The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 325: Parasites

Chapter 325: Parasites

By the time they arrived, there were already a few minibuses from the Association at the scene. The General Staff members, who were sent to the site as the first responders. Because Damien’s team had originally been heading in a different direction, it took them a bit longer to arrive...

Not much longer, though. The first responders might have had a shorter distance to travel, but they had to gather and board the minibuses first. Thus, they hadn’t really gotten a chance to do much yet. The Espers had rushed to the front lines, but the defense lines hadn’t been set up yet. The civilians had yet to be evacuated. The ambulances had already started picking up the first injured, but there was no field hospital set up yet...

In other words, it was a complete mess.

Branwick was a quiet, residential district in the north-west part of the Capital. It was filled with rows of houses, in which primarily upper-middle-class families lived. Aside from the private residences, there were some shops and small businesses...

As well as a school. Which was probably the most crowded place around at this time of the day.

And just so it happened that the dungeon break happened just two blocks away...

Truly, it was the worst place possible.

Damien quickly exchanged a few words with the Association’s officer leading the operation, before turning to his team.

"Allen, Grant, and Ross, you’re coming with me to the front lines. The rest report to the evacuation team to assist with the evacuation efforts!" he commanded. Then, without any further explanations, he rushed forward, heading straight in the direction the leading officer pointed out.

Not that there was anything else to explain. Even the leading officer didn’t have any information yet. Since the dungeon was unknown, and they had just arrived, they still didn’t know the monsters’ rank or their abilities... Which is one of the reasons why he only took the most competent members to the front lines.

The other reason was, of course, the importance of the evacuation. Even if he had brought his whole team to the front lines, there was no guarantee that no monster would pass them by. Not to mention, it’s already been at least half an hour since the dungeon break, so the monsters had spread around... Focusing all the attention on the site of the Gate was pointless. The priority was to rescue the civilians...

As for the rest, they would seal the area, and clear it with the help of the Guilds in the following days. If the dungeon was a low-ranking one, then everything would go smoothly, and if not... Then that was even more of a reason to evacuate the civilians as soon as possible. Aside from the school, there were still people spread around in their houses. Some might be sick, elderly, or incapacitated, and might require additional assistance even if they were further away from the Gate...

They rushed through the empty streets. Those who could escape on their own had already done so, leaving the place oddly desolate. It was kind of creepy how quiet it was. There was no noise, not even from the monsters...

Lane glanced around, and once he was sure that neither Hallie nor Arlo were paying attention to him, he activated his Mana Scan... And he immediately froze.

He noticed something in the houses around them. As well as not far ahead. There were people there...

Humans, but at the same time, not.

It seemed that at least some of the monsters they had to deal with this time were the parasitic type. They invaded humans, turning them into their hosts...

Now that was a tricky situation. The humans they had invaded were clearly just normal humans. Civilians. But, when they noticed the four Espers approaching, they tried to attack them...

"Everyone, dodge!" Damien yelled, avoiding a woman that tried to pounce at him. She moved fast, way faster than a civilian should, but she still couldn’t compare with an S-ranker. No matter how she tried to attack Damien, Damien could still dodge...

But that was only a temporary solution. He could avoid her, yes, but then what? She was affected by an unknown parasitic monster. It was unclear when, or if, she would grow tired...

The others, including Lane, had the same problem. Although they could defend themselves against the attackers, they were at the standstill... They were civil servants, after all, they couldn’t hurt the civilians!

Well... Damien, Hallie, and Arlo couldn’t. They all became the members of the Association by choice, and took their duties seriously.

But Lane was different. He wasn’t cut out to be a civil servant, and had already taken human lives in the past. So, after dodging a few attacks, he ran out of patience, and delivered a solid blow to the man attacking him, hitting him straight in the head...

The man staggered back. There was a hole blown out on the side of his head, blood and blood matter flowing out generously...

"Lane!" Damien screamed, wanting to reproach his boyfriend...

But a moment later, he paused.

Because the man charged at Lane again. He had clearly suffered heavy injuries, and should have died on the spot, but somehow, he was still moving. Actually, he became even faster and stronger than before...

"Just attack them!" Lane said, slashing the man’s head off. "They’re already dead anyway!"

Damien and the rest still hesitated. They might have seen what had just happened, but... Were all those people truly dead? Perhaps, if the parasite were to be removed, they could still be saved...

Seeing their hesitation, Lane couldn’t help but click his tongue. "If we don’t fight them off, there will be more casualties!"That was finally enough to convince them.

"Fight them off," Damien commanded, although unwillingly. "Try to capture them alive whenever you can..."

However, even he knew that it was an impossible request. The people affected by the parasite could move even with a hole in their heads... How could they possibly capture them, when they still had unaffected civilians to defend?