Chapter 387: Seed |
“The host... has disappeared again.”
“Disappeared? Are you sure?”
“Yes. Focus on the signal in that country called the United States.”
The man closed his eyes and concentrated his mind.
“It’s true. The signal from the host sent to the United States has vanished.”
“What does this mean?”
“It must mean that the host was killed by someone.”
The host refers to a creature sent to the human world.
It absorbs life energy from humans as sacrifices, which is then collected by them, the ‘Seeds’ of a superior race known as ‘Seed’.
In other words, the host is essential for their growth.
“It’s incredible that a host has been defeated.”
“Archizar, do the other Seeds know about this?”
“Probably not.”
“The combat power of a host surpasses that of humans. You know well that even the human army can’t face a host, right?”
“Of course, I know.”
“Then how?”
“The host couldn’t have died naturally, so it must have been killed by an external force.”
“Do you think the humans killed the host?”
Archizar nodded confidently.
“I recently visited a country called South Korea. It was there that the signal from the first host was lost.”
“Isn’t this the first time?”
“Correct. The host that was parasitizing the body of the religious leader was found with its neck cut and its body burned, sent to an institution called the National Forensic Science Institute.”
What Archizar did afterward was simple.
He infiltrated the National Forensic Science Institute to recover the host’s body.
“I infested a detective’s body to enter the institute. Recovering and absorbing the host’s body wasn’t difficult.”
“Was there any life energy left? Was there any remaining energy?”
“Fortunately, it seems a defense mechanism activated before it died, so some energy was collected. It’s a shame we couldn’t harvest more while it was alive.”
“How could a host with such strong resistance that even modern weapons can’t harm it die? Was there a dispute between the hosts...?”
Archizar shook his head.
“That’s not possible. Hosts have no consciousness. They are programmed only to blindly absorb the life energy of humans. They are not beings with consciousness and reason like us, the Seeds.”
“Then how...?”
“After investigating, I discovered it was the work of an entity called Black Scythe.”
“Black Scythe?”
Archizar shared the information he had gathered with his companion about this new enemy.
“That individual is a player. You know that this world is part of a program to select mercenaries for the Great Celestial War of the past, right?”
“I know. But the survival game is over, and the players’ power should have disappeared.”
“That’s what I thought too. But somehow, Black Scythe seems to have retained his power.”
“Even if he hasn’t lost his power, it would be impossible for him to defeat a host. Isn’t it true that hosts are too powerful, even for celestial archangels?”
“I also find that curious. I don’t know how Black Scythe is so strong since I haven’t faced him. But the important point now is not his strength.”
“Then what’s important?”
Archizar spoke with a serious expression.
“The important thing is that there is an entity that threatens the hosts and that this entity will continue hunting them.”
“Hunting them? That’s ridiculous. Hunting hosts?”
“Think about it. First South Korea, now the United States. One event is a coincidence, but two is a trend.”
“Do you really believe Black Scythe is hunting the hosts?”
“Can you explain the death in the United States any other way?”
The companion Seed couldn’t respond.
Unless they had witnessed the host’s death, there was no way to explain it.
“We must investigate. We need to recover the host’s body.”
“No, I disagree.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s too dangerous to go to the place where the host recently died. What will you do if you encounter Black Scythe?”
“I’ll kill him. What’s the problem?”
The companion was confident.
Compared to the hosts, the Seeds were superior.
Naturally, they were stronger and smarter.
He didn’t believe he could lose to a mere player.
That was what he thought.
But Archizar wasn’t an ordinary Seed.
He had been appointed as the leader of the Seeds by the God of the Dimension, Deorant.
“It doesn’t hurt to be cautious. We don’t fully understand Black Scythe’s power. Besides, I have a bad feeling.”
“A feeling?”
“I sense it might be a trap. Going there would be dangerous.”
“But leaving the host’s body uncollected...”
“We won’t leave it uncollected. We’ll assign the task to another Seed.”
“To whom?”
“We have a Seed that we can use as bait. He’s a bit foolish.”
Archizar smiled and contacted another Seed.
————-
‘What an interesting world. A world full of such large insects.’
Seed Boluak.
He was sent to Earth with the purpose of absorbing the hosts once they had grown enough and collapsing Earth.
That was the purpose of all the Seeds.
‘Or it’s also Deorant’s desire.’
Therefore, he hid within the body of a human, observing the situation, but he was so eager that it was hard for him to wait any longer.
‘I want to absorb the hosts and grow quickly. I want to exterminate all those humans like insects.’
However, it was not yet time for the Seeds to act.
They could only wait until the hosts collected enough life energy.
‘How much longer do we have to wait...?’
At that moment, a signal reached Boluak’s mind.
It was telepathy, a specific frequency the Seeds used to communicate.
-Boluak, can you hear me?
-Who are you?
-I am Archizar, in charge of supervising all the Seeds.
-Ah.
He had heard about this from Deorant.
There was someone in charge of managing the Seeds, and they had to follow his orders.
-It’s a pleasure, Archizar.
-Yes.
-But what’s your business? If you’ve called just to greet me, I’ll be disappointed for wasting my valuable time.
Although not much time had passed, Boluak was annoyed.
To be honest, he didn’t like the existence of a supervisor.
‘I am an immortal creation of Deorant. Only Deorant can give me orders.’
Archizar continued speaking, unaware of what Boluak was thinking.
-Sorry if I’ve wasted your time. But there’s something you need to know.
-What is it?
-Do you know that the signal from the host in the state of Montana, United States, has been lost?
He didn’t know.
There were so many hosts on Earth that it was difficult to pinpoint their location without focusing.
-I didn’t know.
-From what I can deduce, there’s a hunter eliminating the hosts.
-A hunter?
-His name is Black Scythe. He’s a player with the appearance of a man wielding a scythe. He’s killing the hosts. The host in Korea was also eliminated.
Boluak laughed dismissively.
‘What? A host was defeated? What nonsense is this guy talking about?’
The idea of a host being killed was so absurd that it reminded him of a fictional novel.
-You should be careful too. There’s no guarantee that this hunter targeting the hosts won’t target us as well.
-Careful? We are beings superior to the hosts. Are you scared of a mere human hunter?
-It doesn’t hurt to be cautious. We don’t know our opponent well yet. If we act recklessly and fail, we couldn’t face Deorant.
He wasn’t wrong.
However, Boluak’s expression still showed discontent.
‘Coward. Afraid of a mere human?’
The excessive caution irritated him.
Above all, he didn’t like following orders from others.
But what truly irritated Boluak was something else.
-Don’t collect the host in the United States for now.
-What?
He was annoyed at being told not to collect the already dead host’s body.
-Dead hosts must be collected to serve as a foundation for our growth. Why shouldn’t we collect it?
-There’s no guarantee that Black Scythe isn’t in the place where the host died. You might run into him and be in danger.
-Is that the only reason?
He didn’t understand, but Archizar, the supervisor, insisted repeatedly.
-Don’t go near the host in the United States.
-...
The communication ended, but Boluak still didn’t understand.
‘Even if Black Scythe killed the host, isn’t it impossible for him to be stronger than us?’
And now they were telling him not to recover the host’s body because he might encounter Black Scythe.
‘That doesn’t make sense.’
For a Seed, a being that considered itself a superior life form, the idea of fearing an inferior human was a blow to his pride.
Since he couldn’t comprehend it, Boluak began to suspect something else.
‘Could it be that he wants to absorb it first and is trying to stop me?’
Once he came to that conclusion, he couldn’t stay still.
Whoosh!
Boluak created wings from a black liquid and flew quickly through the sky.
He had to arrive first and absorb the host in the United States before anyone else.
‘Hmph! Do you think I wouldn’t notice your trick, Archizar? The host will be mine!’
Boluak quickly arrived at his destination.
In a town in the state of Montana, United States.
He closed his eyes and sensed the host’s energy, quickly locating it.
‘It’s over there. Where the host’s body is.’
And indeed, at the center of the town lay the charred remains of the host’s body.
Boluak wasn’t sure how it had died, but that didn’t matter to him.
‘Perfect! No one has touched it!’
He smiled, satisfied that he had arrived first and had the opportunity to absorb it before anyone else.
But Boluak had no idea that it was all a trap.
“I thought I’d wait just in case, and look who showed up.”
“...!”
Startled by the sudden voice, he turned his head and saw a man watching him.
The man carried a large black-and-red scythe over his shoulder.