I am God.

A few minutes later:
After the explosion that shattered the grass wall, the same grass quickly retracted underground.

"Tsk, it didn't work very well..." said Ruma while scratching her neck.

"Hm, actually, it would take Edward with it... But we can try it again!" answered Mochiko.

So that explosion was really a combined attack? Did it have anything to do with Lygi from Ruma?

I looked at Gota, who simply crossed his arms, almost with his eyes closed, speaking coldly:

"I'm kind of useless here... I work better up close-range, kind of like Edward but more stealthy, but we've already seen that it doesn't work against her... But well, I can do this."

She reached into her pocket, and from there simply pulled out a small kukri knife.

"Here I go..." she said while spinning the knife with her hand.

And without making any war sound, she threw the knife toward Melina from afar.

"You think you're gonna kill me with that? Nhahaha!!"

And despite being at an already very high speed, suddenly a vine appeared from the ground and wrapped itself around the knife in mid-air with absurd precision, canceling out its movement.

"Nhaha..."

The vine quickly went back underground, taking the knife with it.

Gota rolled his eyes and snorted: "Told ya... Now I only have one..."

I said nothing...

Well, what are we supposed to do?
Can we defeat this grass? It moves so fast and precisely.
Shit, Edward is still there to make things worse...

"Mochiko, what other attacks do you have besides the one that I already know?"

"Oh," she answered, "Well uhm... none that might be useful - WAIT! THERE'S ONE!!"

And thus she reactivated her proud smile.

"There's only one problem! It's not like an attack, more a technique... So it's not named-"

Ruma: "JUST FUCKING DO IT!!"

"O-OK OK!!..."

Mochiko then raised her staff again.

In the distance, Melina looked at us as if we were stupid:

"Are you going to try again, nhahah?! YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT!!"

"SHUT UP!! LEVITATION MAGIC!!... I need to think of a better name..."

Pointing her staff at the fallen soldier in front of the church, he simply began to float in the air.

"W-WHOA-WHA?!" Edward said as he realized he was flying in the air.

"A-Ah, Mochiko!? Ah, thank goodness..."

"Say thanks to me!!!"

Struggling to pull her staff back, Mochiko pulled Edward into the air toward us quickly.

"Y-YEAH!!! CMON-"

"DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH YOU FILTH!!!"

Two roots came out of the ground and captured the fallen knight's legs.
Pulling toward the user, it was easy to break the magic and send Edward back to where he was.

"Ga-ah..." Mochiko groaned as she fell backward to the ground. "I-I'm fine..."

But instead of putting him in the group, Melina had another idea.

"You know what..."

Melina began to lick her fingertips, delighting in some idea that came to her mind as she stared at the knight's body trapped by her herbs.

"I think I'll show y'all something... crazy nhahaha..."

The vines holding Edward's legs in the air began to slowly move to the sides.

"W-What are you doing?..." Edward said while his legs slowly began to stretch.

"You know, I learned a lot from humans, not to say everything... And among those learnings: It's really fun, and it's a great lesson to make people suffer."

"W-WAIT WHAT?!?! N-NO!!! S-STOP RIGHT THERE!!!"

The intention was clear: to break and tear off his legs, very slowly.

Upon seeing that, our faces began to sweat cold.

"DON'T YOU DARE!!" Mochiko quickly raised her staff and-

"Shut uppppppppp!"

From the ground came a total of eight more herbs, two wrapping around each of her legs.
And then we were all in the air too.

Ruma: "S-SHIT..."

Gota: "She forgot about our hands!"

Saying that, Gota took a knife from her pocket, and quickly cut one of the vines.

"I CAN STILL USE MY STAFF, YOU DUMBASS!! VRUNCH!!"

Said Mochiko, while using fire magic to burn one of the roots-

"Thanks for telling me... nhaha."

And twelve more green vines came and grabbed our arms.
Edward's too.

Mochiko: "G-Goddammit..."

The look on our faces could be summed up in one word: despair, as all of our limbs began to slowly move in different directions.

"NHAHAHAHA!!! OH, HOW GOOD!!!... Well, this will work for all the Suiciders in this world nhaha... ENJOY THIS, BEAUTIFUL CROWD!!"

The crowd of normal people around us didn't even know what to say other than to scream and open their mouths.

S-Shit, it's stretching I-I... N-No, I... So far I feel nothing, but slowly it's turning into pain...
W-Where is the king!? He should die here, not me!... I chose to go here...

I-I'm going to die here, that's not a problem at all, b-but they-

...

Ruma is screaming in pain.

Gota is crying.

Mochiko is doing both.

...Why does seeing this hurt more than literally dying...

N-No, I-I didn't...

"Nhahaha, slowly, veryyyyyyy slowly it will be... CRUNCH! RIPPED OFF-"

"I ACCEPT YOUR DEAL!!"

I screamed as loud as I could, without shame.

"...uh?"

"Y-YOU SAID I COULD BE YOUR NEW VESSEL, RIGHT!? M-ME OR EDWARD, RIGHT?! S-So then... I ACCEPT IT!"

If I'm stuttering now, it's not from nervousness, just pain.

"...hm... Ok."

The plants retracted into the earth, dropping us all to the ground.

What a relief...

As soon as I fell to the ground, the girls panting looked at me.
Edward could almost not breathe.

Mochiko: "W-WHAT?! T-THEO!?"

Ruma: "Y-YOU'RE GOING TO SACRIFICE YOURSELF?!"

Gota: "Y-You-"

Edward: "D-Dude... N-No, I'm supposed to say that... N-Not you-"

"M-Melina!... Before I am consumed by you, may I have one last conversation with my companions?"

"Yeah, whatever, say your goodbyes."

"Thanks..."

...

A few minutes later.

I am face to face with the parasite, a few meters separate us.
We are alone, in front of the church, a large crowd of people watching us. Grimwerod is not part of them.

She looks me in the eyes, with that smug smile, while I break out in a cold sweat.

"So, you are?"

"Theo Moretti... Pleasure."

"Ohhh nhahaha, the pleasure is all mine!

As a good incel, I'm kinda afraid of women, but this... not a kid.
I'm just afraid of what might happen, that's quite a lot.

"Ahh, a young lad... I miss the last one... You know, I found this body in a burning village when I was right at the end of the 50 years. She was the only one I found alive, I won't make the same mistake."

"May I ask you something?"

"Sure! Go ahead, show allllll your knowledge."

"If you hate this body so much, why did you decide to change it only now?"

"Nhaha, smart guy... I've been in this body for 35 years actually, and I finally decided that it's no longer good for me. You know, I like to explore new bodies, see the advantages and disadvantages, but it was a waste of time, I should have changed bodies before instead of spending 35 years just exploring... 35 years is not that far from 50 either. And, I don't want to go through the hassle of being close to 50 years old nhaha..."

"I see..."

I'm just asking this to learn more about them, maybe I'll meet more of them in the future.
If I stay alive...

"You know boy, the 3 basic instincts present in all species?"

"Yes... Survive, eat, and reproduce."

"Very good, pal... That's right, I like that you're smart like that nhaha..."

"Thanks-"

"But there is one exception, one single exception that contradicts one of these principles... We parasites.
Parasites have no reproductive instinct, nothing like sexual desire, regardless of the body I am in, I have never felt the desire... But I don't lack curiosity, nhahahaha."

It's so weird to hear this little girl saying things like that... poor thing.

"A basic instinct of a species is to keep its species alive. A species that wants to reproduce lives, one that doesn't disappears. This is common to all species except ours.
You know why, boy?... 'Cause we are IMMORTAL!!"

What is she giving me-a biology lesson?

"A being that has the ability to live forever simply does not need to reproduce. If it already lives forever, the future is assured.
As a consequence, there are few of my species, but anyway..."

"Where do you want to go?"

Her smirk became even sharper.

"What I mean, boy, is that we surpass ALL OTHER SPECIES IN EXISTENCE NHAHAHA!!"

...I can't stand that little voice saying things like that anymore.

"GOD GAVE ME IMMORTALITY!! GOD GAVE ME CONTROL AND OVERCOME HUMANS NHAHAHAHA!!! I AM THE PERFECT SPECIES!!!"

Her demonic laughter gradually diminishes, until she lets out a sigh.

"Well mate, you're ready?"

"I am."

"Nhaha, never asked someone that before, be proud...
You wanna pay the hero? Sacrifice yourself for your friends?"

"Yes. That's it."

"Ohhhh, sorry but, already warning you that after consuming your body, I mayyyyyy go after them."

"Alright."

This better work...

"You will suffer something worse than death, boy, nhaha...
Seeing me inside your body, and seeing you slowly killing each of your friends... Ohhh, it will be wonderful, right? Nhahahaha..."

Something worse than death? Hah.

"Ok."

She took a huge breath.

"Well, Theo Moretti, be a good vessel nhaha..."

"Yes, let's go."

"Bon appétit!!"

The last thing I saw was the parasite's head expanding into non-human proportions, kind of swollen, and then it swallowed me.

And after a few seconds of pure black, I could see again, but I simply couldn't control my body.

And then I heard my voice say:

"Nhahaha, so good to have a new body, it almost feels like-... W-What..."

Suddenly, all that laughter and arrogance brutally stopped, replaced by tremors.

"W-W-What i-is t-this?... N-No No No No, T-THIS CAN'T BE TRUE!!"

I felt my heart beating faster and faster, as my hands moved to scratch my own face.

"W-WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!? W-WHAT IS THIS?! I-I-ILLUSION?!?"

Despair. That's what the parasite feels right now.

"N-NO-NO-NO-NO!!! I DON'T FUCKING WANT THIS!! G-GET ME OUT OF HERE!!"

And so, I don't know how to describe it, but I felt something coming out of me, like vomit but through every pore of my skin.

And after a little black, I was in control of my body again.

And when I looked up, there was the girl again.

But this time, she wasn't smirking, she was crying and lying on the floor.

In fact, it was me who was smiling.

"I-I-I'm j-just an i-illusion?... Y-You y-you y-you... Y-You are-"

"That's right... I am God."

Even with 500 years of preparation, the parasite was not ready for the truth.

Maybe having conscience is a bad thing.

"That is the absolute truth."

The parasite could only cry and stagger back, without the strength to flee or run, just staring into my eyes.

"A-Ah, n-no... T-This can't be I-... Y-You..."

"You may survive today, but do you really want to? How will you live now knowing the truth?
No one will believe you. Knowing the truth is worse than death, right?"

She almost placed herself in a fetal position, seeing me as the greatest monster that ever walked the face of the universe.

"You underestimated humans, parasite...
Or rather, you underestimated God, a mere human."

"A-Ahhhh, G-God.. G-God?..."

"It seems that in the end you were really defeated by God...
I would even like to stay here longer, you know, it's good to break NPCs... But better not...
Go to The Nothing.
EDWARD NOW!!"

"ALRIGHT!!!"

Coming from behind the church, Edward came running toward us holding his sword, and jumped toward the girl.

She didn't react, maybe she let herself be cut, or she just didn't have the strength to move.

She was just staring at me.

And so, her neck was cut, a quick and simple decapitation.

What happened to the parasite? Whether it died for good or escaped somehow, I don't know.

But I'm sure it never wants to live again.

Either way, it will still live here, inside my head.