The sharp blades on the limbs of the juvenile wasp easily pierced the skull of the locust as they made their way out.

But I wasn't about to let that happen!

Before it completely broke out, I leapt over to the locust's lowered head. Evading the wasp's barbed claws reaching out for me, I coiled myself around the locust's thorax where the wasp's main body was located in a constriction hold.

I felt sorry for what was happening to the locust - we could have been comrades in arms, but sadly it was under another's control and I had no choice but to kill it.

If I were in the same situation, I would rather die than be someone's puppet. If my death also meant killing the perpetrator of my repression, I'd be more than willing. Regardless, the locust was doomed to perish as soon as the wasp emerged and there was no way I was letting the wasp spawn break free from its host's cage.

The tough fight with the wasp that caught me and the near-death experience after were still fresh in my mind. Dealing with another aerial predator like it in my current state was simply too dangerous. It was best to end its life before it made it out - for the sake of the locust and myself, I would give it a quick death.

I wrapped myself twice around its head and thorax to hold over the cracked opening of the locust's head. As I activated [Steel Skin] and [Grip] I wrung myself tightly around it, causing the gap in the opening to close.

This made the emerging juvenile wasp retreat into the locust's head, but I didn't stop there. I continued to grip tightly over the locust's thorax, until cracks began to form over the surface of its hard exoskeleton.

〚Skill Aptitude Increase『Grip: LV2』has become『Grip: LV3』〛

The wasp that retreated inside put up a fierce struggle. It fully utilised its strong limbs to widen its escape hole by extensively pushing against my constriction hold.

The hideous cracking sounds they made against the hard shell did not deter me as I continued to squeeze, closing the very space it had to manipulate its limbs around itself, to quash the very force of its escape.

Using [Heat Sense] I witnessed the warmth of the locust's body continue to fade. It was now a dull red colour and in some parts of its body it had begun to change to cold hues of blue. These parts assumed the appearance of the other corpses, dying and shrinking like their vitality had been sucked out.

I commended the wasp who even in that state was expediting the absorption of its host's life. It perhaps hoped to strengthen itself fully in order to break free of my grip. And as I realised its plan, I decided to finish it off as quickly as I could using all my strength.

I distracted the wasp who continued to struggle unsuccessfully by squeezing harder on the locust's body, while I approached the weakened scale over the locust's wing.

Finding it unguarded, I jabbed at the scale using my horns to widen the gap. And once its fleshy tissue was exposed, I embedded my fangs into the underside of the locust's wing, pumping in two shots of venom for good measure.

The locust was close to death, but the wasp and it were still connected through the shared nutrients in its body, which the wasp was absorbing at a fast rate. If I were to introduce poison into the locust's system, the wasp would also ingest it and it would be doomed to die as soon as it was born.

It was the ultimate drawback for a parasite, and in this case, the best method of punishment.

The locust's body remained immobile and I was unsure if it was aware of my bite after its sensory loss, but I continued to squeeze like before so its puppeteer wouldn't notice anything amiss.

Soon enough, however, I noticed the locust limbs begin to twitch.

I was quick to relate it to one of the effects of my venom and was taken completely by surprise when the locust's body suddenly regained its motor skills. Its long hind legs immediately lunged forward, managing to leave a gouge in my skin in its attempt to swat me away.

I twisted up higher on the locust's thorax, away from its reach, while knocking away the shorter legs that had also begun to attack.

Their hits did not pack as much force when compared to the locust's hind legs, but they were still painful as they rebounded off my scales. It was difficult to completely avoid them while pressing down the opening so I could only endure their blows.

I ignored the locust's erratic struggling and squeezed harder, causing more cracks to appear over the locust's thorax.

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The wasp must have realised its strength alone was not enough to throw me off, as it had once again picked up the controls of the locust's body. But after trying and failing to knock me off with the locust's legs, it catapulted into the air, aiming again for the curved wall.

As I was fully wrapped around its body, there was no way for me to avoid the collision this time and, I could only brace myself for impact. However, it couldn't jump as high as before and the force of the impact this time was not as painful. I only got a few scrapes which were rebuffed with [Steel Skin].

The locust landed on the ground with unsteady limbs, twitching from all the damage they had taken. But soon it readied itself to jump even higher, seeming to no longer care for its host's body.

Hoping to stall its jump I squeezed harder with [Grip], bracing with [Steel Skin] right before it catapulted into the air. The sudden weight of my body caused it to stagger unsteadily, and its frantic jump veered off course, bringing its body crashing against the cavern wall.

〚Skill Aptitude Increase『Steel Skin: LV2』has become『Steel Skin: LV3』〛

I heard the crinkling sound of its hardened shell breaking and revelled in my small victory. Due to my meddling at the time of its jump, its change in angle had helped me avoid most of the injuries on impact and its legs took the majority of the beating.

However, my joy was short lived. In its descent, the locust redirected its fall, kicking off from the wall with its injured leg. It aligned its body to swerve headfirst in such a way that when we landed, it would be on its side where my body would take the most damage from the fall.

The wasp was clearly insane. If we fell in that way, the curved wall would scrape some of my skin and injure me but surely the locust's limbs on the sides of its body would be torn off as well.

They extended past my body and they would be completely destroyed even before the wall managed to touch me. Its strategy was completely psychotic and bordering on self harm. It probably thought as soon as I was badly damaged, it could emerge out of the locust unharmed to finish me off.

As we plunged to the floor I contemplated leaping off the locust's back to avoid injury, but if I were to let go, the wasp would immediately break free, foiling all my plans. I cursed at its persistence and braced myself for impact with [Steel Skin].

I could choose to release it and let it die by poison, but in the likelihood that the wasp did not absorb all of it - since the locust was still alive and well. I was better off crushing its body from the outside. So, before we hit the ground, I squeezed with all my strength.

There was a loud crack as the locust's thorax broke apart.

A high-pitched screech echoed from inside the locust's body as we tumbled down, shattering the quiet in the cavern. There was no time for victory, however, as the tilted fall of the locust's body had it grating against the wall.

The two legs on the left side of its body were completely torn off and my body dipped low enough to scrape the rough wall, sending trembling pulses of pain through my skin. I reinforced myself with [Steel Skin] but the injuries felt even worse than my initial fall, especially in the places where I had some missing scales.

〚Skill Aptitude Increase『Rugged Scales: LV2』has become『Rugged Scales: LV3』〛

Both of our bodies were dragged along the wall until finally the body of the locust crash landed onto the ground in a crumpled heap. Its limbs twitched as it tried to get up but with three legs missing and only one to support the weight on its left side, its balance was uneven.

Its unsteady limbs trembled and I tightened my grip for the last time, crushing the locust's thorax with one final squeeze. Its body collapsed, lifeless.

〚You have defeated LV9 Ivenius Adficio!〛

〚You have earned 45XP〛

〚You have gained a level!〛

I released my grip and my battered body dropped to the ground beside it.

__________________

Name: Aurelia LV5 [Neonate Snake] |Poisoned|

Specie: Cerastes Vipera

HP: 16/49>55 Defence: 32>40

MP: 03/15>33 Intellect: 45>53

SP: 18/43>51 Magic: 12>15

Attack: 38>45 Agility: 45>50

__________________

My status was abysmal from incurring so much damage but at least I accomplished my goal of crushing the juvenile wasp, literally. But my HP wasn't recovering at its usual speed, due to my poisoned state, so I only had one other way to recover my strength.

I crawled over to the wall and gathered the limbs of the locust that had fallen off, assembling them into a pile.

Using [Heat Sense] I scanned the withered body of the locust that was now completely cold with only the weak heat source of the wasp remaining inside. Observing it uneasily I wondered if it had enough strength to break out of the locust's back now, or if it would remain trapped inside?

As I waited, I appraised the body of the locust.

__________________

LV9 Ivenius Adficio

Specie: Ailith Gryllus

HP: 0/92 Defence: 76

MP: 0/36 Intellect: 20

SP: 0/86 Magic: 48

Attack: 77 Agility: 67

Skills:

[Stridulation: LV3] [Flight: LV2]

[Leap: LV4] [Exoskeleton: LV4]

[Bite: LV1] [Scent: LV2]

[Compound Eyes: LV3]

[Grip: LV2] [Stealth: LV1]

[Endurance: LV3]

Title:

[Larvae Host]

Resistances:

[Piercing Resistance: LV2]

[Wind Resistance: LV2]

[Pain Resistance: LV1]

__________________

Seeing the title of [Larvae Host], I came to understand the reason for all the mummified corpses around me. This was not a graveyard as I initially thought. Rather it was the place the wasp larvae came to when they were close to shedding off the bodies of their hosts, before emerging as a brand new wasp.

But in this case, my appearance had interrupted the wasp's process, forcing it to hasten the absorption of its host body due to its life being threatened. I was curious if it could still emerge from the locust's shell even after the beating it had taken. If it did, the process would be painful and difficult, and it was likely it would not be intact. That is, if it even emerged at all.

However, I soon heard something cracking again, my attention focused on the crushed thorax.

The sound of the shell breaking was clear in the quiet cavern, but its progress was slow and strenuous as the limbs of the wasp fought with difficulty to break free.

Preparing for its arrival I grabbed one of the fallen limbs of the locust and began to eat in a bid to regain my HP.