Guide to tamming vilanesses

As the group walked into the forest, the fog grew thicker with every step they took. However, the visibility was already so bad that it was hard to notice.

At first, Shin simply assumed it was another consequence of the eternal darkness surrounding them.

However, after observing it for a few more seconds, he noticed something that immediately made his heart sink. The fog wasn't drifting randomly; it was obviously moving with purpose, just like a…

"Fuck!" the man murmured, clenching his fists. He hadn't expected them to be so unlucky, but still, he had no right to let his guard down like that.

I should have noticed it sooner, he thought, already stepping forward to get closer to the front.

Raising his voice, he tried to warn the woman leading the formation. "Mora! Be caref—"

Before he could finish shouting, a massive shadow burst out from the darkness, roaring aggressively at the bimbo succubus.

The gigantic monster lunged toward Mora, its enormous claw cutting through the air with enough force to tear apart an ordinary person.

However, the succubus simply raised one arm and caught the attack with ease. The impact sent a shockwave over her body, making her big tits jiggle, which Mora found funny.

The floor beneath her feet cracked with the strength of the attack, but still, the blond woman smirked with confidence. She was easily strong enough to tank that attack.

"Hehe." Mora smiled; she was always horny. She looked back at Shin, saying, "See? Everything is fi—"

"The problem isn't the bear!" Shin interrupted before she could finish. "It's inside it! Step back!"

Mora only blinked slowly, clearly not understanding what he meant. The next instant, countless sharp stakes suddenly burst out from inside the bear's body.

They pierced through its flesh from every direction, ripping open muscles and skin alike before shooting toward Mora.

The bear itself didn't react in the slightest, as though it no longer felt pain. Instead, it stepped forward and wrapped its enormous body around her, locking the succubus in a tight embrace to ensure the strange spikes could continue piercing deeper into her body.

At the same time, the surrounding fog rapidly converged around the two of them.

Within only a few seconds, it formed an unnaturally dense sphere that completely swallowed both Mora and the creature, making it impossible for anyone to see what was happening inside.

"W-What's happening?" Materna asked, her body trembling slightly. Her eyes widened as she instinctively extended her senses toward the strange mist. "P-Perhaps... the fog around us... is alive?"

"Yes," Shin answered without hesitation, continuously swinging his sword through the surrounding air. Every slash created a strong gust of wind that temporarily pushed the nearby fog away before it slowly began gathering again.

"We're being attacked by Mist Swarms. They're not a single creature, but rather a microscopic colony of insects that moves together so perfectly it resembles ordinary fog."

Normally, these annoying creatures lived inside ancient trees, and they hardly ever came out. They were able to eat away at the vitality of the ancient trees, which was all they needed to survive.

However, a few colonies ended up developing a taste for blood. It happened after they were, for some reason, forced to live inside the body of a monster for a while.

After that, the Mist Swarm turned from herbivore to carnivore. This conversion was the justification in the game for the rare attacks this monster could perform.

"We need to be careful," Shin commented, turning his attention to Mora and hoping she would be fine. "The frightening part isn't the insects themselves; it's what happens once they get inside. They invade the nervous system, slowly taking control of the host until it becomes nothing more than another puppet for the colony. That bear was already dead before it attacked us."

Materna instinctively took a step backward, unable to hide the fear in her eyes. "Then... does that mean the only way to stop them is..."

"Finding the queen. After all, they are still a colony of insects. If you kill the queen, they will become disorganized," Shin answered immediately. "As long as she lives, the colony will continue fighting."

Then Shin turned toward Medea, who was already gathering mana in her hand.

"Medea, do you have any spell capable of locating enemies?"

The mage frowned slightly before shaking her head. "I do have detection magic, but creatures that small would be almost impossible to distinguish from ordinary life."

"...Actually..." Materna suddenly interrupted.

Everyone turned toward her. She had closed her eyes, concentrating entirely on the countless lifeforms surrounding them. After several long seconds, she slowly pointed toward one of the gigantic trees standing nearby.

"I think... I know where what you're looking for is." Her voice carried an unusual amount of uncertainty. "I can feel a very strange presence inside that tree. It doesn't feel like a single living being... It's more like hundreds... perhaps thousands... of tiny lives gathered together into one existence."

Shin immediately nodded.

"That's our target."

Without wasting another second, he pointed his sword toward the enormous tree.

"Medea. Use your strongest spell, and destroy it."

Medea took a deep breath, the mana around her surging violently as crimson magic circles bloomed beneath her feet. Heat distorted the air around her, forcing everyone nearby to instinctively retreat.

"Inferno Cataclysm."

The circles merged into one massive array before erupting into a pillar of blazing fire. A torrent of scarlet flames roared across the forest, swallowing the ancient tree whole.

The inferno climbed hundreds of meters into the sky, its unbearable heat turning nearby branches to ash before they could even ignite.

For several long seconds, the world was nothing but fire, but eventually, the flames began to fade.

Then the fog that had imprisoned Mora abruptly dispersed, abandoning her without hesitation. Covered in blood but very much alive, the succubus stumbled free, coughing as the gray mist rushed past her.

"It's retreating!" Materna shouted.

"No," Shin corrected, his expression darkening.

The countless streams of mist converged toward the burning tree instead. They poured into the scorched trunk from every direction, forming an impossibly dense veil around it. The flames rapidly weakened as the colony sacrificed itself to shield its queen.

When the last embers finally disappeared, the enormous tree still stood.

Its bark was charred black, entire sections had collapsed into molten wood, yet it remained alive.

"...Damn," Shin muttered. "That wasn't enough."