Echoes from the Irregular's Nest
"Mantis…… was it?"
My vision blurred as a haze clouded my eyes. I'd experienced something similar once before—when Ruslan fell into a demonic trance and I connected to his inner world through empathy.
We'd faced a comparable situation then. But empathy was a trait specifically for mantis species. If this guy wasn't a mantis as I'd assumed, maybe it tied into that hidden piece message.
Paaaah!
A brilliant white light exploded before my flickering vision. The signal that empathy had fully activated.
I could've rejected it just before it kicked in, but I chose to accept it willingly.
……I can't let this chance slip away.
It was a near-prophetic hunch. Similar to sixth sense, but on a higher plane.
……Yes, akin to a transcendent sense.
Swaaaa.
Where…… is this?
I hurriedly scanned the landscape unfolding before me. A forest of unfamiliar plants.
What the hell is this place?
In twenty years roaming the Abian Continent, I hadn't seen everywhere. There were plenty of unfamiliar spots, sure.
But a place teeming with plants I'd never even read about in books? Unheard of.
Bwoooooong.
Then came a massive gust of wind. Plants whipped wildly, dust billowing up.
Instinctively, I raised an arm to shield my eyes. A colossal shadow loomed overhead.
I peeked from under my arm.
……!
My eyes widened in shock. It had to—the primal hovering above was one I'd seen recently.
……Megaera!
Its form matched the reconstruction diagram from Chung Hak Gwan's ancient species lab perfectly. Unmistakable.
Whooooosh!
It merely skimmed past high in the sky, yet the fierce downdraft clawed at the ground.
Incredible.
Just witnessing its presence sent shivers through my entire body. Even at full power, I knew I couldn't scratch it.
A moment that made crystal clear why Megaera was deemed the strongest among ancient species.
If there's a Megaera here……
This was the primal strata.
So that ant(?) really was an ancient species?
This memory had to be that ant's. Logical deduction.
How did an ancient species end up in the present? More importantly…… why can't I see the target after empathy connected?
I turned, surveying the surroundings. A massive cliff caught my eye.
Instinct drew my feet toward it—a powerful pull calling me.
Tsurii…… Tsuri…… ririt……
A faint cry from the cliffside. I quickened my pace, pushing through the underbrush until I reached its base.
……!
My jaw dropped at the sight. What I'd thought was a cliff…… wasn't.
A…… tree?
It was too immense to casually call a tree. Vast enough to dwarf even the colossal Megaera I'd just seen.
Piercing the clouds, scraping the heavens—this was a world tree or Yggdrasil straight out of fantasy tales.
Except……
Pzzt, pzzzt.
Electricity crackled nonstop along its non-conductive bark.
I knew one tree with that trait—much smaller, but sharing the thunder-charged essence.
The lightning tree I'd just visited.
Is it related?
I craned my neck back, gazing upward. The insistent call emanated from somewhere above.
Tsuriririt……
Another faint cry in my ears—eerily like the irregular primal I'd fought.
The instant I realized that cry was summoning me:
Shooooom.
My body shot upward at blinding speed. Like flight itself.
Wingless as I was, the reason was simple.
Spirit body.
My form was a translucent spirit, invited as an observer into its conscious world.
Shoooo……
In a blink, my spirit body soared hundreds of meters into the air.
And there, before me:
"Tsuriririt!"
A nest formed on a massive branch. Woven from unidentified exoskeletons of various species—a cradle of chaos.
Lightning tree leaves padded the bottom thickly.
Atop the leafy bed sat seven pristine white eggs, neatly arranged.
Or rather, seven hatchlings just poking their heads out, crying.
"Tsurit!"
"Chirit!"
Barking like freshly hatched chicks. But their appearance? Nothing like birds.
Miniature versions of the irregular I'd battled. Spitting images.
That one's the guy, huh.
The rightmost of the seven. One glance confirmed it: owner of this mental realm, the irregular primal linked via empathy.
Not an ant? Born like this?
Most ant primals lived underground. Queens laid eggs; larvae emerged as grubs.
Ants started as grubs, molting into familiar adult forms.
But this……
Hardly larva-like. And a treetop nest? Not a bird—what the……
As bewilderment hit me:
Bwoooooaaang!
A thunderous gale announced its arrival.
……!
My eyes bulged. A body blending ant and bee halfway.
Three pairs of wings matching its bulk. Plump at a glance, but sleekly tapered abdomen.
A blunt stinger protruded from the tail tip.
Pzzt pzzzt.
Sparks flew ceaselessly from it.
……At least a million volts.
The absurdity left me speechless. The ambient current already surpassed a million volts effortlessly.
That blunt stinger? A capacitor storing at least that much, no sweat.
That fact alone made this being terrifyingly formidable.
My lightning or that ant's bolts topped out at tens of thousands of volts.
Impressive enough. Living bodies resist electricity, yet over 100k volts flash-boils fluids in 0.5 seconds.
100k volts packs insane power. Our tens of thousands were no joke.
But a million?
……Not just ten times 100k.
Volts measure voltage—the push driving current.
Current (amperes) is flow rate per second.
Energy? Voltage times current.
100k volts isn't 100k times 1 volt—it's 100k x 100k = 10 billion times.
A million volts?
Million times million is a trillion. So a trillion times 1 volt's energy.
……And that's the minimum leaking constantly?
What was this thing?
Flying skies, unleashing trillion-fold energy blasts……
How many could beat that monster?
Hah.
Awe rose unbidden. A being worthy of "thunder incarnate," descending near the nest.
Chuuuuk.
It parted its vicious mandibles.
A sweet scent wafted—honey.
Ant-bee hybrid trait……
Feeding the newborns, it seemed.
"Chirit, chiriririt!"
"Chiriririt—."
The apparent ancient-species hatchlings swarmed the honey.
Chomp chomp chomp.
They guzzled ravenously.
Hm? Can't they walk on two legs normally?
They moved much like standard ant primals.
Just this one's the freak.
Now it clicked. Not a growth mutation—born irregular.
It sat dazed before its eggshell, slumped like a bipedal human collapsing.
"Tsuriri."
The thunder being tilted its head, peering down quizzically. What the heck? its eyes seemed to say.
It had just noticed the irregular hatchling too.
"Tsuririt."
Red light flared in the parent's gaze.
The slouched one flinched.
That glow? A primal superior commanding inferiors.
The thunder parent ordering the oddball to eat honey.
"Tsuririt. Tsuriririt."
—Food? Me, belly, not hungry.
……!
Incredibly, it expressed intent.
"Tsuriririt."
The parent's shock was obvious. This was unprecedented for it too.
"Tsurit. Tsurit. Tsutsuririt. Tsurit."
—Me, eggshell, ate, taste, bad, belly, full.
……Up close, white goo smeared its mouth.
Hatched last, apparently gnawed its shell inside.
……Unbelievable. What a weirdo.
I chuckled in disbelief at the sight.
"Tsuririririt—!"
The thunder being reacted the same. Its laugh vibrated the air; sparks danced between lightning tree leaves.
Pzzt pzzzt!
The other ants froze mid-guzzle, overwhelmed by dread.
"Tsurit. Tsuriririt. Tsuririt."
—Sparkle, sparkle, cool, me, you, wanna be.
Only this irregular showed no fear—instead aspiring to emulate its parent.
"Tsuririririt! Tsurit, tsuririririt."
The thunder one laughed delightedly, then conveyed something.
"Tsurit? Tsuririt. Tsuririririt."
—Ah, dad? Siblings, family, got it, me, strong one, protect, can do.
The irregular responded, and my eyes widened as I parsed it.
No way……
These "ants"—ancient species offspring of the thunder being.
That means…… those weren't adults.
Hah. Astonishing.
If this irregular matured fully…… it'd become that violent, million-volt powerhouse?
Letting it escape earlier? Near-fatal mistake down the line.
But why show me this memory?
I got the gist: its origins, born in the primal strata ancient species.
Ant-like young, bee-like adults.
Bonus: definitely not mantis.
So why empathy with me? How did it manifest now?
Questions piled up as the scene fast-forwarded like a sped-up reel.