"I'll go first!"
Alain was the first to dash forward. With his greatsword in hand, he was only a few meters away from the leading insect.
He saw the Devourers gradually shrinking their bodies. In a flash, he stopped in his tracks.
A second later, there were several soft "thump" sounds, and clusters of black shadows darted into view.
But Alain, in his accelerated state of clearance, saw everything clearly.
"Hah…" He exhaled, swung his greatsword, and with the added boost of reaction speed and strength, slashed into the air.
The insects caught in the path of the blade were instantly annihilated into a pixelated mess, scattering and falling onto the corridor floor with a rustling sound.
"No matter how many times I see it… it's still so amazing," Lost Mita commented, just as she heard a voice beside her.
"Let's go too! We can't let Alain be attacked from both sides!"
"Yeah!"
Misha and Lost Mita joined the fray simultaneously, and the overwhelming sound of the insect swarm reached the three of them.
"There are quite a lot of them," Alain muttered with a wry smile, looking at the almost impenetrable surroundings.
Unsurprisingly, the three of them were gradually surrounded. Dozens of insects began to curl up simultaneously, ready to strike them in just a few seconds.
But as the insects lunged towards the small group, a flash of blue light would intercept them, and a gust of fierce wind would sweep them away into dust.
The two girls exchanged a look, instantly understanding their respective roles:
Alain was responsible for clearing out the flying insects, Misha was in charge of taking down individual insects that might try to sneak attack and observing the battlefield, while Lost Mita took on the task of ensuring the trio's movement wasn't too restricted, and even expanding their range of action when possible.
"Honey, I'm coming!"
The girl quickly ran towards Alain's position, shattering a stealthily moving Devourer with a single blow.
"I'll help too."
Having fought them many times before, Lost Mita understood the Devourers' group tactics: tightening the encirclement to trap their prey.
Her long legs drew smooth semicircles around them, knocking away a large number of Devourers and widening the gradually closing space once more.
The insects that were knocked away all ended up on Alain's side, where a horizontal sweep turned them into a jumbled mess of pixels under his sword.
The number of Devourers present gradually decreased, only to be further replenished by those that followed.
During this time, Lost Mita became increasingly astonished as she fought. Her understanding of that player's sword deepened.
He was like a butcher, and the insects were the meat on the chopping block, endlessly turning into souls lost beneath his blade.
Watching him so easily slaughter the insects and clear the encirclement, Lost Mita felt a mix of emotions.
It made her previous struggle against the insect siege seem like a joke…
Hard difficulty had suddenly become easy.
Ugh… I'm unwilling to accept it, yet there's this darn feeling of relief!
As the trio's teamwork grew more seamless, the reinforcements from the rear of the Devourer swarm gradually thinned out.
Until finally, not a single reinforcement could be seen. Alain understood that all the insects were already present.
"Hah!"
The young man shouted, his greatsword sweeping out a dazzling blue light, and a large number of insects vanished into thin air.
"Misha, what's the situation?"
"It's good." Misha could now spare the energy to focus on her primary role – commanding.
She watched the insect swarm, occasionally swinging her baseball bat to clear away any Devourers that might threaten Alain.
Misha's gaze fell upon the greatsword in Alain's hand. Thanks to him being the main damage dealer, the battle they were facing wasn't as difficult as she had imagined. The situation was much smoother than expected.
As expected of her proud darling~
As for the number of insects, she and Alain had initially estimated it to be around three hundred.
Looking at the current situation, the number of insects still capable of movement should only be around a hundred.
"That's not right…"
But Misha's expression didn't show much relief or happiness.
She wondered if the insects were being cleared out too quickly.
Even if Alain's greatsword was extremely efficient at clearing out Devourers, they had only been in combat for a few minutes. Eliminating nearly a hundred enemies was already a remarkable achievement.
But how had they managed to kill over two hundred insects?
Thinking this, Misha looked around. The sight of the densely packed insect swarm wriggling made her feel a little nauseous, but it was much better than the initial sight of an endless horde.
And at the very end of the insect swarm – a place where no Mita or player was standing, the lights were off, and it was completely dark.
Misha narrowed her eyes. She had a certain intuition: if she wanted to find the answer, perhaps she should start with those dark areas.
The girl took off one of her hairpins and threw it towards the darkness.
A soft "click" sound, almost inaudible amidst the sounds of Alain's widespread slaughter, was still enough for the ceiling lights to sense the presence of a "Mita" and turn on.
In the illuminated area, more than a dozen unusual insects were revealed.
In the short moment she tried to observe them, she really did discover something strange.
Those insects were sneaking around and feasting at the rear of the insect swarm.
The surface of their bloated bodies didn't display the usual pure white code stripes, but instead, a scarlet red.
In the dim light, they appeared inconspicuous. This was one of the reasons they were able to take advantage of the chaos.
The red-coded insects weren't devouring the corridor's models or code.
They were devouring their own kind.
"?"
Misha found this conclusion somewhat unbelievable. In her sight, a red-coded insect opened its mandibles towards a white-coded insect and sucked the white code into its mouth.
As for the ordinary insects, their bodies turned into a jumbled mess of code before vanishing into thin air.
Misha relayed her observations to Alain.
"Honey, are you saying that the insects are killing each other?"
Alain leaned on his sword. The high-intensity battle had left him feeling slightly fatigued, and he seized the brief moment to rest.
In front of him, the insect swarm was gradually becoming more timid and even retreating. Lost Mita, who had cleared the encirclement, had also returned to their side.
Having been reminded by Misha, Alain simply looked in the direction she indicated.
Sure enough, the direction in which the insect swarm was retreating was exactly where the red-coded insects were "feasting in the rear while the front lines were under pressure."
The white-coded insects tried to retreat, but as they passed the red-coded insects, their code was devoured, turning them into pixels or scrambled data.
More than a dozen red-coded insects hungrily enjoyed the feast. The red code stripes on their bodies accumulated more and more, and one of them even had its entire dark body covered, turning it into a true "red insect."
"Although I don't know what they're trying to do, stopping them is always the right thing to do."
Alain looked at the two girls. They nodded in unison, confirming their next goal:
Take down the red-coded insects. And while they were at it, snatch their food: the white-coded insects.
"Let's charge!"
"Okay!" *2
The two girls' sweet voices rang out, and the three of them were about to rush forward.
But whether the red-coded insects sensed something was wrong or not, more than a dozen crimson Devourers scattered in all directions the moment they took a step.
"Whoosh, whoosh"
With a few sounds of air being torn, they disappeared into the darkness, not even having the time to devour their food, the white-coded insects.
"Gluttons… they even know how to run away."
Alain frowned.
His gaze fell ahead, on the bottomless dark corridor that was riddled with holes and scattered with sporadic wounds.
And within it, the figures of Devourers lurked.
"Next… will be very dangerous," Misha walked over, one hand on her chest, the other taking Alain's.
"No. With me here, with you here, and with that Mita here, we will definitely be safe and sound, honey,"
Alain said. He then received the two girls' battle-ready agreement.
He wasn't just saying empty words.
Looking into the darkness, it seemed like every corner concealed an enemy. Coupled with the insects' ability for high-speed bursts, they could face surprise attacks and ambushes every second.
And he opened the security guard panel, his gaze fixed on—
[Virus Scan]
____________
Heeeey! 👋 NEW Walnut translation JUST DROPPED! 🎉
And your Director is going WILD to celebrate! 🤪 Get ready for this...
🔥 INSANE 50% DISCOUNT on Patreon! 🔥
Seriously, HALF PRICE! 🤑 HUGE savings!
BUT ACT FAST! 🚨 This crazy deal self-destructs in ONLY 3 DAYS! ⏳💨
Don't walk, RUN! 🏃♀️💨 Weeeeeyyyy!
➡️ GET YOUR 50% OFF NOW!!!: patreon.com/Walnutchan ⬅️
GO! GO! GO! 🚀
Want MORE chapters & Early Access? 🤔 Of course you do! 👇
❤️ Support Wancheng Funeral Parlor with Reviews and Power Stones! ❤️
🎁 REWARD: Get 1 EXTRA FREE chapter for every 5 Reviews / 100 Power Stones! ✨ Sweet deal, right?
✨ EARLY ACCESS: Read 40 CHAPTERS AHEAD right now on Patreon! Support & get ahead here: patreon.com/Walnutchan ✨