"These pricks... I told them to stop calling it that." Levi’s lips twitched.
After Levi explored the Palate Parasitic Takeover ability and the Parasite Aspect in the past five days, he found out that the ability could be used as a trojan for other types of parasites, changing its effect based on the chosen Parasite type!
He was stunned to find that he still underestimated the Parasite Aspect’s powers... although he didn’t have much time to explore it in detail, he managed to figure out how to create parasites that mimicked the ones in reality.
Since the Conqueror’s Faction wanted to abuse poison to kill them, Levi focused primarily on creating a type of Parasite immune to poison and able to feed on it.
His final result was...
" Toxbane ... cleanse his bloodstream."
Levi willed mentally as he hatched the millions of microscopic parasitic eggs in Nadal’s tongue... Nadal felt a slight itch in his tongue, but he didn’t think much of it when he was fighting for his life to remain awake.
Unbeknownst to him... the Toxbane parasites immediately flooded his bloodstream and sucked the poison out of his system with each cycle, like they were born to hunt for it.
Their greenish worm-like microscopic appearance might be disgusting to most, but these little soldiers fulfilled their mission in no time and returned to the tongue to lay more eggs after their feast.
Nadal felt it right away... his muddled vision cleared out, his aching joints chilled, and even his focus returned to its peak again.
"I don’t know how he does it... but god, it feels good to be on his side."
Nadal remarked inwardly after he felt rejuvenated again... he glanced in Levi’s direction and gave him a head nod in appreciation before focusing back on halting the expansion of the nightcrawlers’ toxic kingdom, not scared anymore of getting poisoned.
Levi had told them that as long as they didn’t get heavily poisoned... he could help them cleanse it. Hence, the reason Nadal called for him the moment he felt something was off.
"I might not have succeeded in recreating that powerful ability, but this is fine for now..." Levi smiled in satisfaction.
At first, he focused on recreating that insta-kill ability in the past five days... but he quickly realized that it was delusional to attempt it in such a short period of time while he hadn’t mastered the Parasite Aspect or tamed the Soulleech Maw properly.
Instead of wasting his time chasing such a tough challenge, Levi switched to researching the Parasite Aspect and its utilizations... that’s when he found out the immense importance of unlocking the Palate Parasite Takeover.
Without it... he wouldn’t have been able to create parasites, keep them dormant, and hatch them through will within other people’s bodies.
It took an immense level of hard work to create such a hidden, but invasive ability, requiring countless details to make it viable... which explained why Ash’Kral created it in the first place as he needed its invasive properties to combine it with the powers of that unique sense.
If Levi had unlocked this ability during his earlier days... its effect would remain the same: infesting others with a type of sensory parasite that linked their taste... not too bad, not too good.
However, with more than 20% resonance access, Levi could change some details of the innate ability, just like he did with Corona Tempest when he turned it into a Sun!!
To avoid ruining the ability’s balance, all Levi did was add two extra details: the ability to choose the type of infested parasite, and the option to release them across their bloodstream whenever he liked.
Just like that... Levi had transformed a shitty ability on the surface into an incredibly resourceful technique that enabled him to assist his allies and ruin his enemies based on the type of chosen parasite!
Naturally, Levi couldn’t approach his teammates and say that he wanted to infest them with parasites for their own good during the last day before the game began.
Instead, he showed them the Soulleech Maw and explained that he could cleanse their bodies of poison with aetheric energy if they allowed him to lick a part of their skin with it... Of course, he neither told them its real name nor its origins, leaving them to marvel at such a peculiar mutation.
After some doubts and strange looks he got from the girls in the squad, everyone allowed the Soulleech Maw to lick their palms.
Now? Levi kept a close eye on Shia, Blake, Nadal, and Michael, following his orders to the letter without fear of getting poisoned or falling, knowing that their captain had their back.
"What’s going on here... I saw a slight portion of my plague get inside the girl’s bloodstream with my own eyes despite her countermeasures... why is she still standing?!"
The Plague Crow Korr’Zhael frowned deeply as he kept his distance from Shia, who was going barbaric in their toxic garden... she was cutting the mushrooms and flooding the mist left and right with blood, doing whatever she could to foil their expansion.
When he checked with his allies, he realized that they shared the same dilemma... they thought that if they stayed in the far back, the toxic environment would handle their enemies even if they hovered around its borders. Instead, Shia and Nadal slowly pushed forward without collapsing once.
This sight caught the attention of their leader, Nyr’Kalloth... he narrowed his eyes coldly, not fond of having his plan messed with like this.
"Engage them... they must be using an artifact or some external tool to resist the toxins, and we can’t have them ruin our plan after giving up on so many Horns."
As he fired this new order, his eyes switched to Blake, who was getting bolder by the second... he even started collecting newly spawned horns on the bottom side of the rope just below the Toxin Garden.
Just like Nadal and Shia, he was relying on his own defensive abilities to fight against the toxins... however, the nightcrawlers’ poisons were too potent and aggressive, even electricity couldn’t burn everything off at once. All it needed was a slight opening to put him in a world of misery.
The instant he noticed the emergence of negative symptoms, he didn’t hesitate to call out for help, "Captain Levi, please lick the poison away!!"
’...’
Levi acted deaf to what he said and helped him out... he didn’t tell them how he was cleansing the poison, and since all they remembered was the Soulleech Maw’s lick of their palm, they kept using the ’lick’ term until it stuck.
Though Levi began to realize that the f*ckers were messing with him after they annoyed him with questions about how he could cleanse the poison, and he kept shutting them down.