The Insect King Subjugation Battle (1)

The Insect King’s traits are simple: an endless swarm of monsters and an endless variety of poisons. For decades—centuries, even—he has piled up an overwhelming number of insects to relentlessly pressure the hero’s party. More tricks get added later, but the first of the Four Heavenly Kings had roughly these specs. He excelled at war of attrition; the longer the fight dragged on, the closer you came to defeat.

Unlike the painfully slow conquest of the Insect Assembly Castle, the strategy against Valcan was brutally straightforward. A lightning strike. Pour every ounce of damage into him before the monsters could gather in the audience chamber.

“Run.”

The moment Valcan’s voice boomed through the halls, I hardened my expression and gave the order. From here on, it was a race against time. Before the rest of the bugs could swarm in, I would land at least one solid blow.

Thankfully our prior planning paid off. The others fell in behind me without a word.

Good. The plan was locked in. Now it was time to check our specs.

While sprinting, I decided to quickly review my own condition. Status window.

This time I ignored the maxed-out skills that were pointless to check and only looked at those that had recently leveled. The numerical growth was striking. My level had jumped a full three points since last time, and many skills had either appeared or improved. Sword skills like Mana Blade and Bright Style Swordsmanship, of course, but also mental buffs such as Multicast and Battle Focus, plus the rise in Mana Control that had started with Fireball. Plenty had grown, yet the most critical one was this.

Poison Resistance.

The skill that had been stuck at Lv.3 before we entered the Insect Assembly Castle now sat at Lv.9. Most ordinary poisons would neutralize themselves after a few steady breaths. It was enough. At the very least, I now had the minimum specs required to close in on Valcan.

I turned my head and checked the party members’ levels next.

Everyone had gained one or two levels since last time. The most impressive growth belonged, surprisingly, to the Saintess. She had burned monsters with holy power all day and ended each evening by casting Purification on us, so her level had shot up by a full three points. Considering her influence would be greatest in this battle against Valcan, it was excellent news.

After cycling through everyone’s specs, I gave a satisfied nod.

I can do this.

No matter how much the difficulty had risen, I would take the challenge. The odds were good enough.

With that, I threw myself into combat.

*

Whether it was because the party’s specs had risen dramatically, because we had steadily cleared bugs and monsters on the way here, or because we had already penetrated deep into the Insect Assembly Castle, we reached Valcan’s audience chamber at breakneck speed. After roughly thirty minutes of sprinting, we stood before the king’s lair. No one had fallen behind. Many were breathing hard and drenched in bodily fluids, but that was all. We could still fight without issue.

“Splendid.”

While we caught our breath, a voice drifted from ahead—raspy and metallic, the kind that scraped across your nerves like rusted iron. When I looked up, Valcan was clapping for us.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The sound of applause echoed through the silent audience chamber.

“To breach my castle without a single dropout. I see now why the number of insects has dropped so sharply these past two months. It was all your doing. As expected of the hero’s party.”

Any normal ruler whose home had been trashed for two full months would have been furious. Yet Valcan observed us with the relaxed curiosity of a scientist watching an interesting specimen. That was only natural. The battle-crazed lunatic grew more excited the stronger his opponent proved to be.

“Saintess, blessings.”

I decided to give him exactly what he wanted. Already layered with every buff I could muster, I urged Yulise to cast her blessings once more. She clasped her hands and began to envelop the party in warm light reminiscent of the sun itself.

“Well then, since you’ve come this far, what need is there for conversation? Come at me. I am always ready.”

“We’ll follow the plan we discussed. Saintess, maintain continuous Purification and buffs. Lily, annihilate the incoming flying poison insects. Adel and Kamilla, keep the elite monsters in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠check.”

And I would handle Valcan. The others would attack him when they had openings, but most of the burden would fall on me.

After finishing the final briefing, I prepared to charge straight at the Insect King—only to be stopped by Yulise’s hand on my arm.

“Hm?”

I turned, tilting my head, and found her staring at me with a worried expression. Ever since the previous incident we had been a little awkward with each other, but enough time had passed that we could speak normally again. I still couldn’t read her true feelings, though.

“Um…”

After a brief pause, she spoke.

“Please… do not absorb the Insect King’s blood. There may be poison in it…”

“Huh?” I frowned. “Can’t you purify most poisons anyway?”

“Y-yes, but still… just in case…”

Yulise looked at me with earnest, pleading eyes. There was such sincerity in her gaze that I found myself nodding before I could stop.

“Understood.”

I had no idea whether he would use the blood poison that normally appeared with the second Heavenly King this early, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but there was no harm in being cautious.

With that settled, I charged at Valcan once more.

Thud!

The moment I kicked off the ground, his body rushed toward me at terrifying speed. I checked his level one last time.

A monster whose level started in a completely different range from ours. Even I, the highest-leveled member of the party, was three levels below him, and he was two levels higher than the Valcan from the original game. The sight would have made anyone curse, yet—

It’s doable.

Our growth hadn’t been bad either.

The moment I entered striking range, I swung my sword.

Shiiing!

The holy sword, reinforced by every spell and blessing we possessed, carved a ferocious arc toward him.

“Whoops.”

Slash!

Dark-red blood sprayed into the air like crimson petals. My attack had only managed to shave a small chunk from his forearm. Even with every buff stacked, a single strike couldn’t deliver a fatal wound. Tsk. No matter how weak his main body was, his baseline physical stats were still no joke. Which meant I had no time to stand still.

I swung the holy sword at him with everything I had.

“This hero is rather impatient. Calm yourself a little.”

That was when Valcan cast his spell. A violet magic circle bloomed across the floor, and insectoid monsters began pouring out. Creatures at least twice my size appeared by the dozens in mere seconds.

“Play with my children for a while.”

I ignored the monsters. As I had said earlier, they weren’t my responsibility.

“Over here!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

At Kamilla’s shout, dozens of arrows flew toward the monsters. Adel’s shots killed several instantly and perfectly drew their attention away. I raised my sword again.

“No, you’re supposed to play with me.”

“Haha! Excellent! Ah, yes, you had a team, didn’t you?”

Valcan laughed heartily, clearly amused. The laugh also told me he still had plenty of leisure. Then he played his next card. The gourd at his waist opened, and hundreds of hornets poured out.

One of Valcan’s signature items—the Insect Gourd. Spatial magic had been cast on it, allowing him to store and instantly deploy tens of thousands of venomous bugs and poisonous insects.

The moment I saw them, I spread my right palm.

I gathered mana. Condensed it. A portion of the mana circulating through my body rushed toward my palm. In that state I began to visualize the spell. What rose in my mind was fire—huge, overwhelming flames that could send the annoying swarm of wasps ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before me straight to the afterlife in a single strike.

The fireball shot forward. A flame the size of my entire body blazed with ferocious light as it slammed into the hornet swarm.

BOOM!

The massive blaze swallowed the wasps whole. Valcan’s face brightened with delight.

“Magic! How troublesome! Excellent—entertain me further!”

“You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠damn lunatic. Let’s see how long you can keep laughing.”

I gripped my sword again. Five minutes had already passed since the battle began. Time was still firmly on his side.