Chapter 297: Larvae

It was a faint movement but it prompted me to activate my thermal vision skill.

A disturbing sight unfolded before my sight. Writhing beneath the soldier’s skins were the heat signatures of what looked like worms.

For a brief moment, I contemplated what to do. I wasn’t one to play the hero, and for a brief moment, I contemplated letting this all spread, letting the people here die in the process. But, in the long run, these people were on my side.

The more of us were killed, the closer the demons got to conquering us. I had been toying with an idea that could advance us forward against the demon race, but the idea itself was inhumane and was far worse than what I did at Purgatory.

But whenever I thought of Isabella and Sylvie, it gave me the courage to go through with it. No, for my future children and the future of my pack and this world, I had to go through with it.

Sighing to myself, I pushed through the crowd and went towards one of the soldiers. Ava and the others called out to me as I left, but I ignored them and continued forward. I counted 25 heartbeats in total that I needed to get rid of.

Smiling as I approached, I extended my hand to greet the soldier standing at the front. The soldier thought nothing of it, just a fellow soldier coming up to greet me.

He took my hand with a smile, and the moment he did, I tightened my grip and began pouring my mana into him.

Immediately, his face changed. His expression turned stiff, and soon, the veins in his hand began to pulse orange as if lava was running through them. His skin also turned orange as steam poured out of him, and large bumps began to form on his hands and face, making him look almost like a frog.

I knew the feeling of what he was experiencing. It was a terrible feeling. The one I had when the supernova occurred. But the human body wasn’t built to handle a fraction of it, hence…

SPLAT!

His entire body exploded at once, and immediately, everyone’s face twisted in horror as blood and pieces of flesh were sent flying. The crowd erupted into panic.

The soldiers beside him reacted instantly, and at this time, you could see the worms turn to panic as they were now bulging from the soldiers’ skin.

The whites of their eyes turned black, and their irises shrunk to the size of a needle as they lounged at me.

Just then, a ball of heat energy surrounded us. It was a sphere just wide enough to contain me and the soldiers. Without wasting a moment, I released my heat energy, remembering the sensation of the supernova.

Immediately, as I did, the heat inside the sphere, rose to a temperature that incinerated everyone inside.

When the sphere of heat energy around me finally faded, I was surrounded by soldiers pointing their guns at me.

Ava, Liz, and Rizor were also on the ready to attack.

Seeing them surrounding me, I slowly raised both hands into the air. At the same time, I saw Ethan pushing through the retreating crowd until he arrived in front of me.

He looked around at the soldiers’ corpses burnt to a crisp on the ground, his expression one of utter shock, until his gaze narrowed at me. Then suddenly, spiritual energy began shrouding his entire body as he took a fighting stance.

“Private Liam, explain yourself.” This was the first time I’d seen his expression this cold.

“These soldiers were infected, Lieutenant, so I took the necessary action to dispose of them,” I explained.

For a moment, nothing but silence ensued until Rizor’s cold, maniacal laughter cut through the chaos.

“You crazy bastard! You must be a demon!”

The moment Rizor introduced that idea, I could see the soldiers’ grips tighten on the triggers of their weapons. They were a twitch away from firing at me.

Seeing that, I then kicked over one of the corpses laying in front of me. What they saw when they finally looked down were small worm-like creatures writhing on the ground after being burnt to charcoal.

Ethan and the other soldiers visibly recoiled when they saw it.

[You have killed a Demogorgon larva]

Seeing the notification in front of me, I wasn’t surprised. Demogorgons fertilized their eggs inside other creatures, using them as hosts. At some point, these embryos had to develop into larvae.

Eventually the human body they are inside of will change to look like a demogorgon.

“These larvae could’ve infected you as well, turning you into creatures know as demogorgons,” I explained. “There was no choice but to kill the soldiers.”

The soldiers’ expressions changed to one of horror. From the look on their faces, I could tell they knew what a Demogorgon was and the threat these creatures posed. They saw the larvae with their own eyes, so they couldn’t deny my claim.

“Still, for something like this, we need to speak with the captain,” Ethan said, getting ready to usher me off.

“No, I want to speak with the sergeant in charge of this base instead.”

Ethan looked at me in disbelief.

“The sergeant ? You can’t; only the captain is allowed to meet with the sergeant. Things have changed. A lot has changed in the military’s rule since the beginning of the apocalypse.”

“Then tell him I have a message from General Elias Thorne,” I said.

Ethan’s mouth slightly opened.

General Elias Thorne was the name of the general who came to Ryomen and spoke to Eira while I was away. This happened about the same time when I was fighting Khalissi for the first time. When I came back, Eira told me the general came.

I thought it would be important, so I made it a point to remember the general’s name since I thought it might be important in the future.

…

Out of the prying eyes of soldiers and people watching, Ethan led me to a holding area, which was guarded by a few guards. I patiently waited for around an hour until Ethan returned, looking quite exhausted.

“The sergeant has agreed to meet with you,” he said as he fiddled with the key to the holding cell.

After attaching the cuffs onto my wrist, he then led me to what looked like an old high school that used to be in the town. I figured this must’ve been their base. Looking at the building, I couldn’t help but reminisce about the past.

“This all started at a high school.”

We continued through the building until we arrived at a door that strangely looked like the entrance of the principal’s office. After knocking, we were told we could enter.

Entering the room, the first person I noticed was the captain. He was standing off to the side, while another well-decorated soldier that I presumed to be the sergeant sat behind a desk. It was a well-built man, though he wasn’t as muscular as the captain.

If I had to guess, I’d say he was in his early 60s. The sergeant didn’t waste a second and immediately got to the point.

“I received a report of what happened this evening. It says that you killed 25 returning officers, claiming that they were infected by some demon. Upon being captured, you also claimed that you received a message from General Elias Thorne. Is this report true?”

He asked in an intimidating tone.

I exhaled before answering.

“Yes, well, partially.”

His face tightened into a frown as he let out a deep sigh.

“If your only intention here is to waste my time, then bear in mind that there will be consequences for both you and your commanding officers.”

The captain or Ethan didn’t react, but I could hear their heartbeats spike at that moment.

“Don’t worry; I’m not here to waste your time. I have a proposition for you.”

The captain leaned back in his chair.

“A proposition?”

“Yes, you see, I’m privy to some information. I can tell you that the demons you are currently fighting is just the first wave, meant to weaken us. The second wave has yet to come, and with it, a powerful being is coming…”

“Conquest.”

The sergeant cut me off before I could finish. Both of us were speechless.

How did he know?

“How do you know of Conquest? That is classified military information,” the sergeant’s voice grew even louder, almost threatening.

“I received the information from a demon I defeated.”

At this point, a few veins began to form on his head. For him, things were making less and less sense.

“From our experience, only Greater Fiend demons are able to converse with us. For you to be able to defeat one by yourself, your rank must be as high as a general; there is just no way.”

“It’s the truth; I was the one that defeated the Greater Fiend demon that occupied Starlit City.”

The sergeant took another breath, trying to process the information I gave him. Seeing this, I walked towards him, which caused the captain and Ethan to react instantly, but they were too slow.

I appeared at the chair in front of the sergeant’s desk and took a seat in front of him like an equal. He immediately reached for his gun, but I didn’t react and spoke to him casually.

“As I said before, I have a proposal that will benefit both of us. But first, I need you to tell me more about the elf named Therissa.”

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