spider Garden exchanged the various Magical Materials it produced with human goods.
The moment Malkado entered the reception room, Belladonna’s expression hardened.

“You’re here. You did bring the items I ordered last time, didn’t you?”

Without so much as a greeting, she cut straight to the point. Malkado merely shrugged and replied.

“Tch, how tedious. Whether it’s you or your underlings—they’re all the same. Of course, so long as payment is made in full. Here are the product list and receipt.”

Malkado pulled a sheaf of papers from his breast pocket and dropped them carelessly onto the table.
As Belladonna took up the receipt, her face twisted in displeasure.

“Thirty thousand crowns? Are you toying with me?”
“What’s wrong? It’s a reasonable price, isn’t it?”

At his brazen response, Belladonna slammed her hand against the table.

“… This is absurd, no matter how I look at it. If my information is correct, that’s nearly triple the market price!”
“Hmph, if it’s too expensive, don’t buy it. Besides, not many merchants have the audacity to venture this far into the Black Forest anyway.”

It was true that merchants willing to approach the vicinity of the Black Forest were rare. But the real reason Malkado had monopolized trade with the Spider Garden lay elsewhere.

“It’s all because you’re exerting pressure behind the scenes!”

Belladonna shot back, bloodlust radiating from her form, but Malkado merely shrugged indifferently.

“I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

The truth was that Malkado, who controlled commerce throughout the region, was indeed pressuring other merchants from behind the scenes to prevent them from approaching the Spider Garden.
So Belladonna had no choice but to accept exclusive trading terms with him, much against her will.
When Belladonna’s anger flared, Malkado fingered the crimson pendant hanging at his throat and laughed with contempt.

“My, my—to suspect someone so carelessly. Your ‘sister’ up in the heavens must be terribly sad about that, wouldn’t you say?”
“Tch…!”

The moment Belladonna saw the pendant, her pupils trembled.
It was a keepsake left behind by her sister.
In childhood, Malkado had hired hunters to capture her sister alive, then sold her to the Magical Tower as an experimental subject.
Years passed, and grown now into an Arachne Queen, Belladonna had struck a contract with the Magical Tower and founded the Spider Garden.
That was when Malkado brazenly appeared wearing her sister’s pendant, forcing his dealings upon the Spider Garden.
Since then, whenever Malkado visited the Spider Garden, he took pleasure in this cruel habit—wearing her sister’s pendant deliberately to crush Belladonna’s spirit.

“Despicable creature….”

Belladonna trembled with rage, grinding her teeth, but Malkado only giggled with amusement.

“Hehe…. Thank you for the praise.”

Had it been up to her, she would have torn him apart on the spot, but she could not lay a hand on him while he stood under the Magical Tower’s protection.
Moreover, to care for the residents of the Spider Garden, she desperately needed the varied goods he supplied.
Thus Belladonna had no choice but to accept this humiliating arrangement.

“Ugh….”

Without a word, Belladonna counted out gold coins and tossed them onto the table.
Malkado took the coins, his satisfied smile spreading wide.

“Hehe…. Thank you so much for patronizing our Merchant Caravan, Your Majesty the Spider Queen!”
“Business concluded. Get out of my sight.”
“Hmph, so finicky. In any case, I look forward to our continued prosperous dealings.”

Malkado, his farewell dripping with mockery, turned and left the reception room.

“Krgh….”

Belladonna remained alone in the chamber, swallowing her fury.

“Hehe….”

Malkado’s footsteps were impossibly light as he descended the mansion’s front steps, wearing a smile.
Yet he never imagined that something very small had fastened itself beneath the hem of his ornate robe.

* * *

I am clinging secretively to the underside of Malkado’s robe hem right now.
Outside, the Arachne maids and the Merchant Caravan’s porters busied themselves moving their respective goods.
I plan to wait until they have completely left the Spider Garden.
I must keep Belladonna’s involvement in this matter hidden at all costs.

“The cargo is all loaded.”
“Good. We depart.”

At his subordinate’s report, Malkado ordered their departure.

Clatter, clatter….
Clip-clop, clip-clop….

We’re moving at last.
Again, Malkado rides at the very front of the Merchant Caravan alongside his guards.
Soon they passed beyond the Spider Garden’s main gate and entered the forest.
Bokgu was likely hiding in the brush, maintaining his distance while secretly tailing the Merchant Caravan.

Rattle, rattle….

How much time had passed?
The caravan had come so far into the dense forest that the Spider Garden was no longer visible behind them.
At this distance, even Malkado wouldn’t be able to confirm Belladonna’s involvement in the affair.

‘Good. This is far enough. Time to begin.’

I crawled stealthily along the fluttering fabric of his garments.
Then I invaded through the canal of his ear.

[You use the skill “Parasitism lv 4” on the target.]
Sting—!

The familiar, electric sensation of neural connection flooding through me.
Parasitism successful!

“Ugh?!”

Malkado flinched, startled by the alien sensation boring into his mind.
But I had no intention of giving him time to comprehend what was happening.

‘Bokgu, now!’

I issued the command to Bokgu through the Hive Consciousness and seized control of Malkado’s body by force.
I immediately removed the crimson jeweled pendant hanging from his neck and hurled it toward the nearby brush.
Bokgu, having crept close to the undergrowth, caught the pendant with perfect precision.

‘Excellent. Nice catch!’

In that instant, the caravan guards nearby were startled as their master suddenly did something mad, and they cried out in confusion.

“M-Master Malkado? What are you suddenly—”

I responded through Malkado’s mouth to the bewildered guards’ question, speaking as though nothing were amiss.

“Ah, that’s no longer needed. Don’t worry about it.”

Of course, inside, the wretch was screaming.

‘No, no! Damn it! Why won’t my body obey me?!’

His anguished cries escaped outward not a single syllable.

‘You bastard! You think you’ll walk away from this?’

What was this fool saying, having had his body stolen by an entity of unknown origin? Did he have a death wish?

‘Well, what can you do about it? What exactly can you manage?’
‘You… cursed—’

I gave the bewildered wretch a scare.

‘Stay quiet and keep your mouth shut. Then I’ll at least spare your life.’
‘Ugh….’

At that, he became docile.
Yes. That was the proper response of one whose body had been seized.
After confirming that Bokgu had completely disappeared beyond the brush, I quietly released my Parasitism.

Whoosh.

Slipping free from his ear canal, I soared leisurely into the air.

[Activating skill: Spider Web level 1.]
Szzzt!

The web shot from my body clung firmly to a nearby tree.
Using the recoil of the strand, I cut through the air and landed gracefully on a branch above.
A clean mission success.

* * *

Whoosh.

The moment something tore free from his body, Malkado finally regained control of his own limbs.

“Hagh—haagh…!”

Malkado gasped roughly from atop his horse.
It had been a deeply unpleasant sensation.
The feeling of some unknowable thing stealing command of his limbs.
And he suddenly remembered—the creature that had seized his body had thrown away his necklace.
That necklace had proven invaluable when pressuring Belladonna, and now it had been wrested from him with infuriating ease.
He thrust out his neck and bellowed.

“You incompetent fools! What were you doing?! You let them steal the necklace!”

At Malkado’s sudden outburst, the escort mercenaries protested as if wronged.

“Sir? But you threw it away yourself a moment ago, saying you didn’t need it…”

Malkado snapped back at the mercenary.

“That wasn’t me! Something forced me—controlled me! Couldn’t you see that?!”
“But sir, you suddenly just threw it away without explanation. How were we supposed to know?”
“Are you talking back to me right now? You want to stop getting paid?!”

Malkado resorted to the petty threat of withholding payment.
The mercenaries swallowed their rising irritation and sighed.

“Sigh… Yes, yes, my apologies.”
“Go after that wolf-brat right now and find the necklace! I need it to roast that impudent spider woman! Move!”

At the Merchant Caravan master’s harsh command, the mercenaries reluctantly hefted their weapons and began searching in the direction Bokgu had vanished.
Yet several of them hesitated, loitering around the caravan instead of setting out immediately.
Malkado’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the sight.

“What are you doing? Get going!”

The mercenary shrugged.

“Surely someone should stay behind to guard the supplies, sir? There could be Magical Beasts…”

Malkado cut him off, shouting.

“What? Just all go and find it quickly—that’s all! You’re trying to shirk with excuses? No more talk. Go find it fast! Now!”
“Y-yes, right away, sir…”

In the end, Malkado’s insistence cleared the camp of even the remaining mercenaries, who mounted their horses and vanished into the forest.
With the fighters gone, all that remained were the porters, the beasts of burden, and Malkado himself, standing alone in the sudden quiet.
They waited where they stood for the mercenaries to return.
But as the hours dragged on, the soldiers did not come back.

“What necklace are they cobbling together? Why are these idiots taking so long? Useless laggards, the lot of them! Every month I have to bleed money to these parasites… God, what a waste!”

Malkado was fuming alone when it began.

Rustle. Scritch-scratch.

From the dense grass ahead, a magical beast emerged—a rat with eyes blazing crimson.

“Eek! A rat, a rat!”

One of the porters shrieked in terror, but Malkado snorted and sneered.

“Bah, what’s so frightening about a measly rat? Just stomp on it!”

But these were no ordinary rodents scavenging scraps from a village street.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

Behind the single rat, the presence of dozens, then hundreds more began to ripple forward.

“Help! Someone help us!”

The porters, seized by panic, abandoned their cargo carts and fled in wild disorder.

Wail—!

The pack animals, laden with goods, sensed the killing intent of the rat swarm and reared in maddened panic.

“What are you doing? You fools! Leave behind precious cargo for what—to run from rats? There’s nothing to fear! Come back at once! Now!”

Malkado screamed himself hoarse, face darkening with fury, but the porters did not so much as glance back as they fled.

“Have you lost your minds? You won’t get paid! Come back immediately! That’s an order!”

In the very moment Malkado was bellowing at the backs of the fleeing porters—

Whishhhhh….

The undergrowth parted, and thousands upon thousands of Forest Devourer Rats burst forth like a tsunami.
They were a black wave that consumed the flesh of living things in mere seconds.

“H-help…!”

Only then did Malkado understand the true horror of his situation, his face draining of all color.
He turned to flee, but it was already too late—the black tide of rats had completely encircled him.

“No, no! My goods…! My money…!”
Howl—!

The death cries of the beasts and Malkado’s final scream echoed only briefly.
Within mere seconds, Malkado’s Merchant Caravan was swallowed whole by the terrible wave of Forest Devourer Rats.
And where that black tide had passed, nothing remained but bleached bone.

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