Symphony for the Insect Princess

"Stop talking nonsense and take action!"

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"Haa ...

Dark shadows surged in the corner of the wall, and Ailian crawled out from it. Although she reacted very quickly, she was still somewhat burned, but fortunately she was not seriously injured.

If it was hit head-on... I'm afraid my life would be in danger.

I was so close to getting the great treasure (for now), if that jerk Stella hadn't gotten in the way...

"Tsk..."

The remaining starlight from astrological magic was still floating on the streets. The tiny particles of light were very beautiful, but they would only make people living in darkness feel disgusted.

There is something more important.

"Where did they go? Were they blown away? Damn it!"

I hope they were killed directly. This way, I can avoid playing cat and mouse games. I must find them quickly, whether alive or dead, and then bring the great secret treasure back to report.

"——!?"

Her warrior instincts suddenly kicked in, and she dove and rolled sideways like lightning. Simultaneously, something massive pierced through her body! The air was filled with the aura of death, a terror that transcended the sense of danger and reached deep within her soul! Ailian gritted her teeth, and the flowing shadows instantly formed into a giant sword in her hand, slashing backhandedly!

Clang!!!!

The Shadow Giant Sword struck something extremely hard. It was a white, curved, column-like object nearly three meters long, almost like—

"...an enlarged version of the ribs?"

Snap, snap, snap!!!

Ailian once again retreated into the shadows, just avoiding the series of bone spear attacks that followed! Although she avoided direct physical damage, the aura of death on the bone spears actually invaded the shadows, indirectly corroding Ailian's body!

Necromancer!?

For thousands of years, necromancy was considered black magic, a taboo and the most blasphemous knowledge. Throughout history, most necromancers were hunted down by the Pantheon. This situation improved only after some modern scholars rehabilitated necromancy. Even so, necromancers remain a taboo and a source of loathing. They are already extremely rare, and there are no necromancers who have reached the level of wizards.

And this necromancer actually appeared openly in Kasolu and attacked him?

"A necromancer at the level of a wizard..."

If you still hold back when facing such an opponent, you are digging a hole for yourself!

"Great Shadow, the other side of light, spirit of the night, plunge all living things into eternal sleep! Shadow Realm!!!"

As the last sound fell, all the lights in the entire block went out, and a deep darkness spread out with Ailian as the center! The darkness was like a pot of boiling water, constantly surging, enveloping everything it touched! It was like—

"—It's like the sewer is flooding back."

"Aha?"

At the edge of the shadow realm, a woman appeared.

She is tall, plump, with a gorgeous and mature appearance. Her age seems to be not much different from that of 30-year-old Ailian, but her face and figure are more than one level stronger.

She was enveloped in a purple-black halo that spread like mist, and from it emerged a group of skeletal soldiers, each hunched over with purple-black markings on their bodies, their hollow eye sockets blazing with scarlet flames. They were terrifying.

"...Necromancer." Ailian murmured.

"Hello, my name is Charlotte. What should I call you?"

"...Ai Lian."

"Well, Ms. Ellen, please forgive my surprise attack, but I just wanted to get your attention and ask you something."

"..."

"Excuse me, the magic scar sample should be kept by your leader, right? Where is the great magician now?"

"Do you know how to write the word arrogance?"

"Of course I know."

"No, you don't! Shadow Dragon!"

The boiling heat in the Shadow Realm suddenly reached its peak, and creatures resembling long snakes with sharp claws burst out from it! They spewed darkness, stretched their bodies, and then pounced on Charlotte at the same time!

Without waiting for Charlotte's order, the skeleton soldiers rushed forward, and the two sides immediately fought in a group. The skeleton soldiers exhaled corrupted breath and chopped the body of the shadow dragon with the bone swords in their hands, while the shadow dragon opened its mouth wide and swallowed the skeleton soldiers whole. The skeleton soldiers looked fragile, but were actually extremely tenacious. The shadow dragon was blocked and could not move forward!

"guillotine!"

Shadow's guillotine rained down from the sky, firing ten times in a row! Charlotte calmly raised her hand and called out, "Bone Spirit Shield!" A shield of layers of bones instantly blocked the guillotine!

but--

(You lose, idiot!)

The moment the shadow guillotine touched the bone shield, it exploded into a huge ball of black mist, blocking the five senses and even slowing down the movements of the undead creatures!

At that moment, a dark mass solidified behind Charlotte, and Ailian, holding a shadow blade, attacked her from behind! Perfect timing, perfect angle, and a near-zero-range surprise attack—this was the tactic that took advantage of the Necromancer's weakness in close combat!

(Die!)

Click!

The shadow blade aimed at the back and stabbed down.

But the expected blood-splattering did not occur.

"What?"

blocked.

Being struck by a life-sized sickle.

It has a long black handle and an amethyst-like crescent-shaped blade, but no other decorations, making it a very simple structure.

In other words—it possesses the appearance of a murder weapon.

Swish!

Charlotte swung the sickle, and the blade drew a dim arc of purple light. Ailian immediately dodged and retreated out of the sickle's attack range.

"...Melee weapons?"

"I'm just a weak woman...I need something to protect myself, right?"

Charlotte smiled helplessly. Her hand gently brushed across the sickle, and a string of dark runes immediately covered the entire sickle. Dark vein-like lines appeared inside the amethyst-textured blade.

"Be careful not to get hit by it..."

Charlotte swung her sickle again, and Ellen's shadow formed a shield to defend herself, but the moment the shield came into contact with the blade, it collapsed! The sickle slashed down to the ground, and the solid paving stones immediately turned to fine sand, as if they had been weathered for a long time!

(Turned into sand?)

Zheng! ! !

The sickle swept across again, and Ailian leaned back to dodge. At the moment the sickle passed by her, Ailian even felt as if her soul was about to be sucked away.

(No... it's aging!)

The sickle slashed through the trees, and the affected parts instantly turned to a withered gray-black, devoid of all life! The sickle was imbued with the most direct manifestation of death—aging! No living or inorganic matter could resist it!

"but--"

So what?

No matter how powerful the attack is, what’s the point if it can’t hit the target?

Although I was intimidated at first, after carefully observing Charlotte's words - the wide and swinging movements, unstable attacks, slow recovery, and low accuracy, it was obvious that she was an amateur in hand-to-hand combat, and she was full of flaws!

"——As long as you don't touch it, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

Ailian's body turned into a shadow, narrowly avoiding the scythe's cutting edge and heading straight for Charlotte.

Crack! ! ! !

However, the moment she materialized, the cold blade slashed across her side. If she hadn't reacted quickly, it wouldn't just be her clothes that were cut!

"Ah, you missed? What a shame... you were so quick to react."

Charlotte's hand left the sickle, and two amethyst-like skull hands appeared at her sides, taking her place. The mere change of wielder multiplied the dangerous aura emanating from the sickle, its piercing murderous intent sending even Eileen into a state of panic.

"You... oh, you're quite good at bluffing."

"I'm actually quite low-key, but there's no need for us to fight anymore."

"……what?"

"The goal has been achieved, the outcome has been decided... That's it."

The amethyst skeleton hand shook the sickle, and only then did Ailian realize that the tip of the sickle was holding a wisp of... a substance that seemed to be a silver-white mist.

Logically speaking, it should be something completely unfamiliar.

But for some reason, Ailian felt "very familiar", and it was a familiarity that resonated between souls.

"...?"

Resonance between souls?

"Did you notice it? Yes, this is a small piece of your soul that I just cut off from you."

Chapter 67 Insect Food

"damn it……"

Why is this happening?

"damn it……"

The great secret treasure is clearly within reach, so why would such a troublesome character get in the way?

“Damn it, damn it…”

Necromancer? You must be kidding!

"Why...I...actually..."

It's not like Ailian had never seen a necromancer before; she'd even fought against one, but she easily defeated them. Maya hadn't produced a necromancer of the rank of Mage or higher in a long, long time. The few necromancers who still existed were at most high-ranking magicians. Rumors spread that any necromancer who dared to ascend to the rank of Mage would be immediately assassinated by the Pantheon's heretic hunters, and this was likely true.

"Damn it... Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!!!"

Necromancers are indeed terrifying, but that doesn't mean they're strong. On the contrary, at the Sorcerer stage, Necromancers are weaker than other schools of the same level. Their magic requires long research and extensive preparation. Every corpse they use must be processed and transformed, and if they don't perform the spells correctly, they might suffer backlash and consume their own life... High risk, low efficiency, hard work, and difficulty in improving—this is the reality of the Necromancer.

But that's limited to magicians.

Once they get over that hurdle and are promoted to a magician, the necromancer will suddenly transform into a humanoid scourge that everyone fears.

"It's really... embarrassing... No... It's just that woman is too weird..."

It stands to reason that the glory of the Necromancer ended long ago. The death of the "Demon King of Blasphemy" a few years ago announced the end of the Necromancer. Who would have known that now -

“——Huh?”

She saw two dusty girls standing up from the ruins of a house. Were they those two little brats? If it were any other time, Ailian would definitely be happy, but now—

(No... the most important thing is the great secret treasure!)

"You two... Tsk, you're such a bother! I don't know what happened to you, but - hand over the stuff!"

Shadow pressure!

Dense black shadows pressed down on them like a city wall, but at that moment, Ailian instinctively sensed danger! She instantly dove into the shadows and fled. A giant skeletal hand burst from the ground where she had just stood! The bones were covered in purple and black markings, emitting a terrifying aura of death. A mere touch would surely kill anyone!

Charlotte walked out of the alley with elegant steps and looked at the two girls.

(Damn Necromancer!!!)

"You two, are you okay?"

""...""

"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Charlotte—"

"Don't get carried away, Necromancer!!!"

"Uh, don't mess around..."

Ailian suddenly jumped out of the shadows again and rushed towards Charlotte. The woman known as the Necromancer quickly defended herself - taking advantage of this gap, the two girls exchanged glances, and then ran in the direction they came from at the same time!

The prey that was right in front of my mouth escaped!!!

"Asshole!!!"

Ailian roared, and countless shadow fangs shot out towards Charlotte, who—