Chapter 85: A Troublesome Parasite
After the elf girl inhaled the anesthetic powder, she quickly entered a trance-like state. The abdominal pain was blocked by the drug’s effect. Abyss used ice magic to condense some water from the air, cleaned the girl’s abdomen and his own finger-turned-scalpel, then made the incision.
Abyss was extremely familiar with the anatomy of both humans and elves, especially in dissection. He quickly and accurately made a small downward cut on the girl’s upper abdomen. Simultaneously, he used magic to lower the temperature of that area of skin, slowing blood flow to prevent it from interfering with the surgery.
His practiced surgical technique amazed the elves. This Druid Master was so knowledgeable about the human body! Truly a master, so learned, even possessing such profound medical skills!
Abyss wasted no time. After cutting through the skin, he made another incision, directly into the elf girl’s stomach.
Then, just as he had removed the Tongue of Greed from Leona’s stomach, he inserted two fingers, directly grasping the wriggling creature inside!
“Flora, Rebecca, help with her wound!” he instructed the girls beside him, simultaneously pulling the strange, squirming creature out of the elf girl’s stomach.
“Scree!”
The thing pulled from the stomach let out a sharp cry, writhing frantically. Its strength was surprisingly great; Abyss couldn’t hold onto its slippery body with just two fingers, and it wriggled free.
Before them was a black leech, about the thickness of an adult’s thumb. Covered in stomach fluid, it slimily crawled up Abyss’s fingers and, without warning, latched onto the inside of his wrist!
“What is this thing?” Abyss frowned. He grabbed the leech’s tail with his other hand, trying to pull it off, but felt a tug on his wrist – the disgusting creature had firmly bitten into his flesh. Pulling it off forcefully might leave a large wound.
Something was wrong. Why would an ordinary leech scream? Why would it burrow into someone’s stomach? This thing probably wasn’t a leech at all!
Realizing this, Abyss didn’t hesitate and yanked the leech off. Its teeth and sucker tore away a piece of his inner wrist, leaving a fingernail-sized hole, which rapidly healed under Abyss’s magic.
“I’ll kill it!” Leona acted decisively. Knowing Abyss wouldn’t kill animals except for food, she stepped forward, snatched the leech, and squeezed hard.
Leona’s grip could crush solid iron balls like clay. With such force, not just a leech, even a dragon’s bone would shatter – however, Leona found her hand empty.
At that moment, her sharp dynamic vision caught sight of the leech – it had somehow escaped her grasp and was now darting up her arm at incredible speed.
“You little…”
The leech’s speed was indeed unnaturally fast, but Leona’s reaction and movement speed were orders of magnitude faster. Before the leech could move more than a few centimeters, Leona grabbed it again and squeezed hard.
This time, Leona understood how the leech escaped: just as her hand closed, transferring immense pressure, the leech performed a small spatial jump, perfectly avoiding the attack.
Flora and Rebecca had noticed something was wrong earlier. They immediately warned of the danger and evacuated the nearby crowd. Rebecca, being more medically knowledgeable, went back with the elf girl to treat the incision and the internal stomach wound. Flora, meanwhile, began chanting a prayer as the villagers fled.
Leona’s movements were a blur, but the leech’s spatial jumps matched her attack speed. While Leona could dodge its attacks, she couldn’t deliver a killing blow.
“Damn disgusting bug!” Leona, unaccustomed to such frustration, was furious. She grabbed the leech’s tail, but instead of squeezing, she slammed it violently against a nearby rock.
Leona’s strength in anger was staggering; the mere swing of her arm created a sonic boom. But the leech, which should have been smashed against the rock, teleported away the instant her arm swung down, flying towards her snow-white neck!
Buzz!
Just then, Flora finished her prayer. A golden chain materialized, locking the leech firmly in mid-air, immobilizing it.
“Don’t hit it anymore, Leona. Its ability likely involves spatial jumping when harmed. Physical attacks probably won’t work,” Abyss advised, his wrist wound already fully healed.
“Flora has it locked anyway…” Leona, still wanting to punch the leech suspended by the Eternal Lock, heard Abyss’s words. Thinking he might have a use for the leech, she reluctantly withdrew her fist with a huff.
“Is this a magic-using animal?” Flora frowned. “Even leeches have become like this? Why is it so aggressive…”
Abyss coldly stared at the leech struggling futilely against the Divine Art in mid-air. “This thing immediately tried to suck my blood the moment it appeared. That’s a bit…”
“Sent by the bad guys?” Leona’s eyes widened.
“Hmph, I understand,” Abyss snorted coldly, addressing the leech directly. “You, suspended in the air, I’ll give you a chance to change back now. Then we can talk. If you insist on playing the role of a bloodsucking parasite, I don’t mind letting my companion swat you dead like one.”
Just as Leona was about to ask why Abyss was talking to a leech, she watched in astonishment as the creature in mid-air began to transform – its body suddenly swelled, rapidly growing limbs and a head, like an inflating balloon. In moments, it became a short man.
“Don’t kill me… Why couldn’t I suck any blood from you!?”
The short man immediately asked Abyss in astonishment.
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