Symphony for the Insect Princess

Page 48

Rumble, rumble, rumble! ! ! !

An uninvited guest got in.

“This guy!?”

"What--"

Suddenly, a big hole appeared in the ceiling, and it fell to the first floor along with wood and stone fragments. It landed on the ground, stood up, and then - made an extremely shrill scream!

“███████!!!!!!”

The high-frequency sound waves made the two defenseless people dizzy for a moment. In this brief moment, the guy passed through them and rushed towards somewhere -

"Mother!!!!!"

"Ariel!!!"

The smoke cleared.

The uninvited guest revealed his true identity.

It's a bug man.

But it was obviously different from the last one. Its head structure was similar to that of a locust, with two large scarlet eyes on its forehead, a slender torso, long hands and feet, and a spine-like tail dragging behind it.

The tail was now tightly wrapped around a small body - Ariel. She struggled painfully, but the insect man's tail was getting tighter and tighter, and one could even faintly hear a crackling sound.

In one of its hands, it held a small, glowing object—the Great Secret Treasure! Sedroon looked at Charlotte in surprise, only to see that her collar had been ripped. In that brief moment, Bugman No. 2 had taken advantage of the chaos and snatched the Great Secret Treasure!

"This beast!!!"

Although their focus was completely different, both Sedraon and Charlotte simultaneously turned their attention to the insect man! One was after the great secret treasure, the other was after the great secret treasure and even more so, her daughter. In just a moment, their murderous intent reached its peak!

however--

"██?"

The insect man looks weird.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Sedroon felt that an "expression" appeared on its locust-like face.

Not ferocious, not crazy, but confused.

The two red eyes darted back and forth over Ariel, seemingly confused by the young girl it had captured.

“…███!”

But the confusion lasted only a few seconds.

The insect man seemed to have made up his mind.

Perhaps because of its enhanced speed, its movements are much faster than the previous Zergman No. 1.

It was so fast that it was hard to see, so quick that even the two women couldn't stop it.

The bug-man used its free hand to pierce Ariel's chest.

Chapter 58: Kind-hearted ☆ Charlotte-chan and smart and cute ★ Sejoon-chan's happy day?

"sorry"

Who said this?

Who are you talking to again?

Is he the man who greeted death calmly?

Is that the knight with a face full of bitterness and hatred?

Is it the little girl pierced by countless crosses?

Or - what about myself who escaped the disaster by lying in the ruins in a mess?

The castle was destroyed, the roof was pierced, and the clouds that had covered the sky for years had dissipated at some point, and the dark castle finally welcomed the baptism of sunlight.

How bright and beautiful.

I can faintly hear the sound of fighting in the distance. Are the remaining undead creatures still fighting hard?

But those have nothing to do with me anymore.

Light, light, the light that I had been begging for in the past, now makes me feel so uncomfortable.

How... ironic.

I used to have everything, but suddenly I lost everything.

I thought I had nothing left, but suddenly I got "her".

I thought I would not lose anything anymore, but something unexpected happened.

This time there really is nothing left.

Only the power and knowledge that were forced upon him remained.

No... there's one more thing.

It was the mud that completely blackened the soul, like ink dripping into clear water; just a tiny bit was enough to contaminate everything.

"……hatred."

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

"Ahem...eh? I..."

The little girl opened her pure eyes wide and looked down.

The insect man's hand, as tough as steel, pierced into his chest and out from his back.

The little girl's smaller body hung on it.

Just like flowers blooming on branches.

Seeing this scene, everyone in the room was dumbfounded, even Sedroon's eyes widened. Such a delicate and beautiful life was suddenly lost at the hands of a monster. It would be hard for anyone to accept it, right?

"Hey, hey, hey, are you serious?"

Sedraon frowned and stared at the insect man, then looked at Charlotte.

I can already imagine what kind of tragedy will happen next.

Charlotte cared deeply about her daughter, who was the apple of her eye. Yet, her daughter died in vain, so it's no wonder she went insane.

but--

"Ah, ah... is this what happened?"

All I heard was a low murmur.

There was no crying, no yelling, and not even much surprise. Charlotte only showed an extremely anxious expression at the beginning, but she immediately regained her composure and sighed with emotion.

——It was only at this moment that Sedroon discovered something unusual.

"Why... do you want to hang me up?"

The little girl twisted her body, looking reluctant, and her little tantrum was really adorable—if she wasn't pierced through the chest.

Looking closely, there was almost no bleeding from the place where her chest was pierced. Judging from where the claws pierced, her spine should have been damaged as well, but she was still able to wave her limbs in protest.

It's just like—

"Ariel, does it hurt?" Charlotte called softly.

"No, don't worry, Mom... Wait, what is 'pain'?"

Ariel blinked her big eyes, her expression turning into confusion, and Sedroon made a new discovery - the little girl's eyes had almost no reflection. Although she had the agility of a young girl, she lacked the most basic vitality as a living being.

Why didn’t I notice it before?

"The so-called 'pain' is both a form of torture and a form of happiness. It's proof of being alive."

"'Alive'?"

"Yes, alive... But what meaning does this word have for us who have blurred the line between life and death? It's time to end this game of self-deception. Good night, my lovely Ariel."

Charlotte gave a wry smile and lightly snapped her fingers. Following her movement, Ariel's entire body suddenly shuddered, and then, like a puppet with a broken string, her limbs and head drooped limply.

——Then, his true identity was revealed.

“██████!!!!!!”

With a snap, a foul-smelling black-green liquid splashed, and the insect-man let out a shrill roar! Its slender yet extremely tough arm was suddenly destroyed by external force, and its upper arm was torn off! Ariel fell to the ground with an indistinct sound. Her—no, "its"—hands were stained with the insect-man's body fluids. The insect-man's severed arm was still stuck in its chest, but it had been severed by its tiny hands!

"Hiss...hiss, hiss..."

With an eerie exhalation, Ariel grabbed the severed arm and yanked it from her chest with a whoosh! The gaping hole in her chest hadn't healed, but that didn't affect her movements at all! As everyone watched in shock, the little girl's transformation completed—her hands and feet transformed into twisted claws, her grayish-white skin was covered in glowing purple-black lines, her long hair was disheveled, and her eyes beneath her bangs had become two dark, empty holes!

It's just like a zombie!

"An undead creature... and a 'high-quality' one, which is very rare these days..."

Sedroon looked at Charlotte in disbelief.

Look at a madman with eyes.

"Let me confirm this for now. Did you turn your daughter into a zombie, or did you raise the zombie as your daughter?

To this-

"Well, let's just assume it's the latter, right? Never mind that, let's get rid of this ugly bastard first—Ariel!"

“Ss ...

Zombie Ariel leaped forward and pounced on the insect-man. The zombie's claws collided with the insect's, and the blast of air from that collision alone blew everyone off their feet! Both sides were knocked back several steps. Ariel's claws were twisted and deformed, while the insect-man's claws were stained with a purple halo, corroded by death!

The insect man felt the pain and loosened his grip slightly, causing the treasure to fall to the ground again. He was about to pick it up, but Ariel entangled him again!

"Fuck, you stole the spotlight!"

Unable to contain himself, Sedroon swung his giant sword and was about to join the battle, but was suddenly stopped by Charlotte.

"What are you doing!"

"Hey, Miss Cedroon, I just had some second thoughts."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Before, I wanted to get rid of you as well, but after thinking about it carefully, this is really inappropriate. How about we cooperate?"

"Huh? Collaboration? Exm?"

"That's right, cooperation," Charlotte said seriously. "Think about it, Miss Cedroon. What good would it do to snatch the great treasure at this stage? We can't even immediately determine its authenticity!"

"..."

Sedraon frowned.

"You mean, we need to get at least one magic scar sample from the three investigation teams?"

"Yes, so—"

"Even you're unsure about the Great War Spirits and the Great Magicians, so you want to team up with me to hunt them together?"

"Hunting and the like is too arrogant. We are just 'borrowing'."

"Oh……"

Sedraon stroked his chin,

After thinking for a few seconds,

Then he suddenly curled his lips.

"Heh, isn't this quite interesting? Okay, it's a deal. Let's hold a truce until we get what we want!"

"It's very kind of you to be so sensible."