Chapter 7: Conspiracies and Such Look Really Troublesome, I Just Want to Chop People Up
This was a silvery-white, unknown egg-like object. It was embedded near the heart of the giant beast, expanding and contracting under the wash of purple blood, emitting a faint fluorescent glow all around.
Joshua grabbed it with one hand and yanked it out abruptly. With a "pop" sound, the silver egg was caught in his palm, pulsating vigorously.
Standing in a pool of blood, the headless corpse of the giant beast before him twitched violently due to the removal of this silvery-white egg. But the warrior turned the egg-like object over and over, examining it several times. Apart from discovering a row of tight suction cups on its back and a tube-like stinger that seemed to be for sucking blood, he found no other obvious features. With his years of experience, he couldn't identify the origin of this thing, nor could he even recall anything similar.
"How strange. I originally thought this mammoth giant beast had the Mad Dragon Virus enter its brain, and a Black Erosion Dragon larva had already gestated inside it, which was why it was so frenzied—charging straight at the city like it was seeking death. But I never expected... what is this thing?"
Squeezing it slightly with some force, Joshua found that although this silver egg looked delicate and fragile, it was actually very tough inside. The force he used just now, though not great, was enough to crush a handful of walnuts with his bare hands—if such things existed in this world—which was far harder than anything that could normally exist inside a living creature: "What creature's egg? A parasitic organism? Growing near the heart with a stinger attached—it can't possibly be a tumor, can it?"
Guessing was useless. After pondering for a while, Joshua finally remembered that he still had the system. So he immediately called upon it and, without a second thought, happily tossed an identification spell at it.
[Item identification in progress... Biological knowledge check successful, Ancient knowledge check failed, Curio knowledge check successful.]
[Identification Report:]
[Abyssal Derivative·Modified — Ancient Curio]
[Biological: In the deep abyssal seas south of the Mycroft Continent, many species that survived from ancient times remain. The colossal Abyssal Abyss Dragon is one of them. Legend says this massive beast, over four hundred meters in length, is not a native species of Mycroft but comes from a water world with no land, only oceans. It feeds on other giant sea kings but, due to its slow movement, often fails to catch prey. To adapt, the Abyssal Abyss Dragon evolved a peculiar hunting method—the Abyssal Derivative.]
[Ancient: The Abyssal Abyss Dragon once had a primitive deep-sea civilization, but due to assimilation by the Astral Dragon clan...]
[Curio: Before entering a living body, the Abyssal Derivative continuously releases a pheromone that attracts most magical beasts and stimulates their appetite. Once inside a body, it parasitizes areas with frequent blood flow, absorbs nutrients, and releases a powerful berserking hormone. Its effect is equivalent to a high-rank berserking potion, capable of destroying the sanity of any creature with mental perception below 30 points, greatly increasing their strength while instilling a desire to challenge the strongest nearby creature.]
[Summary: It has been modified by a higher intelligent lifeform. The aura of the Abyssal Abyss Dragon is already very faint.]
"Abyssal Abyss Dragon... I remember it's a subordinate race of the Five-Colored Dragon. After the Five-Color Dragon God was struck down from the outer world into the material realm by the Metal Dragon God and the God of Justice, and because it helped incite the Mad Dragon Plague, it was completely exterminated by the Metal Dragon clan in alliance with the church forces on the Far Sea Holy Mountain."
Frowning, Joshua found the reason he didn't recognize this thing—the Abyssal Abyss Dragon race, before he had even gone to sea in his previous life, had been wiped out due to the epic storyline of the [Mad Dragon Plague]. He had never killed a single one, so how could he remember such a monster?
But if that was the case, the confusion only grew greater—why would a hunting method of a deep-sea race appear inside a mammoth giant beast in the Northern Black Forest? And it had been modified by a higher lifeform... Wait!
With such a flood of information, a thread suddenly ran through the warrior's mind, connecting many scattered pieces of information.
Black Erosion Dragon, Mad Dragon Virus, Black Tide... Five-Colored Dragon, Abyssal Abyss Dragon, the future Mad Dragon Plague...
Why did the God of Justice intervene to help the Metal Dragon God defeat its archenemy, strike the Five-Color Dragon God down to the mortal world, and join forces with the other six human gods to mercilessly annihilate any race related to it?
Why could the Five-Colored Dragon clan from the Astral Realm drive such a vast number of Primordial Realm Dragons, inciting the Mad Dragon Plague that swept across the entire world?
The insight was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't grasp it. Joshua knew there must be some inexplicable connection, but he couldn't piece it all together. At this moment, he couldn't help but regret not reading more high-quality analytical posts on the forums back then. Otherwise, he wouldn't be in this state—half-understanding, half-bewildered, and anxious.
But this was also normal. Aside from lore enthusiasts, who would bother to think about the ins and outs of an epic quest in a game? Knowing the general plot was enough. In fact, Joshua himself had only decided to play this game because of the 18+ level bloody combat available in the Continent of Strife. And many people just played to enjoy the scenery. Delving into the internal threads of a game's storyline? That was too much to ask of people like them.
"I should change my approach. This world has already changed too much because of my existence. I can't use it as a basis for inference."
If he hadn't transmigrated...
Without the experience of a former legendary warrior, it was unclear whether the original Joshua could have survived the orc battlefield. But if he had lived, he would probably still be fighting for the title of Count with that cheap uncle, Danier. In that case, the Black Forest Fortress, lacking a Gold-rank defender, would surely fall under the attack of the Black Tide and the Gold-rank giant beast. Then tens of thousands of frenzied beasts would pour into the Moldavia Territory, causing heavy casualties, and even the main city might be breached. Other northern territories would likely not escape either.
And the Saint Lawrence Cathedral was the largest church of the God of Might and Justice in the north. Most of the northern populace were its followers. No matter how detached the gods were from worldly affairs, they couldn't remain indifferent to such losses.
After all, besides the north, the empire's southern frontier and central regions had also suffered significant losses due to the berserking Black Tide caused by the Mad Dragon Virus. They had even deployed troops to seal off all passes, clearing out magical beasts district by district.
"If that Chaos Black Erosion Dragon was a biological weapon experiment by the Astral Five-Colored Dragon clan to control the Primordial Realm Dragons, rather than being driven out by the Heavenly Return Dragon..."
That was possible, but the warrior needed more evidence to prove his guess. He figured that if he could just kill that Chaos Black Erosion Dragon, wherever it was hiding, and see if there were similar traces of Abyssal Abyss Dragon modification in its body, he could confirm whether everything matched his speculation.
"Interesting... It seems that the so-called history, from the very first day I arrived in this world, has been completely changed."
Shaking his head, Joshua decided to set this matter aside for now and think it over carefully later. He turned the greatsword in his hand back into a tiny model and inserted it into a groove on his waist. Holding the still-pulsating Abyssal Derivative in his left hand, he grabbed the tusk of the giant beast that had died with its eyes open and dragged the enormous head toward the fortress.
As he walked, his pressure radiated outward, and the surrounding magical beasts instinctively retreated. Many beast leaders, after a low howl, led large groups of their kin scurrying back into the Black Forest. Even the magical beasts still climbing the walls on the other side of the fortress quickly retreated, daring not to advance further.
Just as a fortress without a Gold-rank expert could be easily breached by a Gold-rank giant beast, a beast tide without a Gold-rank magical beast could be easily scattered and repelled by a single Gold-rank expert. The instinct etched into the bones of these monsters told them that now was the time to retreat. Unlike the mammoth giant beast that had been parasitized and deeply infected, these magical beasts, though frenzied, were not yet seeking death.
So, a few minutes later, the originally chaotic battlefield was left with only a field of corpses and ruins. Joshua stood on a slope covered with many frenzied beast bodies. He raised the head of the Gold-rank giant beast and displayed it to the city guards on the fortress wall.
A moment of silence.
Then cheers erupted like a tidal wave.