Chapter 63 : Bath Broadcast 3
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-That centipede is so damn fast.
-Chase Scene ver. 2
From the viewers' perspective, the speed of the Blade Centipede, which had chosen to flee at full speed to escape my grasp, must have felt like it momentarily escaped their perception.
Honestly, I lost track of the centipede's movements for a brief moment too because of its speed.
I'm strong, but I'm not incredibly fast.
I only appear fast because I hurl my body like a missile with sheer leg strength or brute force.
Well, that's just how it seems from the viewers' perspective.
To be clear, even though I don't have the incredible reflexes that someone like Menelapie has, specialized in speed, I could at least accelerate my perception by enhancing my senses with holy power.
So, in conclusion…
[Screeech!]
-ㅗㅜㅑ
-Did you see that just now?
-The centipede is fast, but the streamer is faster, lol.
-The drone camera can't even keep up with the streamer, lol.
-Damn, that's fast.
The Blade Centipede, which had tried to throw its body into a wider and brighter world, was stopped by my extended tentacles.
Since it was 15 meters long, it was actually easier to grab.
I raised my body from the hot spring water and slowly walked toward the Blade Centipede, which was caught by my tentacles.
Ugh, it's cold.
Was it because the water was warm? The cold wind suddenly made me feel freezing.
"Alright, just in case it tries to run away again…"
[Miracle – Holy Body Descent]
[Miracle – Holy Body Descent]
[Miracle – Holy Body Descent]
With one use of Holy Body Descent, five tentacles emerge.
The miracle of the holy body is to drag down what was once divine into this mortal body.
It's a blasphemous miracle that uses something sacred and great as nothing more than the hands and feet of the Saintess of the Dead.
-What the heck?
-That's even creepier than the centipede.
-Her tentacles are… so much… hehe…
-They're here, lol.
-ㅗㅜㅑ
-There are more tentacles today?
-Not just more, like a ton more, lol.
-Even with the streamer's body censored, it's still so suggestive, and now with all these tentacles, I can't stop having weird thoughts, lol.
-Woahh
-Hueueung… Tentacle Noona…
If I use Holy Body Descent one more time, 25 tentacles split off.
And if I use it again, 125 tentacles bloom like flowers, nourished by my body and holy power.
As if to signify how blasphemy spreads in an instant, the number of tentacles multiplies exponentially with each use of the miracle.
Oh, masterless hands of these twisted creatures.
You who have no place to go, your place is with me, and I shall be your vessel.
All will become my hands.
My will shall be yours, and you shall become my faith.
Thus, peace shall come upon you, and to the hungry, food will come…
Quietly, seize that foolish centipede that hates baths and bring it before me.
"Today, Shia will be the Bath Fairy!"
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-I'm not going to be a saintess anymore!
-Saintess Resignation Declaration, lol.
-She gave up being a saintess again, lol.
-A fairy? With that body? More like a succubus or a demon, lol.
-For real, lol.
-Fairy Declaration;
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
As soon as I spoke, the tentacles grabbed onto the segments of the Blade Centipede one by one.
[Screeech!!]
"Hold still! Just bear with it for a moment!"
-No! Let me go! I'm scared!
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The centipede getting tied up, lol.
-Dude, did the filter think this tentacle binding was inappropriate?
-Huh?
-It really did, lol.
-Look, the centipede tied up by tentacles got SDified, lol.
"Come on now, don't be scared. It'll be over before the pattern on the ceiling slowly fades! Close your eyes, come here!"
[Screeech… f**k…!]
-What the heck did it just say…?
-How is this a saintess…?
-Saintess Assaulting Centipede…
-The saintess is forcibly doing something to the Blade Centipede, lol.
-The chat is going crazy, lol.
-This is dizzying.
The first thing I did was cover the Blade Centipede's eyes with a warm towel soaked in hot spring water.
I'd heard that when capturing or subduing wild animals, the first thing you do is take away their sight with a blindfold, and sure enough, when I covered its head with the towel, its resistance lessened.
"Haha, good. It seems the Blade Centipede is starting to trust me now? You trust me, right, Unnie?"
-No, it's more like the streamer bound all its segments with her tentacles, so how would it even move, lol?
"…Oh, is that so?"
Ahem, no.
The Blade Centipede definitely trusts me.
It believes without a doubt that I won't do anything harmful to it.
[Screeech… f**k…f**k… damn…!]
That's odd. It feels like I keep hearing weird noises from somewhere.
"Now that I look closer, the Blade Centipede's body is pretty tough."
When I pinned the centipede to the ground with my tentacles and sat on top of it, there was a smooth yet firm texture that made contact with my rear.
[Screeech…!]
"Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it."
First, the most important thing is to drench it in water.
Even though it had soaked in the hot spring water with me, I made sure to carefully wet the 15-meter body, paying close attention to the legs and the segments in between.
At first, I was worried that its breathing holes might get clogged, but thankfully, this thing is at least a B-rank monster.
It doesn't seem like it would suffocate just from getting wet.
[Screeeech…]
The centipede seemed to have completely given up resisting, its body going limp.
"See? Isn't it nice when you give up? It's good for both you and me, right?"
-Why does she sound like a criminal, lol?
-Criminal Saintess…
-Hey now…
-Let's not call it a crime; let's call it a nuisance.
-It's too minor to be a crime, but too weird to be normal, so we've decided to call it a nuisance.
Animals apparently need their own specialized shampoo or soap.
But sadly, the Moonlit Pavilion of Yeongwol's hot spring didn't have anything like that prepared, and even if it did have pet-specific shampoo or soap, I had no reason to believe it would work on this Blade Centipede.
After all, it's not a pet; it's a monster.
I shouldn't forget that this Blade Centipede, though scared and submissive now, is not a normal creature, but a monster filled with malice that shouldn't exist here.
Even though I like to playfully tease it now and then, having grown somewhat attached to it.
"Now that we're all wet, let's start with some soap."
While I was at it, I lathered some soap on myself too.
And as I worked up a good lather… Oh, this feels nice.
Squeak, squelch, squish.
-Woah
-Is this soap…?
-Wow Wow
-Definitely possible.
-It's censored, but it's still so suggestive.
I thought it would be easy, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized this thing's body is seriously huge.
15 meters. Just by length alone, it's as tall as a 5-story building.
Considering I had to soap every one of its countless segments, legs, and even its venomous fangs, it was practically a major operation.
"Huff, do you feel good?"
[Screeech…]
Haha, that's a relief.
The centipede seems to be enjoying it too.
-…Is that the sound of the Blade Centipede's last breath?
-Really?
-No, maybe it's genuinely enjoying it.
-I'm going to live as a Blade Centipede from now on!
-Mom, I wanted to be a centipede!
-These guys are nuts, lol.
-What did your mom ever do to deserve this?
-But think about it. If you were that centipede, squashed by the streamer's tentacles, and now she's rubbing soap on you… Wow. Holy crap, I'm getting a nosebleed…
-Wow Wow
"Hey, I'm not rubbing anything! I'm just soaping it up with my hands! You pervs, is this really that exciting?"
-Yes!
-Yes!
-Yeah!
-Yes!
-Too good…
-Hueueung…
At first, just using my hands to soap it wasn't enough, so eventually, I had to use my tentacles one by one, rubbing down the Blade Centipede's entire body.
In doing so, I made an unexpected discovery… this thing is female.
How do I know?
You don't need to know that.
I don't particularly want to explain.
"Centipede, does it feel good?"
[Screeech…kill…me…]
"You're feeling so good you could die, huh? Hehe, I like it too."
-?
-Did I just hear it asking to be killed?
-Didn't hear anything, lol?
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-I feel like I heard something, lol.
Squeak, squelch.
Squish.
Swaaah…
Phew, alright.
All done.
Now to rinse it off…
[Screeeech…]
"Wow, so clean now."
-Survived!
-Centipede: Please… kill me…
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The centipede is oddly funny, lol.
-Sounds like it's breathing its last breath.
Compared to when I used the purification miracle to clean its body, this was totally different.
The Blade Centipede's shell was now shiny and sleek, and the gloss was so strong that it faintly reflected my face like a mirror.
I carefully scrubbed its legs, making sure no soap bubbles were left, and while its appearance hadn't changed much, I felt incredibly refreshed.
[Screeeech…]
Finally, the Blade Centipede raised its head.
It sounded weak, but I was sure that the relaxing hot spring water and soap had loosened it up.
"Where are you going?"
[Screeech…?]
"If you're done with the soap, we still have to do shampoo."
-?
-??
-Huh?
-But isn't shampoo for animals with fur or something?
"It looks like it has some downy hair."
-Oh my god, lol.
-Is the centipede going through hell…?
Shampoo makes a lot more bubbles than soap, so handling the centipede and keeping control of it is key.
Since I couldn't let the shampoo foam get into its breathing holes, I blocked them off firmly with my tentacles.
[Screeech!]
"There, there… It's all over now. Good, good. Almost done. Just a little more~"
-This is like my gym instructor.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-"It's all over" = Not over at all.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The Blade Centipede, which seemed unable to endure any longer, attempted to escape, but I forcibly subdued it with strength and quickly scrubbed its entire body with shampoo.
Good.
The foam comes out quickly, so it's convenient.
Now, once again…
Swaaah…
"Phew, look how clean you are. Doesn't it feel great to be clean?"
[Screeech… Eek…!]
At that moment, something dark shot out of the Blade Centipede's mouth.
Don't worry, it's not internal organs or blood.
It's just something it ate earlier.
It seems like it couldn't digest it properly and ended up throwing it up.
"Ah, I should turn off the camera now."
-??
-?
-Stop
-Ah, what's going on?
-It was good, though.
-Stop switching the camera!
If I cover the Blade Centipede and myself in foam, there's a chance the filter won't work properly.
Anyway, those nasty viewers would be satisfied just with the sounds.
-Why though!!!
-Noona, you've been showing everything so far.
-Ah…
-Ah…
['KawaiiHorned' has donated 100,000 won!]
ㄴNoona, please.
['Apple Blended' has donated 830,000 won!]
ㄴThere's a filter anyway. Please turn the camera back on, please.
['HoshoKaijokuSenchoMiko' has donated 1,350,000 won!]
ㄴUnnie! Unnie! Unnie! Please! Quickly! Please switch the camera back!
['HoshoMiko' has donated 935,000 won!]
ㄴUnnie, it's all my money, please show it, there's a filter.
"No, I don't want to."
No, I won't.
Honestly, it's too much trouble.
I'm already putting all my concentration into washing this centipede.
To be honest, it's almost done now, but turning the camera at this point would be a bit mean.
The most important thing to make people mad is two things: one is to leave a sentence unfinished, and the other is to show something nice but not give it all the way.
"Alright, we're not done yet. Just hang in there a little longer."
-When will this be over?!!
-Save me…
-What's so annoying is that I can only hear the sounds of water and soap squishing, so my imagination is going wild.
-For real.
"It's really almost done."
Phew, even though I wasn't sweating, this was a pretty tough job.
The Blade Centipede's long body was one problem, but scrubbing each of those countless wriggling legs by hand was quite laborious.
No joke, there must have been hundreds of legs.
"Huuh… finally done."
After that, I spent two hours next to the hot spring, diligently washing the Blade Centipede.
Naturally, I ended the broadcast midway.
I only started the broadcast today to give the viewers a brief survival report. I never intended to do a full bath broadcast.
Even if I did, it would be with a person, not a centipede.
Though I started it as a joke, I think I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
Plus, it's been a while since I've bathed like this.
There used to be others who would bathe and attend to me, but now, in contrast, I was the one taking care of… well, it's a bit strange to call the Blade Centipede "someone," since it's a pretty grotesque monster… but anyway, it was a unique experience.
When I stepped out onto the balcony, it was already dawn, a time when everyone else was asleep.
Originally, the rookie agents dispatched from the Hunter Association would have been frantic, but since we cleared the raid dungeon, which was expected to take at least one to two weeks, in just 24 hours, their workload must have significantly decreased.
It was quiet and peaceful.
Not a single insect sound, nor any wild animal noises, could be heard.
The Blade Centipede was still soaking in the hot spring water.
Judging by its calm breathing, it had fallen asleep.
"Haa, it's cold."
As I leaned my heavy body against the balcony, the cool wind and cold seemed to crawl up my skin like a snake.
Feeling the pleasant chill, I looked out at the scenery.
The Moonlit Pavilion of Yeongwol is far enough from Andong city that there were no signs of life here, not even the usual cars.
It felt as if I were the only person left in the world.
Even though I knew I wasn't alone, this loneliness always filled me with fear.
Someone would be here soon, and as soon as the sun rose, this loneliness would disappear.
Just a moment ago, I had been chatting with the viewers, and the lively chatroom vanished as soon as I pressed the hologram button, as if it had never existed.
"….It's been a while."
And among all this, I looked down at the small piece that had popped out of the Blade Centipede's mouth.
"It's really been a while…"
A black gem, with something engraved on it, in a dark purple hue, like gloomy blood.
The gem was shattered, as if it had been struck by lightning.
This was the reason I had turned off the camera earlier.
"...."
Old memories came flooding back.
Not the good kind, like nostalgic memories of the past, but the nightmares I had tried to forget.
An adaptive copy dungeon…
It posed no particular threat to me.
But for hunters, it was a different level of danger, a malicious, cruel living dungeon unlike any previous ones.
As someone once said, if I hadn't been there, that place might have continuously consumed hunters, becoming a threat to humanity.
A new kind of dungeon that hadn't existed before, and even the Walkers I had seen in the previous world.
I knew that this hideous black gem in my hand was the cause of all of it.
And it wasn't just a gem.
It wasn't an inanimate object either.
Even after being separated from the dungeon boss and swallowed by the Blade Centipede, it was still alive.
I had seen this before.
No, it wasn't just that I had seen it.
I had destroyed it countless times.
Crushed, devoured, chewed it up until not a single fragment remained.
From long ago in my memories.
Something I never thought I'd see again.
The Fragment of the Demon King.
The malignant being that was destroyed by me, Teresa, and Menelapie in the previous world.
"The Demon King…."
I glared at the fragment of the Demon King, which pulsed slowly in my hand, and closed my eyes.
○○○
Baptism.
It means to be submerged in water.
Or, it refers to a purification ritual with religious significance, involving washing with water.
In every religion, the act of baptism or the divine act of caring for the lowliest being holds significance.
The idea that the highest saints and gods care for and love the lowest creatures is itself applied as a 'baptism,' and the methods of this vary.
Some religions wash feet, while others sprinkle water on the head.
Baptism can also be done by simply applying a small amount of water, or even by smearing mud.
My flesh and blood are sometimes substituted with bread and wine for nourishment, and baptism is a blessing and a grace.
It applies equally to the wicked and the good, the rich and the poor.
Shia, whether she intended it or not, had baptized the fortunate Blade Centipede.
As the Saintess of the Dead, it wasn't the first time Shia had bestowed a baptism on someone.
However, for a monster with malice to receive a baptism from the Saintess of the Dead… It might bring unforeseen results for both Shia and the Blade Centipede.