In the middle of the hall was a tall figure.
It was about three meters tall and just as wide. It was completely red in color and looked like it was covered in flesh. There were many bulbs all over its body.
All over its round body were gaping vaginas and dripping penises.
Nick saw a couple of the penises burrowing into the vaginas and pumping liquid into them.
The next moment, the pumped vagina began to bloat, and just a couple of seconds later, a wet slush of meat dropped out of the vagina.
As the slush of meat hit the ground, black fur poked out, and just a bit later, six rats burst out of the sack of flesh liquid.
The rats immediately ran towards different tunnels.
Naturally, they were on their way to one of the cities.
However, these were not the only rats.
At the top of the big figure was a gaping maw of flesh.
The maw was constantly open, and there were no teeth there.
The fat rats climbed the figure and crawled into the maw.
'So, that's the Parasite,' Nick thought. 'It's about as disgusting as its name.'
Nick was reminded of the times he had talked with the Parasite.
The rats had always seemed so educated and charismatic.
The Parasite's actual body was quite different from how it portrayed himself.
People generally thought rats to be disgusting, but the Parasite's actual body was on a completely different level of disgusting.
Nick looked at the Parasite for a while.
Naturally, he would kill the Parasite.
This Specter had caused immense damage to several cities.
However, it also knew a lot.
Its knowledge was extremely valuable.
Nick wanted to make use of the Parasite's accumulated knowledge.
'Luckily, there is a way,' Nick thought.
The next moment, Nick moved into an isolated space, turned back into a human, and deactivated his Barrier.
After that,he grabbed a long black coat and put his mask over his face.
Lastly, Nick transformed his lower body into mist, making him seem like some kind of shadow demon.
He really looked like a Specter right now.
Then, Nick burrowed into the ground.
Inside the hall, the rats kept climbing in and out of the Parasite as usual.
"How lucky you are."
Suddenly, all the rats stopped moving as the Parasite received a voice transmission.
"Somebody's here!" the Parasite transmitted to the Corrosive Dust.
The color of the dust changed, and Nick could feel some danger radiating off it.
Sure enough, the Corrosive Dust could also attack Specters.
"Do you truly believe that I would communicate with you if I feared this pillar?" Nick transmitted to the Parasite.
The next moment, a black mask appeared on the ground of the hall.
An instant later, the black mask stretched out of the ground, creating an elongated black pillar.
The mask looked at the Parasite.
Naturally, the Parasite looked back and tried to analyze the black Specter.
However, it couldn't feel any of its Zephyx!
Nick had had a couple of years of practice, and he had managed to create an ability that hid his Zephyx.
He didn't exhibit human Zephyx, which didn't give him a positive human aura, but he also didn't feel like a Specter.
He was kind of just blank.
While this disguise would fool every weak Extractor, Veterans and stronger might feel that something was off since they could sense Zephyx pretty well. Ꞧ
To them, Nick would feel strange.
An instant later, the corrosive dust appeared inside the hall.
"Stop!" the Parasite commanded the Corrosive Dust. "Don't attack it!"
The Parasite quickly looked back, but the Specter was gone!
"How truly fortunate."
The Parasite turned around and saw the mask just centimeters away from its body, looking at it closely.
The Parasite knew that it was over.
It seemed like its carefree days had come to an end.
It could tell that this Specter was very intelligent and powerful.
The Parasite wouldn't be able to talk its way out of things with its glib tongue, and it wouldn't be able to win in a fight or get away.
Compared to the Corrosive Dust, the Parasite could actually move, but it was not fast at all.
It also wasn't useful in combat.
"What do you want?" the Parasite asked without emotion.
Its fancy and charismatic manner of speech was nowhere to be seen.
After all, there was no point in trying to negotiate with this Specter.
This was not a negotiation.
"Tell me, do you serve one of the Corruptors?" Nick asked.
The Parasite thought about how to answer that question.
It knew a lot, but it didn't know a lot about the Corruptors.
The Parasite knew almost everything about all the surrounding cities, but it barely knew anything about the actual leaders of the Specters or Aegis.
It wasn't completely sure how the Corruptors operated.
Should it say that it was a servant?
Should it say it wasn't?
As the Parasite's perception looked at the mask, it felt that there was no point in lying.
The Parasite was a Peak Fanatic, but in front of a Corruptor, it was an insect.
In fact, even in front of a Corruptor's servant, it counted as barely anything.
"No," the Parasite answered. "You are the first one that found me."
"How truly fortunate," the mysterious Specter repeated again. "A pure soul on this desolate island. A Peak Fanatic smart enough to subjugate a Late Demon. What true fortune."
The black figure slithered around the Parasite like a snake.
By now, the Parasite realized that this was an intelligent Specter with an unstable mind.
Oftentimes, these Specters could be manipulated, but they could also be even more dangerous than stable Specters.
"Do you wish to join us?" the black Specter asked.
"I don't believe I have a choice," the Parasite answered.
"How truly fortunate. A smart Specter," the black Specter said.
Then,the black Specter stopped in front of the Parasite.
"I obey Greed," the Specter said.
"Greed?" the Parasite asked for confirmation.
"Indeed," the black Specter repeated. "How truly fortunate you are to serve the strongest Corruptor."
Greed was special.
It was the only Corruptor that wasn't serving any of the Trio of Destruction.
The reason was that Greed was too difficult to find and kill.
Because of that, Greed counted as a neutral Specter.
"How fortunate. You are going to meet Greed soon," the black Specter said as a couple of stones started to form on the ground.
The Parasite could see what was going on.
This black Specter was conjuring a Greater Relay.
After a couple of minutes, the Greater Relay was conjured.
The black Specter moved in front of the Greater Relay, and the stone changed shape.
It transformed into a young man with brown hair.
"Lord Greed," the black Specter shouted as it deeply bowed its head.
The Parasite also bowed its head. "Lord Greed."
The Corrosive Dust didn't move.
The younger man looked at the black Specter with interest as he blinked a couple of times in surprise.
When he saw the mask on the black Specter, he understood what was going on.
The next moment, a wide smile appeared on the younger man's face, and he lightly lifted his arms like he was some kind of greedy goblin.
"What is this?" the young man asked with a high voice as he looked around. "More servants for my hoard? Not enough! I need more!"
Meanwhile, in the research and development area of Aegis' headquarters, the Technician was standing in front of a stone circle like a gremlin.
He and Nick had managed to adapt Greater Relays to relay-to-relay communication.
With the Greater Relay, they could talk to each other from the other side of the world, which was extremely useful.
Of course, it was easy to track both sides, but why would anyone care?
The Technician was in Aegis' headquarters.
Everyone already knew where he was.
As for Nick's location, the two of them were so far apart that the party would only be able to estimate his rough location.
He could be anywhere on the Desolate Continent or the southeastern part of the Grand Continent.
"Lord Greed," the black Specter spoke. "This new servant is very intelligent and knows many things about the surrounding cities. It will expand your well of knowledge. How truly fortunate!"
The Technician knew what Nick wanted.
He knew that Nick could just kill this Specter if he managed to get this close.
So, Nick obviously didn't need the Technician's help to kill it.
"Knowledge! More knowledge! Knowledge is power!" the Technician said with his high voice as he rubbed his hands.
"You!" he shouted as he pointed at the Parasite. "Tell me everything about this island!"
"This is your first order as my, Greed's, servant!"
The Parasite knew that it couldn't possibly resist.
This was Greed, one of the Corruptors!
Even more, the power the Parasite felt through the Greater Relay was unmistakable.
Greed was unimaginably powerful!
"I will do so, Lord Greed," the Parasite said.
And then, the Parasite started to talk about the island and its cities.