Became a Failed Experimental Subject-Chapter 73: There’s No Need to Hold Back

I veered in the opposite direction, away from the cathedral where the host was returning.

There was no need to fight him directly.

Hive mind — all the parasites were extensions of his body.

The host was merely his claws and fangs; the basic rule of hunting was to avoid the hard bones and target the soft flesh.

“Grrrr...”

The host tried to chase after me as I tore through one of the districts, but with his current speed, he couldn’t keep up.

His worst decision was to distance himself in order to become stronger by devouring me.

“S-Savior...!”

“Th-Thank you... AAAAH!”

BOOM!

Crashing down onto the white concrete, I spread my shadow wide.

Fangs shot up from the darkness, consuming the infected who had obediently knelt before me as if served up on a platter.

Between the juicy crunch of flesh, fragments of the infected’s fragmented memories began to piece together.

[To become one... What kind of deranged cult is this...]

[But... it was comforting... Even if I died to a monster, it wouldn’t be the end.]

[I want to see you again. If baptism is all it takes to meet you again, even if it’s a lie, I’d still want to believe it.]

The last memories before they became infected, before their minds rotted away under the influence of the parasites.

Some were drawn in by the atmosphere, some felt something was off but still clung to a sense of happiness, and some were forcibly converted after the infection spread.

Every infected roaming D-City had consumed the so-called holy water distributed by the Samwon Church, water laced with parasites that connected them to the hive mind.

After that, their memories were nothing but repetitive bliss.

Everything they desired was fulfilled by the hive mind, every routine controlled.

Even if things didn’t go their way, they were filled with the bliss of the hive mind. If things did go their way, they experienced an even greater euphoria.

Whether they died to a monster or survived, they were happy. Whether they lived or died, they were happy.

This was not living — it was a mockery of life.

Then, the host’s voice echoed from the speakers, trailing me as I moved.

[What are you thinking? Even if you don’t know our purpose, to slaughter your fellow humans like this...]

[Humans?]

What the hell was he saying? Calling those infected humans?

Does he really intend to call those walking drones whose minds are overwritten by monsters “humans”?

They were already consumed by monsters, mere flesh puppets whose lives could be snuffed out at the whim of a parasite pressing the suicide switch.

[I only wish to save you, an ignorant soul, from your own foolishness.]

[Ignorant, huh.]

I considered listening to what he had to say, but instead, I tore into another infected fleeing from a different district.

Monsters had no need to talk.

Consuming them was enough to understand.

“Urgh...! Urgh....”

Scattered fragments of memories swirled within me, slowly converging.

The fear of the monster era — humanity was weak, and to protect the weak, everyone had to become one and join forces.

Fear of pain, fear of separation from the “one,” and the promise that true unity would liberate them from all fears.

Under the influence of the hive mind, they surrendered themselves to the powerful “one.”

[Stop resisting and become one. By now, you should understand. This is the divine choice that has been bestowed upon you. You are destined to be an angel guarding the sacred land, graced as a holy apostle!]

In a world where all are one, death is not the end; even in death, they become nutrients to strengthen the hive mind.

There is no need to grieve, no need to fear. The only thing that exists is joy.

In exchange for their bodies, the powerful hive mind maintains the illusion of their former lives, guaranteeing eternal peace and happiness, both in life and in death.

I devoured the rotting corpses infested by parasites and finally understood what the host was talking about.

[Accept it. The only reason you were created is to join God’s grand plan!]

Is this how he’s framing it?

[Cut the crap.]

In the end, he was just demanding that everyone surrender both body and consciousness to the monster that ruled the hive mind — Experiment No. 3.

The only one benefiting was that monster, the so-called god of the hive mind.

A laugh slipped out. How dare a monster pretending to act for humanity’s sake try to pull this nonsense?

[There is no such thing as God in this world.]

[How ignorant...! How truly ignorant you are! God exists!]

[Oh yeah? Where is this so-called god then?]

There were only monsters and humans in this world.

If a benevolent god that protected and loved humans truly existed, then this world where monsters feasted on human flesh would not exist.

Scoffing, I sprinted forward again, slashing through the necks of kneeling citizens and slicing through the white buildings like reaping a field of grain.

The host’s enraged voice blared through the speakers.

[I am God! Before the grand plan of the Almighty God, you Satanic failure cannot possibly comprehend!]

Simultaneously, amidst the blaring monster alarms, the same bell-like chime echoed again.

[Hear this, all humans! Blaccky is not God’s apostle! The monster that has come to D-City is not God’s apostle!]

BOOOOOONG!

As soon as the voice finished, the bell resounded, and the infected, whose eyes had been blank and reverent, suddenly lost all traces of faith and gratitude.

The only thing left was fear.

Those who had been made to act more human through the hive mind were now once again mere humans, fleeing like the citizens of other cities toward the shelters.

“Kyaaaah!”

“God! Oh God!”

So, he’s given up on using telekinesis to chase me and instead tries to make my prey flee.

What a fool. Has he never fought a Despair-Class monster before?

Before a Despair-Class monster, humans remain just that — humans, no matter how much they run.

CRASH!

I bulldozed through a building, shattering it like a cookie underfoot.

The sheer shockwave knocked the fleeing humans off their feet.

Following behind them was a storm of blades, slicing through dozens of bodies and painting the white concrete red like strawberry syrup on whipped cream.

Parasite fragments, scattered like sugar crystals.

These are not humans.

There’s no need to hold back any longer.

Thump.

The monster core, which had been held in check, began to pulse violently.

Instinct and reason reached the same conclusion.

Kill every infected in this city.

Now that the infected no longer saw me as God’s apostle, they tasted far better than before.

Not the bland, tasteless emotions of gratitude and worship, but the sweet, succulent fear and terror.

Though the flesh was nothing more than rotting corpse fragments, the monster core trembled with joy as it devoured the concentrated, undiluted fear.

The most powerful output so far — I expanded my space manipulation into a circular formation, condensing the area with crushing pressure.

The ground groaned and trembled, collapsing under the intensified gravity.

Buildings and corpses were crushed, one after another.

Mimicking Starlight’s impressive ability, I rampaged through D-City.

“Aaaaah!”

“Grrghb!”

“Geeeek!”

With this technique, it didn’t matter whether they ran or not.

The infected who barely managed to reach the shelters burst open like contents exploding from a compressed can, while those who couldn’t escape were crushed like salmon roe under a thumb.

Crunch. The once pristine buildings were smeared with blood and dust, crumbling like scattered cookie crumbs.

Even in death, the city that had been so beautiful was now returning to its true form.

[No more mercy! Only divine punishment remains!]

And it wasn’t just the city that was returning to its original state.

Wooooong, wooooong, wooooong. The host’s wavelength pulsed like ripples from a skipping stone thrown across water, spreading outward.

A resonant signal — a specific command sent to the infected.

“Ugh, ugh, uaaaaah...!”

“God, oh God...!”

Before I could kill them, the infected, whose skin had turned a sickly, blotchy hue, collapsed and died, their bodies expelling monsters below Killing-Class.

Existence evolution — the parasites that hatched within the infected’s bodies had now fully transformed into monsters.

Among the monsters were familiar beetle-like creatures, but also others — shrimp-like things with insect wings and round, swollen larvae full of acidic venom.

Seeing them, I could barely suppress my laughter.

So, to be used as insect eggs whenever necessary without having any will of your own is what they call happiness and peace?

D-City was nothing more than a monster’s nest now.

And what I faced were just fragmented monster parts.

In the end, monsters only acted in their own self-interest.

I yanked a steel beam from a shattered building and formed an electromagnetic field, launching the debris as bullets.

Mimicking the powerful use of abilities I had seen earlier, I fired the projectiles, and the insects spewing acid at me evaporated instantly.

In the aftermath, three vertical gashes stretched across several districts as though a massive beast had slashed them open.

“You bastard, CXI!”

During the brief time the insects had bought him, the host managed to catch up to me and unleashed his telekinesis.

In response, my fox tail swayed, and I ramped up my telekinetic output.

Now that I had devoured a significant number of infected, my power output was back to being equal to his.

Escaping his telekinesis, I sank into the shadows and slipped away.

“St-Stop!”

BOOM! BOOOOM!

The ground behind me warped as he tried to chase me down, but his reaction was too slow.

Is he still just a parasite after all?

Even if he could increase his power output, it seemed he couldn’t improve his technique.

Compared to Starlight, his abilities were far too slow.

Easily evading him, I concealed my presence and headed toward another district.

Now, I could feel the infected superhumans dispersing like a fan from around the host, spreading throughout the city.

Since he couldn’t keep up with me, he’d decided to send out multiple superhumans to kill the infected before I could get to them.

It was a rare, not entirely foolish move from someone who had only been making the wrong choices so far.

But it was also akin to eating his own arm.

The infected superhumans who had devoured other infected were, at best, A-Class or B-Class.

Even if the parasites boosted their cores, they wouldn’t be able to deal real damage to me.

Thus, the host’s new strategy was to devour those superhumans and use their cores to enhance the body of the S-Class host.

But once the parasites left their hosts, the infected died.

The more he used this method, the fewer valuable superhumans he had left.

A prime example of a self-defeating tactic.

Up in the air, the host shot himself toward me using a telekinetic catapult, the output vastly increased.

“I will not forgive you... for desecrating this holy land... for slaughtering my followers...!”

His head, half-caved in from the output strain, was rapidly stitched back together by parasites.

Unable to maintain even a semblance of a human form, his entire body writhed and contorted without pause.

Above him, the sky was swarming with beetles and venom sacs clutched in their mandibles, while shrimp-like insects zipped around.

Screams echoed from every direction as people burst open, their bodies used as insect eggs, or burned to death by superhuman abilities.

D-City, which had been a paradise for the dead just moments ago, had now shed its facade and revealed its rotten, festering core.

“You vile spawn of Satan!”

The grotesque creature shouted, parasites dribbling from his lips.

KRAKOOOM!

I easily dodged the telekinetic blast and sank into the ground again, disappearing.

Above ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the ground where I had submerged, a torrent of acidic venom rained down as round, swollen venom sacs dropped and burst like bombs.

The host clearly hadn’t expected me to run again — his frustration manifested in a violent telekinetic pulse that shook the surrounding air.

“Don’t run! Fight me!”

Does he not get it? Even after sending parasites to capture me, he still doesn’t understand?

I am Blaccky, the monster that runs.

This is my favorite game of tag — a game with the infected as playthings.

The monster core throbbed with exhilaration.