Transmigrated As The Final Villain of a Death Game

Chapter 324: Parasite [ 3 ]

Jenna stared back at me for a few moments, then leaned in slightly. Her eyes changed color, and instead of the usual white, they were now pitch black and devoid of all life.

"You’ve heard of me?"

Ah.

So it really was the Hive Mind. But what could it be doing tied down to Jenna, of all people? Shouldn’t it be a being that existed in millions of places at once? Why wouldn’t it have freed itself after all of this time?

Did it actually have some kind of attachment to Jenna? No way, right? That wouldn’t make any sense, especially since this kind of being had no reason to be attached to anyone... So why...?

"Why are you with her?" I asked straight up, then leaned back, feeling a little uncomfortable with it so close to me. "Shouldn’t you be busy trying to restore your body and take more influence?"

Jenna shrugged. "Not necessarily. My current goal is to live, find the portal, and go back home. The land where all the Gods and Divine Beasts originate is the most fertile land for a being like me."

I rolled my eyes. "Don’t dodge my question. Why are you with her?"

"We’re no longer playing truth or dare?" Jenna mused, then chuckled. "Well, it’s fine, I suppose. It was silly to begin with. Why am I with her, you ask? Well, why not? She’s the perfect vessel, since her puny brain lacks enough intellect to truly resist me."

She kicked her feet up on the table.

"A distraught past, a father who has been brutally killed by her enemy, and more importantly, the potential to reach unimaginable heights if cultivated correctly. How am I not supposed to be excited when a subject such as this rolls up on my doorstep? I bound myself to her, and now I have a way back home, due to your existence."

With that, she fell silent for a moment, as if letting me take in everything she had just told me. In reality, I didn’t really care much about this being, since while it was dangerous, and it was really, really old, Clementine could kill it with the snap of a finger.

After all, the Hive Mind, unlike what existed in other games, where the souls would be split or whatever... here, the Hive Mind’s soul existed in all beings at once. That meant so long as someone could attack the soul, the Hive Mind would suffer, and it would be easily killed.

I couldn’t do it myself, but that’s where Clementine came in. But then came the other issue. If we killed the Hive Mind now, we’d be losing out on a lot of strength. Strength we really desperately needed.

So despite my best wishes and common sense, there was something I really needed to know.

"How about this? If you help me with the Demons, I promise I will send you to the realm you want to go to," I offered.

A look of disbelief appeared on her face. "You assume that’d be enough to tempt me? If you want to even start your negotiations, you must begin them by swearing an oath. Swear an oath that you’ll do whatever it takes to fulfill your end of the deal."

I let out a sigh. "I can’t do that. You’ll just have to take my word for it."

She tilted her head. "Why not? It’s not like you’re planning to go back on your word, are you?"

There was one more very interesting characteristic that this being had, and it was one of the main reasons why getting into oaths and all sorts of other contracts with the Hive Mind was a terrible idea.

And that was simply because it had something to do with its inherent trait, and the main reason why it couldn’t split its soul like many of the other Hive Minds in other games.

That was simply because at any given moment, the Hive Mind could change the shape of its soul and essentially remake it from scratch. Since oaths and contracts tied down someone’s soul, that meant the Hive Mind could escape these chains pretty much effortlessly.

As for me? If I swear to do something, I’ll just be getting a stick up my ass since I won’t be able to go back on my word, and the Hive Mind would just keep doing whatever it wanted. It was stupid, but it was also wise for it to try that against me.

To be honest, had I been more idealistic and stupid, I would’ve probably gone along. But sadly for the Hive Mind, I wasn’t an idiot.

"Either take my word for it, or I’ll just have to kill you here. You don’t have many options, and despite you believing you’re powerful, I am a Divine Beast myself. If I so much as I wanted to, you would’ve been dead already."

With that, I stood up, seemingly not interested in talking to the Hive Mind anymore. And in the brief moment that I turned my head away, Jenna’s actual presence returned as she suddenly bonked her head on the table. It was a complete accident, but that had woken her up completely as she glanced around, confused.

"Did I pass out...?"

"..."

"Yep," I assured her. "You can go to sleep again if you want. You must’ve been really tired."

"Mm... Maybe. Yeah, I think I’ll take a nap. Can I use that couch over there?" She pointed at the couch in the corner, and I nodded at her, giving her the go-ahead.

She rose from her seat, and while slightly clutching her forehead, she made her way over to the couch and then lay on it. It was obvious that during the time that the Hive Mind had been in her place, she had suffered some form of fatigue.

I felt bad for her, and I was now more determined than ever to actually cultivate her into someone who could take care of herself.

Though in the meantime, I decided to focus on the Titan’s heart vials, and especially... Clementine’s current condition.