Melina, the Parasite

The people looked toward the church bell in confusion, just like us.
I heard murmurs of people wondering what the "Knights of God" were, or just wondering what was going on.

"H-Hey, any of you know what that is?"

Edward, Mochiko, Gota and Ruma gave me equally confused looks, answering "no" with their minds, then turning their eyes back to the church.

Gota: "I think it's some kind of terrorist group or something..."

Mochiko instantly pointed her staff toward the church:

"Should I shoot Kattchau?! Or maybe—"

Ruma: "No! Wait a bit!"

And then the voice continued:

"To be quite honest, there are only a few of us, and I am almost the only one inside the church at the moment... But I'm warning you!"

When she finished saying this, a complete human body was thrown from the top of the church toward the ground, the patio, right in front of the whole crowd and us.
No, it wasn't a complete body... because the head was missing.

"Oh wait, that's not enough? Heh."

And then one more body, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another...

All of them simply without their heads, thrown randomly on the floor.

Immediately, our faces all turned to disgust, while the crowd's faces were accompanied by endless screams.

Ruma: "W-What is this—"

"This is what happens when insignificant people try to get in our way. If you don't want to take the risk, don't come in... Well hehe, I just ask for something very simple, a meeting with the king!"

Edward: "W-With the king?!"

Ruma: "W-What are they thinking about?... H-He is dumb, but not enough to get killed..."

"Well haha, if you want you can send a representative or something, I don't care. I just want to have a small meeting with a government representative hehe...
And! If anyone dares to even come near this church, maybe that body they will join... So, you insignificant people, stay out of it!
Or not, I actually would love to see you trying, this is quite reckless right? Nhahahahah!! Bip."

And just like that, the transmission, or the message itself, simply stopped.

S-So this is really a terrorist attack? Even now...
They think that just talking to a government representative is enough to give them the entire city? How bold...

But well, this little group will get involved...

Mochiko quickly exclaimed:

"We can't just stand here! We gotta think of a plan!"

W-Wait, is she thinking of a plan?!
Yeah wait, she thought of all that dragon thing so...

Gota placed his hand under his chin, his gaze furrowed as he stared at the decapitated body:

"They are really confident, so I doubt they are just bluffing... Maybe we should call Ende, he—"

Ruma: "H-Hey Gota... I'm sorry but... He's already into it."

She slowly pointed to her right; there was a man running at a fast speed holding a sword.

"Knights of God? Tsk, I'll show you what it's like to be a knight! I'll be the knight of this city!!"

Edward simply ran toward the church, wielding a gray heavy sword in his right hand, and running as fast as he could. Without any prior warning.

I don't know his level of strength, nor what he's thinking, but seeing the faces of those around me... They're disappointed, but not surprised.

"SHOW YOUR FACE, DEMON!!!"

As soon as he arrived in front of the church, with a quick movement from right to left Edward hit the building's gate squarely.

But it simply bounced off.

Seeing that incredible attack that probably caused more damage to Edward's sword than to the gate, his immediate reaction was to try again and again.

"GAHHHH!! OPEN IT!!"

Everyone else besides Edward walked toward him, while screams could be heard coming from our direction.

Ruma: "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?! ARE YOU IDIOT!!"

Mochiko: "I-I WAS LITERALLY ABOUT TO SAY THAT!!"

Gota: "Edward... It's pretty hard to open an iron gate with a sword you know?"

Well they say that, and they're right, but I can see the inside of the church through the cuts he made in the gate.
That's not like someone weak, is it? I think he really managed to cut the gate, just not open it.

And then, as we began to approach Edward, who was with his hands on his knees, panting with exhaustion, the gate suddenly began to slowly open.

"You're not the king, are you? Ahhhh, that should do the trick too hehe."

From there, something came out that no one expected:

A small and extremely thin girl, no more than eight years old, wearing a simple white dress and barefoot.
She had very pale skin, large, light blue eyes, long, straight, light hair that only stopped at the knee area.
And a quiet, sadistic smile, which just by looking at her face you could see arrogance and evil. A menacing smirk.

Edward, being the closest, just a few steps away from the girl, was the first to react, his eyes widening.

"W-What?... T-That little girl was the one t-that... d-did that?"

"Little girl?" The girl quickly talked back. "Yeah, it's the name I'm being called a lot recently... But my name is Melina, nothing more... Make sure to reference me for that."

The girls and I looked at each other in disbelief, not knowing what to think or say.

Except for Gota, she seemed more in control:

"You're a parasite, aren't you?"

Hearing this, Melina laughed a little, her smile widening even more:

"Nhahah, right! A parasite that's over 500 years old, living off of body swapping. And well, this one's 50 years have already passed, I need a new one."

"P-Parasite?..." I muttered to myself.

Gota gave me a sideways look:

"You don't know what this is either? Well, it's not common sense to be fair...
Parasites are beings without a defined appearance, that live for an indefinite period of time, only changing the body they are in.
In the beginning, they parasitize things like bacteria, and they evolve until they become humans, when they gain consciousness and a taste for our being.
When parasitizing something, they steal the memories and knowledge of the being, something that always remains with them, only maintaining the same personality independent of the body; each parasite has its own."

"Hm, I see... W-What about that 50 years thing?"

"After some time, the body rots and they have to change. The limit changes from being to being, but in humans the limit is 50, the highest for humans.
Since the parasite becomes conscious when it consumes a human, normally when they eat one, they get confused and think they are that human themselves, living peacefully as if they were that human, without anyone knowing, until eventually they die and go with it after 50 years.
But some very intelligent ones know that they are a parasite and are aware of the 50-year rule, because if 50 years pass and the parasite is inside a human, it also dies."

"S-So there are parasites among us?!"

"Yes, but they are extremely rare, and most of them have no idea that they are parasites, so it's kind of okay... But this one is a problem."

Hm, think I got it... How scary, things that live—

Ruma: "I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT!!"

Melina laughed again.

"NHAHAHA!! You are very informed, huh... And I am one of the few who decided to name myself, Melina, a beautiful name, right?"

...

Mochiko: "IT SUCKS!!"

Melina seemed to be shocked by disappointment, but quickly recovered.

"Anyway... it was a mistake to consume this body, it was done in desperation, and it was a huge mistake. This time I want something of my own choosing, a grown man, no more of these shitty bodies."

Ah, I understand her plan...

"A-And you think the king can bring you one?"

"Obviously! That's the plan. As a bonus they must come with great intellect, right?..."

She then looked at every single one of us, her tongue sliding around the corners of her evil smile.

"But, you seem alright, you two men. You're Suiciders right? Well then, if one of you offers to be my new vassal, I will let you and the rest of these people go."

S-She's talking about me?!

"HOLD ON!!" Said Ruma with a stomp.

"First of all... no, just no... Second, what about that Royal knights thing that you mentioned in the speaker?"

With an "ohhhhh" Melina put her hand on her chin and looked up.

"Almost forgot, I am Melina, member of the Royal Knights. We are powerful, very powerful, and I could be even more if it wasn't because of this stupid body!... But, this was all on my own, I'm completely alone, it was a bluff... I mean, they may be around town there, but this was all done by me. Without telling them nhaha."

Is she really that confident in her abilities? So confident that she would take on an entire country alone!?

Melina seemed to start getting a little bored, rolling her eyes:

"Well then, choose. Who should be my next toy, or should I wait for the king? I admit, your conscience will not disappear, you will be trapped inside me, seeing and hearing eeeeeerything I do, without being able to do anything other than react...
Every now and then I still hear this stupid little girl's cries, thank goodness I can't hear her thoughts nhahaha...
But anyway, it's you, the king or I'll kill the whole city if you force me to choose another one of these bodies...
Empathy, right? That's what you humans feel... I believe some of us should too, but not me hahahaha..."

"Y-YOU... YOU FUCKING MONSTER!!!"

With these words, Edward ran and gave a jump in fury toward Melina, in response to what came out of her lips.

With a huge smile, Melina said:

"Don't underestimate me, YOU CUNT!!"

And so, at the exact moment the knight threatened to attack with his sword, he simply couldn't.

"W-What?" He said as he slowly looked at his right arm, seeing something that surprised him.

Coming from the ground came a thin grass, as thin as the user's hair, that covered Edward's arm preventing him from moving his sword.

I had barely managed to see the plant come out of the ground due to the extreme speed, along with absurd precision.

"PARASITES ALSO HAVE LYGI YOU FOOL!!!"

And again, in the blink of an eye, another vine came from the ground and grabbed Edward.
No, not just one, three in fact, one for each limb.

And then, at the same speed they came, while grabbing Edward the grass retreated and went back underground, taking him with it, who hit the ground with his body lying down.

"GASHSHH..." Edward exclaimed as he spat out pain from the impact.
Because of his armor, perhaps the damage wasn't that severe.

Melina let out a few small laughs, bringing her hand to her mouth while the knight tried to get up.

"Nhoooooo? Weren't you the honorable knight WHO WAS GOING TO KILL THIS FUCKING GIRL?!"

And another vine came and grabbed one of Edward's legs, and another one grabbed the other.
After that, they simply started swinging Edward on the ground side by side, taking him into the air, slamming him to the ground on the right, slamming him to the ground on the left over and over.

"If I let you, would you really have the courage to cut my neck, even when I look like this? Ah, maybe you thought you would free the little girl from her nightmare, but you would still kill her... What? Did I forget to make puppy eyes? Nhahahaha... Tsk, humans..."

Edward couldn't answer, as he was almost fainting.
But I would like to know the answer as well...

Humans... they really are humans?

"ENOUGH!!!" Said Mochiko while lifting her staff, full of determination.

"You...!!" A large pool of water began to emerge at the tip of her staff. "BEHOLD THE TRUE POWER OF A WIZARD!!... RUMA!"

"YES!!"

Ruma put her hand in her pocket and simply threw two stones into the water...
I don't know why; is it some kind of combined attack?

And then, that water turned into a literal tsunami, which quickly moved toward Melina.

"WOOwOO!!!"

Seeing that literal tsunami coming toward her, Melina couldn't take the smile off her face, giving another demonic laugh.

"I already warned you... NOT EVEN GOD WOULD DEFEAT ME!!"

And with those words, a literal giant wall of grass rose from the ground.

It was so big that it was taller than Mochiko's tsunami, even in height, and taller than the church behind it.

But then, the tsunami water started to... d-disappear?

"Chia. A plant that produces mucilage, a substance that absorbs water."

Ahh, I had heard about this in real life... But it was just a superficial thing, maybe I'm a little wrong and it's not really like that.
But since I believed it was like that, it translated into this world formed by my beliefs—

KABOOM!!!

As soon as all the water had disappeared, I heard an explosion in the area of what little was left.

An explosion so big that it made a huge hole in the wall of Chia.

W-What happened?