We returned to the city just as the sun was about to set.

"Please come and eat dinner with us" Gram requested after putting the corpses of the tiger beetle and larvae in a large carriage

"I apologize but I'll have to dec-" I was about to decline but Gram raised his arm to stop me from speaking

"I insist"

"...Then we'll accept your offer"

We followed Gram and Brunhilde back to their home when we arrived, there was already dinner waiting for us.

They started eating, only I was the one who was looking at the food in front of me.

My mask opened up and revealed my mouth but not my face, the two people who were eating with me was a bit surprised by my actions.

"I apologize, however, I made a vow not to show my face" I lied

"Ah, that's a shame" Gram bitterly smiled

We all ate and after that, headed to the guest room to have a little rest. Gram was satisfied watching the fire burn in the fireplace while Cynthia grabbed a book from a nearby bookshelf and started reading it, I too took a book and sat in the chair by the fireplace. I opened the book and was about to start reading but Brunhilde suddenly took the book and looked at me seriously

"Is there a problem?" I asked

"I'd like to have a match against you" She seriously gazed at me

"...I'd love to but I'm a bit tired"

"I'm not taking no for an answer"

I looked at Gram and he shifted his head away while whistling... so this was his plan, that sneaky old man

"*sigh* At least give me something to look forward to if I win" I helplessly sighed

"I'll hear any request you say" She replied

"Okay, let's take this outside our backyard" Gram smiled and started walking out

Cynthia, Brunhilde, and I followed.

Brunhilde and I was now facing each other

"Alright, I'll be the judge of this fight, there will be no cheating and whoever admits their defeat first loses"

Brunhilde pulled out her rapier and took her stance, I too took my stance with one hand holding Azazel's handle and the other tightly grasping the sheath. I already Brunhilde's fighting style, she attacks swift and fast, her rapier always striking the area with least defense.

"Ready... GO!" Gram raised his arm and quickly swung it down, it was the signal for the beginning of our battle

Brunhilde dashed forward and used a skill

"Swashbuckle!" she started stabbing with her rapier, her speed was so fast that it left afterimages

'Lilith, speed'

'Acknowledged'

Her attack was fast but I managed to parry each and every of her attack which shocked her, She jumped back and started concentrating her strength on her next attack.

"[Pierce]!" Her rapier gave off a golden glow before she unleashed the attack on me

The golden glow turned into a thin streak of light that quickly headed for my chest

"[Crescent wave]!" I responded with a skill of my own

Our skills clashed and ended up with my slash besting her pierce, she jumped to the side to evade but I was already there. I swung down my sword and she was forced to evade, my attack pushed her back.

She bit her lips and vanished, I noticed her appear behind me.

"[Swashbuckle]!" She used her skill

[Spatial Rip] I used the mini-teleporter installed within Dk

I vanished and appeared above Brunhilde, I spun around and punched out. Her instincts kicked in and she jumped back without even looking up, my hands dug deep into the ground and I notice her grit her teeth. I stood up as she raised her arm that held her rapier, she slid her free hand on the body of the rapier and I noticed a change in the rapier.

'Lilith'

'Affirmative, the rapier seems to be wrapped in fiery red mana'

'This seems to be similar to Azazel's ability'

'Yes, although Azazel uses electrical energy' Lilith replied

"Here I come! [Heartpiercer, Swashbuckle!]" She once again vanished and this time, appeared on my left side but it's too late, I already saw the weakness of her [Swashbuckle]

When she uses her skill, she turns into an almost unnoticeable smoke, wherever the smoke is, that's where she will be appearing.

Her rapier produced afterimages as she kept attacking but all was in vain, all of her attacks were parried. I dashed towards her while she was still shocked by the events, I swung Azazel but stopped when it was inches away from her neck.

"...I lost" She bitterly admitted her defeat

"Haha, any more than that, I would've intervened" Gram spoke out, I also notice Gram holding his sword

"That was a good match, however, we must be on our way" I spoke out, Alissa might be worried about me

"Okay, okay but please come back tomorrow because I still have something I wish to discuss with you" Gram replied

"Sure, why not" I nodded before leaving

Cynthia followed behind me.

I returned to the ship with a tired body, I removed Dk and headed for the examination room that Alissa and the guardian recently installed. I'm surprised that they managed to make this. According to Alissa, the other Guardians made time and created an additional room using the scraps of metal from the ship we salvaged, even the scanner in the room was salvaged in the ship.

I laid down on the cold steel bed and let the scanner do its job

"Officer Zeno, you have been through multiple strenous events for the past months. We suggest you take a day off to relax" The computerized voice stated its findings

"*Sigh* I too think so Zeno, you have yet to actually take a good rest" Alissa took my shirt and handed it to me

"Even if I wanted to, I can't. The bugs grow in numbers and power as we speak, I also have to meet with a general tomorrow, I will give him useful tips on combating the bugs" I replied with a bitter smile, I want to relax too but I can't, not yet.

"Wait, what? why?" Alissa asked

"It seems that the bugs have been here for far longer than we both have, they've made several bases and are starting to take over the world, although they are not yet going all out, it's only a matter of time"

"...That is bad... but please, take care of yourself okay?" Alissa leaned her head on my shoulder, the smell of her shampoo filling my nose gave me a good feeling

"Of course I will"

We ate together and slept together that night, Alissa wanted to spend time with me even if it was only sleeping bed. I too wanted the same because we both shared a feeling, that feeling was, of course, love, but there was another feeling and that was a feeling of loneliness. We were both tossed here from the future, sure there are other people here and there but they can never replace those who we were with. This is a bit hard for the both of us right now but we'll get used to it

The next day, I left after having a nice coffee with Alissa. Lilia suddenly came barging in and had breakfast with us, where was she these past few days? Oh well, she's the only friend Alissa has right now that shares a common interest in researching and studying so I left as to not disturb the two lab coat wearers.

I arrived at the mansion all alone, the butler from yesterday opened the gates and led me inside a room. I entered and was surprised to see Gram and Astarotia waiting.

"Am I disturbing you guys?" I awkwardly asked

"That's mean~ you know I only have you in my heart" Astarotia teased

"I have a wife" Gram laughed heartily

"Moving on, we were discussing on a method to attack the base or hive of these monsters" Astarotia spoke out

"Wait, we're going back?" I asked

"Yes, we cannot afford to allow an enemy base this close to our cities and villages" Astarotia replied

True, the more time given to those things, the stronger they get

"Then, who are participating?" I asked

"I want you, Fives, Cynthia, General Gram, Royal Knight Brunhilde to join in, of course I'm coming along as well" Astarota smiled

"I don't want Cynthia to come because she still lacks the experience and strength" I don't want anyone to die, call me paranoid but I don't care

"But you gave her that armor to compensate for it right? and besides, I already called her" Astarotia mischievously smiled

"What?" I looked behind me and saw Cynthia wearing the nexus armor and was quietly waiting

"I am thankful and happy that you are worried about me but... I won't sit back and watch you risk your life, I will fight with you" Cynthia confidently spoke out

"... give me a second alone"

I sighed and left the room and connected to the ship

'Guardian five, respond'

'Guardian five, received and awaiting command'

'Come to my location, fully charged and armed'

'Yes sir'

I cut transmission there and returned to the room

"I called Fives, he should be heading here soon" I spoke out

"Okay then, the plan is simple, attack their base and kill the queen" Gram announced

"Let's please do this stealthily" I requested

"Of course we will be as quiet as we can" Astarotia smiled

We discussed even further and after it was done, we had a simple coffee while waiting for Fives

The door soon opened and revealed a cloacked man with red eyes that glowed under the cover of the hood

"Hmmm, my butler didn't led you here which means you broke in" Gram chuckled

Fives was quiet and just bowed

"Alright, let's get this show on the road" Gram left and knocked on the other room

Brunhilde came out wearing her armor, Gram went in and came out wearing a new set of armor

"We'll be using the tunnel they dug" Gram spoke out before we headed for the center of the city.

I noticed that there was now a small hole that could fit 5-6 people, it was tightly guarded

"Let's go" Astarotia spoke out

Gram, Fives, and I were first to jump down, the women then came after us.

They all lit up torches while Fives, and I used our night vision. Cynthia was also wearing the nexus armor so I pushed a small button near her right ear which activated the night vision, she was surprised but she kept quiet about it.

We walked for almost half an hour when Lilith warned me

'Zeno, Formars heading your way, 10-15 of them' Lilith warned me

"Fives, kill anything that gets past me" I spoke out and grabbed everyone's attention

"They're coming, stand back" I pulled out my M4A1 and aimed at the ceiling

In the darkness came the sound of claws stabbing on hard ground, they were weak at first but it started growing stronger and stronger until they showed themselves.

Humans that mutated to have insect legs popping out their backs were crawling all over the ceilings, their jaws also opened up so wide that you'd thought they were snakes instead

I started shooting them down, 2 managed to get past me but Fives easily took care of them.

I checked once more and when I found out that there was no wave coming, I urged everyone to continue forward

Gram was tense, Brunhilde was quietly following us, Astarotia had three fireballs rotating above her head, ready to strike anytime while Cynthia was looking from time to time, making sure that we won't get attacked from behind.

We walked silently and finally found our way out of the tunnel but when we did, we were met with several Formars, we made quick work of them and moved on. Lilith mapped the entire place, we were almost lost but thanks to it, we managed to find our way towards what we think is the queen's room

We made sure everything was okay before carefully opening the door, inside was a 10-foot Hercules beetle with the body structure of a human.

"You... You're the one who previously killed our beloved queen! Why have you come here?!" He roared out

"Blade Knight, do you know him?" Gram asked

"I don't" I emotionlessly replied, all of them looks the same to me but it's different if they take over a human body.

"YOU, ZENO!!" He roared out and grabbed all of the weapons nearby which was weapons crafted from a Prey Mantis

He kept swinging the weapons like a madman, I could only jump back and evade. Brunhilde found an opening and used [Swashbuckle]

She appeared at the right side of the Hercules beetle and barraged his body with piercing attacks, he got pushed back and Gram appeared behind him

"[Skull splitter]!" He swung his sword down with full force

"Your weapons are useless!" He used his arm to block the attack, the sword didn't penetrate the armor but it didn't break the sword either

"You're dead!" The beetle roared out before swinging the sight towards Gram's neck but I managed to tackle him away and used [Crescent slash], My crescent slash came bursting out and sliced off one of the beetle's arm.

"MOTHERFUCKER!" He angrily shouted out as another pair of arms grew out underneath his arms

His two hands brandished a scythe each while the last one pulled out a hook from his back

"Killing you will be fun" He laughed