Chapter 524: Insect Swarm

Lei En saw a living Holy Beetle for the first time.

Their appearance is similar to the former-world "golden beetle," but magnified countless times; even the smallest Holy Beetle is over a meter long. Their abdomen has six legs, each bearing hard spines, and the foremost pair of forelimbs is extremely robust, like a pair of sharp giant claws that can dig through sand or tear enemies apart.

The Holy Beetle's carapace is as if forged from gold, glittering brilliantly in the sunlight.

Their abdomen is also covered by a hard keratin layer, clearly indicating strong defense; ordinary transcendents find it hard to pierce.

Hundreds of Holy Beetles lie hidden beneath the desert; if anyone enters the ruins and falls into the swarm, their ferocious mandibles and strength will tear the intruder to pieces in an instant.

Sun Crystals exert a massive attraction on Holy Beetles; all the beetles rush toward the crystal, crowding together, scrambling and even snapping at each other, completely oblivious to enemies nearby. Yet they are packed so densely and are similar in size, making it impossible to spot a Mid-stage Holy Beetle.

Dejiko is in a dilemma; with his strength he could easily eliminate all the Holy Beetles, but he is unwilling to do so.

As fellow wielders of Holy Light, the Sunwalker does not wish to unleash a slaughter upon them.

He just turned around and saw Lei En flash to his side; assuming Lei En was about to act, he hurriedly said, "Lord, don't kill them all."

"Won't happen."

Lei En shook his head; he would never do such a kill‑the‑chick‑for‑the‑egg deed.

Most Holy Beetles are Initial-stage, with only a few Mid-stage; if all are slain, where will we find Mid-stage or higher Holy Beetle souls later?

Dejiko relaxed and considered what to do.

The two Mid-stage Holy Beetle souls previously hunted were actually encountered by chance, having strayed from the swarm, and were killed on the spot. With so many Holy Beetles before them, their terrifying bite power would gnaw even a Legendary transcendent to clean bone if it fell into the swarm.

He wouldn't die, but once he acts, collateral damage is inevitable.

Soon, a robust High-stage Holy Beetle snatched the Sun Crystal, repelled nearby opponents, and raised its forelimb to plunge into the sand.

"Don't let it escape!"

Dejiko shouted; the Sun Crystal is also one of Atas's precious specialties, hard to find, and needed to activate the teleport array, and he had little left in his hand.

As soon as the words fell, a massive bolt of lightning erupted beside him.

Crackle!

Amid a modest rumble, the thick arc spanned nearly two hundred meters, striking the Holy Beetle precisely and causing paralysis; the Sun Crystal in its mouth fell out, and the swarm began a new round of scramble, wholly ignoring distant foes.

Dejiko exhaled in relief; it seemed Lei En hadn't forgotten not to make too much noise, lest it attract sandworms.

"Lord…"

"It's fine, just leave it to me." Lei En gave a slight nod.

The Soul Eye had already scanned, locking onto three Mid-stage Holy Beetles within the swarm. There were also two High-stage Holy Beetles, stronger and with more Elements, but the Spearwing Knight cannot fuse them, so killing them is of little use.

He gauged the distance, opened his phone interface, and glanced at the Element icon for the Electric Claw Technique.

The Five‑Ring Electric Claw Technique can reach a target about a hundred meters away, but not the swarm; getting closer would startle them and invite a counter‑attack.

"We have enough energy; we can upgrade by one Ring."

Lei En poured soul power into the Electric Claw Technique; the progress bar beneath the icon surged, consuming over thirty energy units, and within seconds filled completely, raising the spell to Six Rings.

Then he reached toward the swarm.

A gigantic claw formed of lightning shot out instantly, moving at blinding speed; it dove into the swarm, seized a Holy Beetle that looked no different, paralyzed it, and hauled it back.

As the Holy Beetle flew back, Dejiko had already identified it.

It was about half a size larger than the others and darker in hue—a Mid-stage Holy Beetle, though the difference was subtle. How Lei En located it among hundreds of beetles and snatched it so precisely was truly awe‑inspiring.

Mid‑air, a Holy Light barrier shimmered over the beetle's carapace, its six legs clawing as it tried to break free.

However, the Six‑Ring spell does not let it escape easily, and the paralysis prevents it from exerting full strength.

In the blink of an eye.

The Holy Beetle landed before them; Dejiko drew a one‑handed hammer and smashed it down.

Bang!

The power of a Legendary High-rank Sunwalker is far beyond what a Mid-stage Holy Beetle can resist. Even though Dejiko did not use his full strength, the one‑handed hammer, comparable to a double‑handed war‑hammer, easily shattered the Holy Light barrier and the hard carapace; the body was crushed and deformed, dying instantly.

Lei En took out a soul stone and affixed it to the corpse.

The soul stone turned golden, containing a beetle‑shaped soul.

"First one."

Lei En stored the soul stone, didn't pause, and raised his hand for another Electric Claw Technique, snatching a second Holy Beetle, also Mid-stage.

Dejiko swung the hammer again to kill, and Lei En harvested the soul.

The two coordinated seamlessly; in less than half a minute they secured three Mid-stage Holy Beetle souls. The fourth Electric Claw Technique fetched not a beetle but the Sun Crystal. The crystal‑less swarm buzzed aimlessly like headless flies, then scattered in a clamor, burrowing back into the sand.

Lei En caught the Sun Crystal and handed it to Dejiko.

"Only three?" the Minotaur asked.

"Hmm, none left." Lei En nodded, "Chief, you may search the ruins for other Holy Beetle nests."

Dejiko stared blankly, not understanding how Lei En knew the count of Mid-stage Holy Beetles, but seeing his certainty, he did not question and began circling the ruins to continue searching.

A few minutes later he found another Holy Beetle nest.

The two repeated the tactic, using the Sun Crystal as bait to lure the swarm out, diverting their attention; from a safe distance, one captured the target while the other killed the soul, effortlessly and pleasantly.

Extreme Warriors and Sunwalkers watched from afar, having no chance to intervene.

In just over half an hour, Lei En and Dejiko finished searching the ruin and obtained nine Mid-stage Holy Beetle souls.

"Proceed to the next ruin," Lei En said contentedly.

The party set out again.

Dejiko, riding a Kodo Beast, lowered his voice and said, "Lord, in my experience, not every ruin harbors so many Holy Beetles; some have none, being occupied by other monsters."

Lei En understood, "So we may need to visit more ruins?"

"Yes." Dejiko replied, "I know of about twenty ruins; we may have to traverse half of them to gather the fifty souls you require, which means a long detour…"

"It's fine, I'm not in a hurry." Lei En said before Dejiko could finish.

Dejiko thought, "But I am in a rush," opened his mouth, yet ultimately said nothing.

Lei En saw his thoughts, pretended not to know. Reslin was still creating a teleportation array; this time unlike before, it was a planar teleportation array, more complex and time‑consuming, taking at least half a month to complete, so he needed to delay the time a bit longer.

Three days later.

The party marched through the desert, the Kodo Beast's four hooves striking the yellow sand, producing a dull sound.

On the horizon, the ever‑rising sun radiated heat, baking the Minotaurs until their mouths were dry. After spending several consecutive days in the desert, even with occasional rests, their stamina and endurance remained excellent, yet their bodies inevitably grew weary and their spirits seemed a bit listless.

Lei En lifted his hands to form a shade canopy, gazing at the dunes ahead, where a divine kingdom ruin flickered in the desert a few miles away.

This was the fifth ruin they had found.

The three ruins discovered in the past few days, just as Dejiko said, yielded less than expected; so far they have only twenty‑three Mid-stage Sacred Beetle demon souls.

However, besides the demon souls, he also gained other loot.

While searching for the ruins, the party was attacked three times: first by a Desert Troll, then twice by Mantises. Especially yesterday, a nearby Mantis tribe poured out en masse—over three hundred mantises, like gigantic insects magnified countless times, brandishing blade‑like forelimbs, swarming from all directions like a tide.

However, the Extreme Warrior dealt a devastating blow with his Bolt Gun.

Explosive Shell pierced several mantises' bodies then detonated, causing the enemies to collapse in sheets; not a single mantis could get within a hundred meters, and even the legendary mantis leader was blown head‑off by a single shot.

The battle lasted only three minutes before ending.

The mantises fled in panic, leaving countless severed limbs in the desert, and none of them escaped.

Lei En, after confirming that the mantises' deity was not powerful and could not cross planes to send an avatar, immediately and unceremoniously devoured their souls, causing the Soul Power Pool to surge to one‑third!

He looked at the Soul Power Pool's reading of 348; that much energy could boost many Elements.

"Keep it for now, gather more Soul Power before we return and allocate it."

A moment later, the ruin arrived.

The Extreme Warrior and the Sun‑walker instinctively halted at a distance; Lei En and Dejiko leapt from the Kodo Beast and walked toward the ruin.

Dejiko circled half a turn around the ruin's perimeter, surprise flashing on his face.

"What's wrong?" Lei En asked.

"This ruin's Holy Light Power fluctuations are extremely strong, far stronger than the previous ones; the Sacred Beetle's numbers must be substantial. Lord, look there…" Dejiko pointed to three or four spots within the ruin, "so many pores indicate that beneath lies the Sacred Beetle's nest, almost all connected."

"Heh, that saves time," Lei En said happily.

Dejiko was also delighted, took out a Sun Crystal, infused it with Holy Light Power, and said, "Let's begin." He then flung the crystal far away, letting it land on a stretch of sand.

Centered on the crystal, the sand within a hundred‑meter radius boiled, and countless Sacred Beetles erupted from the ground.

Lei En was very familiar with this scene.

But he soon sensed something amiss: in an area not far from the crystal, the desert churned for a few seconds, then abruptly collapsed. The collapsed zone was vast, as if a void had formed beneath, and countless grains of sand were thrust upward into the sky.

In the swirling sand, a massive body crawled out.

"What a huge Sacred Beetle!"

Dejiko's pupils narrowed, and he let out a startled scream.

It was indeed a Sacred Beetle, but its size dwarfed other Sacred Beetles by dozens of times; its round body was covered in a golden‑hued carapace, measuring over ten meters from head to tail, and its forelimbs alone stretched more than four meters, like two massive blades.

The Soul Eye displayed that it was a Legendary Sacred Beetle!

Its soul contained over ten Elements, more than half being Holy Light spells and abilities; its "Power" reached level ten, it also possessed a level‑five "Hard Carapace", level‑eight "Toughness", the supreme Element "Child of Light", and so on—making it among the top tier in the early Legendary tier.

The Legendary Sacred Beetle, with agility incongruous to its massive size, lunged straight at the glowing Sun Crystal.

The other Sacred Beetles all scattered, unwilling to compete with it.

Lei En and Dejiko were still hesitating whether to act when the Sun Crystal was snapped into its mouth, crack—crack—chewed into fragments, and swallowed.

Then it turned its head toward the two, emitting a sharp hiss from its mouth.

"It can sense us."

Before Dejiko finished speaking, the Legendary Sacred Beetle unfolded its dorsal carapace, revealing a pair of semi‑transparent pale‑golden wing‑cases that vibrated at a frequency invisible to the naked eye, and flew straight at them.

At the same time, the sand of the entire ruin began to churn.

Countless Sacred Beetles burst from the sand; they seemed to comprehend the Legendary Sacred Beetle's sound waves, accurately locating enemies outside the ruin, and flapped their wings upward, gathering in the sky into a terrifying beetle cloud that swept down en masse.

A buzzing of wingbeats interlaced with the sound of mandibles snapping, sending chills down one's spine.

"Holy crap!"

Lei En blurted out a profanity, instinctively reaching to open a portal to evade the onslaught, but upon seeing his comrades nearby, he immediately changed his mind.

The Extreme Warrior and the Minotaurs were already battle‑ready, showing no fear, but the Kodo Beast beneath them could not escape the swarm's devouring; within minutes it would be reduced to a skeleton. Without the Kodo Beast and its supplies of food and fresh water, the party could not sustain themselves for long and would have to leave Atas early.

"Chief, we will hold back the swarm."

"Everyone else stay back, retreat immediately, Extreme Warrior keep distance and fire," Lei En shouted, issuing the orders rapidly.

Dejiko also reacted.

He raised a square shield and a hammer, let out a roar, bestowed upon himself a layer of Holy Light blessing, stamped the sand with his massive hooves, lowered his towering body, and charged his horns at the Legendary Sacred Beetle.

The Minotaur's charge was swift, but Lei En was even faster.

He thought, then leapt, triggering Blood Frenzy which swelled his body by two layers; simultaneously a war hammer appeared in his hand, and with a crack—he transformed into golden lightning, landing in an instant atop the Legendary Beetle, raising the hammer high before smashing down!

Boom!

A thunderous crack split the clear sky, and the war hammer surged forward like a hot knife through butter, piercing the Legendary Sacred Beetle's Holy Light barrier as if popping a bubble; its steel‑like shell crumpled like paper under the blow, its brain burst instantly, and the massive body toppled, crashing into the sand.

Countless bolts of lightning erupted from the war hammer, sweeping the space within a hundred meters without leaving a blind spot; any Sacred Beetle struck turned to ash in an instant, clearing a vast swath of sky.

On the ground, Dejiko's charge slammed into the Legendary Sacred Beetle's corpse; looking up, he was instantly stunned.

(End of Chapter)