The Almighty Ring

Not long after the squeaking started, all the bugs started to move aside, opening a pathway of around ten meters. There were others that remained stationary, but those were bugs that looked different and appeared to be larger, more menacing.

When the pathway was made, a loud, piercing, scratching-like sound was heard—the kind that one made by scratching a nail against a blackboard.

“The f*ck is that thing…” Jiang Fei whispered. A large, gigantic larvae-like bug came into sight. Its entire body was like a huge pink glutinous blob of meat. When it moved, it squiggled about, not the pudding kind of squiggle, but a gigantic caterpillar kind.

From the looks of things, the smaller bugs were seen as respecting the giant one. Not only did they make a pathway for it, they even looked around to make sure that nothing approached it.

Deleila Race, Queen of the Swarm.

Combat Level: 520,000

“So that’s the queen…”

Jiang Fei had assumed the Queen of the bugs would looked more… menacing rather than a blob of flesh.

“Who are you? Why are you attacking us?!”

The blob of flesh made a loud screech but Jiang Fei’s translator turned those screeches into comprehensible language.

Knowing that he had been found, Jiang Fei jumped down from the top and landed gracefully in front of the Queen.

“My name is Jiang Fei. I am part of the Valsalrian Army!” said Jiang Fei, unsheathing his sword to display a threatening appearance.

“The Valsalrian Army? I know not of that! Begone!” the Queen roared. It was obvious to Jiang Fei that this alien race did not know who the Valsalrians were. They were very much like humans of Earth in the sense that they had not managed to explore past their own planetary system.

“We are here to dominate this planet! Surrender or you shall be annihilated!” said Jiang Fei with a domineering stance.

“Dominate us?! Why? We have done nothing to offend you!” said the Queen with no discernible tone of emotion. Jiang Fei could not tell whether the Queen was angry or sad.

“I don’t care about that. I’m just a soldier obeying orders,” Jiang Fei replied coldly.

“So it seems,” the Queen said, understandingly. The bug race, or this particular race, lived via a hive system. No other besides the Queen, the heart of the swarm, could think for themselves. With only a single thought, the Queen controlled and commanded all in the swarm.

“Surrender. You have neither the power nor the soldiers to defend against the Valsalrian Army,” said Jiang Fei. He was right in the heart of the swarm. It would be impossible for him to fight his way out of there if he failed to persuade them to surrender.

“Surrender? Hahahahaha!” the Queen laughed, or so it seemed. All Jiang Fei could hear was a high pitch howling.

“So you do not know about the death of your own kind! We have killed hundreds and the rest of them had escaped! You are the only one left on this planet and you shall die!” said the Queen. Jiang Fei had not been killed because the Queen wanted him to know about his current predicament.

Jiang Fei remained calm but in his mind, he was already panicking. He had never thought that the bugs could even pose a threat to the great Valsalrian army! But that was the least of his problems right now! He was alone with no backup! Even though the bugs were weak, it would be impossible for him to face them all at once!

“Know your place! Reveal the location of your leader!” the Queen roared.

“Know my place?” Jiang Fei snarled.

“Are you interrogating me?” he added. Even though he could not walk away unscathed, a large blob of meat questioning him in such a manner made his blood boil, especially since the enemy was only at 500,000 combat level!

“What do you think? Look around! Do you think you are our guest? I can have you shredded into pieces with just a thought!” said the Queen coldly.

“What do I think? I’m thinking I could easily slice you in half before any of your kindred could even reach me,” Jiang Fei replied. The sword in his hands glowed slightly as he started to channel his energy into it.

After the baptism in Cororan, Jiang Fei was not the kind that would just let someone live after they looked down on him. Even though he was not going to kill the Queen without first negotiating his getaway, as long as he decided on it, he would kill without hesitation. And it so happened that Jiang Fei had already decided. The immense killing intent burst out of him, drowning the entire hole with his aura.

Jiang Fei might not be pushing himself to the limit but his combat level was already as high as 1,500,000. A single sword slash would be more than enough to kill the Queen right there and then.

“Kill the invader!” the Queen shrieked from the top of her lungs. To her, Jiang Fei was nothing but a prisoner and if he were to resist, she would kill him without hesitation!

“You can try!” Jiang Fei roared. He swung his sword, not with force but with precision and elegance. There was no need for him to exert himself when all he had to do was change the direction he was facing and swing his sword. Countless of sword silhouettes were released and hundreds of bugs were sliced cleanly in half.

Some of the bugs that were heavily injured by the attack, lost some of their limbs. Even so, they still charged toward Jiang Fei. None of them possessed self-awareness as the entire swarm was controlled by a single entity, the Queen. Like limbs, the Queen controlled them at will. To her, the death of her underlings meant nothing!

“So, you don’t care for the death of your soldiers but do you care for yourself?” Jiang Fei hummed. His voice was so cold that if the Queen had a spine, she would feel a sharp shiver down it.

Slowly, Jiang Fei made his way through the swarm. He was not able to head directly to the Queen as more and more bugs kept getting in the way of his attack. It took more than several seconds before he finally made a single step forward. Even so, he was making progress and the closer he was to the Queen, the lesser enemies there were to defend her from him.

At the beginning of the attack, the Queen took no heed to Jiang Fei’s action. They were the kind of beings that thought they were the master of their own planet. Unfortunately, much like humans of Earth, they had yet to reach technological singularity. They did not know about combat level or even devices that could measure it. The Queen was only so prideful and confident because she did not know how strong Jiang Fei was!

However, the closer Jiang Fei got to her, the more panicked she became. It took some time but it would be a matter of minutes before Jiang Fei’s sword reached her head! At this point, she did not care for her soldiers and only wanted him to be killed.

“Stop him!” the Queen shrieked again. This time, those there were far behind the front lines jumped forward whereas those that were in the front tackled Jiang Fei with more fervor.

“Ooo… Is that fear I sense?” Jiang Fei laughed. The battle between him and the entire swarm had already been going on for more than ten hours. Even though Jiang Fei had only made a few hundred meters forward, he was able to see fear in the Queen’s eyes.

Being the heart of the swarm, the Queen’s existence was like a god, the supreme ruler. Like all other people with superior authority, the Queen feared nothing but her own death. The moment she finally realized that Jiang Fei was undefeatable, she began to feel scared.

“Kill him! Kill him now!” the Queen shrieked desperately before starting to escape. Only then did Jiang Fei realize that the blob of flesh had no legs. She was being carried all the time by many more bugs underneath her!