Solomon: CHARGE!

Staring down the encroaching insects, I knew there was no time to hesitate. having approached quietly, they managed to get extremely close to us. At the moment they were only 15 meters from us. Taking the lead, I dashed forwards. stepping onto the disgusting, goo covered floor, my footsteps created a wet sloshing sound. Having been caught off-guard, we couldn't follow our previous plan. being as they were so close, any of our attacks to push them back would be too close. so with no other choice, we had to fight them head on. though the newbies and characters would obviously hold back.

Gareth: newbies, protect the characters! AAAARRRGHH!

Hastily giving the newbies some orders, Gareth Joined my charge. with Alice and Pluvia following just behind him. On a normal day, the sight of us sprinting forwards would terrify our enemies. No need to talk about the demonic appearance of Gareth, even just looking at someone of my height coming for you would be scary. Unfortunately, these bugs wouldn't react like that. Being creatures that Purely relied on their instincts, the only thing they could think to do was fight.

Solomon: aargh!

Arriving at the front of these bugs, I stared down the pitch black husk of one of these parasites. As they were only a group of 100, the parasites didn't bunch together. so I had ample time to test this bug's strength before being surrounded. still, more of them were creeping out of the darkness. It would be best to kill them as fast as possible for now. facing this front most bug, I started off easy. Using the momentum from my dash, I threw a punch at the bugs malformed face. Though these creatures were known for their speed, before my upgraded agility stat they were like snails.

Bug: CRIEEEEE!

With a sickening crunch, the smooth carapace was smashed inwards. emitting a horrid screech, the bug fell limply to the floor. The strength of their armour was surprisingly weak. My single punch was enough to leave a huge dent in its skull, crushing its brain inside of its head. astonished by how ludicrously weak they were, I was momentarily stunned. they were so weak that even a normal human would be able to kill them. looking at my fist, the knot of caution in my heart unravelled. Since arriving in this world, every fight had been a tough one. always facing those not only more experienced than me, but also those much stronger. it was already a miracle that I'd survived so far. now being faced with these absolute jokes as opponents, I couldn't help but laugh.

Solomon: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA what a joke!

Running forwards a few meters, I attacked the closest bug to me. With my increased stats, the distance was covered in less than half a second. wanting to conserve energy, I used the same tactic again. reaching back, I sent my fist flying at the parasite.

Parasite: SCREEEE!

Stopping in place, the disgusting creature let out a mournful cry. but in the end, it could still only fall pray to me. hearing the high pitched screech, all of the bugs focused their attention on me. watching me kill their comrade in a single hit, the bugs became surprisingly vigilant. displaying intelligence far beyond a normal insect, they began to group up. No longer charging wildly, they began working together. circling around us, they seemed to acknowledge us as strong opponents. marvelling at the all too human-like actions of these bugs, my blood began to boil. for the first time, I looked forwards to a fight. knowing that these creatures had the potential to kill me, but not the power to, I felt proud. for the first time, I was in the position of the strong. it felt like I had finally stepped onto the road to power. even with such a euphoric feeling, I didn't lose my vigilance. refocusing on the parasites, I thought about this change in behaviour. As they relied on quantity over quality, I could see how they knew to use teamwork. but looking at the almost perfect synchrony of these groups, it seemed more complicated than that. Unfortunately, in the film, there was no one strong enough to cause this sort of reaction. In the end, they never had a reason to display these sorts of strategies.

Solomon: be careful, there moving in groups!

Calling out to my teammates, I saw that they were only now reaching me. having employed the full power of my 300+ agility, they had no way to keep up with me. Seeing the eagerness to fight in their eyes, I warned them of the danger. though it was unlikely, I still worried that they might underestimate these bugs too much. As they say, even mice can bring down elephants. Just we were about to attack, I realised something.

Solomon: hold on!

calling out, I made everyone stop in their tracks. Standing still, we didn't dare look away from the parasites. having run part of the way forward, we were only a few meters from the frontmost parasites. preparing to ward off the assault of the parasites my fellow G ranks tensed up. but unexpectedly, the bugs only approached menacingly. though they hissed violently at us, they didn't make any actual attacks.

Gareth: why aren't they attacking?

Before I had the chance to speak, Gareth voiced my thoughts for me. The bugs before us, though coming closer and backing away, didn't seem to actually want to fight.

Pluvia: what should we do?

looking towards me, Pluvia was hesitant. From her expression, she obviously wanted to fight, but the thought of slaughtering weaklings who wouldn't even resist was boring to her.

Alice: ah, look over there!

Before I could answer Pluvia, Alice drew all of our attention. Pointing at the wall a few meters away from us, she had noticed a bulbous sack hanging from the goo. Looking closely at the tunnel walls, I realised we were surrounded by these little orbs. looking very similar to the goo itself, these sacks were the same mucus pink colour. Easily blending in, you would be hard pressed to see these orbs if you didn't know they were there. even with our enhanced senses, we had only just noticed them. Looking at the densely packed goo sacks, you could easily guess what they were.

Pluvia: eggs!

knowing that we had spotted their eggs, the parasites let out a discontent screech.

Parasites: GREEEEEEEEEEE!

The protective nature of these bugs was easily understandable. They knew that fighting us here would put the eggs in harm's way. like most insects, they had an ingrained nature to protect their offspring. in this situation, their instincts told them not to attack. if they did, they wouldn't be able to kill us before we damaged the eggs. they weren't even sure that they could kill us in the first place, let alone with a handicap, so how could there be a way to fight and protect the egg sacks? using their surprisingly high intelligence, they hope to make us retreat. Then they could fight us without any restrictions. But having seen through their ruse, we wouldn't give them what they wanted. happy that I had figured them out, I let a foreboding smile creep onto my face.

Solomon: so they're protecting their eggs huh? it seems like this is our lucky break.

Tony: hahaha, it seems so.

From behind me, Tony was approaching us. following behind him was Nicholas, frantically trying to convince him to go back to the characters. looking at the characters, I could see Lily was holding onto Sasha. though Sasha was still knocked out, her condition had improved a lot since a while ago. her originally pale face had colour returning to it. Even her broken angle had now returned to its natural shape. it wouldn't be long before she woke up.

Nicholas: what if another group of parasites appears in the tunnel from behind us. the characters wouldn't last a second. we've got to stay back and protect them.

Directly ignoring Nicholas, Tony kept walking towards us.

Gareth: what are you doing? Go and protect the characters!

Seeing that tony was ignoring his orders, Gareth was extremely mad. over the last week, he had put these newbies through very harsh training. part of that was to make sure they would follow his orders. But now, seeing Tony defying him, he was filled with rage.

Tony: what's the point, none of these bastards can get past you anyway. what's the harm in me earning a few points?

though that was the reason he gave, the oozing bloodlust seeping out from him revealed his true reason.

Solomon: it's fine, you can fight. you as well Nicholas.

before Gareth could get into an argument with Tony, I allowed the two newbies to fight. having tested these bugs already, I obviously knew how weak they were. It was to the point that a single parasite couldn't even stand up to a normal person. turning towards me, Gareth glared at me. he was very clearly upset that I had overruled him. giving a quick excuse, I turned away. right now wasn't the time to argue.

Solomon: they're both going to need points to upgrade after the mission anyway right? what's the harm in letting them earn some now?

looking at Tony and Nicholas, I made sure they understood the danger.

Solomon: you guys need to be careful, okay? Even if they Don't look like it, these aren't just simple bugs. don't become arrogant and get yourself killed.

nodding his head vigorously, Nicholas took my words to heart.

Nicholas: right, I'll definitely be careful. even against rabbits, lions should use their full strength, right?

on the other hand, Tony was already distracted by thoughts about fighting.

tony: hmmn.

staring at the nearby parasites, his attention was solely focused on them. as he became more and more motivated to fight, he began trembling with excitement.

Solomon: Alright everyone, I'll get their attention. once they attack me, you can hit them from the sides.

using myself as bait, I would draw all of the parasites attention. then while they were focused on me, everyone else could pick them off. It was unlikely for anyone to get in danger this way. after receiving everyone's affirmation, I looked back towards the characters. still standing 20 meters behind us, they were easily within earshot.

Solomon: Rob! Catch.

pulling out an assault rifle from my storage space, I threw it over to Rob.

Rob: what's this for?

Solomon: just in case anything happens. you're in charge of them for now.

out of all the people left, he was easily the most competent. though I would have liked to arm everyone, that was more likely to cause issues than help. being normal people they would have no idea how to use guns. it wasn't unlikely that they'd panic and shoot randomly than protect themselves. by leaving Rob in charge, and leaving him with a weapon, then he could protect them in an emergency. even if it was only for a second, it would be enough.

Solomon: Alright guys, let's have some fun then.

Walking over to the right-hand wall, I stood by one of the many egg sacks. Holding my hand up to it, I moved a little of my qi into my palms. flashing with bright orange light, a flame made of qi erupted out of my hand. The sudden flash drew the attention of all the parasites. staring at me, they became frantic. Screeching incessantly, they had clearly anticipated my next actions. unfortunately for them, there was nothing they could do. Placing my hand down gently onto the squidgy sack, it went up in flames. under the assault of my qi's fire, the egg sack was reduced to ash in less than a second. no longer able to bluff us, the parasites rushed towards me. As if oblivious to anything else, they lost all traces of their previous intelligence. seeing the previously organised groups devolve into a rushing horde of insects, my lips spread into a wild grin. The ploy to attract the parasites had worked almost too well.

Solomon: haha, Come on then!

Not willing to let myself be outdone, I sprinted towards the mass of parasites. Wrapping my hands in qi, I made makeshift gloves. When the first bug entered into range, my fist flicked through the air. Having been enhanced by energy, my fist was easily twice as powerful as before. Hitting the cool shell of the bug had a completely different effect to my earlier attacks. the qi around my lower arm completely incinerated the weak chitin armour. Not having any energy themselves, these parasites were very vulnerable to my qi. to the point that this basic technique was enough to reduce them to cinders. leaving behind the two halves of the parasite, I moved on. Having advanced to the third level of qi, I had more than enough energy to keep this up for hours. technically, if I could find enough of them, I could make thousands of points from these parasites. it was like killing leprechauns who dropped pots of gold. Letting my body run on autopilot, I observed the rest of my team. Having already drawn most of the parasites to myself, everyone else was only facing a few parasites at a time.

Gareth: Tu!

Standing on a freshly bisected corpse, Gareth spat down onto it. A disappointed look was plastered on his face.

Gareth: way too easy.

like myself, Gareth found these creatures to be extremely lacking. no longer motivated by the fight, Gareth focused on making as many points as possible. like myself, he definitely wouldn't let such a golden opportunity as this go. putting away his sword, he pulled out his gun. aiming at the closest targets, he used his G rank Cassul gun to quickly deal with them. looking at the speed with which he disposed of them, I was impressed. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he could take on thousands of theses parasites. maybe even more if he was given the time. With the firing rate of his gun, as well as his enhanced Agility, he was killing 3 bugs every second. Looking at the fist sized holes left in every corpse, the firepower of his gun was obviously higher than the parasites pitiful defence. though normal guns would need a few seconds to kill a parasite, his G rank gun was many times stronger than them. surprisingly, he wasn't using his demonic energy. watching the bland bullets hitting the bugs, I didn't see any trace of black mist. If he did use his energy, then the little bodies of these parasites would be little more than paper to him.

moving on from Gareth, I looked over at Alice. She was also fighting a small group of bugs. Unlike Gareth and I who had superior stats, Alice's enhancements were energy based. Initially, I was worried she would struggle to fight physically. But smashing my expectations, she was actually doing better than either Gareth or myself.

Alice: ugh, so squishy.

Standing in-between 3 dead parasites, she was looking down at her blood soaked fists. Using the unique trait of her earth spirit bloodline, she had created an armour of rock around her body. The same way as back in the guild plane. Though it was much weaker than the one in our guild plane, it still almost doubled her power. So even though her stats were quite low, after being doubled they became even stronger than my own. Looking at the corpses beside her, they were reduced to lumps of mushy flesh under her fists. As more bugs approached her, she would spring towards them. despite being covered in rocks, her speed was greater than the parasites. Smashing her rock covered fist into their heads, she would grind them into the ground. repeating the same action over and over, she kept up a steady pace. After a short while, all of the bugs around her were reduced to meat paste.

Confident that Alice was more than holding her own, I looked at Nicholas and Tony. Being even weaker than Alice, I was worried that they would get swarmed. Unlike her, they didn't have any life-saving moves. But once again, I found my worries to be unfounded. Running into a group of 5 parasites, Tony had taken the lead with his overwhelmingly huge sword. Swinging out horizontally, he cut all of the bug's legs out from under them. The first two that were hit fell limply to the floor, killed by the sheer force behind the swing. The third and fourth bugs narrowly avoided death. but even so, they were crippled and no longer a threat. Then the final bug that was hit by the sword managed to jump away. losing only 3 of its 8 legs but before it could rejoice, Nicholas had appeared beside it. using his new pair of daggers, he stabbed the parasite in both of its eyes. managing to reach its brain, the dagger had killed it instantly. From the combined attacks of Tony and Nicholas, a fountain of fresh green blood was sent flying everywhere. Being sprayed by this blood, both of them looked like madmen turned green. Turning to face my direction, Tony had an evil grin plastered across his face. leaving Nicholas behind, he began Charging towards me. Aiming for the group of bugs in front of me. though they had been reduced by more than half, almost 20 bugs were still alive. he planned to take them all on by himself. Pointing his bloodstained sword at the mass of bugs, his appearance could only be described as savage.

Tony: Eat shit you little fuckers!

holding his sword out before himself, he stampeded into the bugs. Like a makeshift spear, his sword pierced through several of the insect's soft bodies, leaving them skewered. The more bugs he killed, the more blood spilt onto his body. Like a wild berserker, his bloodlust grew the longer he fought for. Before I could react, he had killed half of the bugs in his charge. With the sudden appearance of a madman in their midst, the remaining bugs turned to face him. being completely surrounded by the parasites, as well as having his sword weighed down by corpses, he was thrown into a deadly situation. the bugs coordinated to form a circle around him, pouncing at him from every direction. Seeing the bugs lunging at him, I panicked. We still had yet to test these parasites poison. and even if it wasn't very strong, the combined poison of these several parasites would still become fatal to him.

Solomon: Quickly Dodge!

Calling out to tony, I pushed my speed to the limit. With my high agility stat, I managed to kill off two of the bugs before they sprung away. But even so, 8 of them still managed to jump towards him. Seeing the approaching parasites, Tony did nothing more than smile. with great effort, he hoisted his sword above his head. using the added weight from the corpses, he stabbed it directly into the ground. Then with a jump, he landed on the hilt of his sword. looking down, he watched as the parasites smashed into his huge sword. Though the collisions made the sword wobble slightly, the combination of his weight and the corpses was enough to hold it in place. Colliding with the hard metal they fell to the floor, momentarily dazed. Jumping off of the handle, Tony grabbed a hold of his sword. As he landed on the floor, the momentum from his fall was transferred into lifting the sword out of the ground. As it rose up, the impaled corpses fell off the sword. Not wasting a single second, he crouched slightly. Holding out the sword directly in front of himself, he leant to the side. Using his body as the centre, he spun the sword in a circle. like before, all of the parasites were reduced to minced meat by this attack.

Gasping for air, tony kneeled down. Looking at his figure, completely covered in blood, I was surprised to still see a bright smile on his face. Walking over to him, I said a few words.

Solomon: It seems like you have more skill than I gave you credit for. take a rest for now. we'll handle the rest of them.

Giving me a thumbs up, tony collapsed down onto the floor. Even with his heavily increased stats, lugging around that huge sword drained his stamina quickly.

Turning, I looked over at my last teammate. Unsurprisingly, all of her enemies were already dealt with.

Pluvia: well, that was easy.

In her dragon form, Pluvia was standing over a lot of the parasites corpses. The already black carapace of these bugs had turned crisp from her flame breath. Having been limited to only using her body and flame breath, she didn't spare any time dealing with the bugs. She had killed at least 40 of them in total. When I thought that all of those points would go straight to me, I felt kind of guilty.

With one last look around, I confirmed that all of the parasites had died. Looking at the 100 or so corpses in various t states after death, I felt proud of my team.