Drai stood frozen. His eyes were glued to the small moss-green hill in front of him.

The gigantic beetle hummed a few more times, to which the hovering beetles replied with fervent clacks. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

’Don’t tell me... Is that the Swarm King?’ Drai guessed as he kept his gaze on the towering beetle.

He estimated the massive creature’s height to be around his own waist if he fully transformed, but that doesn’t mean the beetle’s mass was lower than Drai’s, as its width was about the same, and its length was even more than that. In comparison, Drai’s width and length added together was only around a fourth of his height.

As Drai wondered what the beetle’s purpose was for bringing all the valley’s inhabitants here, the light pillar suddenly shifted in color, rapidly turning green.

In response, the massive beetle’s body also glowed green. A few moments later, it opened its carapace, revealing pairs of broad, glistening wings, seemingly sculpted out of translucent crystals. The wings reflected the light, scattering twinkling green orbs across the cave.

The scene was nothing short of astonishing, leaving Drai in a trance along with the various creatures there, all staring at the massive green glow at the center.

After what seemed to be a quarter of an hour, the green tinge finally receded, returning the light pillar to its original hue. At the same time, the beetle’s glow also dimmed and eventually vanished.

Drai let out a sigh, lamenting the abrupt end of the spectacle. Even for someone without an ounce of artistic talent, Drai had truly been moved—it was a spectacular sight that would be etched in his memory forever.

’So is it all over? We’re here just for a light show? I know it’s really beautiful, but did this beetle really need to summon all of the valley’s residents to watch? It’s a bit too narcissistic, isn’t it?’

Drai didn’t want to catch the beetle’s attention, so he just stood there, waiting for the others to leave first. However, not a single creature moved aside from the moss-green beetles.

Drai suddenly had a bad premonition.

The massive beetle hummed once more, and the hovering beetles clacked excitedly. Shortly after, they started to zoom around, passing above the creatures that were still frozen in place.

Then, a beetle dived into the crowd, followed by another, then another, and another. Like a barrage of missiles, they all dived to the ground, but soon, they flew up again, but this time holding a creature between their spikey legs, one for each beetle.

The beetles swarmed toward their master, and to Drai’s shock, released their catch right into the massive beetle’s gaping maw, one after another.

Sickening crunching sounds immediately filled the cave as the beetle’s giant maw grinded the offerings into fresh nutrient paste.

The thousands of creatures began trembling again, but none dared to leave their spots. Drai also stood there quietly, barely recovering his bearings.

’Shit... I wasn’t expecting this.’

Drai glanced at the dozens of beetles that kept bringing more food for the massive beetle.

’I don’t know exactly how many of us they plan to throw in there, but probably half at most if this is a recurring event, since these creatures need to repopulate for it to be sustainable. But if this is a rare or one-time event, there’s a chance we’ll all end up as its dinner. Hmm... Looks like my survival chance isn’t good if I wait it out.’

Just then, Drai’s whole body tensed up.

A few meters from him, a beetle had just dived in, quickly coming back up with it a juicy maggot-like creature in its grip.

Drai’s gaze followed the large maggot until it eventually plunged into the giant maw.

’...Okay. I really need to escape.’

After calming down himself, Drai observed the zooming beetles closely, attempting to figure out their flight and dive patterns.

’I just need a short opening to dash out... Just a few seconds without any of these beetles nearby...’

Drai kept observing for a minute, but he still couldn’t see a noticeable pattern or any opening. Meanwhile, the crowd was getting sparser. There were quite a lot of them, so it still took plenty of time for the beetles to thin their numbers despite the incessant feeding.

At this moment, Drai noticed there weren’t any beetles above him.

’Here’s my chance!’

He immediately turned around and dashed forward, rushing to the dark passage.

Around three seconds later, Drai was about to enter the passage. However, a shadow suddenly flew out from the darkness ahead, speeding toward him.

In reflex, Drai threw a punch, and with a splatter, his fist smashed into the shadow.

Drai looked at the green goo that was covering his hand, along with embedded pieces of a moss-green shell. Lying near his feet was a crushed beetle, similar to the ones above.

’There was one here too?!’

A low hum instantly filled the air, followed by agitated buzzes and clacks.

Drai didn’t even need to look behind to figure out that he had just provoked the swarm. Without hesitation, he blurred, vanishing into the dark passage.

The hum turned louder, and the beetles that had been feeding their master immediately zoomed toward the passage.

Since the feeding had stopped, the creatures felt somewhat relieved. Yet, this respite was brief, as many more beetles soon appeared from all over the cave. Some of them followed the pursuing group, while the rest resumed the feeding.

At the gorge, Drai emerged from the passage in tatters. He had maintained his speed throughout the darkness, which made him graze and bump into the walls several times.

But Drai had no time to worry about his clothes, as he could sense the buzzing swarm that was catching up to him. Right away, he sprinted in the direction where he had come from.

A second later, the pursuing beetles flew out and immediately turned right, following the aggressor’s tracks.

Drai had already put some distance between himself and the passage, but he wasn’t fast enough to outrun the swarm—their buzzes were rapidly closing in.

’I could just transform and flee quicker, but will they just let me go peacefully like that? What if they decide to patrol the valley from now on—wouldn’t it be impossible to continue living here? And what if they could command all the creatures to hunt me?’

The more he thought about it, the more he was eager to fight back. Besides, a small part of him didn’t want Max to find out about this. After all, this wouldn’t have happened if Drai hadn’t pried into the strange phenomenon.

Suddenly, a beetle latched onto his back. But before it could attack or carry Drai away, all its six legs snapped loose.

Covering a third of the gorge’s width, Drai’s hulking figure twisted swiftly, his palm swatting at the swarm behind him.