‘Nevermind,’ Helzar shook his head. While watching the scenery that blurred past them, Helzar reviewed La'Queen's personality as well as the precautions he had set up.

‘It’s impossible for her to defect with her stubbornness,’ Helzar could almost see La'Queen spitting in disgust at the mere mention of betrayal. If she had thoughts of leaving the alliance between the ants and the Swarm, she would tell Helzar personally.

On the other hand, Helzar doubted that La'Queen was mind controlled again. ‘I developed a soul contract just for her, making it so that if her soul was forcibly manipulated, her first instinct would be to wage war with the Swarm.’

When developing the soul contract, Helzar didn't bother hiding it from her. When she learned about it, she even cooperated fully whilst stating that she'd rather be killed by a Spawn than be mind controlled by others.

‘I found no ants at my doorstep. Not even a glimpse,’ Helzar thought solemnly and removed the possibility of La'Queen being mind controlled.

After all, the Lava Ants were also a hive mind like the Swarm. No matter if La'Queen was imprisoned by the person controlling her, she can still command the Lava Ants to kill as many Spawns as they can.

Helzar felt his innards shifting like a wet towel being wrung dry.

Helzar tried sweetening his thoughts, but found the bitter taste never fading. In the end, he kept on flying with a knot in his throat.

Helzar mumbled, a blue mist slowly spreading out from his body.

He had complete control over the Devouring Mist, it was his seventh limb after all. Seeing the ability being subconsciously cast, Helzar decided to spend a little more of his energy in exchange for eating a few hundred Spawns. The Swarm still had a billion, a few hundred casualties from cannibalism wouldn't hurt.

<...>

As hours flew by, Helzar found his wings becoming sore. He flew like a butterfly drunk on caffeine, overturning La'Queen's territory which encompassed a fourth of the entire continent in less than a day. Nevermind a few hundred Spawns, Helzar ended up eating more than a hundred thousand Spawns just to gain enough energy to fly so fast. Not to mention, the members of the Swarm also cannibalized each other to keep up with Helzar, resulting in millions of casualties.

Helzar sighed. During his maddened tour of La'Queen's territory, he had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill he kept in his mouth. Unless the Lava Ants flew above the clouds and lived in the stars, Helzar had to admit that La'Queen had been utterly defeated.

Helzar maximized his flight speed in a flash and called for hundreds of Spawns to get ready. He needed more energy, which meant more cannibalism.

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Helzar glanced at the setting sun, wishing that he could fly faster.

Unluckily, he was already in his demonic form, and even then his wings moved like stiff iron. If he wanted to fly faster, he had to spend his soul energy which he was unwilling to even consider.

Their enemy was a panther hidden in the shadows, stalking them while they were in the open. What's worse is that this predator had silently killed La'Queen under their noses, he'd be brain dead if he wasted precious soul energy just to travel.

The night had fallen once more like a leaf descending from a tree branch. So subtle and gentle but swift and abrupt. Thankfully, before the sun kicked the moon out of the sky, he had reached the outskirts of Zharan's territory.

He recently visited Zharan's place not too long ago and it was as lively as a pond infested by frogs. One foot long cockroaches could be seen crawling about and some could be seen flying in the air, their wings buzzing loudly in one's ears. But now, Helzar felt a chill in his body as he ventured into Zharan's territory.

Helzar refused to entertain such thoughts and froze his heart to ice, keeping his mind cool lest he burst into panic and invite dark clouds over the Swarm.

He led the Swarm deeper and deeper into Zharan's territory, and the more he flew, the heavier he felt. Currently, they were approaching the center of Zharan's territory.

BUZZ…

Helzar yelled, his voice as loud as a cicada's call. He wanted nothing more than to exterminate the bees and boil their king under the bright sun, but he nearly broke into joyous laughter when he saw the bee.

Helzar spat and as the Swarm tore the bee into nothing, more bees came flying over with wrathful eyes. They were like vengeful ghosts with their “fur” standing like needles, their legs straight like swords, and their bodies nearly as big as a newborn child.

While the war was heating up faster than a forest fire, the Swarm kept advancing forward and clashed with more and more bees. The Nursery and Seeds were huddled close to Helzar according to his wishes, refusing to befall harm on their bodies.

Helzar himself refrained from using his Devouring Mist and tentacles, now wasn't the time.

‘Until I see Zharan, it's best to assume the worst,’ Helzar kept a steady gaze and reserved his energy as much as possible. At the same time, he ate the fallen bees to heal his exhausted body.

His mind might be sluggish from fatigue and anxiety, but as long as he spent a tiny bit of soul energy, his sharp focus would return. What's more important was to heal his aching limbs.

Helzar slowly conjured a tentacle out of his body. The Slave Contract between him and Zharan was like muddy waters, he could barely perceive Zharan's life force.

For all he knew, Zharan could already be a cold corpse.

Diving down, Helzar neared the ground like a missile before slowing down to softly land. Then, his tentacle slithered into the soil like a slippery worm.

Helzar breathed a sigh of relief and commanded the Swarm to hurriedly dig downward. In less than a minute, a tunnel bore through an underground sewer teeming with cockroaches and bees who were slaughtering the poor children.

Helzar hissed, before flying through the sewers while spreading out his Devouring Mist.

Zharan's vitality was extraordinary like a miniature star, Helzar could recognize it anytime. However, when he reached his prized slave, Helzar froze like a petrified statue.

Bursting in a show of light, Helzar erupted like a volcano. Seeing as dark blue mist covered the entire tunnel, a man wearing a crimson cloak clicked his tongue and glared at Helzar.

“Abort mission,” he growled with grievance. His food was right in front of him but a ferocious tiger suddenly appeared and stood in his way.

“You're fast, Helzar,” the man chuckled, his body bursting into sparks of fire just as Helzar was about to drive a sharp, pointed tentacle through his head.

Ignoring the coward, Helzar turned his gaze to Zharan, flashing beside the giant cockroach like a bolt of lightning.

Helzar yelled, waking the other from her trance. Tilting her head, she hissed at Helzar as a greeting but didn't move.

Her limbs had been mutilated and cut in the middle, blue blood flowing from the wound like broken water pipes. Her exoskeleton was torn off, exposing her pulsating crimson flesh that cried blood as if a waterfall. Huge chunks of flesh were carved out from her and at the center of her body, Helzar could see the wall of the sewer.

Zharan hissed, her blood leaving her body faster. Helzar didn't reply as he called the Swarm to his side, telling them to grind the bees into paste for him to eat.

At the same time, his body glowed a gentle light that seeped into Zharan's body like a soothing breeze. Zharan felt like she was handed a cushion to lay on and noticed that her blood was no longer in a rush to come out.

Zharan sighed. More chunks of flesh fell from her body and she couldn't even feel her body anymore. She felt like winter had cursed her body, and a feeling of emptiness was gnawing at her mind.