Chapter 43: Insect Tide

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Insect Tide

Seraphina Sullivan moved like a flash of lightning.

Faced with the tough vines that even Cheryl Chase’s incomparably sharp Mantis Scythe struggled to sever, she simply parted her lips and exhaled a wisp of pale blue mist carrying a strange, cool fragrance.

The fragrant mist precisely enveloped the giant, frantically writhing bud of the Decaying Flower and the ensnared Vivi.

Instantly, it was as if someone had pressed pause on the frenzied Decaying Flower.

The menacingly waving vines stopped their thrashing, the bud filled with Sharp Teeth ceased its opening and closing, and even the nauseatingly sweet, putrid stench seemed to congeal in the air.

Its massive body went limp and drooped, falling into a strange, deep slumber.

Vivi, who was tangled in the vines, also stopped struggling. His breathing became steady and deep as he fell completely unconscious.

And because of this slumber, the vines, which had been as tight as steel, finally loosened their grip.

"Vivi!" Cheryl Chase cried out. Ignoring her shock at Seraphina Sullivan’s incredible Ability, she lunged forward and snatched the boy back.

She checked for Vivi’s breath and felt a steady rhythm, letting her breathe a small sigh of relief. But her face was still filled with worry and confusion. "What happened to him?! Why did he pass out!"

"He’s just asleep. My Ability has temporarily quieted both him and the flower. His life isn’t in danger. He’ll wake up in a little while."

Seraphina Sullivan explained quickly, her voice calm, but her eyes scanned her surroundings vigilantly.

In the silent underground passage, the sounds of the fight and the strong scent of the Decaying Flower were like a stone tossed into still water; they were bound to cause a chain reaction.

However, Seraphina Sullivan’s explanation failed to reassure the others.

The two men who had been watching nervously from the side were now looking at Seraphina Sullivan with extreme wariness and naked fear.

"Cheryl! Don’t trust her!" one of them, a man with a scar on his face, pointed a finger at Seraphina Sullivan, his voice sharp with terror.

"She’s definitely an Insect Speaker! She just used that weird ability! Only Insect Speakers have that kind of special control ability, there’s no doubt about it!"

Seraphina Sullivan’s brow furrowed, a sense of helplessness welling up inside her.

Although she had learned some information from Cheryl Chase, she knew that Insect Speakers were monsters who had fused with insect genes and lost their humanity.

’My Sleeping Fragrance is clearly a Skill from my Profession’s Talent, so how did I get labeled an Insect Speaker?’

Cheryl Chase held the unconscious Vivi, looking at Seraphina Sullivan with a complicated expression.

Reason told her that this person was completely different from the Insect Speakers she had seen before, with their chaotic eyes, distorted bodies, and the foul stench of insects.

Seraphina Sullivan’s eyes were clear, her actions were rational, and she had even just saved Vivi.

But... this kind of Special Ability was indeed too much like a characteristic of an Insect Speaker.

She was struggling fiercely inside.

Just then, Seraphina Sullivan’s sharp hearing picked up a dense, scalp-numbing rustling from deep within the passage, as if countless tiny claws were scraping against rock and metal.

The enhanced speed perception granted by her Body Transformation Pills made her exceptionally sensitive to the Aura of danger.

"I don’t think we have time to discuss whether I’m an Insect Speaker or not," Seraphina Sullivan’s voice suddenly turned cold and urgent. She whipped her head around to look into the dark depths of the passage. "The commotion just now attracted more ’things.’ I can feel them. A lot of them, and they’re very fast!"

Her words had barely faded when a red light shone in from outside. A low, droning sound like a surging tide grew from a distance, accompanied by an increasingly clear, cringe-inducing gnawing sound!

Cheryl Chase’s face instantly turned deathly pale. She no longer hesitated, shoving Vivi at the scar-faced man. "Carry him! Let’s go!"

She shot a harsh glare at the other man, who was still frozen in terror. "If you don’t want to die, shut up and follow!"

Then she looked at Seraphina Sullivan, her eyes filled with resolve and a trace of lingering doubt. "Follow me! I know a place that’s safe for now! I hope... you’re not lying to me!"

She didn’t look at Seraphina Sullivan again, turning and rushing toward an extremely hidden, narrow crevice concealed by huge pipes and abandoned machinery.

The crevice was just wide enough for one person to squeeze through. It was pitch-black inside and reeked of heavy motor oil and rust.

But a safe place lay on the other side.

Seraphina Sullivan followed without hesitation, but she brought up the rear. In their haste to escape, the others didn’t notice.

With a wave of her hand, Seraphina Sullivan collected the Decaying Flower into her Space.

In the split second before ducking into the crevice, Seraphina Sullivan glanced back.

At the end of the passage, a "tide" shimmering with a ghastly green light was surging toward them—it was a dense, countless swarm of fist-sized Mutated Beetles with sharp mouthparts!

Seraphina Sullivan’s Eye of Resume scanned one of them.

[Name: Aberrant Beetle]

[Gender: Female]

[Professional Skills: Sharp Teeth]

[Weaknesses: Weak to fire and cold]

Cheryl Chase also heard that terrifying, tide-like rustling, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.

She was all too familiar with that sound. It was the sound of a large-scale swarm of Aberrant Beetles.

"Quick! Climb up and get inside! This is the only way to shake off the ’Fungus Carpet’!"

"Fungus Carpet?" Seraphina’s heart skipped a beat. The name alone sounded ominous.

"It’s a beetle swarm made of Aberrant Beetles! Nothing survives in their wake—they can even chew through steel! Hurry!" Cheryl Chase was practically screaming, her voice laced with deep fear.

Soon, the five of them had passed through the narrow gap and quickly climbed to the top of a tall building.

They had safely escaped the pursuit of the Aberrant Beetle swarm.

Seraphina Sullivan leaned against a broken concrete barrier, gasping for breath, her heart still pounding wildly.

She cautiously leaned out and looked down through a shattered window—only to see the street below completely submerged by a writhing "tide."

It wasn’t water, but millions upon millions of fist-sized black beetles! Their carapaces gleamed with an oily black sheen under the dim red sky, like an overwhelming flood of crude oil, surging thunderously toward a certain part of the city with a destructive, unstoppable momentum.

Wherever they passed, abandoned vehicles were instantly devoured, and ordinary insects were consumed whole by the swarm.

The sight was more terrifying than any nightmare.

Less than two hours after entering the instance, she had already encountered giant spiders, frenzied plants, an Insect Speaker’s minions, and had nearly been gnawed to the bone by this horrifying "Fungus Carpet"!

For the first time, a profound fear of this instance took root in Seraphina Sullivan’s heart.

She couldn’t even imagine how other ordinary Players with no combat experience, entering an instance for the first time, could possibly survive three days in this hellish environment!

What frustrated her even more was Mission Two.

The system didn’t even deign to look at ordinary large cockroaches.

The insects that could be collected were all powerful beings, like giant spiders or other similarly strong creatures.