As this was happening, I could feel a strange sensation of something dangling from my ear along with the dull sting on my cheek as a result of Erana's surprisingly powerful slap. Everyone was staring at whatever it was that had come out of my ear. Kany looked grossed out. Tael seemed to think it was cool. Erana merely held a determined look on her face. Meanwhile, I was shocked by the fact that I could say the word "sorry" as I had been previously incapable of taking any actions.
"So, the seed finally rears its ugly head, huh?" Tael smugly declared.
"W-What? Seed? Eww!" Kany shouted.
"I've seen this creature before, Tael-san, but I've never seen the seed. What do we do?" Erana turned to Tael and asked.
As they were looking at each other, I could feel whatever was dangling from my ear slowly begin to climb back in. This is one of the most disgusting sensations I've ever felt before. It's like a large blob of snot coming from your nose, but instead from your ear.
"First you gotta grab it!" Tael ran forward and grabbed whatever was climbing back into me. I could feel a sudden jolt of what may have been electricity course through my body as he did this.
"Ow…" I was able to let out.
"Sorry man! This is gonna get worse before it gets better!" Tael shouted as he began to pull.
"N-No! I won't let you do this!" Rena shouted as she ran forward. Fortunately, Kany was ready to intercept her.
"Hah. Sorry lady, but Onii-san isn't yours. I'm not gonna just let you take him." Kany struck a combat pose as she pointed her dagger towards Rena. It seems like Rena understood her position as she slowly backed away.
I guess her love wasn't actually all that strong. Wait, why am I disappointed?
I turned my attention back to Erana and Tael.
"Okay, so basically this thing is a seed that controls people. It digs its roots deep in the victim's body and starts working as a remote control for the mulaplix." Tael explained. "The seeds bury themselves deeper and deeper the longer they're in the victim. They retract when they're really cold so I used my frost spell to bait this sucker out."
"I see. So basically we need to yank this seed and its roots out?" Erana looked at Tael with serious eyes.
"Yep, but it's gonna squirm so you gotta pull like you mean it!"
"Alright… So then how will we do this?"
"I'll grab this and you grab that, okay? On the count of three we pull. Ready? One… Two…"
"Wait!" I was able to say. I felt Tael and Erana slightly ease their grips. "S-So this is gonna hurt really bad?" I whispered. I must have looked pitiful because Tael and Erana looked at me as if I was a sad puppy, but their gazes quickly shifted back to determination without answering me as they gripped hard once more.
"One… Two…" Tael started once more.
I whimpered.
"Three!" Tael shouted. I felt a sudden jolt as they began to yank at the seed that had come out of my ear. An incredibly uncomfortable sensation spread throughout my entire body as I felt something being pulled out of me.
"Gah! It's… really in there!" Tael muttered. He was fully exerting himself.
"Hyaa!" Erana shouted. She raised her left leg and put her foot on the side of my head to have a better grip.
Ow ow ow ow ow.
Slowly but surely the seed was being taken out of my body. I could feel each of its roots leaving me as Erana and Tael continued to pull.
"Almost… there!" Erana shouted out. Even she was exhausted.
"Hyaa!" They both shouted in unison as I felt the last bits of the seed leave my body. I feel… different. Yeah, that's the word I'll use.
The vines and roots that were holding me in place released me when the seed left me. I could control myself again! This is fantastic!
I turned over to look at the seed.
Some strange amalgamation of roots laid on the ground as it squirmed around. It was at least a meter long. The roots looked like they were each as thin as blood vessels.
"Kenji-san, are you okay?"
"..."
"Yo, Kenji! Are you alright man?"
"..."
"Um… Kenji-san?"
"That thing was in me." I finally spoke.
"Y-Yeah, but we got it out!" Erana smiled slightly.
"No no no. You don't understand. That THING was in me. It was there squirming around. Look at how huge that thing is! What the h.e.l.l!" I wanted to keep a bit of distance from the seed so I ducked behind Tael.
"W-Well man, it's out now so it should be fine!" Tael a.s.serted.
"Firebolt!" I shouted out as I unleashed my flames at the seed pod. It writhed around for a moment as it was consumed by the heat.
"Firebolt!" I struck it again.
"U-Um, Kenji-san?"
"Firebolt!" I shot another bolt out.
"Hey, it's dead." Tael looked concerned.
"Firebolt!" Another one.
"Okay okay I get it!" It's dead!" Tael grabbed my hand and shouted.
"Ah, right. Okay." I looked from the seed pod that had been reduced to ash and back towards Tael and Erana.
"Well, it's good to have you back, Kenji-san." Erana slightly smiled as she said this.
Ah. That makes me happy. I'm glad that she doesn't want to pull the "I refuse to talk to you" trope.
"Yeah. Sorry about all this…" I began.
"Nah, don't worry about it! We found the people that were missing because you screwed up!" Tael tried to rea.s.sure me, but somehow I feel like he made it worse.
Kany returned to us. Rena was lying down on the ground. It seems she was knocked out.
"So, is Onii-san back to 100%?" She asked.
"Yeah I am. Thank you guys." I expressed my genuine grat.i.tude.
"Good. I don't like being choked." Kany gave me shifty eyes as she said this. I think I heard Tael quietly say "noted" but I might be imagining things.
"Well, now that Kenji-san is back, we need to take down the mulaplix!" Erana declared. She turned to face the open pod.
Mully slowly descended to the ground in response to Erana's goading.
"If you think it's going to be easy to take me down, you're sorely mistaken." Mully yelled out.
Suddenly, all of the villagers that had been standing idly turned to look at us. This was essentially a scene straight out of a horror film. I think I even heard Kany go "eep" when they did this.
Slowly, each of the villagers brought their arms out, as if to replicate a T and then quickly brought their hands together to loudly clap.
Normally, this wouldn't do much. People clap loudly all the time. Concerts, movies, performances, people clap in large groups for all of them, but this was different.
Something was supernaturally amplifying the sound of the clapping. The sound echoed so loudly that the sound wave it created shook the nearby trees. It took all we had to just stand up.
We backed away. Taking this as us surrendering, Mully ceased the clapping.
"Hmph. If I can't have Kenji, then I will have another. It's only a matter of time of course. People will stumble upon me, just like Rena or that couple from before did!" Mully declared.
Wait, "that couple from before?"
"Those people… did they look like Rena at all?" I suddenly asked.
"Hmm… I've never given it much thought, but now that I think about it, they did! How interesting!" Mully lazily held a hand to her face.
"Mully killed Rena's parents." I quietly stated.
"Oh jeez." Tael held his head in shock. Kany said nothing but looked at Rena on the ground. Erana looked at Mully with an odd ferocity.
"Well… What do we do now?" Kany looked at me and asked.
I held my head in thought. What exactly can we do about the sound barrier?
A lightbulb appeared above my head as I looked at the self proclaimed idol that was lying face down in the dirt.
"Rena, can you get up?" I walked over to her and shook her.
"W-What are you doing, Kenji? She's our enemy!" Tael shouted out.
"Maybe, but it's our only option. Trust me on this, okay?" I looked at the party for rea.s.surance. One by one, they all nodded their heads in compliance. Tael was the last to reluctantly accept this.
"Rena, I need you right now. Can you hear me?" I gently shook her as I tried to wake her up.
"Mrrgh…" She let out.
"Rena, I need you to help me. Girlfriends help their boyfriends when they need it, right?" I nudged her more.
"H-Huh?" Rena suddenly shot up. Tael, Kany, and Erana all looked at me as if I was crazy for saying this.
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