The Parasite

The Parasite is a mysterious Dernic creature that was sent to drain the Gavel Province of its light. With nearly all of Northwest Gavel suffering under the effects of the Decay, it has then leeched off of the light of Orphion, the Beast of Light.

Appearances
The Parasite serves as a major supporting character in the quests Realm of Light II - Taproot and Realm of Light III - A Headless History, as well as making appearances in Secret Discoveries, and the Hatchlings of it throughout West Gavel also serve to spread the Decay even further.

Realm of Light II - Taproot
The Parasite is seen for the first time with Orphion showing the Player an event known as The Equinox. It shows Lari fighting the creature, yet not using enough power to kill it. Despite all of Lari's attempts to make peace with the strange creature, the Parasite ignored them, and continued to fight. Orphion stated that Lari was clinging to her morals, and thus, caused the Parasite to overpower her.

Centuries later in 852 AP, Atisun Caritat's great-grandfather built his mansion above the place where the Parasite first emerged, as depicted in Memory Paranoia.

Realm of Light III - A Headless History
The Player gets introduced to Dullahan in the quest, who was shown to use his magical energy to keep Lari alive after she nearly got killed from The Parasite's attacks. However, as they were both planning to stop The Parasite's attacks, The Parasite was going underground to build its Cocoon, and built up power while they both were looking for a way.

The Parasite later reemerged from the ground in 800 AP, and Lari and Dullahan were prepared to fight it. Dullahan encouraged Lari to drop her morals in the fight and kill the Parasite, but Lari clung to them, and just weakened the Parasite, not killing it. As Lari was outmatched in the fight, and as the Parasite was about to bite her, Dullahan sacrificed himself and got bit instead. This caused Dullahan's face to morph into a twisted expression, and he was terrified at the fact that the people of Gelibord might see him in that state. That bite from the Parasite also caused his Light to fade, and when he was beheaded and then revived at the Lazarus Pit, Dullahan's Light was then quashed by the Darkness, which caused him to do sadistic practices to get his revenge on Gelibord.

The Heart of the Decay
In The Heart of the Decay, the Player sees The Parasite infect a stump with the Decay, and as the years passed by, the tree became more and more withered, as well as the land surrounding it as well.

Ne du Valeos du Ellach
In Ne du Valeos du Ellach, the Player first sees the Parasite in the Heart of the Decay as it makes a Portal to another place. Then, after Orphion speaks to the beast of Dern, the Player sees the Parasite latch on to Orphion, leeching its light away.

Orphion's Nexus of Light
In Orphion's Nexus of Light, the Player can see the Parasite as a black matter around Orphion's body, which causes its victim to act berserk, tainting it with Darkness. However, after Orphion has been weakened enough by the group of players, the Parasite will detach itself from Orphion, revealing itself as the true final boss of the Raid. While the Parasite is much easier than Orphion, it should not be underestimated in power, as it is burst-ranged and has 1.05 Million HP. Once the Parasite has been defeated, the Raid will be completed, and Orphion says that now, because its Hatchlings can no longer leech directly off of the Light, causing them all to perish, and restoring the vibrant forests of Gavel.

The Parasite's Hatchlings
The Hatchlings are the descendants of The Parasite. They are commonly seen from the Llevigar Plains to the Gylia Plains, and they do everything the Parasite was supposed to after it leeched off of Orphion. They can first be seen in the Ultimate Discovery of the Olux Swamp, The Bane of Gavel, as they roam around and the surrounding forest decays to become a shadow of what it once was. They can also be seen in A Dividing Force, as Lari uses the opportunity to show the Player the barrier created to protect the Light Forest as a Parasite will emerge from the ground. They also play a role in Realm of Light I - The Worm Holes, as Lari and the Player find out that the Mother Wyrm of the Grootslangs were eating a lot of Hatchlings, and thus, Lari purified the inside to rid it of the Hatchlings, although it also killed the mother Wyrm as a result. The descendants of the mother Grootslang were also infected with the Hatchlings, which is why they must be stopped to prevent them from destroying the province, in the Raid Nest of the Grootslangs. The Hatchlings also serve as a major character in the quest, Lexdale Witch Trials, as one is found in the home of a resident, Amira, and the Player can see the sheer effects of the Decay as a result of them traversing the tunnels. A species known as the Tunnel Dwellers have been ruined because of the Parasites, making the area they live in near-uninhabitable. After finally getting a cage to trap the Hatchling in from the Chieftain of the Tunnel Dwellers, the Hatchling then goes on a rampage, until the Hatchling becomes too tired to continue, and stops near Lexdale. Showing the Parasite to the Mayor, Amira is no longer subject to the witch trial she was on, and the Mayor says he will inform the government of Gavel about the eldritch creature.

Trivia

 * The Parasite is one of the three mobs in the game to have a dark red name, the others being The Eye and the main boss of Lava Springs, the Heart of Lava.