Litty Finds a Way Out

Although the branch manager’s attack had slowed her down, the queen was still fast for them to catch up with. Instead of moving around, everyone clustered to reduce their blind spots.

However, neither the vanguard nor the rear guard were of any use against this speed.

Heavy Warrior Dimos, Gonza, and the Magician were getting attacked one after another. Towards the end, Gonza was the only one left standing. Dimos was heavily injured while the young man beside him was losing a lot of blood.

Dimos aside, the young man was clearly beyond saving.

Litty, who was experiencing the death of a party member for the first time, was indeed shaken. The loss of the life of a person who had been with them just a few moments before was a rite of passage for adventurers.

Many people would consider retirement if they could no longer bear it, but Litty gritted her teeth.

“If only I had been able to hold that thing back, if I only could have…” (Litty)

The branch manager took a last stand and showed them the Queen in action. His sacrifice might end up in vain, and now he was on the verge of death, but someone other than him had already died.

With tremendous concentration, Litty struggled to see through the Queen’s attack. It succeeded, and she was able to spot the initial movement of the Queen’s slender arm, which was aiming for Roma’s life.

Litty’s sword fortunately repelled the Queen’s arm, saving Roma’s life at the last moment, but it was not enough to result in any damage to the Queen. The Queen’s body was too hard despite having a slender body.

“You, still too many. The child food, what a waste. You… I will eat.” (Scarb Queen)

A series of rough bites were aimed at Litty, but she was barely able to dodge them. Even a single direct bite would put Litty in a fatal situation, but it did manage to scrape some of her flesh away.

The Queen swallowed it and shuddered.

“After all, there are many! Strong people, no. Many people are good! This is… yes, it’s called delicacy!” (Scarb Queen)

“Her words are becoming clearer and clearer…” (Litty)

Litty’s comment was ringing in everyone’s mind. How could Scarb learn and speak human language so fast? It was true that high level monsters could learn and speak human language but it should not be this fast.

It was unlikely that the Queen had been taught. Was it the influence of the humans she had fed on in the past? If that peculiarity were to be acknowledged, the grade of this monster might not just stop at Rank 1.

Currently, it was already close to Rank 1. What about tomorrow, or a few days from now?

“Roma-san!” (Litty)

Just as the queen was about to thrust her slender arm towards Roma again, Litty’s axe smashed it. It sliced into the arm and cut off the Queen’s arm, which was supposed to be hard to penetrate.

The Queen was the most surprised, she knew Litty was a “Strong”, but she had never expected her to be this strong. Moreover, she had never thought that Litty would even be capable of damaging her.

In such a short period of time, Litty was already adapting to her moves.

“No more… I won’t let anyone die.” (Litty)

“Uuuhhhhhh…!” (Scarb Queen)

The branch manager pierced her wings, and now Litty cut off her arm. This was after they dared to have the courage to invade the heart of her hive.

The Queen was weak before she became the current Queen. She could only feed the other potential queens and was not allowed to feed herself. Under such circumstances, she did not care whether she consumed her own kind or not.

She would eat eggs that were weaker than her, as well as her own newborn offspring. Although it was not unusual for Scarbs to eat their own kind, the Queen had fed exclusively on her own kind.

Such a Queen eventually reigned at the top of the hive. She was strong. The Queen, who had gained such confidence despite being a monster, made a great advancement.

“I am not weak!” (Scarb Queen)

Something shot out of the queen’s mouth like a spray. Litty reflexively dodged, but the others did not have the reflex speed as Litty.

Unable to dodge, everyone was hit, and soon the effects began to show: Roma went down on both knees and Gonza moaned. Instantly, almost everyone was incapacitated.

“Everyone?” (Litty)

“It’s poison… Laila, the Antidote Magic…” (Instructor Gonza)

Gonza didn’t need to remind Laila as she had already performed the magic for everyone but her antidote magic was not very effective and she herself was in no condition to last long.

It was obvious from their labored breathing that they could no longer fight.

Litty could feel her heart racing. Total annihilation was imminent.

Her friend Roma, the instructors who had taken care of her, and the branch manager. The light of their lives was wavering.