"Niv, have you noticed that there's a bunch of moths in the city that we've never seen before?"
Hel watched the dazzling moths glide past the greenhouse and casually said to Niv.
As a transmigrator, she actually didn't know much about this world.
But in her previous life, she had never seen moths this beautiful.
Perhaps the silk they spun could be even more exquisite.
"Master, these moths suddenly appeared half a month ago. Since they had never appeared in the Heim territory before, Mr. Sebas named them Starry Moths.
He tried to raise them artificially, but because these moths fly so fast, ordinary people couldn't catch them.
After all these days, they still haven't had much success."
"I see…"
Hel's curiosity was piqued.
A moth that had never appeared in this territory before — was it driven out of the Magical Beast Forest by the orcs' invasion, or did it follow the orc army into this territory by accident?
Thinking this, Hel waved her hand and summoned the Starry Moth to the greenhouse window, opening the window to let it in.
Even the hardest-to-catch insects could not escape the grasp of the Power of the Fish-and-Insect Witch.
With a mere thought, Hel guided the moth to land on her palm. She was curious about the quality of the silk it would produce.
If it was good, she could mass-produce them and finally launch her long-planned scheme to dominate the world's textile market.
But just as the moth was about to touch her hand, Hel's expression changed sharply, and she instinctively withdrew her hand.
"No, this Starry Moth is being controlled."
As she approached, she sensed a faint magical rune deep within the moth's soul.
If it weren't for the fact that she was a Death Witch, even a king-level mage might not have noticed the anomaly.
"Controlled?"
Niv was startled, instinctively pulling out her magic-guided gun from beneath her skirt and aiming at the hovering moth, also positioning herself to protect Hel.
But Hel frowned and did not step back. Instead, she extended her hand again, letting the moth settle on her palm.
"Master, be careful."
Niv wanted to warn her further, but Hel waved her hand and allowed the moth to land.
"It's a very subtle form of control. It reminds me of soul enslavement, but it's different — it barely manipulates the soul itself. Rather, it seems to control the body or bloodline."
"Master, you can say it like that…"
"It's fine. These moths haven't built a signal network among themselves, and their fragile minds couldn't sustain signal transmission anyway.
The mark in their souls isn't exactly control; it's more like a trigger that activates under certain conditions. Interesting."
Hel stroked her smooth chin, then reached out and extracted the moth's soul.
"Now, let's see who owns this moth."
She began reading the moth's soul.
After a moment, she frowned. Not because the moth's weak soul could harm her, but because she couldn't find anything at all in its memories.
It was as if, from the moment it emerged from its cocoon, it had already appeared in Heim City.
"It's not scouting military intelligence, nor performing assassination. Then what is it for?"
Her brow furrowed. She had a bad feeling.
Anyone capable of casting such advanced magic was no ordinary being, and now they were targeting Heim City.
Coincidence, or premeditation?
Sighing, Hel approached the greenhouse window.
With a wave of her hand, a swarm of hidden insects outside rushed toward her, forming a whirlwind that quickly left the castle at her command.
A day later, Hel sat in the conference room, listening to Sebas' report, lost in thought.
"Except for Mandroro City, all three remaining cities in the Mandroro territory have reported Starry Moths.
Some that flew to the Snow Velvet Principality have also been spotted, and even in the Free Kingdom there are sightings.
We're just waiting for the scouts from the Sacrifice Kingdom to return. Judging by the situation, they probably have Starry Moths too.
This is the first time I've seen this type of moth.
Even if I had crossed the three great human empires, I would have remembered them. Yet I have no recollection whatsoever."
"That's the issue."
Hel stared at the Starry Moth in the glass jar, her expression grave.
"If human empires don't have them, then these moths likely originate from the orcs.
Besides the soul mark, there's no magical fluctuation."
Something was off.
Hel's gaze returned to the moth in the jar.
A moment ago, she sensed a trace of life magic within the moth.
If her life magic affinity hadn't reached gold-level, she wouldn't have noticed the anomaly.
Was it some slowly-cast life curse, or merely a residual magical trace from controlling the moth?
She couldn't tell.
Unable to solve the problem directly, she chose to eliminate the source, her usual approach.
At the window, she extended her mental power.
Soon, all the Starry Moths hiding in the city flew to her.
She issued a command: stay away from Heim City.
Then she summoned a swarm of mosquitoes.
It was autumn, and the mosquitoes were aggressive in their desire to lay eggs.
She ordered them to attack all Starry Moths in and around the city.
In this way, no matter how great the enemy's scheme, Hel directly eliminated the source, leaving them powerless to act.
A few days after dealing with the Starry Moths, the undead army Hel had been anticipating finally arrived.