Chapter 10: Queen and demon.

The Queen lied in her nest. Surrounding her were pieces of unknown flesh and metal pieces and tools. Only the indigestible things were left. She only have to lay her eggs once a month so she was not in danger for most of the time since she was vulnerable during egg laying. Hive security is at maximum during that time of month.

The eggs that were laid were the size of a football, significantly smaller than their larval form. The egg matures and the larva breaks out. Once out, they will do nothing but eat until they reach sufficient mass. The larva Crule saw the other day was near the necessary mass to metamorphosis. They would become dormant and their outer layer becomes a hard cocoon. After a certain period of time, the insect would emerge from the cocoon fully ready to serve the queen.

Suddenly, the wall of her chamber collapse. It was cut by something extremely sharp since the walls of the Queen’s chamber were the strongest in the entire hive.

Standing where the wall use to be was a boy. He was the prey that they lost a while ago. But now the aura coming from the prey no longer was normal.

The Queen never thought she would feel such an aura. Being at the top of their food chain, they never felt fear as they never had any predator. But the boy in front of them made them feel fear, like a feeling of a rabbit under the gaze of a wolf.

The Queen panicked and order her guards to kill the boy.

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Crule sliced open the wall leading to the queen’s chamber. Anger in his eyes, he needs his revenge.

[Crule]: Sending small-fries against me isn’t going to work.

He expanded his aura. Any insect that seem to touch the aura disappeared.

[Crule]: You won’t be able to even touch me.

He slowly walked toward the queen whilst tossing his dagger playfully like a circus performer.

The smirk on his face could be described by most as evil.

Crule fits the image of an insane serial killer. That was one of the other reason why after he was labeled as public enemy number one, no one argued about it.

Seeing such a cruel smile on a child’s face, the Queen felt a surreal chill down its metaphorical spine. She doesn’t really have a spine but she still felt it, as if it was engrained in her by the boy’s aura.

[Crule]: I should completely erase you, but you do make a good gift for whom I’m going to go visit next. So all I will do is erase your entire race except you.

The queen feeling the aura expand did not think that the boy was kidding. She could only submit to the stronger being.

Crule reached his hand out and focused his energy in his hands. A small black ball appeared in his hand and it slowly floated toward the queen.

It seemed as if an illusion but the ball sucked up the queen like a liquid. The black ball turned green and fell to the ground. Crule walked over and picked it up and placed it in his pocket.

[Crule]: Now then, for the rest of you pests.

Using the full extent of 10% his maximum output, Crule condensed his energy in his aura.

From a distance, the entire wall was suddenly encased in a large black sphere.

As the sphere shrink, the wall was cleaved smoothly into the shape of a half circle. It seems as if the sphere carved the entire wall. Every single cone hive on the wall was gone.

Crule stood at the tunnel looking out toward the darkness of the abyss. He seemed quite tired as if he went a night without sleep.

[Crule]: That took far more energy than needed, but now my revenge is complete.

He looked at the hole he created. He took a large stone and carved it into a tombstone.

“Here lies the people who sacrificed their life, so the future can come, so that tomorrow can be a better day.”

He took a moment of silence as her remember all the good times he had with Ms. Burnst and Simon. The members of the group who took care of him. The comradery shared between them. They were his family.

[Crule]: I won’t let any of my friends die, as long as I am still breathing, no one else shall suffer the fear and despair we felt that day.

He stuck the tombstone at the entrance of the tunnel and turned around and started running to his next goal.

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[Crule]: She should be still sealed here. I need recover my power.

Running through the tunnels, Crule started to run downwards. Instead of running upwards toward the surface, he went downwards deeper into the abyss.

Soon he was even further down than the current mining level.

The temperature got hotter and hotter but yet Crule was no longer affected by it. The aura around his was slightly more faint that before but it still protected him quite well.

After running for several hours, Crule reached a room at the end of the tunnel. The room was a large spherical shaped. Chains littered the walls and ceiling. The walls glowed from the endlessly flowing molten metal and it seemed as if the molten liquid will burst out of the wall and overflow the room at any minute. The floor seemed man-made. It was far too smooth for it to be created by nature. Upon closer inspection, a large circle with symbols are inscribed on the floor. At the center of the circle lies a black object.

The object was a black cross held up by the chains.

On it, was a girl that has been crucified.

[Girl on the cross]: You, who are you. How did you get here?

Crule smirked when he saw the girl.

The girl seeing Crule’s face shuttered. She never saw anyone with such an evil face.

[Girl on the cross]: You, you are no normal child.

Crule walked up to the girl and looked up at her.

[Crule]: We meet again, Black Rider of the End.

The girl on the cross shivered.