“Are you the queen bee?”
Arsha smiled and nodded at Suho’s question.
“Yes. This is the queen bee you were looking for.”
“What is your relationship with Quresha?”
Arsha’s smile wavered at Suho’s direct question.
“You know a lot about monarchs. As expected from a descendant of the Fang Monarch.”
“… … .”
“Oh my, what’s with that expression? You smell like an animal all over your body, and you really thought I wouldn’t notice? I’m not stupid.”
“… … ?”
Suho was momentarily speechless at the meaningful expression on Arsha’s face.
Whioooh.
Just then, a divine wind blew past Suho’s pure white hair.
[The King of Beasts, the Fang Monarch, grabs the Queen Bee’s leg and squeaks.]
The true descendant of the Fang Lord was now possessing Suho’s body.
“But, it’s a bit disappointing that the descendant of the Fang Lord took away the worker bees that I worked so hard to create. Is this the famous ‘contempt for the weak’ power of the Fang Lord? Leading beasts weaker than himself? Am I right?”
“… … .”
No, you’re all wrong.
None of them were correct.
Why does this guy keep talking nonsense with that deadly expression on his face?
[The King of Beasts, the Fang Monarch, grabs his stomach and groans.]
‘Stop laughing. He just lacks information, he’s not that stupid.’
Why is shame your lot?
Suho, who was embarrassed for no reason, made Arsha’s excuse instead.
[It is natural to misunderstand.]
At that moment, Berga Arsha spoke directly into Suho’s head without him hearing.
[As I said before, in order for a monarch’s descendants to exist, the monarch must first die to fill the vacancy. However, the Shadow Monarch, the winner of the war, is still alive and well… ]
‘So no one would think I’m a descendant of the Shadow Lord. And that’s true.’
Although Berga always called Suho a little lord, strictly speaking, he was only the son of the Shadow Lord and not the official successor.
In the first place, the descendants of the Shadow Lord cannot exist in the world.
Because Sung Jin-woo, the monarch who rules over death, will never die.
The clear evidence was Suho’s status window.
[Status Window]
Name: Seong Su-ho
Level: 28
Occupation: None
If Suho was the official successor, there would be no way that the occupation column would still be blank.
There was further evidence.
Those shadow soldiers standing firmly behind Suho.
Suho was not a monarch, so he could not lead an army.
So, even if we extract them as shadow soldiers, they will only be used as day laborers.
After just one day, it will return to nothing… … .
But there was no need to explain all this to Arsha.
If you are making a mistake on purpose, it is common sense to take advantage of it.
‘Let’s just see how it turns out.’
Suho asked Arsha a question instead of answering.
“So you are a descendant of Quresha?”
“Hmm. Well. Actually, all of us bugs are her descendants. Quresha is one and the same. She is the mother of all bugs.”
“If you change your mind, you die.”
[In fact, the words that the little monarch is turning… … .]
Let’s ignore Ber’s whispers for a moment.
“Oh my god. I’m scared.”
As Suho’s momentum grew, Arsha raised both hands in an exaggerated gesture of surrender.
Then an amazing sight unfolded.
Wayang-
In an instant, Arsha’s two hands were torn apart into countless pieces of sand.
[Keyhak! How dare you… …!]
In an instant, Ber’s hand, enraged, quickly grabbed the air.
Thud thud.
The attack caused several small bees to fall onto the table.
The rest of the bees gathered back around Arsha and transformed into hands again.
Ber’s eyes narrowed.
[Mutualism. This is something weak bugs often do to protect themselves.]
“Haha. Struggling to survive is the nature of insects?”
“Where did the main body go?”
“Oh my. You’re not surprised at all?”
Even in this situation, Suho remained calm.
That would be so… … .
‘I didn’t see the name tag from the beginning.’
From the beginning, Suho saw something else in her eyes instead of the name Arsha.
The name tags of the numerous [Contaminated Wasps] that have gathered around Arsha’s body.
“Yes, that’s right. I left here a long time ago. One of the worker bees I raised recently rebelled against me, so I decided to move the hive.”
“A worker bee? No way… … .”
“Yes, that’s right. Vice President Lee Min-seong, who is a hot topic these days.”
Arsha answers with a small sigh.
Her gaze suddenly turned to the shadow knights standing behind Suho.
“Did you know that? Those knights were once human too. When they came to Earth, they came to me with evil intentions, so I fed them royal jelly and made them evolve into worker bees.”
“Royal jelly? What is that?”
“It’s the power of the queen bee.”
Queen Bee Arsha had a ‘poison’ in her body since birth.
A special poison called royal jelly.
The poison is as sweet as honey, but the moment it enters the host’s body, it transforms the host into a loyal worker bee that only follows the queen bee.
“But the conditions for making it into a worker bee are secretly quite tricky.”
“condition?”
“Yes. Those who cannot withstand the toxicity of royal jelly will die immediately, and those who have some degree of immunity will rot alive.”
It’s rotting… … .
Like Gu Dong-jae’s arm?
‘It was a good decision to cut it off right away.’
What I’m saying is that not everyone who catches someone and feeds them royal jelly will evolve into a worker bee.
At first, Arsha also had to go through a lot of trial and error.
“So I opened a bar and fed royal jelly to this person and that person. Then I knew exactly what was going on.”
Those who meekly accepted the power of the queen bee and willingly gave up humanity to become worker bees.
They had one thing in common.
“craving.”
Arsha’s eyes lit up with a strange light.
“The more people have stronger desires than others, the easier it is for them to give up being human.”
“… … .”
Every human being has desires.
But the size of the desire was different for each person, and the type was also diverse.
Among them, those who especially desire ‘strength’.
That is, hunter.
“So, I looked for those hunters who were dissatisfied with their own power and wanted to become stronger somehow. Oh, it was easy to find them. I just threw out some bait and they gathered on their own.”
Suho immediately realized what the method was.
“Stardust… … .”
“Yes, that’s right. When we fed royal jelly to the hunters who used star dust, the healthiest worker bees were born? At that time, we also received star dust from Vice President Lee Min-seong.”
Looking back, I think Lee Min-seong was a good worker for Arsha in many ways.
Although he was a great help even when he was human, what I was most looking forward to was when he became a real worker bee.
Because he was someone who had the strength of an A-class, but aspired to become an S-class.
“That’s why I really put a lot of effort into raising it.”
If he were unfit, his body would die, so I took my time and gradually got him used to royal jelly.
Like a vaccine.
They were fed small amounts of poison every day.
“But I think I gave him too much. The vaccine was too strong. He eventually ran away from me.”
[You ran away?]
The first to react to those words was Ber.
A worker bee running away from the queen bee?
It was an action that an ant serving a great king could not even dare to imagine.
“Yes. I became a worker bee, but I ended up giving birth to a worker bee that refused to become my subordinate, the queen.”
Arsha sighed deeply with a truly embarrassed expression.
“He even started gathering his own army, as if he wanted to imitate me. He’s such a failure.”
“… … !”
corps.
Suho’s expression hardened at the familiar yet ominous word.
* * *
Outside Times Square at that time.
Signs of something ominous were emerging all over the city.
“Ugh… … .”
Did you drink some soju?
Citizens murmured as they watched pedestrians staggering about, clutching their throbbing heads.
“Why is that person like that?”
“I don’t know. Are you a hunter? You’re wearing armor.”
“Hey, hey. Let’s avoid getting involved in unnecessary trouble.”
There were often people like that among the hunters.
These are people who suddenly awaken as high-level hunters, become rich overnight, and lose their self-control.
If such people were involved in a drunken rampage, it could be, to put it mildly, life-threatening.
People began to whisper and slowly distance themselves from the hunter.
Right then.
The hunter, who had been walking in a strange posture, suddenly turned his head towards the people.
That moment.
Creepy.
“… … !”
A face rotting like an exposed corpse.
“mama…….”
The faces of those who saw that sight quickly turned pale.
Hehe.
Finally, the hunter’s mouth opened wide and he lunged at the citizens.
“Geuuuuuu-!”
“Whoa!”
“Masuda-!”
The sudden appearance of a humanoid demon caused screams to spread like wildfire.
But the screams were also heard from other alleys.
It wasn’t just one guy.
* * *
The association was put on emergency alert.
-Dozens of villains are indiscriminately attacking civilians! Get the closest combatants to the scene to mobilize immediately!
At that moment, Team Leader Han Jae-hyeok, who was tracking Lee Min-seong, received an order from his superiors.
“These crazy guys! Why are there so many villains these days!”
Han Jae-hyuk immediately led his subordinates and headed to the place where the villains appeared.
“Geuuuuuu… … !”
The scene was a mess.
Corpses dying in a gruesome manner.
Villains who step over them and pass by.
‘No, he’s not a villain.’
Shhh.
Han Jae-hyuk, who arrived at the scene and finally saw the men, felt goosebumps.
Villain was a term referring to an Awakened person who became a criminal.
But the moment I saw them, my instincts began to warn me strongly.
‘That thing’ is not human.
Those who were once human but have turned into beasts, just like Mistburn.
The association recently gave them a new name.
Mutant.
“Geuuuuuuuuu!”
At that moment, the mutants, rotting like corpses, discovered the Association Hunters and began to attack them.
The battle started out of nowhere, and Han Jae-hyuk deployed his defensive skills and shouted urgently into his radio.
“Reporting! It’s not villains, it’s mutants! Communication seems completely impossible, and we’re woefully underpowered… …!”
“Eww!”
At that moment, one of the Association Hunters who was evacuating the citizens was attacked and fell.
Then, the mutants rushed towards him as he fell.
“Why are you so strong!”
Han Jae-hyeok, who was on the radio, saw the scene a little late and rushed in.
That was when.
“Commence firing.”
Shushu shuk-!
A sudden shower of arrows falling from the sky.
“Oh my… … !”
It was truly spectacular.
The arrows rained down indiscriminately, avoiding people and hitting only the mutants.
Han Jae-hyuk looked back in surprise.
Then, all the hunters of the famous Death Guild were aiming their bows at once.
“Immigrants who are told to come out aren’t coming out. What is this situation?”
And among them stands Im Tae-gyu with a fierce expression.
He checked the appearance of the mutants one by one and then shouted.
“Why on earth did our guild members end up like this here!”
All the mutants that appeared on the streets were members of the Grim Reaper Guild who had been kidnapped by Lee Min-seong.
