now
Without waiting for a response, he steps out from behind the cover, red eyes scanning the surroundings. He moves almost casually toward the warehouse — drawing attention with every step.
As he gets closer, the mosquitoes on the people's backs react, perking up and turning their heads toward him. A low buzzing fills the air, and the people — still zombie-like puppets for the mosquitoes — begin to shamble in his direction.
As the horde of mosquito-controlled puppets converge on Saigid, his body begins to react.
Dark-red energy pulses beneath his skin—his Void Nexus contract awakening from the swarm's psychic hum. His eyes snap open wide, glowing like smoldering embers.
He doesn't run.
Instead, he smirks — mid-step — as the first wave reaches him.
"Come on then," he murmurs, spreading his arms slightly. "Let's see how hungry you really are."
The moment a mosquito lunges to feed—its proboscis piercing his arm—he twists, channeling stolen energy into a violent surge. The parasite shrieks as it's ripped apart—not by force… but by absorption.
One after another, they fall to him—not because he fights… but because they're feeding a monster who only grows stronger when they try to consume him.
Behind cover, Hanchu whispers:
"...He's not just surviving them."
"He's eating them."
Suddenly, all the mosquitoes flew to their hiding place. Saigid doesn't understand what's going on, he has nothing to do with it.
Five minutes ago, in the cover, one of the soldiers starts talking: "Let me say Commander-in-Chief. My sponsor offered me his sponsorship," the bald man says with a smile.
He shows the sponsor's profile
Candidate:Alim
Level: 17
Offer by: Elyos
Ability Offered: "Echo Bait" (Illusory Lure / Reflection Type)
Description: Creates projected illusions that act as sensory triggers. Targets perceive them as genuine sources of interest, regardless of hunger, fear, or emotion.
Condition: Active only while the user maintains focus.
Risk: Overuse may cause perceptual desync (temporary distortion of senses).
[Accept] [Decline]
"Accept it, Alim," says the commander-in-chief of the black squad.
"Now, you're the bait," the commander-in-chief hits the soldier cheerfully on the shoulder
[Activate the bait for mosquitoes]
[Accept] [Decline]
"Now, I'm the bait," he says, laughing.
Alim clicks on accept.
[Activated: Bait Alim]
Suddenly, all the mosquitoes flew into Alim like bullets. there were so many of them that his hands were barely visible. He fell to the ground dead, but the mosquitoes won't get off him.
Saigid pauses as he watches the scene unfold nearby, red eyes flickering as the mosquitoes shift target.
He scans the swarm, assessing it with a hint of surprise.
"That didn't go as expected…" he mutters, frowning.
His eyes narrow as he watches the new bait get overwhelmed, collapsing under the swarm: "Idiot."
Saigid strides back toward the group, energy still crackling faintly around him. He glances at the fallen soldier—then at Yushai.
"You knew too, didn't you?" Hanchu whispers, voice trembling.
Saigid stops beside Yushai, red eyes unreadable in the dim light. "Yeah," he says quietly. "And if I had to do it again? I wouldn't stop either."
He turns his head slightly toward Hanchu. "Sentiment gets you killed out here. That bait worked—perfectly. Alim's dead… but we're not."
A beat.
"And hgitinabbats's right," he adds, voice low and rough. "Now we move before the real monsters notice their dinner just got interrupted."
The commander-in-chief of the fifth squad hits the commander-in-chief of the fourth squad on the head. "that's a moron! Kakhich! Are you crazy?"
"Oh, me, what? His contract is his sponsor, his abilities. I was actually standing here," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
A very armored car drove up to the entrance.
"The president's people have arrived," Yushai said coldly
Saigid snorts, rolling his eyes as the two commanders bicker. "Typical."
But as the armored car approached, his expression hardens. He steps forward, eyes narrowing as the vehicle comes to a stop just ahead.
"So it's showtime," he mutters. "Ready for this, hgitinabbats?"
"You're not participating," Yushai said sternly
Saigid turns, a sharp gleam in his crimson eyes. "Bullshit," he snaps, tone edged with danger. "I didn't come this far just to sit on the sidelines. You're not benching me now."
Kakhich grabs one of the huge mosquitoes and stings his soldier Igit with this mosquito.
[STATUS UPDATE — Debuff Applied]
Target: Kakhich
Effect: Clouding of the mind
Duration: 45:00
Lyutich uses his weapon to knock four mosquitoes out of the hands of the commander-in-chief of the detachment. And then he beats the commander-in-chief himself.
"don't touch the mosquitoes, they cause debuff!" The bully screams, "Go there, I saw unicorns there."
Kakhich runs in the opposite direction from the warehouse.
"It seems to me that these commanders will kill us faster than anything else," said Hanchu.
Saigid watches the chaos unfold, a dark frown creeping across his features. As the men begin acting more and more foolishly… an unsettling realization sinks in.
He turns to Hanchu, voice low and urgent. "Something's very wrong here. Either that's some serious mental manipulation… or it's not the mosquitoes at all. Either way, we need to find a way to snap these guys out of it. Quickly."
"Let's go to the warehouse. They'll figure it out on their own," Yushai said coldly
Saigid glares at Yushai, clearly irritated—but then reluctantly nods. "Fine. But the moment this is over, you owe me an explanation."
Everyone hides in the bushes when they hear the rumble of an unnaturally powerful vehicle carrying four people. Igit tries to distract the demons with a story about his journey, but the president's men kill Igit with a fireball from a cannon.
Saigid and the others watch as Igit's body falls lifeless to the ground, anger flashing in his eyes.
"Damn it," he growls, hands clenching into fists. "Those bastards have no honor."
Lyutich uses a grid infected with electricity, damaging the president's men. Gaida attacks them with mosquitoes, throwing them at them in hopes of inflicting a debuff, but they tear him in half.
Saigid watches in silence as the scene unfolds, eyes narrowing with growing frustration and disgust.
"Pathetic," he mutters under his breath. "Every last one of them."
He turns his head slightly toward Yushai, voice low and dangerous.
"Still think we should just watch?"
Lyutic used an ability from a sponsor.
[Lightning scream]
All four are electrocuted, and two of them die due to a grid with a current discharge. Bagdu is trying to figure out how to control a strange car, but he didn't understand and therefore attacked one of the survivors. He finishes him off with a knife.
[Gained 300 experience points]
The last of the survivors tried to escape towards the warehouse, but the rest of the soldiers blocked his way as if he were a human shield. That's why he ran away in the opposite direction where he met Kahach.
Kahach points two fingers at him like a child holding a gun. It depicts the sound of a gunshot, and the sponsor's ability is activated and survivors of the president's men dies.
[words of truth]
Saigid watches each encounter play out with a mixture of fascination and growing anger. He can't help but be impressed by the raw power and strategic thinking on display… but he's also seething with frustration at not being able to act himself.
He turns to Yushai once more, eyes flashing with irritation. "Can I please join the party now?"
Lyutich says, "Well, kids, We'll drive their own car to their own warehouse... Who's driving?"
"I can't drive," says Hanchu.
"If you want, I can drive a car, I'll try," says Bagdu
Kakhach snatches the axe from Bagdu's hands and hits the hood of the car with the back side. "I'm the commander-in-chief here, which means I'll drive."
Absolutely everyone says "NO!" in unison.
Saigid lets out a sharp, irritated chuckle as the group starts arguing over who should drive.
"This is painful to watch," he mutters, rolling his eyes. "If you all continue to bicker like toddlers, I'm just going to take the damn wheel myself."
Lyutic glares angrily at Kakhach and says, "Drop that mosquito on the ground!"
To which he only hugs the huge hairy barely alive mosquito tighter, saying, "this is my mosquito, my pet."
Saigid stares at Kakhach clutching the giant mosquito, incredulous.
"Your pet?" he repeats, the words dripping with sarcasm. "You do realize that thing was sucking your brains a few minutes ago, right? Pretty sure that means it doesn't love you."