The Festival of the Blood Moon

As I pondered kicking Red Moon Isis Fly's bugs out of the group, the little guys started flapping their wings even more frantically, as if they'd caught on to my intentions. I pointed the nectar infused with my will straight at the butterflies from the flower stem. 'Make your excuses!'

The butterflies slurped up the nectar, hemmed and hawed for a bit, then began zipping back and forth between me and the bugs. 'Huh? What's this? Me and the bugs?'

'Ah! The network was your ability?' The bugs naturally lapped up the nectar that had oozed out in the meantime. They nodded their tiny heads up and down.

'They can even nod their heads!?' And I hadn't even put any will into that nectar! The other bugs who drank the freshly made nectar looked totally dumbfounded, but these butterflies definitely seemed smarter. As expected, butterflies were the strategist types. Their incredible coordination across different bug species was probably thanks to them. It was like an alien monster hive mind overload!

'Awesome! Keep up the good work from now on!' Flap flap! The powder scattering wildly from their wings made it clear they were thrilled. Alright then... time for me to fill my belly too.

The new trait Blood Heaven Dew was supposed to make blood taste even better. Thump thump. 'Hm?'

I'd absorbed a bit of the werewolves' blood they'd left behind, but it wasn't particularly tasty. Just bland grape juice flavor? 'It was supposed to be better!' Super disappointing. Why? Was it because I'd gotten too strong? Maybe weaklings' blood just doesn't taste good?

Come to think of it, Crimson Apocalypse was supposed to perfectly control blood...

'Blood... controlling blood...' I stared at the remaining werewolf blood, lost in thought. Maybe I could move the blood?

Swoooosh... As I willed the blood to float into the air, my mana dipped a little, and the blood obediently rose up. The floating blood shattered into fine mist, spreading everywhere like fog.

'Whoa!'

Blood mist! A super cool skill that hit me right in the heart. And more!

'Blood Sword! Rise, Blood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sword!' Hiya! I wanted to dramatically form a sword of blood and skewer my enemies. But I couldn't condense the blood—no matter how I lifted it, it just turned to mist and scattered.

'Eeeek...' With the whole area filled with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blood mist, tons of presences were closing in. Countless monsters drawn by the pollen: bears, tigers, mountain goats, leopards, and other animal types; goblins, trolls, wyverns, weird chimeras... a huge variety swarming in. And among them, new bug monsters too.

'Overload!' I quickly offered nectar to the butterflies. 'Tell those guys to join our team!' Sure, they might look like the red team color-wise, but we could proudly call ourselves the good guys. Hm? Luring in perfectly fine monsters and massacring them—good guys? 'Nope! We're just cleaning the front yard for Master!'

Good kids ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠volunteering hard for Master—good team! I almost felt a pang of conscience for no reason. If we clean up the front yard nice and tidy, Master will be pleased, right?

The bug monsters reacted to the butterflies' network and came rushing to our side. There were the existing Buglez bugs, but new types showed up too: mantises, grasshoppers, spiders, centipedes. Eww... these ones were seriously creepy...

'Tch, can't discriminate based on looks...' I accepted the new bugs into Buglez and sent my will to the butterflies. 'Kill all the other monsters, and you'll get nectar too!'

... Terrified screams echoed through the fog-shrouded snowy mountains. In the blood-scented red mist, monsters roared and snarled at each other.

'Huh? Nobody's dying?' I realized my Blood Mist only blocked vision—no damage at all.

'That's it? Lame...' Wait, if it did damage, my Buglez would've gotten hurt too.

'Close call...' Plus, in the obscured view, my Buglez were perfectly sensing their surroundings with their antennae, like they had radar. Locking onto targets with pinpoint accuracy. My detection radar wasn't hindered much either.

'Alright, time for fun slaughter hour!'

The Frost Mantises moved first. Their frost-coated scythe-like forelegs flashed, cleanly severing a goblin's head lost in the mist.

The Frost Hoppers of the snowy mountains leaped into the sky. Dozens jumping at once sent ice crystals sparkling through the air. Then steel-hard legs rained down, smashing enemy heads.

The Icicle Arachne's threads sliced the air. Ice-cold spider silk bound a wyvern's wings. As the trapped wyvern screamed in agony, blue poison dripped from the spider's fangs.

The Frost Centipedes were last. Over a hundred legs kicking up snow, the centipedes coiled around a chimera's body. Bones cracked with sickening pops under the instant constriction.

The existing Buglez were fighting great too. The butterflies stuck close to me, as usual. Shouldn't they fly high up to survey the battlefield and command? Did they have detection like me? The nectar-licking butterflies started fidgeting restlessly.

'Hmm... they're doing fine, so it's okay.' Poor things—better not grill them...

Watching the battle, the Buglez levels were skyrocketing like crazy.

'Guess I'll pitch in too!' Gotta support their growth. Time to try the new pollen series.

Light green pollen scattered. Or tried to. I meant to send healing, but it drifted the wrong way. A severed wyvern wing regenerated.

'Oops! Not that side...' I tried again. Pastel yellow pollen this time—paralysis effect. But it spread in the wrong direction again. Buglez mid-fight froze up.

Unlike the wide-spread seduction pollen, these precise-target new pollens were tricky.

'Calm down... gently with the pistil...' Moving the pistil slowly, the pollen finally flew where I wanted. Light green life force to weary Buglez, paralysis, bleeding, and decay to enemies. Corrosion sadly had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no chance to shine.

... Monster corpses piled up like mountains. The red blood staining the pristine snowy mountain looked like a painting of red ink on white paper.

Staring at the splattered blood everywhere, a strange sensation hit me. Like the blood was calling to me.

'Ugh...' A hazy feeling washed over me, and a huge chunk of mana drained.

Then, the blood scattered across the snowy mountain began glowing like moonlight. No— the moon itself turned red.

'Whooaa! For real!?' Suddenly, an even cooler skill than Blood Mist! Blood Moon... a crimson moon was peak coolness. The status window certified it—no one could deny that awesomeness.

'But... is it just cool-looking...?' No level listed—must be an ultimate skill? But as the red moonlight bathed the battlefield, the enemies' terrified cries grew louder, like they feared the light itself. Meanwhile, my Buglez seemed even more pumped.

'Whoa! AoE buff! AoE debuff!' Plus, new presences approaching from afar. My temptation pollen range must've boosted too.

'Insane! SSS-rank skill!' Status window descriptions were unreliable after all. Way better to trust my gut. All thanks to Master feeding me tons of blood, right?

'Master, thank you...' Right then, a warm energy welled up from inside me.

'Gasp! It was Michael!' She must've liked this frenzy of slaughter. I absolutely couldn't disappoint her to the end.

'Hehe... Michael, thank you... keep watching...!' With renewed resolve, I made nectar infused with strong will.

'The goddess craves blood! From now on, this battle—no, this war—is a holy war!!!'

'Slaughter those filthy monsters and offer their blood to the goddess!!!' The butterflies' eyes sharpened as they drank the deeply willed nectar. They flapped wildly, and all Buglez movements turned ferocious. Some even exploded in suicide attacks.

'Whoa, they can do that too...?' Buglez faith was no joke. But Michael probably wouldn't like her followers dying, right?

'No suicides!' Butterflies flapped again, and the kamikaze squad vanished. True overload. Bugs this smart...

Couldn't complain if they stuck to me from now on.

'You guys eat nectar first and stick to me all you want.' Flap flap! Watching them rejoice, they were starting to look kinda cute.

Flap flap!!!

...

'Slaughter only for Michael!' And so, the festival offering monster blood to the heavens raged late into the night. Under the crimson moonlight, Buglez fought tirelessly, dyeing the snowy mountains ever deeper red. The blood moon Michael bestowed drew endless new monsters, and the sacred hunt continued.

Of course, I never stopped sprinkling pollen to aid them.

'Ahh... what a beautiful night...' As the red moon set, the snowy mountain festival came to an end.