Chapter 29 - Vtuber Committed Another Crime. A Bat Species Extinct in a Flame Incident. Parita was already halfway to the camp, but she turned around and sprinted back to the Starve’s lair. In minutes, she returned to the previous battleground. The corpses were gone, not because they were eaten, but because Parita had already collected them. Traces of combat and leftovers, such as the monster’s innards and blood, remained in the area. Parita had the urge to use the idol-meeting spell on them, but she refrained from doing so. She saved the quota for the lair. As Parita walked toward the pit, the mocap suit stopped her from moving forward. It turned her body around. ’Hey! Why?! Are you mad that I’ve found the loophole in your system?!’ She was under the impression that the system was not letting her earn points. However, the system lifted her head and fixed her eyes, forcing her to look above. After all, not all gamers looked up. Parita narrowed her eyes to get a better look. As the system had warned, an anomaly had occurred. She spotted a noisy black cloud made of bats. She estimated at least a million bats in the sky, coming from the north. The noisy swarm of bats drew near. Parita had a bad feeling about this. The infected blood farm was no longer important. Moreover, the system flagged this issue. She couldn’t afford to stay and risk facing the unknown. To avoid trouble, she leaned forward and began sprinting. As though an anime horse girl’s spirit had possessed her, she sprinted with all her might. She zoomed north. The bats descended, but Parita was faster. She slipped underneath them and broke through their encirclement approach. Andean manifested and landed on the ground, near the battle site by the pit. On the other hand, the bat mass of Cathartes turned around and pursued Parita. The transmigrator gazed at them and snorted, giving up the chase. He turned to the cesspool of Hunger’s blood and gore, searching for their corpses. Seeing nothing but puddles of blood, he frowned in disappointment. "Odd. Did she take everything? Did she realize the secret?" Parita was not the only one who knew about the benefits of eating Hunger’s meat. The Andean and his Condor Clan hunted them and ate their flesh in the pursuit of enhanced strength. Moreover, the infected blood was nutritious to a Scorched like him. His blood mana generated a whirlpool, summoning all the putrid blood in the area toward him. The mutilated corpse of the Starve and the rotten carcasses of dead Hungers in the storage tunnel system levitated and flew toward Andean. They circled around him as though he were the eye of a tornado. Andean snapped his fingers, and the mass of blood and organs merged as one. It was compressed into a finger-sized blood ball. He then swallowed it and licked his lips, savoring the taste and the surge of strength. Nobody hated free meals. Andean smirked and mocked his rival, Cathartes. "Fool. Instead of competing for the food first, he goes after the dead meat. Even if he gets her, it’s no use. That bird flu family is going to take her, no matter what happens." Andean sneered and transformed into bats, leaving the area. He was wary of the retired paladin, who was chasing after him. Five seconds later, a transparent silhouette weaved through the night and stopped at the place where Andean had been. The person crouched and inspected the footprints of Parita and Hungers. Neutrophils, a retired S-rank paladin who worked as a mortician at the back of the guild, lifted his head and gazed forward. His intense gaze cut through the shadows, spotting a crimson flow of air moving southeast. The paladin hesitated. He saw Parita heading back north, which relieved him. However, a weaker vampire was chasing after her. ’That bastard, Andean. He’s the real threat. I’d rather have the stupid elf join the Vulture Clan than the Condor. If she falls into his hands, who knows what kind of monster he will create next?’ Neutrophils ignored Parita and Cathartes. He continued pursuing Andean. While Parita enjoyed the night wind and the speed, something prickled her senses. Her instincts compelled her to look back. Behind her, a swarm of white bats was approaching and gaining distance. Compared to the bats she watched on TV, their hissing had a much lower pitch. The white bats overtook her and merged into one entity. An elderly man with white hair appeared and floated up into the air. He gazed down at her with a smirk. His dress code spelled a cliché vampire in many media. "Hello, dear fairy." Cathartes descended and bowed. "Goodbye." Parita sidestepped and zoomed past him. Cathartes’s face twitched in anger due to the unexpected reaction. He cast a blood magic, summoning a blood wall in front of Parita. Parita could no longer proceed. She stopped her feet and turned around. Cathartes also walked toward her with an ugly expression. "I was being polite. How dare a lowly harlot ignore me?!" As soon as the words dropped, the mocap suit took over Parita. She stomped on the ground and vanished. Instantly, she reappeared behind Cathartes. Parita’s right hand was covered with sword aura and power. She punched Cathartes in the chest. His body shattered on impact. His flesh and body, however, transformed into white bats and flew in every direction, regrouping. Only a few hundred bats came out of the exploded body. A second afterward, they multiplied and formed a tornado wall, circling around Parita. Parita was at a loss in this situation. She wasn’t familiar with this scenario. Cathartes’s voice resonated around Parita. Every bat mocked her in unison. "Foolish elf! Who do you think you are?! Do you even know who I am?! You should have been honored that I’m here to invite you into our family, but you dare ignore me?! You ingrate harlot, I’ll erase your identity and turn you into a public toilet slave!" "...Cringe and cliché." Parita smacked her lips. [Typical villain’s lines.] The mocap continued to manipulate her body. It kept Parita immobile while her throat and vocal cords uttered a few keywords. "Idol Meeting Magic! PISS OFF! No pun intended." Parita targeted herself and the surrounding area, covering the bat tornado. A beacon of golden light descended as though the second sun fired a solar laser upon them. "WHAT IS THIS MAGIC?!" The white bats looked up in shock and flapped their wings like their lives depended on it. The golden beacon arrived. As soon as the bats touched the light, they were ignited in golden flame. A dozen white bats managed to escape the light. They all gathered and merged into one black bat. Using the veil of the night, it flew away in panic. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⁂𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⁂𝓷𝓮𝓽 Parita vanished from where she had been. The next second, she floated in mid-air in front of Cathartes and seized him with her hand. For the first time, the mocap suit turned off Parita’s consciousness and fully possessed her. It turned off the livestream. Parita’s ears changed from elven to human. From a casual t-shirt and pants, they transformed into a Gothic black dress, complemented by accessories and shoes. Her eyes shone red, and her hair became white. Cathartes was stunned by the sudden transformation. While in bat form, it asked with a trembling voice. "You...who are you?! What are you?! No magic can erase the scorched blood! Nothing should be able to harm us!" The white woman’s voice was deep and different from Parita’s. She scoffed, and a blue square panel emerged in front of Cathartes. [It’s none of your concern.] Green flame emerged from her hand and caught Cathartes on fire. He squirmed and squealed in agony as his consciousness and soul were being burned away. That was not all. Purple butterflies appeared out of nothingness and rushed into the flame. They phased through the white woman’s hands as though they were ethereal beings. However, the little transparent creatures fetched a crimson marble out of the burning bat and carried it toward her. The woman received it. Compressing it between her thumb and index finger, the red marble disintegrated. After completely annihilating the virus core, the woman closed her eyes. Parita’s elven appearance returned. Her Gothic clothes reverted to a modern t-shirt and pants. Parita regained consciousness instantly. She blinked a few times, realizing that she had blacked out. She asked the system. Parita looked down. She realized that, for some reason, she had been floating in mid-air. "...Why am I flying?" As soon as the system teased, Parita fell to the ground. She landed on her feet and stumbled backward. She looked up, baffled. "Umm. I know you did something to me, but what?" Parita didn’t give up inquiring about strange events. [The vampire foe has used a mind spell on you. You managed to defeat it while you were unconscious. Is that an adequate explanation?] Parita tilted her head and stared at the system screen. If she could earn a nickel every time the system did something suspicious, she would have earned several bucks. It might not be much, but every system’s suspicious move seemed to guide her in a weird direction that she couldn’t explain. "Yeah, no. You sus. Are you an imposter?" [...You’ve got me. *Insert Walter Wh*te Meme Here*] "Tsk." Parita rolled her eyes. She believed that the system AI was being sarcastic. "Let’s go home. No more skinwalking." "And tell me which stats I should allocate my points to, Mr. Know-it-all."