We ran. There was a suspicion that Tokunosuke had been parasitized by the Worm, but we didn't have time to worry about that now. The eggs shouldn't hatch until five hours after infection. First, we had to escape to a safe place.
We sprinted through the forest at full speed. Thanks to the guidance of the Nen birds, there were no enemies in our path. However, the sense of being pursued from behind never vanished. On the contrary, that presence grew stronger with every moment.
The first thing I felt was a gaze. It was a gaze like a parched, starving beast locking onto its target. It struck from behind, looming over us. I felt the gaze as if it were peering over my shoulder, close enough for skin to touch skin.
In reality, there was distance between us. Despite the enemy being far away, I was assaulted by the hallucination that it was right beside me. Was this one of the enemy's abilities? My body reacted with fear, urging me to turn around and check. Even though I knew it was a bad move, I couldn't suppress the anxiety of whether it was safe to keep running while looking only forward.
The diversion by the Nen birds had no effect on the pursuer. It was coming for us with single-minded focus. Finally, it closed the distance until its footsteps were audible.
Those footsteps were as quiet as dry leaves scattering in the wind. Yet, that slight sound was definitely getting closer. The abnormally silent presence and the gaze with its hallucinatory effects distorted my sense of distance. Was the opponent really a giant insect monster? Doubts welled up, but I was not permitted to verify them with my eyes.
Fog began to rise around us. The forest path, already dark with poor visibility, was being closed off by the mist. This was not a naturally occurring phenomenon. It was likely a poison gas attack, and the amount was extraordinary. A dense fog spread until I couldn't even see the squad members running next to me.
"Shikijin: Wind!"
A gust of wind whipped up, blowing the poisonous fog away. Tokunosuke had manipulated the Nen birds, gathering the flapping of their wings to create the wind.
"Shikijin: Flower!"
The Nen birds took flight toward the rear one after another. Immediately after, an explosion of sound and intense light erupted from behind. This was a technique using the Nen birds as flashbangs. With the attack power of the Nen birds, no matter how many gathered, they couldn't damage the Worm, but this technique could serve as a blinder.
However, the stall attempt failed. The enemy continued its pursuit, maintaining its silence as if nothing had happened. It was catching up, applying pressure slowly but surely. I thought Nen users could outrun it if they sprinted at full speed?
It was too different from the information we had been given beforehand. At first, I suspected the human side had deceived me to entrap me, but seeing the panic of the squad members, it seemed this situation was unexpected for them as well. Given that Tokunosuke was the first to take damage, this could simply be said to be the result of misjudging the enemy's combat power.
The data they obtained in actual combat had been insufficient. The Worm we were encountering now was in a different class. It was undoubtedly a Worm, but its specs were clearly different. Perhaps the Worm the survey team thought was an adult was actually an individual still in the process of growth.
The most troublesome parasitic ability had also been strengthened. Infection now occurred just by looking at it through a video feed. Night vision was useless. There might be conditions for the infection to take hold, but we had no leeway to verify them here and now. Whether through a camera or otherwise, we had to assume that "if you see it, you get infected."
However, if it was Quinn, she could deal with it even if infected. She just had to remove her eyeballs within five hours. Lost eyes could be regenerated through physical repair using aura. I had explained this ability to the survey team as "Mad Doll," so there was no problem using it.
That was what I initially thought, but the circumstances had changed. Quinn would likely get away with that, but what about the main body? The main body shared the visual information Quinn saw. I couldn't say for sure that the influence of the infection wouldn't extend to the main body.
This was a concern I had considered before, but since there was information that "infection does not occur if replaced by an image once," I hadn't viewed it as a deep problem. Now, even that prerequisite had collapsed. In a situation where I didn't know what or how much to believe, I couldn't be optimistic.
Still, there was a way to break through. If I hit it with "Cyst Shot," I could defeat the enemy. The enemy was a caterpillar; it wasn't covered in crustacean armor. Because of its massive body, the target was large. Even without looking, if I scattered bullets to the rear, they should hit.
However, there was one problem with that too. Since I hadn't revealed this ability to the survey team, using it poorly would invite distrust. My goal was not only to survive this place but to escape the Dark Continent beyond it. I couldn't easily reveal my hand.
The particular problem was that the opponent was a creature that used poison. Based on my combat experience so far, there was a high possibility it had resistance to poison. Even if my poison didn't kill it completely, the aggravation of the infection by the Almeiza Machine was unavoidable, but if the squad members saw that spectacle, my danger level would increasingly be suspected.
But this was no longer a situation where I could hesitate. It was only a matter of time before the enemy caught up. If it were just me surviving, there were ways, but to let the survey team escape, I had to stop it here.
I slowed my running speed slightly and moved to the very rear of the squad. Since everyone was facing forward, the moment of firing wouldn't be seen. However, the sound of firing couldn't be hidden. In this battlefield that had fallen abnormally silent, a gunshot would echo well. There was no guarantee I could hit it in one shot. It was unclear if the enemy was even in my range. If I fired several times, they would suspect I was doing something.
Still, I had no choice but to do it.
"Quinn! Dodge!"
Katroi shouted. He was the man who could notice the enemy's malice faster than anyone else. I reflexively dodged from that spot.
A white mass passed through the space where I had been a split second before. It was thread. The Worm used thread for attacks. This was information I had been told in advance, but if Katroi hadn't warned me, it would have been a direct hit. If I were caught, escape would have been out of the question. A chill ran down my spine.
I couldn't perform a stunt like dodging all the thread attacks fired at high speed from behind without looking. The dodge just now was practically a fluke. I used "Kyo" to prepare for the next attack. Continuously activating "Kyo" while sprinting at full speed was harsh, but I didn't have time to whine.
And so, I sensed the enemy's existence. Its massive body floated up as if burned into the back of my eyes. I definitely didn't see it. Nevertheless, it entered into Quinn.
A sense of incongruity invaded my eyes, as if protruding from my brain. There was no pain, and that slight abnormality subsided immediately. If I hadn't known, I might not have paid it any mind. However, I knew that this was the settlement of that abominable pest.
Just by sensing it through "Kyo," both eyes were parasitized.
"Kyo" was a technique that expanded and superimposed the territories responsible for each sensory organ by strengthening the five senses to the maximum. It forcibly created synesthesia, allowing one to recognize information that shouldn't normally be perceivable. Through this, it became possible to detect the position and attacks of enemies in unseen locations.
It could perform precise searching over a wide area like "En," but the major difference was sustainability. Since "Kyo" placed a considerable load on the brain during use, it could only be activated momentarily. For the same reason, it couldn't be spammed. In exchange, there was no worry of the enemy side reverse-detecting the search like with En. Also, regarding instantaneous search precision, it surpassed En.
However, while it had some superior aspects, "Kyo" was basically a degraded version of "En." If I had the talent to create a wide-range En, I wouldn't have needed to develop such a desperate pseudo-application technique. Battle situations changed constantly, and sustainability was often more required than momentary accuracy.
Ability users like Chel and Katroi who could deploy wide-range En were reliable allies just for that. Chel's En, in particular, boasted a range of a radius of 100 meters, far removed from an ordinary person. The fact that she could act without visually confirming the Worm, given its characteristic of "infecting upon sight," was likely one of the reasons she was chosen as the carrier for the Return.
The effective range of my En was five meters at best. That was why I left the searching to Chel and the others. And in fact, they were sensing the enemy through "En." As a result, there were no reports of parasitic phenomena occurring. Therefore, I judged that it would probably be fine to use "Kyo."
"En" possessed a sensing ability dependent on the sense of touch. One could perceive objects within the range as if touching them. In contrast, "Kyo" was a technique that mixed all five senses to create a super-sense. It was a contradictory expression, but it was close to a sensation of intentionally inducing intuition or a hunch.
In other words, "En" searched for the enemy purely by feel without looking at the opponent, but "Kyo" had "vision" mixed into its recognition. Although visual recognition was certainly largely lacking for unseen targets, because a domain overlapping with other senses was created, one ended up "seeing." Touch and vision, smell and vision... the phenomenon where different senses linked up was synesthesia. It was a super-sense born precisely from that, but this time, that characteristic backfired.
I reasoned it out within myself like that, but I couldn't accept it at all. Even though I didn't look with my naked eyes, even though I didn't view it as a clear image, just the vague outline of the enemy floating up in a momentary intuition like a phantom. Are you saying that just sensing that presence is unforgivable?
What absurdity. But it didn't end there. The Calamity allowed for no leniency whatsoever.
Despite not using "Thought Calculation," I slowly became aware of the enemy's invasion. It passed through Quinn's eyes and entered into the main body.
The threat called the Worm was implanted into my main body, which shared vision with Quinn. The experience of having the eggs of an unknown monster laid within me, helplessly, was stretched out within a concentrated subjective time. The sensation of being made one with a different existence, squelching deep inside, caused an itch painful enough to drive me mad.
The primal fear I had locked away in the deepest part of my heart was revived.
"——!"
Someone screamed. When I barely managed to hear that voice, I had already received the attack. A mass of thread was wrapped around my left leg.
Quinn's body stopped. The momentum of moving forward until then was rapidly killed, and I nearly pitched forward.
I reached out instantly. However, that hand grasped nothing. I stared only at the backs of those running ahead.
"Everyone, run without looking baaaaaaaack!!"