Above The Sky
Chapter 235 - 235 223 River of Parasites 43

235: Chapter 223: River of Parasites (4/3) 235: Chapter 223: River of Parasites (4/3) “This form.”

Ian slightly furrowed his brow.

He couldn’t help but think of a type of parasite called the ‘Colorful Leech.’

It was a parasite that infested snails, causing their eyestalks to swell and protrude, constantly wriggling to attract birds to consume the snails…

It could control the snail’s actions, making them defy their nocturnal nature and move to high leaves during the day, becoming easy prey for other creatures.

Although Ian didn’t know what exactly the parasite inside the giant lizard was, this abnormal behavior certainly didn’t match the Cyan Armored Lizard’s usual patterns.

This vile parasite, it seemed, could influence the brain of an organism.

“How many minutes has it been?

It has already eroded to this extent.

Although Cyan Armored Lizards aren’t Magical Beasts and lack an internal Origin Essence Cycle, making them susceptible to parasitism, the speed is indeed too excessive.”

Drawing the Heavy Abyss Iron Sword from his waist, Ian slowly advanced forward.

The lead lizard of the group let out a wild roar.

This behemoth, over three meters in length and weighing more than half a ton, lowered its head and aimed its protruding horn at the enemy before it.

Then it charged fiercely.

Boom boom boom, the ground trembled.

Even though it wasn’t a Magical Beast, the Cyan Armored Lizard’s charge was like a wild oxen’s ram, the transmission of power from its rigid Armor Clothing was such that even the Sharp Claw Tiger, an overlord of the jungle, would temporarily evade.

But with the resonant clang of the vibrating longsword, Ian had already lifted his sword and struck out.

Before the sword even reached, a mass of Water Element Origin Substance visible to the naked eye had already condensed at the blade, then transformed into a tangible water blade that shot through the air towards the head of the Cyan Armored Lizard with enough force to shatter solid rock.

The water blade was not sharp, for it lacked a specialized focusing structure, but its force was immensely solid, resembling an invisible battering ram.

When it struck the Cyan Armored Lizard’s skull, which was sturdy enough to break through rock, the bone and the horn crumbled to pieces like brittle cookies; even the spine was structurally deformed by the blast, bones shattering inch by inch.

With just this one strike, Ian even without employing the true Earth Essence that paired with his Heavy Abyss Iron Sword, had slain the leader of the Cyan Armored Lizards.

—Who says a water blade without an edge can’t kill?

Feeling that this water blade hammer also had some developmental potential…

at least it was so for heavily armored enemies.

With that thought, Ian once again turned towards the rest of the lizards.

Theoretically, after the patriarch of the lizards had been killed, its mate and offspring should scatter and flee…

Facing an enemy they could not defeat even with their leader, they would not sacrifice their lives here, as the instinct within their Bloodline Inheritance would not allow them to waste their lives thus.

But, the other five lizards of varying sizes, upon witnessing the death of the larger lizard, showed no sign of retreat.

Or rather, they did not seem to have noticed the previous battle at all—because their physical conditioning was not as good as the larger lizard’s, they only now began to howl, then locked their gaze on Ian.

Subsequently, just like the previous larger lizard had done, one after another, without any coordination, they charged in succession!

In an instant, the roars of the charging lizards echoed through the spacious cavern.

One after another, the behemoths trampled through their patriarch’s blood, their steps against the enemy shaking the ground, adding a tragic grandeur to the scene.

And Ian simply swung his sword, swung his sword.

That was all it took to smash all their skulls, their headless bodies collapsing to the ground, twitching from time to time.

The Sublimator’s advantage over Ordinary creatures was comprehensive and overwhelming—Ian’s sword strike might be heavier than the entire weight of a Cyan Armored Lizard, making this fight utterly without suspense.

But he did not let his guard down.

Instead, he immediately went to the side of the lizard corpses and bent down to observe the wriggling blue-black worms in their fractured skulls.

These were tiny worms hardly visible to the naked eye.

It was only because they were so numerous, clustered together, that they formed writhing blue-black spots—these worms were actually constantly dying and being replaced by new generations; the blue ones were alive, while the black ones were dead bodies.

Originally, the eyes of the Cyan Armored Lizards were nearly overtaken by these blue parasites.

They even began to emit a faint bioluminescence, but as their hosts died, the parasites started to lose their vitality, turning the lizards’ pupils and skin a blue-black color.

The silver luminescence swept over these tiny worms.

[Malicious Parasite·Unnamed (South Sea Relic Cluster species)]

[First Energy Level·Excellent]

[A maleficent parasite that dwells in the ecological circle of the subterranean Southern Sea Ruins, needing to live in suitable flowing water and within living bodies, mainly attacking the cerebellum, frontal and temporal lobes of creatures, replacing their functions after consumption.

If the host dies or leaves a suitable environment, they will quickly perish]

[Infection occurs through contact with wounds; the larva cannot breach mucous membranes, so ingestion is safe unless there are wounds in the oral or stomach area, which would not be considered a terminal host]

[…]

This time, the data from the Silver Chip was not very extensive.

Although it included the specific size of the parasites, their power level, and a microscopic model, Ian found very little of the information he needed.

“Unnamed?

It seems I am the first to discover it.”

Standing up, Ian mused, “The lizard herd was infected because they must have had wounds in their mouths and stomachs—like most wild creatures do—and after drinking large quantities of water, they were invaded by parasites in the water.”

“This is a First Energy Level parasite, in other words, a Sublimator species.

Dealing with Incapable Level ordinary behemoths truly is effortless…

If it were a Sublimator, even the spontaneous flow of Origin Quality within the body could stem the tendency to be parasitized.”

The Origin Quality that flows within Sublimators is a micro-scale pure energy structure that can couple and fit within organelles, allowing the body to ‘sublimate’—not even nanorobots could be smaller, and dealing with a parasite is indeed a piece of cake.

Ian waited patiently for another ten minutes, then used his sword to cut open the behemoth’s body, confirming that most of the parasites deep within the flesh and blood were dead before he nodded slightly, “Their vitality isn’t very strong.

The main parasitic part is the brain, but there is also a trend of spreading throughout the body… That was rather reckless of me; I should have waited longer to see what these parasites looked like when mature.”

The young man’s expression was indifferent at this moment.

He did not feel discomfort from the horror and disgust of these parasites, but rather a deep curiosity.

Ian looked up at the blue river.

Upon closer inspection, he found that as he had suspected—the blue hue of the river contained the tiny components of eggs and dead bodies of the worms…

Although there were some mineral components, it was clear that they were not the main factor!

This entire river was a River of Parasites!

“Upstream should be the nest of these critters, right?”

Looking up at the source of the small river, Ian fell into thought: “It seems that the Southern Sea subterranean relic cluster has not only an ecology but also a very dangerous one at that.”

If it were merely dangerous, that in itself would not stop Ian’s progress.

No matter how terrifying the parasites seemed, in reality, they would not affect him, not even if he bathed in the river.

With the Ancient Dragon Heart Core and Silver Chip, even if he drank water filled with parasitic eggs like the lizards, he wouldn’t become infected; instead, he could convert them into high-quality protein.

But to be fair, there was no need to subject himself to such torment—Curiosity is a wonderful thing, but one needn’t necessarily indulge it in this manner.

What truly made Ian fall into deep thought was actually the ‘parasites’ that were lingering in the lizards’ eyes and flickering.

This reminded him of an epidemic that occurred six years ago in the South Ridge back colony.

“Flash Mosquito Disease?”

The young man murmured softly, his tone wary, “The Flash Mosquito Disease that the Natives spread back then, could it be related to these parasites?”