I looked at the forest and noticed several Hercules beetles the size of a fully grown man come out of the forest, the queen of that hive is really pissed.

"...I think we pissed someone or something off" Astarotia spoke out as she arrived next to me

"Aren't you supposed to be tired?" I asked

"I was pretending so you will carry me~"

"...seriously?" This woman... =_=

"Hehe, you won't pay attention to me so you forced me to do so~" She hopped next to me and tapped on my forehead

"I'll pursue this issue later, let's concentrate on the enemy in front of us"

"Alright, what's the plan?" Astarotia asked

"Same as the last time hit them with magic, don't let them get close"

"That's going to be a problem" Astarotia rubbed her forehead

"What do you mean?" I asked

"The mages... they're too slow to even respond"

I looked around us and noticed that only a few mages actually arrived, we have to stall for time.

"Guardian 5, provide cover fire" I called out Guardian 5 and gave him my M4A1

I ran down and came out of the city walls, Guardian 5 stayed above the wall along with Astarotia.

'Lilith, enemy count' I requested Lilith

'30 Hercules Hive beetles, 5 Formars, and 15 Soldier ants'

"Astarotia! Fives! aim for the Ants and those humanoid creatures!" I shouted out at Astarotia

Astarotia only nodded her head and sent wave after wave of fireballs at the enemies. The Soldier ants and Formars were a bit fast so they're going to be a problem but the Hercules warrior beetles are a bit slow so they're not going to pose much of a threat unless they get close to the walls

'Lilith, Speed mode'

'Request acknowledged'

Dk's usually red glow turned blue as it's speed reached a whole new level, I ran passed the Formars and Soldier Ants before arriving in front of the Hercules beetles.

'Lilith, switch to strength'

'Switching... switching complete!'

DK's blue glow turned yellowish, I raised Azazel up and swung him down at the head of one the beetles. I cut through without even the slightest resistance, the sharpness of Azazel and the strength boosted DK is a deadly combo. The Beetle collapsed lifelessly on the ground, the other beetles saw their fallen comrade and started heading towards me. They trampled everything they came across, their pincers opened up wide and tried to cut me in half but I only jumped back to evade. I was completely surrounded by 4 Hercules beetles, while the other was still running towards me at a snail's pace. The beetle in front of me opened it's pincers wide and tried to crush me but I quickly moved to the side just as it hit the spot where I used to be, I swung Azazel down and broke it's lower horn before stabbing its head. The beetle collapsed with a thud as the other three attacked me all at the same time, but I used [Illusion strike] before jumping back. The beetle in the middle saw an illusion of me on the beetle on its right so it started crushing its own ally, the two beetle were busy with each other so killing the last of the three was fairly easy.

"KYAAA!" I was about to kill the other two beetles but I heard a shout from a distance

I looked at the source of the shout and found a young girl holding a basket of fruit and vegetables, she was being chased by one of the beetles.

'Lilith, switch to speed and get ready to revert back to strength!'

'Affirmative'

I ran towards the beetle that was chasing the young girl.

'Lilith!'

'Switching!'

I kicked the beetles head just as DK's glow turned yellow, half of the bug's head caved in.

"Run, now!" I spoke to the young lady without even turning back

The beetle had a hard time keeping its balance as it kept shaking its head, I found a chance and slipped underneath it before gutting its defenseless stomach with Azazel. I was covered in its gooey blue blood but I ignored it as I started shooting some beetles down with my desert eagle, it didn't provide much damage but its a different story if I shoot their legs.

'Lilith, how many more?'

'There are 13 Hercules beetles, the Soldier Ants and Formars have been wiped out'

'Thanks'

Astarotia and the others can take care of the other 10 bugs that headed straight for the castle walls, the other two headed for me but what about the last one. I looked around and saw the last beetle fleeing the battle, will it call for help? I've never had much experience against these bugs because they're mainly on the frontline while our squad focused on missions that involve infiltration and target destruction.

'Lilith, is this a common behavior?' I asked

'Accessing database... Please wait'

'Take your time' I brandished Azazel and started chasing after the fleeing beetle

'1 match found' Lilith alerted me when I was halfway towards the beetle

'Hercules beetles are known to have retreated battles in order to call in reinforcements'

'Got it, Thanks!'

My Desert Eagle was fully recharged and I aimed it at the beetle's 8 legs and started shooting, the Beetle has been fully subdued and I'm free to kill it however I want but I still have two beetles moving at a snail pace chasing after me. I held Azazel with both hands before switching to speed and running forward, I held Azazel with both hands before jumping up and arriving behind one of the beetles. I switched to strength and easily cut through the tough shell of the beetle, the last beetle tried to retaliate but it only died.

I looked at the escaping beetle earlier, it was struggling to crawl forward. I walked beside it and was about to stab its head but someone stopped me.

"Zeno, don't!" Astarotia shouted out as she ran towards me

"Why?" I asked

"Because we need this thing for experimentation, it's rare to have a live specimen" Astarotia looked at the legless beetle

"You guys take care of the transportation" I only said those words before swinging Azazel to remove the blood on it before sheathing it and hanging it on my back

"Hey, hey! you expect a fragile woman like me to carry such a heavy bug?" Astarotia hold on to my hand

"You can obliterate an entire swarm of monsters, if you call that weak then all of the men in this city are a bunch of pussies" I shot back

"Come on, aren't you a gentleman?" Astarotia didn't give up and walked up in front of me

"I am a gentleman but only to my lover" I walked to the side

"Aren't I your lover?" Astarotia followed me

"No way in hell" I replied without turning back

"Why are you like this? a woman is chasing you yet you keep rejecting her~" Astarotia asked

"Why are you so obsessed with me?" I asked

"Hmm, let me think~... you can call it attraction?"

"I really don't care just please stop" I helplessly sighed

"Aren't you curious~?" Astarotia stood in front of me and bent her body forwards, making sure I can see her cleavage as she cutely asked

"If it makes you stop harassing me then go ahead" I looked to the side as I replied

"Hehe~" Astarotia let out a victorious chuckle before standing beside me

"You know that I'm strong right?" Astarotia asked

"Yeah but I don't know just how strong" I replied as I started walking

"You'll find out soon enough, Because of my strength, the men around me all seemed so inferior... My friends started having lovers yet I'm still alone, I want to have a lover but with the way I look at men, it was almost impossible. Then I fell in love, I will do anything for him"

I looked at Astarotia who was smiling at me

"A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G" Astarotia slowly said those words

"Riiiggghhttt, if so then please leave me alone" I helplessly replied

Astarotia could only chuckle before Cynthia came

"Zeno!" Cynthia called out

I only raised my hand and waved at her, she quickly ran towards our spot and quickly got into the space between me and Astarotia.

"Great, a meddler" Astarotia muttered under her breathe

"Hmm?" Cynthia looked at Astarotia as she smiled

"Nothing~" Astarotia also smiled

Two ladies were smiling but the atmosphere was tense

'Lilith, got any advice?' I requested help because I have no experience in stopping catfights

'Please follow everything that I say'

'Alright'

"Ladies, please stop fighting over me. Come to my place and all of us can have some "Fun"" I recited everything that Lilith said but...

""What?"" Cynthia and Astarotia looked at me with surprise

"...What" My brain finally processed everything and instant regret quickly hit me

"Oh~ underneath that hard and stoic attitude of yours is actually a lusty personality" Astarotia smiled as she held both her breasts up in front of me

"A-Ah... Zeno is just kidding!" Cynthia stuttered as she spoke out

"Yes! it was a joke to stop you guys from fighting!" A way of escape fell on my lap so I quickly grabbed onto it

"Really? he seemed pretty serious to me~" Astarotia was drawing circles on my chest with her finger

"Quit it!" Cynthia pulled her away from me

They both bickered until we returned to the city