Chapter 140 - 48: [Demon Insect Larva and Bell-Ringing Reaper]

Chapter 140: Chapter 48: [Demon Insect Larva and Bell-Ringing Reaper]

Samael slid slowly down the cave wall into the sunken pit at the center of the High Grassland, with Talia closely following behind.

"You saw that Nether Bronze Shadow, right?" Samael asked, drawing his sword and plunging it into the cave wall to slow his descent. "Tall, broad, with antlers adorning his head."

"I’m more concerned about that mutilated Necro Earth-Devouring Demon Insect. That shadow drove a Necromantic Demon Insect to devour this originally living Demon Insect into pieces." Talia gripped the cave wall tightly with her clawed armor, sliding down behind Samael.

"It—he—that antlered Nether Bronze Shadow, was inside the mouth of the Necromantic Demon Insect?" Samael paused.

"It’s quite normal. The mouth and digestive tract of an adult Earth-Devouring Demon Insect contain sac-like spaces large enough to hold dozens of people. The Demon Race uses them to transport small, elite Burrower legions underground for infiltration and assassination missions behind enemy lines," Talia explained. "Besides, there’s a chair-like bone structure in the empty cavity of a Demon Insect’s head that connects to its internal organs and brain. A Demon Race Monarch often sits there to control the Demon Insect."

"No, no, the point is that shadow—he seems to possess a Nether Copper Body as well." Samael waved his hand. "Have you... have you ever seen another Ghost Knight besides me?"

Talia shook her head.

"Ghost Knights are a legend from the Age of the Gods, a powerful type of Undead that only exists in ancient myths. There are almost no confirmed sighting records. It’s just a story, nowadays only used to scare children or to fabricate cheap pulp fiction," she replied softly. "Of course, that was before I met you."

"What are Ghost Knights like in the myths?" he asked, looking at Talia.

"The Apocalypse. Destroyers of great deeds, judges of sin, slaughterers of life, tramplers of agony, and terminators of all things.

"Chaos is brought by the living, and sin is forged by the living. The dead hold no sin, nor do they create pain and chaos. Therefore, in the cold and hollow dead silence, all life will obtain ultimate salvation after judgment.

"They are the most fiercely burning individuals among all the souls of the dead that have turned into stars. They are the most brutal and furious existences, appearing to destroy everything and sparing no effort to kill all the living."

Samael fell silent for a moment.

"I wasn’t talking about you!" Talia added in exasperation.

"No, no, that’s not what I meant. These evaluations and rumors are very meaningful." Samael shook his head. "I suspect there’s another Ghost Knight on the Hai Xin Plain... that tall, antlered figure."

"Is that possible?" Talia looked at him.

"In the Heart of the Remains, this unknown land of buried secrets, anything is possible," Samael replied.

In the center of the deep pit in the High Grassland, surrounded by the massive corpse of the Earth-Devouring Demon Insect, the two looked around.

In the depression deep within the Insect Path, several half-man-tall mounds of dirt were squirming, colliding, and biting at each other. They were gnawing on the dead, scattered fragments of the Earth-Devouring Demon Insect, as well as gnawing on each other.

"Demon Insect larvae!" Talia exclaimed. She lunged at one of the mounds and grabbed onto whatever was inside.

Plunging her arms deeply into the sides of the dirt mound, she pulled out a shelled creature over two meters long, sending dirt flying with a loud POP.

HISS! HISS! The plump Demon Insect, easily the size of a lion, ground its spiral-shaped teeth together. It emitted a hissing sound as it writhed and struggled in Talia’s arms, thrashing its fat, bone-spiked tail.

Surprisingly, the Demon Insect had eight small, articulated claws on its body. However, they were short and tiny, looking like eight moving, crustacean-like protrusions distributed along its elongated frame. The bodies of adult Demon Insects were so massive that these small articulated claws were nearly invisible, but this trait was exceptionally obvious in the larvae.

Talia grabbed its midsection and held it up with both hands, looking as though she were cradling a massive, perfectly round, chubby mastiff.

"No wonder their mother didn’t run or hide when she was attacked by the Necromantic Demon Insect," she whispered, looking around at the giant corpse that had been chewed to pieces by the Necromantic Demon Insect. "She was using her body to protect her young."

"Wait, there’s more than one larva?" Samael counted the number of dirt mounds and pulled another fat Demon Insect out of one.

"There are four." Talia dug into the remaining two mounds, a faint blue light flashing in her eyes.

The four larvae thrashed their tails, clearly unruly. They continued to struggle, trying to burrow back into the soil. The two larvae placed closest to each other even began to bite at one another. Sparks flew as their metal-laced spiral teeth clashed against their scales.

"They’re strong. Even though they’re only larvae, they already possess considerable mental resistance..." Talia struggled to maintain the suppression of her Spiritual Energy signals. "There are too many of them. I... I can only guarantee absolute control over one Demon Insect.

"If it were just one Demon Insect larva, I could ensure absolute dominance. Two would be difficult, and they’d occasionally slip out of control. Three is already my limit. With four, I can only temporarily influence their behavior and soothe them so they don’t thrash around."

"How many Demon Insects does a Demon Race Monarch usually have?" Samael asked. As he spoke, he pulled the four massive larvae—each over two meters long and nearly a meter wide—apart to prevent them from devouring each other. He then forged a Nether Copper Chain, fashioning four small collars to secure around the Demon Insects’ necks.

This proved difficult, as the shape of a Demon Insect larva was comparable to a giant, plump sausage; their necks were not exactly prominent. Samael had no choice but to tie the chains around the segment between their heads and their small claws.