Helzar watched the scene before him. Currently, he was sharing vision with one of his Spawns, and the image of Alex falling to his knees kept replaying in his mind.

Throughout the Spawn's senses, Helzar could feel Alex's soul weakly trembling, and his wings couldn't help but flap in excitement. Before he could contain his excitement, he was already among the second wave of the Swarm's invasion.

La'Queen asked, and Helzar didn't even bother how she managed to fly next to him unnoticed. He was too excited now.

Helzar asked

La'Queen replied.

La'Queen als described how Zharan was literally sitting on a pile of human corpses, feasting voraciously while laying countless eggs.

Helzar said to La'Queen. His tone was demanding, leaving no room for negotiation.

La'Queen scoffed, looking at Helzar with dissatisfaction.

Helzar laughed.

La'Queen had no idea how souls worked. She didn't know that Helzar can eat souls, and that she also has a soul. Either way, La'Queen wasn't losing much from the distribution of “food”, as after feeding on Alex's energized body, her soul would be well nourished.

On the other hand, Helar would be eating Alex's soul directly and gain a spike of soul energy without having to wait for his soul to slowly grow.

La'Queen’s body is stronger than Helzar, but Helzar's soul is leagues above La'Queen.

‘After eating Alex's soul, my strength will likely double,’ Helzar almost couldn't wait.

It took them a few minutes to reach the last bastion of humanity, and the sight of it made Helzar feel proud.

The once tall skyscrapers had fallen, and not a single house was not left broken or scorched. From time to time, he could see some explosions in the distance. He knew that the Swarm was responsible for it, but he didn't bother finding out how they're doing it.

Whilst the Swarm was fighting Alex and the Moon Agents, a group of Spawns were tasked in destroying all the buildings they came across. This was done to hinder the recovery of humans if they fail to exterminate them, as well as to search for any stragglers.

As they arrived at the heart of the city however, he saw Jason and the Moon Agents protecting Alex's body. They were surrounded by Lava Ants and Spawns, trapping them and forbidding them to escape.

The Moon Agents took out Alex's body from the pile of roaches and placed him on a much cleaner surface. With Alex out of the filthy ground, Helzar could clearly see the damaged body of Alex.

The man was practically skin and bones, especially around his arms. He threw himself into millions of Spawns and Lava Ants without much thought, Helzar and La'Queen would be damned if Alex came out unscathed.

There was something that Helzar noticed, though, and it made him a little impressed.

‘Even after all that, no eggs were planted into Alex's skin. ’

In truth, a few eggs got under Alex's skin, but Alex killed them by hitting his own body. He missed a few spots, but thankfully for him, they were only Spawn eggs. After feeling the sharp pain inside his arms, he'd simply crush the Spawns from the outside.

Helzar commanded, his voice piercing the agents’ minds. They all swayed, but none fell to their knees.

“Hah, and then what,” Jason scoffed. “Let you get stronger?” Opening the Promised Pen and Book, Jason wrote down the word he saw his master use the most.

[Promise]

Helzar looked at Jason, noting how Jason's soul had grown stronger.

The Spawns behind Helzar flew forward, surrounding the Agents in hundreds of millions of Spawns. The Lava Ants were practically unnoticeable compared to the Swarm.

Helzar chuckled, several tentacles sprouting out of his body. Meanwhile, Jason was looking at him with both confusion and anger.

“You'll kill us even if we obey you, so what's the point?” Jason laughed, his smirk infecting the other Moon Agents. The book in his hand didn't change, and neither did the pen.

With a frown, Jason wrote another word.

[Power]

Nothing happened, and Jason couldn't help shoving the book and pen inside his pockets.

“Fucking bullshit,” Jason grumbled. Helzar narrowed his eyes, not liking the curse he thought was aimed at him.

Helzar sighed, and the Swarm instantly fell on the Moon Agents.

“Tch, go to hell!” Jason yelled, brandishing his spear.

After becoming a Moon Agent, his anomaly weapon changed from time to time. Currently, his spear had the special ability to form rock shields.

The Moon Agents faced the same problem as Jason, and even Alex had no clue why the anomaly weapons kept breaking after a few uses. Due to this, Jason feels handicapped when he uses the spear.

With dozens of Moon Agents behind him, Jason led them to blitz Helzar. Helzar flew back, retracting his tentacles and entering his demonic form. As he did so, a thick layer of mist engulfed the battlefield, swallowing all the agents inside it.

“Not good, fall back,” Jason yelled and looked around. He saw no one, and his voice was lost in the mist.

Helzar appeared before Jason, who swung his spear at Helzar the moment he appeared. Helzar flew back, expecting the attack.

Helzar sighed, sensing that the Swarm was dealing with the rest of the Moon Agents. As for Alex, Helzar was not pleased to find that his body was gone.

‘The Agents hid Alex's body, and if there's anyone who knows where it is, it'll be Jason. Is Alex going to be a part of the sacrifice?’ Helzar narrowed his eyes. Frankly, the more his Swarm grew, and the stronger Jason became, the more reluctant he was to kill the luck-filled prophet.

‘Curse the gods for creating damned prophets,’ Helzar glared at the sky, which was filled by the Swarm beyond the devouring mist.

‘Good, the third wave of Spawns are here. Now, a billion Spawns are present,’ Helzar smirked.

“Huh?” Jason swung his spear, trying to cut Helzar in two while also cutting the Spawn that tried to bite him in the neck.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Helzar retreated, leaving Jason alone as a waterfall of Spawns fell on the man's head.

Suddenly, La'Queen flew to Helzar's side. Helzar felt another energy pulse, and he figured it came from La'Queen.

Helzar asked.

La'Queen’s eyes burned, flames engulfing her body. La'Queen spat out.

Helzar sighed and forcefully calmed La'Queen using his own abilities.

La'Queen growled, but was managing to cool her wrath.

Helzar tried convincing La'Queen, knowing full well that it was a fool's errand.

“Ah, I arrived on time,” Rex chuckled, the piercing cries of the Sunlight Sparrows spreading all across the ruined city.

Rex waved his hand and all the Spawns swarming Jason burst into flames. Jason felt no heat from the fire, but the Spawns all died because of it.

“Unfortunately, I can't have the organization destroyed. That'll leave me vulnerable to knives on my back,” Rex smirked.

‘The easy domination of the Colony Type Anomalies over the three continents is suspicious. The United Government is behind this, I just know it,’ Rex thought. ‘If the organization is destroyed, the world government will focus its fangs on me. I can't have that.’

As for the organization merging with the United Government, Rex would laugh to death and surrender himself if that happened. He knew how Alex hated the United Government for not sending help to humanity, and he knew that the organization follows the Chief's will.

That was how the organization is still alive and stayed orderly, in the first place.

Helzar said, retracting the devouring mist into his body. Rex could easily scatter it away, making it worthless in the fight.

“How about… no?” Rex chuckled.

“I'm not a submissive dog like little Jason over there, don't treat me like one, Helzar,” Rex scowled.

Helzar hummed.

“...Hoh,” Rex scoffed, his eyes darkening in anger. “If that's how you'll play, then I'll play with you, damned bug.”

Helzar said and Rex was more than happy to follow. He had the Sunlight Sparrows head toward the Swarm, while he himself marched to Helzar with hands blazing.

“Potato-head asses, don't stand there and join the battle!” Rex yelled, and Jason reluctantly made truce with Rex.

“Be careful of Rex while fighting, both he and the Swarm are our enemies,” Jason gave a warning, to which all the Moon Agents nodded in agreement.

Satisfied, Jason grabbed his spear and locked his eyes on Helzar.

“Unleash your rage!” Jason screamed, rushing to join the battle between a traitor and a king.

With Rex and Jason coming toward him, Helzar sneered and told La'Queen to kill the other agents. La'Queen had no objections and did as she was told.

Helzar chuckled, three, one foot long tentacles growing out of his body.

With a mental command, the entire Swarm circled around Jason and Rex. Rex scoffed, calling his Sunlight Sparrows to aid him. On the other hand, Jason let out a curse and madly swung his spear as fast as he could. He tried remaining calm, but he was getting more and more overwhelmed with each passing second.

‘He’s weaker than I thought,’ Helzar hummed in approval. Maybe he was thinking too highly of the human prophet. Ridding himself of unnecessary thoughts, Helzar made the Swarm fall on Rex and his birds.

Rex cackled, his entire body erupting into flames. “Helzar, you will answer my command!”

CAAA!

Suddenly, Helzar felt dizzy, as well as the Spawns. Jason quickly fell back and assessed his injuries. There were numerous holes on his body, and to his horror, Motherbugs were crawling out of them followed by Swarmings.

Helzar cursed, stimulating his soul to overpower the piercing cries of the Sunlight Sparrows.

“Do it again!” Rex said, and the Sunlight Sparrows opened their beaks.

Only, Helzar was a step quicker. He ordered the Swarm to stuff the Sunlight Sparrows’ beaks, and a few Motherbugs even laid eggs and dropped it inside the bird's throats.

Helzar glared at Rex, transferring some of his soul energy to the eggs inside the Sunlight Sparrows. The eggs instantly hatched into a Swarmling, which turned into a mature Motherbug in less than a blink of an eye.

“Che,” Rex punched the air multiple times, sending hot flames toward the Sunlight Sparrows and killed the Spawns stuffing their beaks. Rex reacted in just a split second, but it was enough to infect all twelve Sunlight Sparrows.

“Huh?” Rex frowned when he saw the Sunlight Sparrows flying in agony, shaking their heads before ultimately dropping to the ground.

“You infected them,” Rex said, his tone grave.

Helzar scoffed.

“Whatever,” Rex rolled his eyes and watched as the Sunlight Sparrows turned into sparks of flames.

Helzar said, his tone polite as he used his tentacles to grab the sparks of fire.

“...What are you doing?” Rex stifled a laughter as all twelve Sunlight Sparrows were reborn around Rex. They all looked the same as before, making Helzar look at the sparks of flames in his tentacles.

‘Is it just cosmetics or…?’ Helzar then tried eating the spark of fire. Needless to say, Helzar tasted nothing in his mouth after eating the sparks.

‘I feel energized,’ Helzar smirked. He just found an exploit in Rex's birds.

Helzar mocked Rex, who tilted his head in confusion.

“D’you go insane or something?” Rex said with a frown. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Jason trying to join the battle.

“Get out, boy. You're a fuckin’ burden,” Rex spat out without turning his head.

Helzar said, earning a laugh from Rex.

“You're full of bullshit too!” Rex glared at Helzar.

Helzar didn't even feel embarrassed.

Receiving direct orders, the Spawns glowed brighter as they rushed toward Rex. Rex defended by punching and creating walls of fire with his gloves, but soon Rex felt his head starting to ache.

“Kill Helzar,” Rex said while feeling his mind slowly but surely hurting more. The Sunlight Sparrows saw their master's struggle and didn't think twice to charge at Helzar.

Helzar blocked the first Sunlight Sparrow with his tentacles.

With the powerful beaks and talons of the Sunlight Sparrow, Helzar's tentacles couldn't hold it back for long. If those were physical tentacles, then they would've long crumbled.

BZZZ…

With a powerful push, Helzar managed to free himself from the Sunlight Sparrow, but soon two more were coming for him.

Helzar said, his voice static. Before the Sunlight Sparrows could reach Helzar, a swarm of Spawns came in between them.

CAA!

With a cry, the Sunlight Sparrows forced themselves to halt. Then, they flew toward their master, who was encased in a cocoon of Spawns. Helzar couldn't stop them, the cry from earlier made his soul painfully throb.

CAAAA!

Their high-pitched cry disoriented the Spawns, and they all fell to the ground, dazed. Rex gasped, taking ragged breaths as a steady stream of Spawns crawled out from inside his arms and legs, blood cascading down after them.

“Fuck,” Rex grinned. “I feel like a squeezed tomato.” Rex could barely feel his arms and legs as he knelt on the ground. He wanted to throw up blood, but at the same time, no blood was coming to his mouth.

‘I need to recover quickly,’ Rex frowned at the thought. ‘That means admitting defeat… fucking shit,’ Rex laughed.

“Consider yourself lucky, Helzar. I made an error this time,” Rex stated, grabbing Helzar's attention as he tried to refocus himself.

Helzar spat back, and a tsunami of Spawns arose from behind him like water from a dam that had been blocked for too long. They kept on rising while flying forward, casting a false night in the ruined city.

Helzar let out a cackle that made Rex’s head ache. Not only him, but Jason and the rest of the Moon Agents felt their brains throbbing too.

“Shit. Oi, you!” Rex glared at Jason, who was watching the two fighting.

“What?” Jason asked back. His body was numb, and he could barely move. While Rex was dealing with Helzar, he was also dealing with thousands of Spawns.

Jason had many close calls, forcing him to spend his soul energy unknowingly to survive.

“Goddamn you're a bitch,” Rex muttered, seeing Jason's pale and skinny appearance. “We need to escape, now!” Rex shouted.

“I don't think you should be shouting that?” Jason rolled his eyes. He refused to believe Rex's words. For one, Rex could escape anytime he wanted to.

Helzar ignored the both of them, ordering the Swarm to fall on the agents and Rex.

Rex sighed, his body turning into flashes of flames before disappearing. The twelve Sunlight Sparrows let out a cry, their eyes glowing gold as they flew away.

Helzar scoffed, his tone full of ridicule. The Sunlight Sparrows can force their way out of the encampment of the Swarm if they disregard all the damage they'll suffer.

Helzar didn't dream of stopping all the Sunlight Sparrows, but he could at best kill half of them and that's what he did. While ignoring six, the Swarm gathered around the other six Sunlight Sparrows.

Blue mist once again filled the battlefield, and the Swarm felt rejuvenated at their master's power.

Helzar ordered. He knows the birds will revive once Rex appears again, but he needs to figure out a permanent method of killing the Sunlight Sparrows.

After freeing his attention from the Sunlight Sparrows, Helzar focused on Jason and the Moon Agents. They were all gathered in a group, a strange dome of energy shielding them.

‘What’s that?’ Helzar frowned. The Spawns were gnawing away at the shield to no avail. Even the Lava Ants were pouring buckets of their venom on the shield, but it barely budged.

“Jason, you should escape. Only one of us can flee,” a Moon Agent whispered to Jason.

“He's right. You are the Chief's disciple, you should live and become the new Chief,” another Moon Agent said.

Jason stared at his companions, a heavy weight pressing on his back. “Do you think I can lead the organization?” Jason asked with a chuckle.

“It doesn't matter,” a Moon Agent sighed. “You have to lead the organization and save humanity. Exterminate the Anomalies, Chief.”

Helzar narrowed his eyes when a flash of light suddenly enveloped Jason. ‘Are they so petty that they won't let me obtain Alex's body?’ Helzar was angry, but he could only watch.

The shield was already starting to thin out, but it remained strong even as the final wave of the Swarm arrived.

“You know, I wish this anomaly object could be used all the time,” a Moon Agent commented. They were watching as everywhere around them, the Spawns had isolated them. The only light they could get was the glow from the Spawn's bodies.

“If you can spit out that ice cream, make it cold again, and somehow have it recharge, then it can be used all the time,” a Moon Agent remarked, earning scoffs from his comrades.

“It was nice, all of you,” a Moon Agent sighed, taking one last bite of the ice cream he was eating.

“Yeah, it was nice,” the rest nodded, resigning to their inevitable faith.

CRASH!

The shield shattered to pieces, and the Swarm instantly stripped them of their skin and flesh, giving them the most merciful kind of death.

An instant death.

+++-+++-+++

“How is the project?”

A voice spoke through the speakers. A man in military clothing let out a sigh before he replied.

“The ‘Anomalies’ have taken over,” he said.

“Humans have gone ‘extinct’?” The voice asked, his voice containing a hidden laughter.

“No,” the man laughed. “Humans aren't that easy to kill. We simply moved out,” he replied.

“Is that so,” the voice hummed. “What kind of anomalies were you able to cultivate?” The voice asked, making the man smirk.

“Give us the money and spaceships first, and then we'll talk,” the man chuckled.

“Alright,” the voice agreed, not annoyed at the slightest. “Done. Now, tell me what I'm working with. I'm not buying some cheap products.”

The military man laughed and hummed for a while before replying.

“One of them is a colony of giant bees,” the man in military uniform said and paused.

“And then?” The voice prompted him to keep talking. “Don't push your luck.”

“Ha-ha, you're so easy to fluster. But anyway, I'm not telling you everything, come to us if you wish to know.”

Turning the computer off, the military man let out a sigh of relief. He was watching anxiously as the organization fought off the Swarm, he only relaxed when Jason fled with his life.

“Hey, Alex,” the man said aloud, before turning to look at the corpse on his table.

“Your disciple is an idiot. Can't he just survive quietly until his potential awakens? Damn it, I'm gonna be yelled at by god.”

With a groan, he walked over to Alex and reached his hand to hold Alex's face. He gently caressed Alex’s face for a brief moment before applying pressure to his hand, effortlessly crushing Alex's skull and destroying his soul.

“Among the anomalies, a demon was born. I can't have strong souls like yours to be eaten,” the man smiled bitterly, a single drop of tear rolling down his cheek.

“Sorry, Alex. Your father is a bastard,” he laughed, covering Alex's face with a piece of white cloth.