Nidhogg kicked the mantis's corpse aside, watching as it gradually reverted to its original, gaunt human form—now, of course, covered in blood.
He stood amidst a tide of demons, like a god of slaughter.
"You dare kill him—!"
A thunderous roar echoed from a distance. The ground trembled as the stag beetle charged at Nidhogg like a chariot!
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—!
Along its path, countless insect monsters were sent flying. In an instant, it was upon him.
CRASH—!
Nidhogg had no choice but to raise his Lordsworn's Greatsword and Bloodhound's Fang, crossing them to desperately block the stag beetle's trident-like horns!
The stag beetle thrust its head forward. The sheer force lifted Nidhogg and hurled him backward. He slammed into a thick tree trunk and crashed to the ground.
HSS—!
Nidhogg felt a sharp pain in his back. He saw the insect monsters trying to seize the opportunity, swarming toward him as he lay on the ground.
Suddenly, Torrent and the lone wolves charged in from the side, tearing through the demon horde like cavalry, halting the monsters' deadly advance.
Nidhogg calmly rose and took a swig from his Flask of Crimson & Cerulean Tears.
He restored some health and focus just as the stag beetle thundered toward him again.
This time, the stag beetle seemed intent on impaling Nidhogg directly with its horns!
As the horns were about to strike him, Nidhogg calmly used Bloodhound's Finesse once more.
Bloodhound's Fang slashed across the horns, and his entire body backflipped, maintaining distance from the stag beetle while simultaneously nullifying its most aggressive charge.
FWOOSH—!
At that moment, Bloodhound's Step activated. Nidhogg lunged forward like a sharp arrow, leaving only a faint afterimage!
By the time the stag beetle noticed, Nidhogg was already before it. His Lordsworn's Greatsword was raised, and Stamp (Upward Cut) was unleashed!
A cyclone exploded with the greatsword's strike. The central horn of the stag beetle's prized trident was instantly severed and sent flying!
Its entire massive, heavy body was flipped by the cyclone, crashing to the ground. The earth shook once more.
Nidhogg pounced on it, landing atop the stag beetle. He reversed his greatsword, pointed the tip downward, and drove it into the stag beetle's exposed abdomen, cleaving its lower body in two!
SPLATTER—!
Whether slime or blood, fluids gushed forth. The stag beetle howled, its legs and feet thrashing like a dying cockroach.
Nidhogg stepped forward again, raised his Lordsworn's Greatsword, and brought it down in a sweeping arc, splitting the stag beetle's head and ending the Apostle's life.
It stopped moving. Soon, it reverted to its original human form. Though its head and lower abdomen were shattered, one could vaguely make out the figure of a stout, tall man.
Nidhogg had eliminated the two most threatening Apostles. He then turned to help Torrent and the lone wolves clean up the swarm of insect monsters spawned from the flesh sphere.
Finally, after a bloody battle, the entire forest was littered with all kinds of minced remains, filled with a strange and eerie stench.
「Quest」 Eliminate Low-Rank Apostles and Low-Rank Invaders in the Kingdom of Midland (12/?)
Defeat the Face Tree (Completed) / Defeat the Mantis Knight (Completed) / Defeat the Stag Beetle Knight (Completed) / Defeat the Flesh Sphere (Completed)
「Reward」 Level Up: LV 66 → LV 68. Acquired: Golden Seed, Sacred Tear, Land of Shadow, Smithing Stones (Standard, Somber, Ancient Dragon Smithing Stone—General Use)
Nidhogg glanced at the rewards. This time, it was truly valuable. Besides the level-up, he had obtained four different enhancement materials.
He judged that he was very close to Mist Valley. Since he had enhancement materials, he might as well rest a bit and upgrade his "equipment and arsenal."
A short distance away from this pool of blood and forest of flesh, Nidhogg found a relatively clean spot, briefly cleared it, and sat down.
He placed the Golden Seed and Sacred Tear into his Flask of Crimson & Cerulean Tears. The enhancement effect was quickly applied.
「Flask of Crimson & Cerulean Tears」: Now usable 4 times. Heals HP and FP. Golden Seed +3, Sacred Tear +2.
He used the Land of Shadow and Smithing Stones to enhance his Lone Wolf Ashes and Lordsworn's Greatsword, respectively.
「Lone Wolf Ashes +1」
「Lordsworn's Greatsword +2」 (Skill: Stamp [Upward Cut])
After all this, Nidhogg rested on the spot for a long time. He ate some of the dried provisions and water he carried, then, with renewed energy, set off again and embarked on the final leg of his journey.
Soon after, he emerged from the forest and simultaneously fully entered a valley shrouded in thick, dark night and mist.
Nidhogg walked all the way forward. Before long, his feet stepped onto a wide meadow. Here, most of the mist had cleared, and the bright moonlight from the sky fell and spread across the grass.
After a while, Nidhogg heard shrill laughter.
He took a few steps forward and barely made out small, palm-sized things flying around.
Even though he was mentally prepared, when he got closer and saw the bloody, brutal scene, he still felt a twinge of nausea.
These small creatures—at one moment, they were tiny goblins; at the next, fierce wasps wielding specially-sized weapons—were fighting each other like participants in a human war, utterly ruthless.
A spear pierced a heart. A greatsword cleaved a head. A bow and arrow struck an eyeball. Another wasp impaled another's lower abdomen with a stinger-like needle...
Soon, a large number of dead lay scattered. After these wasps died, they contorted for a while and then reverted to their original figures and appearances—they looked like children!
So, the "Queen Bee" here could also transmute humans in a special way, similar to the flesh sphere. Her targets were the children from nearby villages.
The Queen Bee took them, brought them back to Mist Valley, and wrapped them, one by one, in cocoons of strange silk threads. After some time, the children would burst from the cocoons, transformed into wasp monsters under the Queen's control.
She was trying to use this method to found a kingdom belonging only to her in Mist Valley.
And the children transformed into monsters couldn't be restored to their original state. At least, based on Nidhogg's memory and his own current experience, there was no such method.
They were already true monsters.
If not eliminated, they would continue to devour people and livestock from nearby villages, abduct children, turn them into their companions, grow themselves, expand Mist Valley's domain, and repeat the process...
Nidhogg approached, Lordsworn's Greatsword and Bloodhound's Fang in hand. His eyes gradually grew resolute.
The wasp monsters also noticed Nidhogg's approach. They stopped their murderous games and, one by one, fixed their wide, grotesque eyes on him.
Realizing he was an adult, not one of their companions, they bared their fangs and revealed their brutal nature.