#272. Everyone, Close Your Eyes!
The sixth-generation queen also possessed a humanoid body. The champion from before had been the same, and so were the new variants—it seemed the next stage of evolution centered around bipedal locomotion.
The main difference from the previous humanoid hornets was that her four arms had been replaced with a pair of human-like ones.
Her face was smooth, unmarred by fur, but the champion had looked similar, so it wasn't a particularly striking change.
Joo Se-ah felt a surge of revulsion at the near-human form.
"You slather on the honey or something? For a monster, you've got damn good skin. Makes me wanna peel it right off and find out your secret."
Even as Joo Se-ah bared her killing intent, the sixth-generation queen pretended not to notice.
The new queen smacked her lips while eyeing the fifth-generation queen. Saliva pooled thickly at the corners of her mouth, as if she could already taste her.
The fifth-generation queen shuddered.
She knew her body was destined to nourish the next generation, but instinct wouldn't let her accept it. All creatures struggled for survival, after all.
It was an evolutionary process for the prosperity of the carnivorous hornet species, but to the hunters who had fallen to fifth-generation hornets, the idea of their queen reduced to mere fodder for the successor was infuriating.
Joo Se-ah instinctively grasped the dynamic between the two queens.
A hunter's intuition sharpened to near-prophetic levels with rising rank, and she realized the new queen was eyeing her predecessor like prey.
"Kirik-kirik. Kyr-r-r."
As the fifth-generation queen conveyed her intent with eerie sounds, the sixth shook her head regretfully and glared at Joo Se-ah.
"Me first, huh? Even without understanding the words, I get the gist. But you think that'll work? Not with the power you've got."
The two queens might not understand human speech, but the meaning clearly got through.
The sixth-generation queen's face twisted into a savage snarl. The fifth let out a grotesque cry, egging her on like it was all part of the plan.
The sixth moved.
By the time Joo Se-ah realized it, the insect's fist—eerily human-like—was already slamming into her temple.
Boom!
The world shook like an earthquake. Joo Se-ah's vision whipped left and right.
The assault didn't stop there. Intent on finishing her, the sixth-generation queen hammered away at Joo Se-ah's body relentlessly.
Each punch whipped up the dank underground air into fierce gusts. As the barrage continued, the winds twisted into a vortex.
The surrounding hornets and hunters halted their skirmishes, stepping back to gape at the spectacle.
It was a force overwhelming enough to pause even the monster-human clashes.
Crack!
"!!"
The sixth's flurry of blows halted as Joo Se-ah clamped down on her fist.
"How long you gonna keep this up?"
Boom!
From that moment, the tide turned.
Joo Se-ah jammed her unique weapon, Angervadil, into the ground for the moment and repaid the beating in kind.
Unlike the sixth-generation queen, who flailed wildly on brute strength alone, Joo Se-ah struck with ruthless efficiency—shortest path, no wasted motion.
Power converged from legs, hips, shoulders, and arms into her fist, smashing into the queen's brow, throat, chest, and gut.
Human and insect vitals differed vastly, but since the sixth mimicked human form, Joo Se-ah targeted overlaps with monster weak points.
Raid bosses usually demanded patient probing for vitals over time.
The standard was the "scouting battle"—leave an escape route, trial-run multiple times to gather intel on unknown bosses.
Tedious and grueling, but it boosted survival rates.
With no retreat like this raid, though, you adapted on the fly, exploiting weaknesses as you found them.
A top adaptor's presence elevated a guild's caliber.
And Joo Se-ah was the best.
Humanoids share most vitals with humans. This one's no different. Problem is, she's tough as hell...
The rebound from her punches surpassed even the fifth-generation queen. She seemed unfazed, yet her eyes scanned Joo Se-ah with chilling scrutiny.
Joo Se-ah figured the sixth matched her own physical prowess.
Similar, sure. But sloppy everywhere else.
She paused her punches, steadying her breath.
As if claiming her turn, the sixth-generation queen lunged.
Her punches were sharper now—no wild swings, but short, chained bursts mimicking Joo Se-ah.
Learned from watching me? Impressive, but irrelevant.
Joo Se-ah didn't flinch at the imitation. She held her breath.
Lungs full of mana-charged air swirled through her body. Mana surged from heart, solar plexus, and dantian simultaneously, racing up her spine to crown her skull. Time froze.
The sixth's fist crawled forward, millimeter by millimeter.
Ignoring the counter, Joo Se-ah squared her stance—feet shoulder-width, left foot forward.
Her left hand extended toward the incoming queen, gauging distance. Right fist, curled like grasping an egg, launched from her hip.
Slower start, but it connected first.
The space before the queen's chest warped—an illusion.
Time resumed. Joo Se-ah's fist cratered the queen's chest. Her back bulged with a drum-like thud.
Balgyeong
Original skill.
Balgyeong.
A technique once theoretical, now unleashed through Joo Se-ah's hand.
"Try copying that."
That was when the fifth-generation queen struck.
Her near-dead body rocketed forward. Even slight motion should have tipped off Joo Se-ah's senses from that bulk, but this was teleport-fast.
It didn't land. Joo Se-ah scoffed and dodged.
"Doesn't work on me!"
She regretted the words instantly. The fifth wasn't aiming for her.
Twisting, she saw the fifth pounce on the sixth. Her mind blanked.
Why attack your own side?
The sixth endured Joo Se-ah's blow somehow and countered the sudden assault.
Furious at her would-be meal turning predator, she fought back.
But she soon sensed something wrong. The moment they clashed, her body froze.
"Kieek?"
The generations differed like caveman to modern human.
Had the sixth not freshly emerged, prepared via her monstrous learning, she might have wielded full power—but rushed out, no such luxury.
Her debut opponent: an S-rank hunter. Joo Se-ah, no less.
In raw physicals and close combat, she topped S-ranks. Bad matchup for a humanoid.
If she was gonna pull this, why summon the sixth at all?
Joo Se-ah tensed before the fifth, who had swallowed the paralyzed sixth whole.
Before she could process, ominous changes rippled from the fifth-generation queen.
Her shell grayed and hardened, like a pupa mid-metamorphosis.
The aura surging within dwarfed both prior queens.
Too fast to stop.
"No raid goes as planned, but this is ridiculous, right?"
Joo Se-ah snatched Angervadil, awakening its power. Time for cleanup. The blade darkened.
Anguish Flow
Unique equipment-bound skill.
The curse-laden blade pierced the molting queen.
Her shell split at the back. Something burst forth.
Joo Se-ah didn't miss it amid the crumbling dust.
Upward Slash
In uppercut stance, blade skyward, she leaped.
The soaring entity arced downward.
Blade met limbs. Shockwave erupted. Hornets and hunters tumbled together—irreconcilable foes entangled.
They hurtled to the hive chamber's edge. Hunters scrambled up amid chaos, lest a hornet's stinger impale them in the pile-up.
Go Eul-ji seized control.
Using her Sinuiju debut power, she sorted monsters from hunters.
Targeting fifth-gen carnivorous hornets and expedition hunters, her Dragon Scale Hairpin blazed blindingly, pushing her to limits.
Telekinesis split the groups instantly. Hunters gawked at the miracle-worker.
But Go Eul-ji showed no reaction, half-exhausted, gasping to recover.
Three new variants ambushed then.
Jang Deok-gu blocked one nearby, but No Song-rin and Johanna, handling another, lagged.
"Ah, damn. This one's cooldown is kinda long..."
Go Eul-ji raised trembling hands for a barrier. The two variants smashed through undeterred. Unlike before, it shattered fast. Breathless, she writhed to evade.
Taylor and Camilla intervened.
"Can't leave it all to the kid—too embarrassing to hunt after."
"Watch it. These are stronger than the champion."
Regrettably, they barely handled one.
The last closed on Go Eul-ji.
"No way! I can't die and lose my bro meal tickets!"
Fwooom!
A beam pierced the ceiling, melting the variant.
Ziiing! Ziiing!
Two more beams followed, dooming the rest.
"Just in time, it seems."
A distant but clear voice.
Recognizing it, startled Go Eul-ji yelled.
"Guild Master?! And... Princess Hug?!"
Two figures descended from the shattered ceiling.
Kang Moo-hyuk and Thomas.
Thomas floated down cradling Kang Moo-hyuk.
He set him down upon landing.
Kang Moo-hyuk hastily pulled away.
Go Eul-ji grimaced, approaching like she'd seen something she shouldn't.
"Hey, Thomas. I'm open-minded and all, but... this is goosebump city."
As she neared Thomas, Kang Moo-hyuk panicked, blocking her.
"Hunter Go Eul-ji! Stay back...!"
Before he finished, Thomas glanced at her.
"!!"
Go Eul-ji recoiled as if struck, head snapping back, collapsing. Kang Moo-hyuk caught her, shouting.
"Everyone, close your eyes!"