Chapter 470: Parasite King (2)

"Why is a human—" As Oh Kang-Woo was about to ask why a human was here, he stopped talking once he saw the middle-aged man walking closer. "Tsk, of course."

He wondered why a human was among the swarm of Parasites, but he could tell the man was not human from a closer look. The man's eyes were fully black and blood vessels were bulging around them; he even possessed a form of energy which Kang-Woo, who possessed sacred power, mana, and demonic energy, had never seen before. The man was not human in any aspect; although he looked very similar to being human, Kang-Woo could tell the being within the man's body was a monster from an outer world.

'He must have taken over the body.'

The middle-aged man's clothes were similar to the other humans around Huan, whom Parasites also took over.

'These insects are as unpleasant as I thought.'

Kang-Woo felt extreme displeasure as he stared at the unknown middle-aged man with his body taken over by a monster. It was because Kang-Woo also had several beings lying in wait to take over his body.

"Fuuu," he took a deep breath.

The demonic energy drained from using Twilight was filled back up through the Demonic Sea. Kang-Woo gripped Ingrium and lowered his stance.

Split.

Translucent wings sprouted from the middle-aged man's back.

Boom!

A sonic boom rang as the man flew toward Kang-Woo, causing a wave of compressed air to rage like a storm. The man charged at Kang-Woo along with a thunderous sound. He stretched his arm out to the side, creating a formless sword like Kim Si-Hun usually did.

Clang—!

Ingrium and the formless sword clashed. Kang-Woo and the middle-aged man were both blown backward from the powerful recoil.

"Oh?" The man looked down at his numb hand and then stared at Kang-Woo with great interest, his eyes shining.

"A mere insect knows how to use a sword?" said Kang-Woo as he smiled and lightly shook his hand that had been holding Ingrium.

His eyes filled with a powerful sense of hunger as he stared at the middle-aged man.

'Not bad.'

Kang-Woo smiled and licked his lips. They only clashed swords once but Kang-Woo could tell that the Parasite was powerful from the fact that he was blown back.

'But that's all there is to it.'

He did not know how much more power the insect was hiding, but the battle would be nothing but leisurely entertainment for him.

'You have more to give, don't you?'

Kang-Woo smiled widely and stared at the Parasite King in anticipation. He recalled his battle against Tai Wuji and the feeling that he could only feel against those with phenomenal power. He recalled the spark that he could only experience from devouring such prey, which was even more satisfying than the passionate hunger and thirst.

"This isn't all you've got, is it?"

Kang-Woo gripped his sword stronger as he relished in the thrill he had not felt in a long time.

[To think there was one this powerful in the Triad.] The Parasite King expressed astonishment. [Wonderful.]

The king shivered in excitement at the fact that he would be able to replace the immense disappointment that he had felt when facing the strongest being in Huan, with ecstasy all at once.

[It's been a while... since I've felt this way.]

The Parasite King's heart beat faster. He had traveled across countless worlds to conquer and destroy them for a time so long that he could not even remember when he had begun, all for the sake of finding someone who would allow him to evolve. He desired to be freed from the endless boredom that he had been weighed down by ever since he became king.

[No... It is too soon to be sure.]

The Parasite King quelled his growing anticipation and shook his head. He had yet to bring out even a quarter of his full power. It was far too soon to be elated that he had found his match just because his opponent managed to block one of his attacks. His immense ecstasy immediately turned into disappointment back when he faced the most powerful being in Huan.

[I beg of you, entertain me,] the Parasite King said desperately.

"Hah, the insect even knows how to talk," Kang-Woo chuckled.

The two predators stared at each other in silence.

Boom!

Kang-Woo and the Parasite King leaped at each other simultaneously after a short period of silence. Immense powers clashed against one another, the ground tearing apart from the shockwave.

Bang! Slam! Crash!

The two kings moved so impossibly fast that they couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

[Haaaaaaaaahh!] the Parasite King roared.

The hideous blood vessels around his eyes spread throughout his entire body. The memories of the body that he had taken over, especially the power known as martial arts and the way to use weapons, flowed into him, and he moved his sword based on that.

Boom! Boom—!

Explosive sounds similar to dozens of cannons firing rang each time the swords clashed and shook the earth.

[Hah, hahahaha!]

The Parasite King laughed in ecstasy, feeling the numbness in his hands and staring at the human who was blocking all of his attacks without getting overpowered.

[You're much better than I'd expected!]

The Parasite King had expected it from the moment of their clash, but the man in front of him was far stronger than the self-proclaimed strongest being of Huan. The human was easily blocking the Parasite King's attacks, which could easily split a giant mountain, and was even counterattacking. His anxiety of his ecstasy turning into disappointment melted away.

Kang-Woo blocked the attacks in silence.

Unlike the ecstatic Parasite King, he was slightly frowning as if he was dissatisfied.

Bash!

Kang-Woo deflected the Parasite King's sword aimed at his head and kicked him in the stomach with his right foot. The Parasite King was blown backward but managed to stop after tumbling on the ground for several hundred meters.

"Hey," Kang-Woo said to the Parasite King on the ground. He asked in disappointment, "You didn't spout that badass line about entertaining you for this childish nonsense, did you?"

Kang-Woo had slight anticipation for the Parasite King, who managed to push him back, but he couldn't help but gradually grow disappointed as the battle went on.

"Are you seriously using those shitty martial arts techniques you learned from who knows where against me?"

Kang-Woo had trained with Si-Hun countless times and even battled Tai Wuji, whose martial arts skills were unmatched. There was no way that martial arts one was performing through memory would work on him. The Parasite King's attacks aiming for Kang-Woo's vitals couldn't be poorer and his swings were awfully simple to read. It was like someone wearing clothes that didn't fit them at all.

"If you're an insect, then fight like one, dammit."

Kang-Woo glared at the Parasite King.

The Parasite King stood up. [My apologies.]

He bowed courteously and flew up into the air again, letting go of the green formless sword which dispersed into thin air.

[I will treat you with respect,] said the Parasite King in a low tone.

Performing untrained martial arts against a worthy opponent, whom he found after an excruciatingly long time, was highly disrespectful. Mere martial arts did not suit the Parasite King.

Crunch, crunch.

Sounds of bone breaking and distorting could be heard. The Parasite King was slowly turning from being close to human to a hideous monster. An exoskeleton covered his skin and another pair of eyes formed— no, the four eyes then became eight, sixteen, then thirty-two. Every eye covering the Parasite King's face stared at Kang-Woo.

[Before we begin,] remarked the Parasite King as he flapped his translucent wings, [Why don't we talk for a little?]

"Talk?" Kang-Woo chuckled. He smiled fiercely and shook his head. "Screw that."

Talking was pointless after the battle they just had.

"John Wick would have killed at least five people during the time we just spent talki—"

"Please wait, my king," Lilith interrupted.

"Hm?"

She approached Kang-Woo and whispered calmly, "Why don't you at least pry as much information out of him as you can before resuming the battle?"

Kang-Woo remained silent as his expression full of excitement relaxed.

'Prying as much information as I can, huh?'

Kang-Woo realized why Lilith had suggested such a thing after calming down a little.

'She's right. This is the first time Earth has been invaded by an outer world and it can happen again at any time.'

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. The otherworldly invasions had only just begun; as long as Earth's protection was gone, not even Kang-Woo could predict how many more invaders like the Parasites would come to invade Earth. As Lilith said, they needed as much information about outer worlds as possible.

'I got too excited.'

Kang-Woo admitted his blunder and turned to the Parasite King.

"Alright, let's talk."

[Let us exchange introductions first. Battling against a worthy opponent without even knowing their name lacks elegance,] said the Parasite King calmly.

'Elegance, huh?'

Kang-Woo more or less had an idea of why the Parasite King offered to talk all of a sudden in the middle of a battle.

'He's quite intelligent for an insect.'

Unlike the Cockroaches which seemed to be lower lifeforms, the evolved lifeforms and above seemed to possess intelligence on par with or even greater than that of humans.

'I didn't think they would be mindless monsters just because they were from outer worlds, but still.'

It was weird to see monsters, that looked as if they would appear in games about wars in space, conversing normally and worrying about elegance.

[I am a resident of the Eight Realms.]

'Eight Realms?'

Kang-Woo was reminded of the Nine Hells but shook his head.

'There's no way.'

There was no demon like the Parasite King in the Eighth Hell— no, it was impossible.

'If there was a demon like that back when I was still in Hell...'

The one on the throne would have been that insect, not Kang-Woo.

'Since I didn't have Deific Essence back then and the Demonic Sea wasn't as big as it is now.'

Kang-Woo would have been easily overpowered even if he had opened the Doors at the time.

'But not anymore.'

Kang-Woo stared at the Parasite King leisurely.

[The mortals refer to me as the Parasite King.]

Squelch.

The Parasite King's skin around his neck split open and poured out green tentacles covered in sticky mucus.

[Now, it is time for you to tell me your n—]

Bash—!!

Kang-Woo ran up to the Parasite King and punched him in the face before the Parasite King could finish his sentence.

[Kurgh! Wh-What is the meaning of this?!] shouted the Parasite King in confusion.

"M-Master Kang-Woo?" Lilith asked wide-eyed, also shocked by Kang-Woo's sudden behavior. She stared nervously at the Parasite King and whispered to Kang-Woo, "I told you that we should pry information from—"

"Kill him," Kang-Woo interjected as he looked down at the Parasite King with the eyes of a dead fish.

"Pardon?"

"We have to kill him."

Kang-Woo bit his lip aggressively.

'Talk? Information? What does any of that matter?'

Squelch.

Multiple green tentacles were hideously squirming around the Parasite King.

"A-Aaaahh," Kang-Woo groaned as he gripped his sword in pallor. He screamed desperately, "We have to fucking kill that son of a bitch now!!!"