Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 74: Back Home…[Body Horror Warning]

After wandering the forest, restless and afraid, Mino was forced to bring the young boy to the place she once called home, the infamous minotaur cave. Filled with every ilk of creatures except ironically minotaurs, there was no safer place for her and her five-year-old companion.

Holding his hand tight while passing through the darkness, the queen sensed many eyes on her, yet the bruises on their skin from past defiance kept them at bay.

Getting to the halls from where her clan protected her, Mino sat down in a corner and leaned against the wall. Shivering in fear having to walk under the eyes of so many monsters, the young boy stared at the ground with his eyes tight shut. Pulling him closer by the arm, Mino had him settle down beside her, but even then the boy refused to open his eyes to look.

"Hey," nudging him in the shoulder, she managed to spark open his eyelids. "What's your name kid? Alex? Gemini? Arthur? Those are the only human names I remember."

Wrapping his hands around his knees, the boy pulled his legs inward. Resting his head against his thighs, he remained quiet and shivering without speaking so much as a word. Staring at him for a bit expectantly, Mino took a deep breath and sighed. Giving up on making him talk, she decided to introduce herself to him at least.

"My species don't have names, we go by titles," reminiscing on her past, Mino's mind wandered through the memories of her slowly climbing the ladders of titles. "I was a queen once."

Glancing to the side with a somber look, she noticed the boy sneaking a peek at her as she spoke. However, the moment their eyes met, he quickly hid his face again, but instead of getting mad, Mino instinctually smiled and ran her fingers through his hair.

"Your clothes look like nobility, are you?" Much like the last, the boy refused to answer. Trying to comfort him some more, Mino pulled him closer from the side and murmured. "You can call me Mino, I'm not a queen anymore."

Silence took over the hall for a moment, but then slowly looking up with a hint of curiosity, the boy finally spoke up to Mino.

"Ar-Arthur…I'm Arthur," suddenly hearing the boy's voice, Mino blinked a few times as she turned her head to look at him.

"Oh, I was right then?" Chuckling to herself, she squeezed the boy in a warm hug. "You're safe with me, Arthur, okay? We'll find help as soon as morning hits."

Nuzzled up in the warmth of another person, the young boy's eyes grew droopy. His eyes shut on their own before Mino could let go of him, and by the time she did, his head flopped against her body. Unsure what to do, she hesitantly guided his head to her thighs so he could get to sleep comfortably.

'So weak, I wonder if every human kid is like this?' She wondered, her fingers running through the boy's hair–making him sink deeper into slumber.

Watching over the boy for a while, the queen couldn't help but grow tired as well, and before long she found herself drifting. Losing minutes and hours between winks without even realizing it, she felt as if she'd been awake the whole time even though her mind was forcing her to rest more the more time passed.

However, eventually, when her mind tired completely, her hand fell to the ground and her body went limp.

Sleeping inside the cave completely unaware of the horrors, Mino slept through half the day, and when she finally woke up, Arthur was gone. At first, she didn't remember anything about what had happened last night, but as it slowly came back, she began looking for the boy inside her chambers.

When she couldn't find him there or even inside the rest of the cave, she was forced to venture out with a renewed sense of urgency. Her search outside the cave, however, didn't last long, as standing at the edge of the cave, was the young boy staring at the bright sunlight illuminating the forest.

Rushing in his direction, Mino's eyes were glued right at him, but the moment her lips parted to call his name, her instincts made her jump back.

'What?!' Frozen in place, her eyes rampantly glanced over every one of her limbs. Refusing to listen to her, they kept her stuck in place–a result of evolutionary precaution that helped keep the physically weaker minotaurs behind their charging horde. 'Goddammit, why now–'

But then it hit her, the peculiarity of the situation. None of the monsters had approached the young boy or even tried to hunt him for a meal. Why was it? Why didn't they even try even though she wasn't with him? Looking back up at the young boy, the answer became clear. Slipping in two from the stomach, Arthur's upper body arched all the way back.

His bloodied eyes stared back at Mino as giant teeth sprang up from his torn stomach. Like the limbs of a spider, they arched to the sides before bending towards the ground. Lifting the young boy in the air, it stumbled side to side before stabilizing itself on its host.

"N-no…" When reality alters expectations to the point of absurdity, the minds of mortals are left paralyzed as they're incapable of perceiving the imperceivable. And Mino was no different, staring at the boy her mind had stopped working altogether, even her sharp instincts were at a loss as they'd never encountered such a horrific creature.

Scaling the absurdism further, tearing through the boy's eyes a pair of hairy spider limbs began thrashing and squeaking like a parasitic worm. Crawling side to side with Arthur's body barely holding itself together, the parasite kept sprouting more and more limbs in the most striking of forms.

But as it was finally done, transforming the boy into a horror with countless limbs made of teeth, fur, and blisters that stored blood on its back, it leaped towards Mino to spread its species further.

Her head hung low with her fingers curled into a fist, Mino, the queen of dead Minotaurs wasn't going to let it happen as for the first time in her life, she was truly, unimaginably…Angry.