Thump, Thump, Thump. Waking up, Sasha was greeted by the violent vibrations that were reverberating throughout her body. when she tried to get up, she realised that she couldn't move at all. Even more than that, she couldn't hear or see anything either. The only thing that she could feel at that moment was the rhythmic thumping. It was like all her other senses had shut themselves off, leaving her both blind and deaf. Panicking, Sasha tried to figure out what was wrong with her body. But even after struggling against the restricting feeling surrounding her, she didn't make any progress. Calming herself down, she realised that the thumping wasn't causing her any harm. At some point, She even began to find the vibrations oddly calming.

As the time passed, Sasha gradually regained control over her senses. At first, it was her sense of touch. The cold feeling of the concrete beneath her let her know that she was laying on the ground. Then it was her hearing. At first, all she could hear was a faint squeaking sound. But as time passed, the sound grew louder. When she could finally understand what it was, fear tightly gripped Sasha's, heart.

Sound: GREEEEEEEEE!!!!!

It was the grating screech of some sort of insect. The high pitched and extremely loud noise made her ears ring, but her paralysed body wouldn't listen to her commands to cover her ears. As she continued listening to the horrid sound, she noticed that the timing of the screeching was matching up to the thumping. Placing the pieces of her scattered memory back together, she tried to figure out her current situation. the last thing she remembered falling down into the subway system before blacking out. Knowing that the noise wasn't coming from the giant creatures above ground, she was sure that it had to be the parasites. But the volume of the screech was way too strong for it to be coming from an average parasite. Knowing that, Sasha felt the already intense fear in her heart grow several times stronger. But even in this situation, she still had some hope. Not being in immediate danger, she could guess that the parasite was being fought off. But even then, she didn't know how well everyone else was faring against it. The constant uncertainty led her anxiety to grow stronger and stronger, like a bubble trying to pop itself.

Laying there listening, Sasha felt a trickling of strength return to her body. Using the newly gained strength, she pried her heavy eyelids open. As the dim light filtered into her irises, her eyes took a second to grow accustomed to the lack of light. Looking straight up at the slightly curved ceiling, Sasha knew that she had made it to the subway. Though that fact brought a little relief to her heart, it was overshadowed by the harsh screeching of the parasite. Tilting her head to the side, she looked in the direction of the noise. Staring wide-eyed at the sight before her eyes, Sasha was astonished by the scene before her.

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5 minutes ago

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In the centre of the writhing mass of knee high parasites, 3 distinct figures could be seen facing each other. One of them, a several meter tall dragon surrounded by a thin layer of golden light. The next was a silver werewolf with wisps of flame circling around its body. And the last, a gigantic insect with a pitch black shell. Using the several pairs of spindle-like legs under its heavy body, it stood perfectly still. The two sickle-shaped claws hovering in front of its body waved gently back and forth. Looking at its body, it was hard to make out the details through its black colour. But one thing was certain, it was very strong. Further proving this point was the figures lack of a mystical energy. It was like it was saying it didn't need it to deal with the two enemies before it. The combination of all of those factors made it even more intimidating than the other figures combined.

Solomon: follow the plan, you fight it up close and I'll support you with ranged attacks.

These three figures were, of course, Solomon, Pluvia and the parasite Queen. Having just finished killing off the enlarged parasites, Solomon and Pluvia were left facing their Queen.

Pluvia: all right. But if I die, you've got to run straight away.

Setting down her own requirement, Pluvia walked over to Solomon's side. Staring down the Queen, Pluvia made sure that none of its movements escaped her sight. Though she appeared outwardly calm, Pluvia was extremely anxious. Her instincts were screaming that there was something special about the Queen. Not just it's increased size and strength, But something else that was still hidden. But to Pluvia's disappointment, she couldn't quite put her finger on it yet.

Queen: CRUUUUUUU!!!!

Screeching suddenly, the Queen started Solomon and Pluvia. Stressing their senses to the limit, they both stared at the Queen. Expecting her to attack, they both prepared to face her head on. But going against their expectation, the Queen didn't move from her spot. Looking closely, it even looked like she had a smile on her face. But that might have just been the darkness messing with their perception. as they were staring puzzledly at the Queen, a strange scene began to occur around them. The nearby parasites had begun running away. Watching the horde of black insects distance themselves, Solomon and Pluvia now understood the Queen's screech. She was telling them to stay away. She probably realised that they'd only get in the way if they stayed nearby and ordered them to give her some space. This forethought on the Queens part was quite amazing to Solomon and Pluvia. They knew that this wasn't the sort of intelligence an ordinary insect should have.

Solomon: Be carefully Pluvia, there's something off about her.

Voicing his concerns to Pluvia, Solomon began backing away. Now that the scene had been set, it wouldn't be long before the fight began.

Pluvia: I know.

keeping her reply short, Pluvia took the initiative to attack. Not holding back, she used Qi to strengthen her legs. lunging forwards, her golden body flew towards the Queen. Reaching forwards with her claws, Pluvia aimed for the Queen's exposed front legs. If she could take those out, the Queen could only writhe on the floor as they killed her from a distance. Just as Pluvia was about to reach the Queen a message from the system distracted her.

Guild bot: Encountered hidden mission, kill the parasite Queen. Requirements. The user must kill the parasite Queen themselves. Any outside assistance will invalidate the mission. Reward. 1500 points and 2 G rank rewards for each participating team member and 500 points and 1 G rank reward for each non-participating team member.

Unlike the usual messages from the system, this one was a little bit different. Instead of having the voice transmitted into their brains, the information was instantly transplanted in. This way, the whole transmission could be transferred to Pluvia and Solomon before their fight with the Queen had really begun. But this sudden appearance of new information in Pluvia's brain had momentarily distracted her.

Briefly letting the Queen's figure escape her attention, Pluvia sorted out the new bundle of information in her head. This one mistake of hers allowed the Queen to act. Before the eyes of Pluvia, the massive figure of the jet black Queen disappeared. As if she had instantly teleported away, leaving no traces of her even being there. Confused by the sudden development, Pluvia stopped her charge. Standing in Place, Pluvia pushed her sense to the limit looking for the Queen. But even then she couldn't find the Queen. Just as she was about to ask Solomon if he knew where the Queen was, his shouting voice called out to her.

Solomon: ABOVE YOU!!!

Not even taking the time to properly process Solomon's words, Pluvia flung herself to the side. As she did, one of the Queen's razor sharp claws whizzed by her head, rubbing against her golden energy shield. But to Pluvia's surprise, the Queens claw easily sliced through the protective layer. Not even slightly slowed, the Queen's curved claw continued towards Pluvia's scales. As the attack made contact, shock once again plastered Pluvia's face. Under the pressure of the Queens claw, her iron defence quickly began to crack. Fortunately, because it was only a glancing blow, the main brunt of the attack had missed her. So even though the scales had cracked, they'd manage to stop the attack from hurting her. Thinking about the overwhelming power in the Queens attack, Pluvia shivered. She knew that if she hadn't reacted to Solomon's warning instantly, that claw would have cut her head off. Wanting to escape the Queens reach, Pluvia jumped back towards Solomon. But how could her speed even begin to compare to the Queens? Once again disappearing from Pluvia's vision, the Queen almost instantly reappeared at her side. Seeing this, Pluvia could roughly guess what was happening. The Queen was moving at such a fast speed that her eyes couldn't keep up. So whenever the Queen moved she would lose sight of her. Using that insane speed to appear at Pluvia's side, the Queen lashed out at her. Seeing the scythe-like claw approaching her, Pluvia felt deep regret. She thought the choice to fight this Queen was extremely foolish. She wished that she'd trusted her sense before and convinced everyone to take a long way around. She knew that if she died now, it wouldn't be long until Solomon, and everyone else, died as well. Just as she was about to give up, the Commanding voice of Solomon found it's way to her ears.

Solomon: Come Here!!!

Almost in the same instant that Solomon had spoken, A Huge Bundle of Flames shot over Pluvia's head. Looking closely, Pluvia realised what the flames were. Taking the form of a tailless 5-meter long lizard, was Solomon's flame serpent art. Having been filled with a full half of Solomon's energy, as well as having the arcane orbs amplifying effect, The flaming lizard sped through the air towards the Queen. Moving even faster than a bullet, this attack didn't give the Queen any chance to evade.

Queen: SCREEEE!!!!!

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the Queen didn't have any choice but to face it head on. Diverting the claw it had aimed at Pluvia, the Queen's deadly blade met Solomon's flame lizard. As the two opposing forces fought each other, it quickly became obvious that the Queen's attack was much weaker. After a brief pause, the flaming lizard smashed the Queen's arm into pieces. Realising how powerful Solomon's attack was, The Queen reacted Quickly. The moment that her claw had met the flames, she knew that she couldn't beat the attack. Sacrificing her arm to buy some time, the Queen shifted her body to the side. Then She watched as the attack sailed past her. Flying forwards for several hundred meters, the attack finally landed in the distant mass of parasites. Forming into a small mushroom cloud, the Flames Burst outwards. Covering an area of a hundred meters, The flames incinerated all of the Parasites in their range. When they finally dissipated, All that was left behind were small piles of dust. Seeing the insane power that was hidden in the unassuming little lizard, the Queen shivered slightly.

Solomon: Are you all right?

Having dashed back to Solomon's side, Pluvia was currently kneeling down beside him. The pressure placed upon her had made her breathless. Gasping for air, She tried to quickly recover as much strength as possible. Seeing Pluvia's condition, and then looking at the cracked scales on her face, Solomon became worried. Though he'd thought she'd gotten away with a few light injuries, he was now questioning his own judgement.

Pluvia: Haaaah. Yeah, I'm fine

Looking at the Queen, a chill ran down Pluvia's spine. Though she already knew that this would be a difficult fight, she didn't think the Queen would be so overwhelmingly strong.

Solomon: Pluvia, you can't hold back now. even if you have to use up all off your energy, don't hesitate to do so.

Pluvia: you're right, there's no way we can conserve energy in this situation.

Standing back up, Pluvia had a small grin appear on her face.

Pluvia: it's been a while since I've been pushed this far.

Catching the orb that had only now returned to his hand, Solomon also found an eerie grin creeping onto his face.

Solomon: let's not waste this opportunity then, we've got to make this a memorable fight.

As the Dragon and Werewolf attacked the insect once again, their epic battle began for the second time.