Chapter 282: The Hive Mind Strike Back

Or rather, something that looked exactly like one, except its entire body was covered in pale white scales that blended almost seamlessly with the Hive Mind beneath it.

Gideon let out a humorless laugh as he studied the enormous serpent. The shape was unmistakable. He remembered the original Verdant Devourer all too well, especially the absurd durability of its scales and the amount of effort it had taken to bring the monster down.

“Ah, so it can access my memories. Or maybe someone else’s?”

The creature lunged before he could consider the possibility any further.

Gideon drew his Unbreakable Sword and stepped forward to meet its charge. His movements were far more confident and lighter than they had been during his fight with the Verdant Devourer.

Back then, he had needed every advantage he could get just to survive. Now, at Level 41, he had little reason to fear a creature that merely resembled an opponent he had already defeated.

Before he could swing, Kilian’s warning rang out from above.

“Don’t use fire! It can release spores!”

Gideon’s expression brightened with relief.

‘Ah, of course my instincts were right. It’s always right!’

He redirected his energy into the sword itself and swung.

The blade flashed through the air, slicing cleanly through the aberrant’s neck. Its head tumbled into the white mass below, and its enormous body collapsed before it could release anything.

Gideon barely spared the corpse a glance. Compared with the original, this thing was almost disappointingly easy to cut apart.

Unfortunately, another one emerged almost immediately.

Then another.

Gideon clicked his tongue and moved to intercept them. He cut down the second with a quick diagonal slash, pivoted to avoid the third, and drove his sword through its chest.

The creatures were not particularly strong, and their attacks were predictable enough that he could dispatch them without much difficulty.

But then one of the serpents opened its mouth.

A cloud of pale particles burst from between its fangs.

Gideon immediately twisted away, retreating several steps as the cloud drifted across the rooftop. His sword swept through the air, stirring the particles away from his face, but he was careful not to let them touch his skin.

His brows drew together.

“Wait a damn minute. Those things are poisonous too?”

He remembered fighting dangerous aberrants alongside Elaine, including a particularly troublesome wolf whose toxicity had made it a threat even beyond its physical attacks.

He had learned the hard way that some aberrants did not need to overpower their opponents to kill them.

But seeing the Hive Mind reproduce that kind of threat was another matter entirely.

It wasn’t simply copying a monster’s appearance. It could seemingly recreate the dangerous properties that made aberrants lethal in the first place.

“That’s just cheating,” Gideon muttered.

The roof shuddered beneath his boots. He glanced toward the distant buildings as another serpent forced its way out of the white mass, its pale scales glistening beneath the dim light.

If the Hive Mind could imitate multiple aberrants and their abilities, the possibilities were deeply unpleasant.

He had no intention of testing how many kinds of poison it could reproduce.

Gideon cut down the approaching serpent before it could release another cloud, then pivoted to avoid a strike from the next one.

His sword flashed again, severing its neck. The head disappeared into the mass, and the body collapsed among the writhing tendrils.

Even so, more kept coming, forcing him to remain on the offensive while the roof trembled beneath his feet.

After cutting down yet another aberrant, Gideon glanced over his shoulder.

“Are you done yet, Jade? How long does this take?”

“Almost!”

“That’s what everyone says before making me do all the work!”

Jade shot him an irritated look, though most of her attention remained fixed on the parasite beneath her glowing hand.

Her jaw was clenched with concentration, and the light radiating from her palm flickered as she continued sensing the energy moving through the enormous mass.

She finally lifted her hand and pointed toward the lower right side of the settlement, near the far end of the building beneath Gideon’s position.

“There!” she shouted. “At the bottom, near your right! That’s where its consciousness is concentrated!”

Gideon followed her pointing finger, his expression turning serious.

“Consciousness? Not the core? So the last Eagle Union member is still alive?”

“It’s not exactly a core! And… I think he’s more trapped than alive. You understand what I mean, right?” Jade replied, her glowing hand still pressed against the parasite. “Just get there and destroy it!”

Gideon looked down at the writhing mass, then back at the remaining serpents gathering around him.

“Fine. But if another one of these things spits poison at me, I’m sending you the bill!”

“You are literally immune to that kind of poison! Yes, Delilah told me! So shut up and start moving!”

Gideon laughed at her irritation but moved toward the spot she had indicated anyway.

Personally, he couldn’t see or sense anything unusual in that direction. No visible core, no obvious source of energy, not even a noticeable change in the parasite’s structure.

Still, something about the Hive Mind’s movements seemed suspicious. The white mass shifted and writhed beneath him, but the tendrils around the area Jade had pointed out reacted differently, twisting away from his path as though protecting something.

Gideon narrowed his eyes.

Well, that was interesting.

He took another step forward, only for a serpent to slide across the rooftop and block his way.

Gideon raised his sword, ready to cut it down, but the creature suddenly stopped. Its pale head tilted toward him, and a familiar voice emerged from its open mouth.

“Gideon.”

He froze for half a second.

“Don’t destroy us.”

The voice came from the serpent’s open mouth, but it wasn’t quite one voice. Beneath the familiar tone, several others overlapped, some whispering, others speaking in low, distorted murmurs. They spoke together, yet their voices occasionally slipped out of sync, as though countless people were struggling to speak through the same mouth.

“We can make you stronger, Gideon. Far stronger than you are now.”

More pale serpents emerged from the white mass, their heads rising in unison.

“We can become one. Your strength, our knowledge, our ability to evolve. Nothing in the Deliric Desert would be able to stand against us. Together, we can rule this land and become its new king.”

The serpent lowered its head, almost like a man extending an invitation.

“Why settle for a single territory when we could have the entire world? We can give you everything you want. Power, resources, an empire that will never fall. All you have to do is stop fighting us.”

Gideon stared at the creature, his expression unreadable.

“Wow. A whole kingdom, huh?” He adjusted his grip on the Unbreakable Sword. “You understand the reason why I’m stuck here instead of building my territory is because of you, right?”

Several voices laughed at once. Some sounded amused. Others produced a low, rasping noise that barely resembled laughter.

“You don’t understand what we’re offering you.”

“Oh, I understand perfectly. You want to crawl inside me and turn me into another one of your puppets.” Gideon tilted his head. “Pass.”

The white mass beneath his feet suddenly convulsed.

“Gideon!” Jade shouted.

Thick tendrils erupted from the rooftop, coiling around his legs. He slashed through them before they could tighten, but more surged from the gaps between the buildings, reaching for his waist and arms.

Across the canyon, the white mass climbed the rock face toward Kilian’s position. A thick tendril shot up over the ledge, forcing Kilian to throw himself aside. He barely avoided being dragged off the edge before another strand lashed toward him.

“Damn it!” Kilian swung at it, but without a proper weapon, his strike did little more than knock it away temporarily.

“Jade, watch out!” Gideon shouted.

A tendril lunged toward her from behind. Jade twisted aside, narrowly avoiding its grasp.

The Hive Mind had stopped pretending to negotiate.

“Join us,” its many voices echoed. “Become part of us. Your resistance is meaningless.”

“I’m starting to prefer the kingdom offer,” Gideon muttered, cutting another tendril apart. “At least that one came with a sales pitch.”

He couldn’t keep fighting indefinitely while Jade remained exposed and Kilian was under attack on the opposite side of the canyon.

Both needed weapons, and neither could afford to wait for him to finish dealing with the serpents.

Gideon turned and pressed forward, swinging his sword at every aberrant the Hive Mind produced.

He leaped onto another fragment of rock left behind by the collapsing canyon. Before he could move again, the white strands wrapped around it began to writhe, reaching for his ankle.

Gideon immediately sprang away, narrowly avoiding their grasp. He had to reach Jade before the Hive Mind overwhelmed her.

She was climbing onto a higher section of the canyon, trying to escape the creatures swarming below.

The Hive Mind had begun producing insect-like aberrants, their enormous wings beating against the air as they pursued her.

“Gideon! Just focus on that consciousness! We’ll be fine!”

Jade shouted, though the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The giant insects’ shrill cries made her skin crawl.

While Kilian was still on top of the canyon that was supposed to be safe, guarding Aaron’s body.

He ducked as an insect aberrant opened its mouth and fired a volley of sharp projectiles at him. One struck the rock beside his head, scattering fragments across his shoulder.

“Come here for a while, Gideon! At least throw us some knives!”

“I’m planning to!” Gideon shouted back, cutting down another serpent that lunged at him. “Just stay alive as long as you can! Damn this Hive Mind!”