The Rise of the Winter Wolf - Book 6 - Chapter 49 - Bug Hunts

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Wolf

One bug, two bug, three bug, four… so many bugs… all day long…

I feel drained after killing bugs for an entire week. Just flying around the little floating towers and slaughtering the creatures. Gradually raising my level as I do so, even with the bugs themselves also growing stronger thanks to the curse energy they’re absorbing.

Not that they’re the only ones absorbing the energy, since I’m doing the same with my ring.

Honestly, this ring is probably the only reason I have any sort of chance here. Since it’s offsetting their advantage of growing stronger thanks to the curse energy they’re absorbing by letting me do the same.

So I’m very thankful for receiving it, unlike when I realized it would be rather useless most of the time.

Even if it’s useless outside of this place, it is a life saver inside of it. And that’s all I need.

It kind of makes me wonder if the System gave me it in preparation for this Centurion Boss Floor or something.

Either way, Sapphire and I continue slaughtering bugs – both the soldier like ones within the towers and the flying ones outside of them in the curse energy fog – for another week before we finally find something.

Something unexpected.

And big.

A massive bug far larger than any of the others. But more importantly, my eyes are drawn to the other bugs it’s currently laying in the form of eggs all over the towers. Not to mention the eggs I can see spread out across the towers that’ve already been laid.

Uh…

The bug in question turns its ten beady eyes on me when I get within a certain distance of it. Following which the creature lets out a loud screeching sound, making every last egg nearby begin cracking before bugs of all sizes and developments begin rushing out to protect the big one.

I take a moment to check out the Beta Dictionary result for this little creature.

Only to end up with a completely blank result with the dictionary telling me a simple N/A for every detail of the bug. The same as what it does with the other bugs here.

Probably because they’re not from our universe, and Beelzebub never gave the System permission to use these.

Which is proven by the whole war going on outside thing.

Anyways, the large bug surprisingly just stays in the back while ordering the other ones to swarm either at me or around itself. Likely to act as bodyguards to protect it.

The big bug seems to be some sort of broodmother if I had to guess, but the System doesn’t have any sort of name for it unfortunately. It has a massive body with a lot of its size centered around the part of it that is giving birth to the other bugs. And its wings don’t seem to be that large in comparison.

Which overall makes me wonder if this is just some sort of monster meant to do nothing but breed more of the smaller bugs while the smaller bugs protect it or something.

It would make sense considering how it’s ordering the other bugs to protect it.

Not that any of that matters much to me when I let out a roar in my hunter form and send out a massive wave of lunar ice of eternity to spread out across the area. At which point ice immediately begins to cover the nearby towers even without the wave of ice rushing at the bugs reaching them yet.

But when it does? My ice freezes one bug after another, leaving them falling down like pieces of hail. One after another.

And unsurprisingly considering my hypothesis, all of the bugs near the broodmother protect it with haste. Using their own bodies as shields and turning into large groups of frozen bugs. All of whom fall just like the others.

I cross my arms and tilt my head a little.

Whoever designed this place really should have done their homework on me. Unless this is what Beelzebub’s actual domain looks like or something.

Which is entirely possible. At which point I forgive him for how easy it is to kill the bugs in here.

Seeing as all I need to do is freeze them and then let them fall to their deaths down in this seemingly endless sky that apparently isn’t actually endless.

That or there’s just something down there that’s killing them. Something not living, considering how I’m still getting the credit for the kills.

What surprises me the most though about this current attack is that even when my ice does eventually reach the broodmother, it doesn’t turn into a popsicle like the others. Instead it just casually shatters the ice that tries to freeze it before making more bugs and backing away.

All while the curse energy in the area begins to target me as if it had a mind of its own.

“Curse energy manipulation?” I mutter out loud, seemingly waking up Sapphire from the nap she was taking in my shadow. One she started after once again becoming too full from eating bugs.

She leaves my shadow before stretching and then finally noticing the broodmother and the curse energy I’m fighting back against with my own lunar ice energy. Then she turns to me and asks, “Did I miss something?”

I snort at that as I continue fighting against the curse energy and pushing it back. While also freezing more bugs and trying to plan around how I’m going to kill this broodmother.

A bug strong enough to break my ice as it turns out.

By the looks of it, the broodmother is a lot slower than the other bugs. And I think it’s probably safe to say its defenses are still strong.

Which leaves using both my lunar ice and brute force physical strength to deal with it.

After all, the thing seems to be avoiding a close up confrontation with all it has.

So how about I give it just that?