Symphony for the Insect Princess

But that's it.

The relationship between hunter and prey will not change whether the prey is innocent, loyal, or pitiful.

I hope the bugs don’t dislike this old flesh and blood.

Chapter 152: Hunting Bugs (Part )

In the dark room, an object emitting yellow-green light was quietly suspended in the darkness.

It was a small spherical container, shrouded in a yellow-green halo, and it was impossible to see what was inside.

"That is to say..."

"According to the data transmitted by the sensors in their rooms, this group of people all possess astonishing magic. This includes necromancy at the wizard level and above, rarely used insect magic, unparalleled execution magic, and unknown magic that is independent of all existing magical systems."

Assistant No. 2 reported truthfully, and Oshimir tilted his head as he listened to the report.

He did show a lot of interest, but more of it was... a kind of amusement.

"So... what are you going to do?" the assistant asked cautiously.

"I'm also considering whether I should go along with their wishes."

Osimer removed his mask, his lips curling slightly. Beneath the mask was a surprisingly youthful face, smooth skin and a well-defined expression. He looked nothing like an elderly man his age, more like a teenager of fourteen or fifteen. His assistant knew that a drug experiment had gone awry in his youth, leaving him with a body permanently frozen in the age of fifteen—though only superficially, his inner aging was still continuing. But that didn't matter; after all, for Osimer, he could always change bodies whenever he wished.

The mask seemed to be a switch that changed his personality. Without the mask, he no longer had the usual madness, but instead had the feeling of a calm thinker.

"what do you mean……"

"This is clearly intentional. Knowing that every spot in the Atlas Building is under our surveillance, they recklessly use magic that would be considered heresy anywhere. They're clearly trying to show me off. These cunning little girls are—no, the truly cunning one is probably only Zelah, the leader. She wants to gain my attention by demonstrating their worth, so that I'll protect them from Riversta... To put it bluntly, she wants to use me as a pawn!"

but--

"But the point is, they're all incredibly rare and precious materials. With proper research, we could uncover something profound enough to change the world. Even if I know they'll be used as pawns, I still treat them as my own possessions and won't let the unromantic Riversta destroy them."

Oshimir shrugged exaggeratedly to end the conversation.

But aides still expressed concern.

"Is this really okay? For a few good materials, we're going to fight the Sage of the Stars—"

"They are just the fuse at most. Rivista will come to me one day to settle things. It's only a matter of time."

Then Oshimir waved his hand, signaling them to stop and retreat.

"Are you going to 'fall asleep' again?"

"Yeah...we've almost finished syncing. These next few days will probably be the last few days for me to fall asleep."

------------

Time flies.

Just two days have passed.

In the blink of an eye, the third day arrived.

It's three o'clock in the afternoon.

(This is... my left arm, so this is the trapezius muscle?)

(It shouldn't need the same muscle structure as humans; it should find the head and heart before the limbs.)

(Since Oshimir wants to use me, he must still use humans as a reference. At least there will be some similarities in the internal structure.)

(But it is absolutely impossible to compare it to humans! And no matter how detailed the research is now, it will be forcibly demolished in the future!)

(Didn't I say that? Don't underestimate the enemy. No one can judge its full strength before it truly activates!)

Sedraon and Aisia were engaged in a fierce mental battle, their fingers gesturing rapidly in the air.

On the other side, Charlotte had been meditating for several hours, motionless like an old monk in meditation, while Qimila made strange sound effects with her mouth and danced with her hands, probably trying to find the feeling of releasing magic.

Only Nellis was asleep.

As usual, she was only wearing underwear and stockings, lying straight on the soft bed, wrapped in the quilt like a caterpillar, breathing deeply, and it seemed that she was fast asleep.

Sleep soundly.

defenseless.

But no one approached her, not even Asia attacked her.

After all, when they thought about what disgusting stuff was stuffed under that human skin, they wanted to run away.

……

……

……

Outside the Atlas Building——

"……success."

In the shadows between the buildings, Nellis walked out of a teleportation array made of insects. This teleportation array was so sophisticated that even Oshimir could not detect that she had slipped out of the Atlas Building.

Looking into the puddles on the ground, he saw a beautiful girl reflected in the water. Her dark golden eyes and dark blue hair were very impressive, exactly like Asia.

After looking left and right and confirming that her true appearance could no longer be seen from this face, Nellis walked out of the shadows.

Now her vision was fragmented into countless pieces, as if she were monitoring thousands of monitors simultaneously, all of which were the views of the familiars scattered throughout Okomi. If Oshimir discovered that "Asia" had slipped away, it would be disastrous, so she had to perfectly avoid all the surveillance equipment in the city.

Or keep surveillance equipment away from her.

"Thanks to Asia's technical support... Go ahead, 'Mechanic Jammer'."

After walking out of the alley, a surveillance camera at the entrance of the alley turned towards her, but just before it shone on the girl, a mosquito-like but metallic flying insect crawled onto the monitor and stabbed its cable with the sharp spikes on its mouth.

……

The camera suddenly froze, then turned back immediately, ignoring Nelris.

Nellis walked onto the street so openly. Mechanical jammers flew to all the monitors along the way, temporarily interfering with their vision when Nellis approached. As long as she was not seen directly by the people of Oshimir, she would never be discovered.

Besides, Oshimir is now asleep, which is precious free time.

Nellis always puts violence last.

But this does not mean that she hates violence.

Since the dawn of humanity, violence has been the solution to nearly every problem, and it remains so today. While its advantages lie in its efficiency and directness, its disadvantages lie in its difficulty to control and its significant side effects. The use of violence often results in a mutually destructive situation and can lead to a host of additional problems.

But sometimes violence is necessary.

Even if we can use wisdom to avoid all avoidable direct conflicts and end the war before it starts, there will still be a small gray area that cannot be covered by reason. That is the primitive savagery that is innate to human beings, and the factor of craving for violence that is engraved deep in the biological genes.

Therefore, even if it is just to deal with the 1% possibility of a violent conflict breaking out, we must be 100% prepared.

Preparation for violence.

Preparation for battle.

So for her, this was both a hunt and a combat exercise.

Note 1: Act decisively and never hesitate

Note 2: Don't fight too long, clear out the soldiers as soon as possible

Note 3: Make their death painful

Note 4: Let Riversta see the body of his confidant

Note 5: When doing "follow-up work", make sure that the "Flague of Mercy" does not activate.

--------------

"Ryan, are you sure!?"

"Yes! The blue-haired girl from that group appeared outside the Atlas Building, and for some reason, the Sage of All Skills didn't seem to notice her actions!"

"This……"

Riversta frowned as he listened to the voice. Logically, these girls must be very important to Oshimir. Given his wicked personality, he wouldn't let them go easily. So, did that girl slip away on her own? Why? And where were her companions?

"Didn't you see anyone else? There should be four other women!"

"No! She's the only one!"

"...I understand, but don't act rashly. Perhaps this is Oshimire's conspiracy. I'll confirm it and then 'send her away'!"

“As you wish—huh!?”

On the other end of the conversation, the hermit seemed to have discovered something, and suddenly a strange sound was heard, as if something tiny was constantly vibrating.

Reminiscent of... the fluttering of insect wings?

"Hello? What's wrong?"

------------

"what happened……"

The hermit Ryan frowned. He was now standing next to an empty track. Not far away from him was a station on the track. It was not a big station, and there were few people there. The environment was also very clean.

But at this moment, something unpleasant appeared on the bright silver metal floor.

(cockroach!?)

Suddenly, brown-black shapes emerged from the darkness, swarming from the ceiling, corners, under seats, and blind spots... Incredibly fast and silent, by the time he noticed, half the station was already covered in them. Each cockroach was the size of a palm, and the mere sight of them was enough to make one's stomach churn. Those waiting at the station were terrified and fled in all directions. These strange, giant cockroaches could not only fly but also squeak eerily.

This is definitely not an ordinary pest, but a very low-level monster! Someone who can control the insect monster—a bug master?

"Lord Riversta, I was attacked by an unknown person, but don't worry, it will be resolved immediately."

Having said that, Ryan stopped talking, and brilliant silver light flickered at his fingertips. As a sage of the stars, he also used astrological magic, but he had always been committed to using astrological magic for barriers.

"Xingjia Prison!"

With a casual pinch, the silver light from his fingertips instantly transformed into countless slender silver spikes that spread throughout the station. In that instant, everything in the station stopped moving. The air stopped flowing, scattered objects were frozen in mid-air, and the cockroaches were naturally imprisoned. The Xingjia Prison was an extremely advanced barrier that confined an entire space. Ryan only used less than 10% of its effectiveness, but it was enough to deal with the low-level monsters on the ground. If he had used his full strength, he could have imprisoned half of Okomi.

"It seems that's all it is, Eye of the Star Spirit!"

Ryan's eyes turned into a brilliant silver-white, and everything within a radius of several kilometers came into his sight without any obstruction, even the narrow gaps between buildings or dark sewers were within the search range.

Then let's see, how dare such a daring rat attack the hermits of the Starry Sky Ruins in a public place?

"……No?"

Inside the station,

Outside the station,

Sky,

underground,

There was no one who looked like the attacker.

Damn it, what the hell——

"First."

Clang!!!!!!!!!

The moment the voice came from behind, Ryan's vision rose and he did a 360-degree turn.

His head flew off.

In the moment before his consciousness sank into darkness, what caught his eyes were two humanoid monsters waving sharp claws and his own headless corpse.

And a blue-haired girl with a cold look in her eyes.

"Just feed the body, the head is still useful."

Click!

The silver-white spikes that filled the entire station disappeared, the confined space began to flow again, the headless corpse was overwhelmed by a swarm of cockroaches, and the hermit's head was caught by one of the insect men before it hit the ground and was respectfully presented to Nellis.

Nellis took the head, and a brain worm slipped out of her sleeve and drilled into the head through the ear canal.

“…Yeah, it’s connected.”

The signal continues.

The old man's voice came over.

"Hey, what happened, Ryan? Have you dealt with the attacker? Come back quickly—Ryan? Ryan?"