"Next, do we take the initiative to attack, or wait for the rabbit to hit the stump?"
Leon asked about the upcoming plan. "Which one are we doing?"
"Among the remaining four groups, there is a relatively special one."
Ruan Mei pondered for a moment and immediately selected the target.
"This group will not be attracted by the pheromones released by the 'Phantasmal Moth'. Therefore, we must take the initiative to attack."
"Which one?"
"The 'Gestating Disaster'."
Just like with the previous groups, Ruan Mei began to introduce it to him.
"You should be able to tell from the name; they are a group that, during the evolutionary process, strengthened 'Tayzzyronth's' reproductive abilities once again."
"The 'Swarm King' of this group is known as the 'Son of Gestating Disaster'. Under long-term nourishment, the new King breaks out from the mother insect's body."
Ruan Mei gave him a brief introduction.
"Fine, you point, I shoot."
Leon made a gesture, indicating no problem.
He didn't need an introduction because they were all the same. If it doesn't die in three punches, it counts as a failed order.
Ruan Mei glanced at him. Honestly, she was starting to become a bit infatuated with this feeling. The beauty of pure stats.
How convenient it is to have a powerful assistant; you can simply do whatever you want. It's a pity Leon wouldn't bow down to anyone, let alone her.
"Let's go. The sooner we finish, the sooner we're done."
Leon put his hands in his pockets, signaling Ruan Mei to go to the location of the "Gestating Disaster" she mentioned.
And before setting off, Leon did one last thing. That was to slaughter all the "World-Beguiler Swarm" in this place until it was clean.
...
Talanon, the sediment ground of the "Gestating Disaster Group".
In a pit named Bolkaji, filled everywhere with insect eggs laden with offspring.
Ka-ka, ka-ka.
In this pit where the sun never shone, the "Swarm King" inside the mother insect's belly closed its eyes.
Waves of tidal sounds beat against its tympanic organs—that was the buzzing of its siblings, prey corpses hooked onto their tarsi, their mouthparts still chewing on the spoils of war.
Ka-ka, ka-ka. The sounds of elytra colliding and rubbing came from the pit; that was the forced march of the siblings. They arrived before it, carrying fragrant flesh and blood on their backs.
Offering it to their mother, their father, offering it to the self that was gestating calamity.
The "Swarm King" devoured every bit of food sent into the mother's abdomen, constantly nourishing itself with nutrition, its wings and exoskeleton growing stronger without cease.
It seemed it would soon burst the mother insect's belly, declaring its formal birth.
"King?"
The "Son of Gestating Disaster" seemed to sense something.
"There is another King?"
It felt its status was being affected; this was something it, as a King, could not allow.
"Not allowed! Not allowed!"
The tone of the "Son of Gestating Disaster" held unconcealable irritability.
It directly stabbed through its own mother with claws as sharp as blades, piercing through the mother insect's belly. Black blood instantly sprayed wildly from the mother's body!
"I... I am life!"
The "Son of Gestating Disaster" used its other hand to rip the mother insect's belly completely open!
"In this world, the King can only be me alone!"
Covered in armor in the style of a True Sting, with insect wings on its back, a tall and slender humanoid insect—the Swarm King of "Gestating Disaster"—stepped out from the mother insect's belly, drenched in black blood.
"Goodbye, Mother, and my cowardice."
It glanced back at the mother insect, who was twitching in her death throes.
With a swish, it raised its hand and brought it down like a blade, splitting the mother insect's fat and massive body in two.
Having done all this, the "Son of Gestating Disaster" squatted down.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
It treated the mother insect's body as a grand feast, stuffing the fat and tender meat into its mouth in large mouthfuls.
Under a burst of wolfing down, the mother insect was eaten raw by it in its entirety. Where the mother insect had just been lying, not a trace was left.
Only the pus of internal organs and the juices of torn flesh remained on the ground.
The "Son of Gestating Disaster" lowered its head, sucking up all the pus and juices on the ground until it was clean.
The next moment, the insect wings on its back abruptly unfolded uncontrollably!
Hu-hu-hu. A powerful momentum erupted from the "Son of Gestating Disaster"! Just the shockwaves of this power directly crushed many of its colleagues in the vicinity!
"Hunt... King."
The body of the "Son of Gestating Disaster" faintly glowed with blood-red light. It stood up after wiping its mouth with its arm.
It felt its current state was unprecedentedly good.
The "Son of Gestating Disaster" pressed its neck with its hand, stretching its body and tendons.
"King, where?"
Taking a deep breath, the "Son of Gestating Disaster" looked up towards the entrance of the pit above, following the aura of the strong one it sensed.
"You call yourself a God-King? Whose God? Which King?"
Leon, with a longbow slung over his shoulder and hands in his pockets, looked down at it from high above.
"Found you, King!"
Seeing its target appear, the "Son of Gestating Disaster" immediately flapped its wings! It stomped on the ground, leaping high into the air in the blink of an eye!
"You..."
Finally, it landed steadily in front of Leon, the two confronting each other without giving an inch.
"Is it a King?"
The "Son of Gestating Disaster" exuded the might of an "Emanator," with flames symbolizing "The Propagation" igniting on its body!
"Yeah."
Leon turned a blind eye to it.
"I am the King."
Seeing it strike a pose, an aura materialized from "Imaginary Energy" also appeared on Leon.
The flames of "The Hunt" appeared on Leon, suppressing "The Propagation" into a disadvantage in just an instant!
"No—I am the King!"
The "Son of Gestating Disaster" roared to the sky, erupting with intense energy once again! Borrowing this, "The Propagation" once again had a chance to compete with "The Hunt"!
"You all... are not!"
It spoke word by word, raising its arm that was like a sharp blade! The arm was covered by a shell so bright it could reflect light, reflecting the appearance of the two!
"King? King my ass!"
Leon didn't save it any face either. The "Imaginary Energy" on his body immediately increased by another massive magnitude! "The Propagation," which had just gained some momentum, was immediately suppressed back!
"Posturing?"
With a tap, he took a step forward!
Leon, bearing "Imaginary Energy" that even ten "Emanators" combined might not be able to touch, took another step closer to this insect calling itself a God-King in front of him!
"I am the King!!!"
The "Son of Gestating Disaster" shouted in disbelief! It refused to admit defeat, constantly burning itself as fuel. The power of "The Propagation" increased greatly, attempting to overwhelm Leon through such behavior!
But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't shake him even by half a bit.
"Keep posturing and I'll send you flying!"
After speaking, Leon took another step forward, shortening the distance again, almost face to face with it.
"The Hunt" completely overwhelmed "The Propagation," and high-intensity "Imaginary Energy" rushed toward its face!
"I..."
The "Son of Gestating Disaster" hadn't even finished speaking...
The whole person exploded with a bang, leaving no bones remaining! It was blasted into slag on the spot by this incoming, irresistible "Imaginary Energy"!
"If you're trash, practice more."
Leon expanded the coercion on his body again, the range expanding to the entire pit!
In but an instant, these "Gestating Disaster Swarms" in the pit were annihilated!
Having done everything, the pressure on Leon's body gradually faded. Until the "Imaginary Energy" was completely withdrawn into his body and disappeared.
He bent down, picking up a fragment of the armor remaining from the "Son of Gestating Disaster" that he had intentionally preserved.
He had already asked Ruan Mei before coming. The "Son of Gestating Disaster" itself was special, so any part would do.
"Done?"
Ruan Mei walked over from behind. He said he would go alone, so he hadn't let her accompany him.
"Next, kill which one?"
Leon gave a hum of affirmation and threw the armor fragment into the bag she had already opened.
"No need to ask, they're already here."
As the words fell, the sound of wings flapping all over the sky was deafening! Raising his eyes, a mass of blackness, countless swarms immediately flew toward this place!
"'Afterglow'. Remnant bodies, used to illuminate clearly."
Ruan Mei spoke slowly, introducing them.
"This group is the swarm that practices 'The Propagation' to the extreme, and at the same time, is the group that most rebels against 'Tayzzyronth's' concept of ascension."
"They have only one task, and that is to recycle aging or dead swarms. Letting these corpses serve as food for newborn larvae, exerting the final value of these colleagues."
Ruan Mei looked at the "Afterglow" attacking with a great army and was not panicked. After all, Leon was right beside her. Stats always make people feel at ease.
"To 'Propagate' for the sake of 'Propagation', even the swarm itself cannot avoid becoming food for 'The Propagation'. This is the diversity of 'Paths'."
"Tayzzyronth" ascended amidst loneliness and fear. From beginning to end, His purpose in "Propagating" was to satisfy His own emptiness. He couldn't do the deed of slaughtering his own kin.
Because what He wanted from "The Propagation" was kin, an endless stream of kin. He ascended precisely because his whole family died leaving only Him, driving the ascension.
And the "Afterglow" group has seriously violated "Tayzzyronth's" original intent, yet they practice the behavior of "The Propagation" quite deeply.
The Path of "The Propagation" also recognized them, representing that this road is also one of the correct ones!
Naturally, under such pure and essential practice, even looking at the six great groups, "Afterglow" is the second strongest, only below the "Sin-Breeder"!
"What do you want?"
Leon took his bow, drew the string, and asked Ruan Mei.
"This one is also casual."
What "Afterglow" inherited was the enhanced version of the "Swarm Emperor's" philosophy of "The Propagation". The deeper the practice of the philosophy, the stronger the strength naturally becomes.
To put it simply, they are pure stat monsters. Unlike other groups that have some special abilities or whatever.
"Okay."
Voice falls, arrow set, fingers loose, string snaps, arrow shoots!
With a whoosh, a purple light arrow rushed toward the horizon! At the moment it was shot, the light arrow immediately began to split!
One hundred, one thousand, ten thousand—the magnitude constantly increasing.
Only until the number of arrows was enough for every insect in the sky to take one did it let the matter drop and stop splitting!
Boom-boom-boom, the sound of impassioned explosions accompanied the fireworks of flesh and blood flying across the sky.
The swarms were annihilated by a single arrow! Exploding in the sky, fragmented organs and limbs scattered indiscriminately!
Under Leon's intentional protection, neither Ruan Mei nor he was affected by this rain of blood in any way.
Another whoosh sound.
One light arrow did not dissipate after killing the enemy. Instead, it returned along the original path, something hanging on the arrow shaft as it flew toward Leon.
He raised his hand.
The light arrow dissipated instantly before touching his palm. The thing hanging on the arrow shaft fell into his palm; it was an insect wing as thin as a cicada's wing.
"Last two left."
Leon handed the insect wing to Ruan Mei and said.
"I originally thought it would take two or three days to solve."
Ruan Mei took it, not expecting to speedrun it so quickly.
"What the Corporation can't handle, I'll handle."
Leon spoke with a chuckle, "What the Corporation can handle, I'll handle even more."
"Let's go. Next, kill which one?"
Although apart from these six great groups, there were other True Sting subspecies roaming within the galaxy. Exterminating these six great groups was not equivalent to exterminating the Swarm; those True Stings would sooner or later evolve again, reproduce, and finally integrate into groups again.
This is a cycle. Before the authority of "The Propagation" truly dissipates, this cycle will continue.
But eliminating harm for the people—no matter how one puts it, counts as doing a good deed.
...
"Star-Shatterer Swarm".
This group inherits a destructive innate magical ability. The giant beetles with Mandibles of the Insect Emperor can condense death beams that disintegrate celestial bodies with their mouthparts, using shattered stars as hotbeds for birthing offspring. They were once one of the nightmares of the worlds during the Swarm Disaster.
And at this moment, the death beam spit out from the mouthparts that had never failed before found an object it couldn't destroy for the first time.
"As a strong person, to show sincerity, I'll let you trigger your pity once."
Leon patted the dust off his body; the destruction death beam of the "Star-Shatterer Swarm King" didn't even punch a hole in his clothes.
Violent Swarm Roar
The "Star-Shatterer Swarm King," whose figure was not an exaggeration to describe as blotting out the sky and sun, couldn't accept this. It immediately began to re-condense massive "Imaginary Energy" in its mouthparts!
Leon glanced at it.
The next second, he leaped up, flashing instantly to the direct front of the "Star-Shatterer Swarm King"!
With a crack, he reached out and grabbed its mouthparts! Veins bulged on the back of his hand!
Like a tree branch being snapped, blue blood surged from its body, spraying wildly!
Leon forcibly dismantled the mouthparts from the body of the "Star-Shatterer Swarm King"!
Miserable Swarm Roar
The "Star-Shatterer Swarm King" let out a cry of pain. But before it could hurt for long, Leon's fist smashed directly onto its head!
Under one punch, with a crack.
The "Star-Shatterer Swarm King" was forcibly destroyed internally and externally by "Imaginary Energy". The energy blew it apart, shattering it into pieces just like its name!
With a light pat, Leon landed safely, standing on the ground once again.
"What, did the genocide trigger a guaranteed pity mechanic?"
He looked up, looking toward an aura even more powerful than the "Star-Shatterer Swarm King".
A humanoid insect, who had just rushed over because it sensed the anomaly of the "Swarm King," flapped its wings. Its overlooking gaze stared dead at him, the killing intent on its body almost overflowing.
The strongest of "The Propagation" Path in the current galaxy.
"Sin-Breeder."
—The Swarm King of the "Sin-Breeder" group!
"The talent obtained by this group is 'Evolution'."
Facing the sudden intruder, Ruan Mei was unperturbed.
"The tide of Propagation never ceases; insects are chosen amidst death and being killed."
She just introduced it from the side as usual.
"They will evolve, then break the cocoon and be reborn."
Leon casually threw the mouthparts of the "Star-Shatterer Swarm King" backward, and it finally landed steadily in the Ruan Bag held open in Ruan Mei's hand.
"This hasn't even reached a ten-pull yet, and the pity has arrived."
Leon looked at the Swarm King of "Sin-Breeder" and said. "But it's good that it came; saves me an extra trip."
"Why... do you want to kill us?"
The "Sin-Breeder" asked him in a low, hoarse voice.
"We just want to live. Eating when hungry, drinking when thirsty, reproducing for the sake of continuation—aren't these all matters of course?"
"Why..." Its voice carried a bit of anger, "do you want to kill us!"
"You're right."
Leon had an 'uh-huh, uh-huh' tone of indifference.
"But humans should [Beep] humans, and bugs should [Beep] bugs."
This group of descendants of "The Propagation" didn't care if you were human or beast; their brains only contained the continuation of the group. Even planets were nothing more than their hotbeds.
A bunch of bastard dogs that aren't human anymore!
"Also, exterminating bugs is also a matter of course."
Regarding the accusation of the "Sin-Breeder," Leon felt it was very boring. In this galaxy, reasoning is the most useless behavior.
"I'm too lazy to reason with you; you aren't worthy of listening."
To put it bluntly, hasn't the "Swarm" survived until now relying on strength? If they didn't have strength, they would have gone extinct long ago.
Of course, whoever has the bigger fist makes the rules; saying you have to beat the other side into submission is all nonsense. Only when the opponent is beaten to their knees is preaching useful.
The "Sin-Breeder" clenched its fists, staring dead at Leon.
The next second, it moved with mobility comparable to the speed of light; the naked eye couldn't capture even half of its silhouette!
With a bang, the "Sin-Breeder" raised its leg and kicked at Leon's right arm!
And even though the opponent realized it, he didn't have the slightest intention of dodging. He just stood there motionless.
Letting the "Sin-Breeder" attack, that arrogant confidence was simply about to overflow.
A muffled, crisp sound like striking an iron block rang out!
Its strength was already robust, and the body of "The Propagation" was famous for high stats. Under the blessing of such god-speed and stacking layers, its power had long come to far exceed the average "Emanator."
This strike of his—an average "Emanator" caught off guard might have been directly and seriously injured. Or even had their life taken directly.
But Leon stood in place like nothing happened. His position hadn't even changed by half a bit; his footsteps hadn't moved an inch.
In the preset of the "Sin-Breeder," even if it couldn't inflict heavy damage directly, it could at least successfully make him bleed a little. Anyway, no matter what, it absolutely shouldn't be unscathed!
But reality was now placed before its eyes...
The "Sin-Breeder" couldn't break Leon's defense at all.
His "Dharmakaya" (Law Body) was already strong enough to far exceed the class of an "Emanator." As long as you haven't transcended the concept of "Emanator"—that is, the ascension of a Lord Ravager—then no matter what "Path's" "Emanator" faces him...
It is like a frog in a well viewing the sky; the sense of powerlessness lingers!
The gap between numerical values is hard to bridge. Even the unresolvable Path killer like "The Nihility" would be of no help as usual.
Leon, the most stern father of "Emanators". Aside from "Aeons," he is the second mountain difficult to cross!
Seeing the attack was ineffective, the "Sin-Breeder" quickly utilized its speed advantage to retreat! Before Leon could counterattack, it returned to the high altitude again, immediately opening up the distance from him!
"... 'Emperor'?"
The "Sin-Breeder" was somewhat in disbelief. In the encounter just now, it actually sensed the aura of the "Insect Emperor" from Leon.
The blood in its bones had always firmly believed that "Tayzzyronth" would descend to the world once again, but why was there an "Emperor" born in advance?
"No, you are not the 'Emperor'!"
Voice falling, black smoke emerged from the entire body of the "Sin-Breeder".
There is only one Emperor, "Tayzzyronth"; the others are all fakes!
The exoskeleton tightly closed all over the "Sin-Breeder" unfolded, and its appearance changed drastically compared to just now, appearing directly much more ferocious!
"Fake!"
The might on the "Sin-Breeder" skyrocketed; it attacked toward Leon with a speed even faster than before!
Bang! Countless punches landed everywhere on his body!
Bang! Whip kicks slapped his neck, vainly attempting to break it directly!
Bang-bang-bang, powerful explosions rang out uninterrupted!
Massive amounts of attacks struck from all directions; distinctly different offensives all landed truthfully on Leon's body!
The "Sin-Breeder" used its speed to advance and retreat back and forth non-stop, hitting a set then opening distance, then hitting another set from elsewhere and opening distance again.
Every move capable of annihilating a star fell upon Leon like rain! It didn't know where Leon's weakness was, so it attempted to use this casting-a-wide-net method to test one by one until it completely defeated him!
The "Sin-Breeder" clenched its fist. Dark purple "Imaginary Energy" belonging to "The Propagation" wrapped the entire fist!
The next second, the position where it was just now had only an undissipated afterimage left.
Relying on its speed, it flashed in front of Leon once again, fist swinging out! Preparing to hit him directly in the face—
Then it was hit in the face by Leon's plain and unadorned punch, knocked directly to the ground, making its face have intimate contact with the earth!
Boom-boom-boom, the might of one punch shook the heavens and moved the earth!
As the "Sin-Breeder" was knocked to the ground by Leon's punch, the entire planet began to tremble, and the earth pressed against its side profile cracked directly!
This planet could completely be said to be ruined. But fortunately, it was a barren star, an abandoned place inhabited by no one, so there was no need to have any burden.
Pure stats, extreme enjoyment!
"One moment King, one moment Emperor. Psycho."
Leon said as such, removing his black-blood-stained fist from the "Sin-Breeder's" face.
Under the "Sin-Breeder's" long period of desperate scratching (low damage output), not only was he unscathed, but even his clothes weren't dirty or messy by half a bit.
"If you're gonna fight, then fight; gotta speak some pretentious words."
Such a boring opponent; I'm afraid in a while Leon will forget he ever fought it.
"If you want to talk big, I indeed have no means, but I have plenty of strength."
How unpleasant; I think I'll forget you in a while.
"Which part do you want this time?"
He turned his head to ask, his attitude like killing fish at the supermarket. The reason he left the "Sin-Breeder" with one breath was because Ruan Mei hadn't said what she wanted yet.
"Heart."
Hearing this, Leon raised his hand, assuming the posture of 'Black Tiger Steals the Heart'.
With a squelch, his movements were crisp and clean, directly piercing through the "Sin-Breeder's" hard chest and taking out that heart, which was still beating like an insect egg!
"Done. Wrap it up."
He threw the heart to Ruan Mei in the rear. After doing so, he lightly kicked the corpse of the "Sin-Breeder".
The flames of "The Hunt" ignited on it in an instant, swallowing it in the blink of an eye. Destroying the corpse and eliminating traces very cleanly.
PY Promotion:
Synopsis:
Reincarnated in Amphoreus, Apollotos discovered his start wasn't too wonderful. Although the cycle had not yet begun, born in Castrum Kremnos, he wasn't even a Golden Progeny. However, a Black Tide like fate arrived quietly the moment his memory awakened.
Apollotos, this isotope of Otto Apocalypse in Amphoreus, fought together with Phainon and Cyrene until the Black Tide drowned him.
At the moment death approached, the consciousness belonging to the False God Otto within his soul awakened.
Looking at the youth who was similar to himself in both appearance and fate, Otto, who had fulfilled all his wishes, decided to help him.
"Since this world is a cage, why not obtain the power to deny the world from outside the world? My friend."
The False God Otto, holding the great authority of the Honkai, extended his hand toward Apollotos.
Since then, Apollotos obtained the power named one-thousandth of the Herrscher of Dominance.
Since then, the key to rebellion was already grasped in Apollotos's hand. Using genius to deny genius, using possibility to deny fate.
The Golden Grail, the miracle of the Honkai, will change the fate of that Amphoreus.
"Compared to a romantic epic, a power fantasy suits me better," Apollotos said thusly.
____
👻🔥The Director is back! But with a brand new look, heheh...🔥👻
New Story: Classroom of the Elite: Black Sphere Academia
✅ Jump 40 chapters ahead of the public release!
✅ Get access to special perks and news!
Help smash these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter (for everyone)
🚀 140 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters (for all stories)!
👻 P - Walnut-chan