TEOCH 100

Leaving behind my questions about Damian’s condition, I led my companions out for exploration. Damian still wore his usual carefree expression, and Rehas was also acting nonchalantly, but it seemed Damian was still on his mind.

I thought I might have to talk with Rehas soon. Of course, my thought that it would be better to trust Damian remained unchanged, but as soon as I saw that strange smile Damian had just made, a sense of unidentified anxiety washed over me. Something might go wrong if I just leave it alone. That thought instinctively flashed through my mind.

‘Since he’s a person with such good intuition, he might have noticed something more. Maybe he even heard Damian talking in his sleep…….’

Rehas himself said he didn’t hear any sleep-talking, but I had no intention of taking that at face value. It was possible that he was lying out of consideration for Damian. If Rehas had heard something strange from Damian’s sleep-talking, then it would be perfectly understandable for him to have brought up the topic of dreams to Damian.

But hearing the story from that person would not be an easy task. The problem was ‘how to talk to that person alone,’ because in Stage 1, we could have gone outside alone while everyone else was sleeping, but in Stage 2, that was also difficult. With the outside being all water, where on earth could we talk.

Furthermore, there was one more thing that weighed on my mind. Actually, this was a bit of a personal problem.

‘That person, if we end up talking alone, he will definitely bring up the topic of Tristan.’

He was a person with good intuition in many areas, so talking to him was a real headache. I had already been caught by him back in Stage 1, and since entering Stage 2, I had been showing a vulnerable side by constantly nursing Tristan. With this many clues given, there was no way that person would let it slide nonchalantly. Maybe that person even noticed what kind of feelings I have for Tristan…….

‘Let’s not think about it. For now, don’t think about things like that!’

Deliberately ignoring the feeling of goosebumps running down my spine, I decided to focus solely on exploring the surroundings for the time being. First and foremost, it was most important to deal with the ‘barreleye fish’ we had found last time. I had already explained the battle method before coming out to explore, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

‘There it is.’

About twenty minutes had passed since we started exploring. We discovered a barreleye fish swimming leisurely in the distance. Boasting a size of about six meters, and with such a peculiar appearance, it would have been harder not to find it. When dealing with that creature, a strategy of aiming for its blind spot, like we did with the anglerfish, was almost impossible, because that creature’s vision was of a very unique form.

The skin on its head was so transparent that its brain and eyeballs were fully visible. The eyeballs, as large as a human head, were completely embedded within the head and were surveying the surroundings in all directions. Thanks to that transparent head, the creature could protect its eyes while also surveying a wider range than ordinary fish. Furthermore, the two eyeballs were not looking in the same direction but were moving completely separately, and since each eye was looking at a different place, it could accurately grasp the situation without any blind spots.

Moreover, that was not the only characteristic of the creature’s eyes.

—……!

As soon as we entered its field of vision, the eyeballs, which had been shining an eerie purple, instantly turned a vivid red. It was ‘Attack Mode.’ As we had arranged beforehand, we immediately scattered downwards, and red sparks flickered violently where we had been just a moment before, as if lightning had struck. Of course, it was just magic in the form of an electric current and not a real electric current, so there was no chance of us getting electrocuted, but still, if we had been hit directly by those sparks, our entire bodies would have been paralyzed and we wouldn’t have been able to move.

‘Four more times to go!’

No, to be precise, it was three times. With a loud crackling sound, another vivid spark erupted in the water. We swam in perfect formation to avoid the spark, and the creature, as if annoyed, trembled its body and prepared to attack again.

The barreleye fish launches a total of five magical attacks before entering ‘Defense Mode.’ If you get hit by an attack, your whole body becomes paralyzed and you will be swallowed by that creature in an instant, but since it targets the spot we were in two seconds ago, you can somehow dodge it as long as you keep moving your body constantly.

We did our best to avoid the creature’s magical attacks and waited for our moment. No matter how wide that creature’s field of vision was, as long as it took time to confirm our position and activate its magical attack, it wouldn’t be easy to land a hit. Of course, if we didn’t keep moving, we could also become fish food in an instant.

And so, we endured two more attacks. Just one more to go, I thought, and as I desperately swam forward at that moment, the distinctive crackling sound of sparks erupted from behind me, and I confirmed that the creature’s five attacks were over.

However, I did not stop moving and continued to swim around, observing the creature’s condition. There were occasional cases where it had a ‘Dual Attack’ parasite and would attack one or two more times, so I could never let my guard down.

The barreleye fish was one of the demonic beasts with a particularly high probability of having parasites in its eyeballs or brain. Of course, it rarely had other parasites, and in most cases, only the not-so-useful ‘Dual Attack’ was found.

Fortunately, the creature’s eyes slowly began to change from red to green. It was proof that it was entering ‘Defense Mode.’ To break its magic shield, I immediately drew my sword and prepared to attack its head using a skill. Since that creature’s magic shield was the type that could be broken with a 75% probability, there was a high chance it would break in one go if I attacked twice with ‘Cleave.’

But at that moment, I saw Damian frantically waving his hand at me and shouting something.

[It’s a ‘Delusion’ parasite! Back away!]

Wait, what……? Upon confirming Damian’s lip movements for ‘Delusion,’ I was startled and blinked my eyes. The barreleye fish’s eyeballs were still a vivid red, and the barreleye fish was approaching me at high speed, as if mocking me. Only then could I fully understand what Damian had said. It was because of the ‘Delusion’ parasite, which distorts the opponent’s senses in a specific way, that I had mistakenly thought that creature’s eyes had turned green.

‘Damn it, it has both ‘Dual Attack’ and ‘Delusion’ at the same time?!’

In the first place, creatures with Dual Attack were rare, and I had only ever seen a barreleye fish with a ‘Delusion’ parasite just once before……! Without hesitation, I immediately moved my body and was able to dodge the creature’s attack by a hair’s breadth.

Still, seeing that all the other companions had dodged the attack, it seemed it wasn’t a very high-level parasite. If it had been a ‘Delusion’ of level 3 or higher, all of us would have been hit by that attack.

This time, the creature’s eyeballs were truly tinged with green, and without hesitation, I activated ‘Cleave’ and split its head. The first attack was deflected with a rebounding impact and failed, but the second attack, activated simultaneously, hit its mark, and the bluish shield that had been enveloping the creature’s body disappeared in an instant. Tristan, who had been waiting for an opportunity, immediately slashed the creature’s tail with his sword.

—……!

The right eyeball of the barreleye fish, afflicted by the ‘Curse,’ turned red, and red tattoos began to be engraved on its entire right side. The creature, unable to come to its senses from the excruciating pain, writhed and failed to land its magical attacks properly even after changing to ‘Attack Mode.’ Still, just in case, we carefully dodged the six attacks and waited once again for ‘Defense Mode’ to come.

All six attacks were exhausted, and only the creature’s left eye turned green. Thanks to having already broken the magic shield once, this shield was not as strong as before. After immediately breaking the magic shield, I activated ‘Cleave’ once more and drove my sword deep into the creature’s head. The sword, having split the transparent head skin, burst both of the creature’s eyeballs at the same time.

By the time I twisted and pulled out my sword, Tristan’s sword had once again churned the creature’s brain, and in the end, the creature died in an instant without being able to put up any proper resistance. Thanks to gaining a considerable amount of experience from the creature, my level rose in an instant.

I rummaged through the burst eyes and pulled out two jewels from within. Although they were small in size, they shone brightly, so it seemed they held good magic. While I was examining the jewels, an abnormally long parasite slipped out from within and tried to flee in a hurry, but fortunately, Rehas caught the parasite for me.

As the hunt finally came to an end, I let out a light sigh. It had been a smooth hunt. The barreleye fish itself was a demonic beast that could be easily caught if you had a means to deal with its magic shield, but considering it had a composite parasite, we had caught it with an absurd amount of ease. It was a relief, for now, but…….

‘If Damian hadn’t warned me, I would have been hit by the paralysis attack.’

The barreleye fish is not the type to swallow its prey in one go like the deep-sea eel. Sharp and grotesque teeth are hidden all around its smooth mouth, and as soon as it sucks in a part of the prey’s body, the teeth pop out and cut the body. If I had been spacing out and gotten hit by the paralysis attack, that creature would have instantly approached me and severed a place like my head or arm, and if that had happened, my life itself would have been in danger, let alone the injury.

I felt inwardly grateful to Damian and swam toward him. That is, until I felt one strange thing.

‘Wait a minute. But Damian……. how did he know about the ‘Delusion’ parasite?’

The case where a barreleye fish has both ‘Delusion’ and ‘Dual Attack’ at the same time had only happened once before, so even I had completely forgotten the fact that that fish could have a ‘Delusion’ parasite. That’s why I didn’t even mention that parasite when explaining the attack strategy earlier. But, how?

[……?]

Damian looked at me and tilted his head. He had a look that said, ‘Is something wrong?’ I reluctantly shook my head and approached Rehas. Rehas looked at my expression for a moment and then handed me the parasite. I checked the parasite’s information.

[Parasite of ‘Dual Attack’ and ‘Delusion’ (Body Parasite Type)]

[Dual Attack V : 100% chance to perform the same attack one more time. Consumes 240 kcal of calories per use.

Delusion Ⅱ : When this ability is activated, the opponent affected by the ability will be under the illusion for 3 seconds that you have no hostility toward them. If a demonic beast was planning to attack you, that demonic beast will try to attack another companion with a lower attack priority than you. Can only be applied to one target, and consumes 90 kcal of calories per use.]

[This parasite cannot be attached to a weapon or armor.]

It really was a ‘Delusion’ parasite. How on earth did Damian know this? Even if he had noticed that I was under a hallucination, the word ‘hallucination,’ which exists as an actual mental magic, would be more familiar to Damian, so there would be no reason for him to specifically use the word ‘delusion.’

As I was pondering this, a bizarre possibility flashed through my mind. As soon as I thought of that possibility, I shook my head with a start. It can’t be. No, it must not be. That is…….

[Let’s go back.]

I gestured to my companions with a trembling hand, and my companions, while looking at my pale face as if it were strange, silently nodded. ……Let’s not have strange thoughts. It can’t be. No matter how bad the situation has gotten because it’s the second playthrough, I shouldn’t be thinking such absurd things.

No. Yes. No. No matter how strange Damian’s condition has been lately, still, it’s not that, of course not. That’s right. There’s no way. It’s probably not. No. Right? It’s not, is it.

[Mr. Rohan?]

As I hesitated without moving, Damian, with eyes that seemed to know nothing, approached me and tilted his head. His golden eyes were still sparkling and full of life, so I was inwardly relieved. He probably wouldn’t be able to have those eyes if he had the memories. He would have eyes that were pitch-black and dead, like mine.

Although I hadn’t looked in a mirror, I knew my eyes were half-dead. Even Charon the Harpy, who smiled gently as if nothing was wrong, had eyes that had lost their light and were as murky as a fish’s. Anyone who has repeated a terribly long time, who is crushed by those memories and suffocating, is like that. So no. It can’t be. It’s not him yet. Of course it’s not.

[I’m sorry. Let’s go back.]

I made a simple gesture and immediately turned my body to swim away. But only my body was moving properly; my mind, already so full of thoughts, could not function properly. It wasn’t even that various thoughts were swirling around; just one single thought was dominating my mind, yet I felt like I was going to suffocate and die.

‘If Damian remembers all of those memories.’

What sin will I have to commit against that person in order to shake off this foolish, lingering attachment?

In the ashes of my thoughts, my heart burned to a crisp.