He breathed hot air before running towards me, I brought out my M4 and started shooting at him, he had no choice but to use the weapons he has as a shield. This is my chance, I threw my M4 towards Fives, he shot all the remaining ammo. It gave me enough time to slip through the beetles' defenses, I stood behind him and pulled one of his two legs. His face landed on the cold ground, I performed a scorpion deathlock.

Fives impaled one the beetles' arms while he held the two in place, Gram and Brunhilde didn't miss this chance and started stabbing the downed beetle, it didn't take long until it was on its last breath

"I will remember this, in this cycle and the next one, I will keep on hunting you down until I pull off your head Cyborg!" He roared out before I stick my desert eagle in his mouth and shot his brain off

"Cyborg? What's that?" Gram asked

"They're a different kind of humans" I answered his question

"Different kind? how so?" Gram once again asked

"You can say that they were brutally trained in order to combat these bugs" I lied but the part about brutal training is true, horrifyingly true

"And you're one of these cyborgs?" This time, Brunhilde asked

"Yeah" I nodded

'Lilith, please scan the area'

'Scanning...'

"So where do we go from here? this guy doesn't seem to be the queen" Gram poked at the dead body of the human-like beetle

"I'm still figuring it out but for now, please try to use his weapons" I requested

"These scythes are a bit heavy but they are very sharp. I'm not proficient in handling this kind of weapon so I will stick with my sword" Gram bitterly replied

"Me too" Brunhilde also stuck to her weapon

"Fives?" I asked

"Change in weapon accepted" He held one of the scythes while the other was on his back

'Scanning complete, there's a hollow area underneath us. The queen is likely to be there' Lilith reported

'Alright, good job' I thanked her

'Please be careful, I detected multiple heat signatures, they're most probably guards'

'Got it'

I took my M4 from fives before notifying every one of Lilith's findings

"Hmm, let me chant a spell" Astarotia spoke out after listening to what I said

"At my signal, break the ground in front of me" Astarotia requested, we could only nod

Half a minute passed before Astarotia opened her eyes

"Now!" She screamed

Gram, Brunhilde, Cynthia, Fives, and I used our attacks on the ground causing it to break down and reveal a cavern underneath.

"BATHE IN CRIMSON FLAME, [EXPLOSION]!" Astarotia pointed her arms inside the cavern

The dark hole suddenly turned crimson red as Astarotia's spell wreaked havoc within the cavern, we all jumped away as the ground underneath us started to fall down. A few seconds pass and Astarotia's spell died down, I peeked inside and saw that everything within the cavern turned black.

'Lilith, anything survived that blast?' I asked

'...Yes, in the center' She replied

I looked at the center but all I saw was a huge circular bulge but when I looked closer, I saw that 5 beetles huddled together and used their bodies as a shield to protect whatever they were protecting.

"They're still alive!" I alerted everyone before jumping into the pit.

Gram, Brunhilde, and Fives jumped down while Cynthia and Astarotia started chanting their spells. The Bugs started separated from each other and gave me a clear view of what we're up against

Zephorus beetles also known as Ironclad Beetles, they have an extremely tough exoskeleton that is hard to penetrate, they are mostly a vanguard for an invasion and it would take a railgun just to pierce through its shell but this bug has a weakness we can use, they have a very soft stomach so even without a railgun, we have a chance at taking them down.

Three bugs separated from the other two and headed in different directions, one going towards Gram and Brunhilde and the other two heading towards us

"Their weakness is their stomach, hit them there and hit them hard" I shouted out

I aimed for the legs of the Ironclad beetle that headed toward me, I emptied my entire 30 bullet charges on it before it broke off. The beetle lost its balance and collapsed on the ground

'Lilith, strength!' I shouted out

'Right away'

I felt strength course through my body, I ran and punched the side of the beetle that tried to get up, it flopped over and exposed its stomach to me. I didn't miss this chance and with Azazel, I gutted its stomach open. I looked at Fives but he doesn't seem to have any trouble with it but Gram and Brunhilde aren't making any progress, they were getting tired but the beetle they were facing was still energetic. They're bound to collapse sooner or later due to exhaustion

'Fives, toss me one of the scythes' I used my radio

Fives tossed the scythe he was using towards me, I grabbed the handle and quickly headed towards Gram and Brunhilde. Once close enough, I slid on the ground and swung the scythe towards the legs of the Zephorus they were facing. I cut off all three of its legs on the left side of its body causing it to collapse, I quickly stood up and punched the side of its body to flip it over. I succeeded and allowed Gram and Brunhilde to kill the Zephorus.

Fives was also done with its job, I looked at the other two beetles guarding what appears to be dog-sized larva...the larvae was covered with intricate designs and was colored in different colors. It's a queen larva, the ground underneath of the Zephorus beetle broke open and fire erupted from it. The poor beetle didn't even have a chance to move as the fire cooked it from the inside.

The other beetle was struck by lightning in the head, it didn't penetrate its shell but I'm pretty sure that that attack fried its brains

I now look at the queen larva that is struggling to wriggle away

"...Tell me, how large is your hive?" I stopped it in its tracks and asked

"Hehe... I never thought a cyborg followed me all the way here but no matter, my sisters will kill you" Its voice was a mixture of several female voices

"Sisters? What the hell?" I was surprised, this explains it. They probably all came at the same time that I did but in several locations which is why the attacks came from all over the place

"Correct, the queen is not yet decided but know this, we will only continue the queen's ceremony once you, the killer of our mother will die... It's a pity that I won't see that day but I hope you will scream loud enough for me to hear you from the depths of hell" The larva then gave off a bright glow before exploding, killing itself

Noises of bugs running amock echoed throughout the hive seconds after the death of their queen, they are all currently killing each other in a bloody frenzy. They will kill anything they see so it's best to leave this place