Despite Sylvia claiming the bugs were formidable, they had nowhere to hide once the [Truth-Seeking Sigil] was activated.
Out of sheer curiosity, Sylvia even used some threads to snare one, subsequently turning the immature larva into an ally with the [Mount EX] skill.
Empowered by the skill, the larva swelled to a height of one and a half meters. Dark, ominous flames flickered across its body, intertwined with patterns that distinctly symbolized the Abundance.
Now, this enhanced bug was undeniably stronger than a standard Trampler.
Sylvia patted its sharp horns, which felt as though they had turned entirely into wood.
Standing nearby, Ruan Mei extended a hand out of curiosity, carefully examining the newly transformed creature. Her expression grew serious.
"Is this your ability too? Herta mentioned before that you captured a Doomsday Beast and altered it into a strange form... I didn't expect it to look like this."
The bug under Sylvia's control had essentially been forcefully infused with Path energy, triggering a complete metamorphosis, even if the subject itself lacked the slightest understanding of that Path.
To Ruan Mei, the creature before them could easily be classified as an entirely new species of the Swarm.
An ability like this... coupled with such an obvious manifestation of the Abundance.
Ruan Mei nodded to herself. As she suspected, Sylvia shared a profound connection with the vanished Ambrosial Arbor. But right now, rather than the Arbor, she was more intrigued by why Sylvia hadn't tried using the power of Permanence.
"Next time, you should try using the power of Permanence. If your ability holds up, you might just create the very first Swarm bug to walk the Path of Permanence."
Ruan Mei offered her hypothesis, desperately wanting to see it play out in reality. There was likely some underlying connection between the Propagation and the Permanence.
Though the Propagation had been torn apart and remained incomplete, this might still validate a few of her theories.
Sylvia's eyes lit up with interest at Ruan Mei's words. It was worth a shot—maybe the bug would even sprout dragon horns. That would be pretty entertaining.
Sheathing the longsword, Sylvia immediately headed toward the next cluster of bugs.
Using the exact same method to incapacitate one, Sylvia actively suppressed the energy output of the Herrscher Core, relying instead on the power of Permanence to take control.
This time, the subjugated larva did not evolve into an Abomination of Abundance. Aside from its size, there were no glaring changes to its physical appearance—except for the large pair of horns on its head.
They had undergone a draconic transformation, looking less grotesque and far more imposing.
"...It definitely carries the aura of Permanence. Congratulations, you've created the universe's first dual-Path immature True Sting of both Propagation and Permanence."
Ruan Mei quietly recorded the bug's vital signs. The interplay of Permanence and Propagation within a single host was highly worthy of research.
"Furthermore, this is probably the very first draconic scion within the entire Swarm."
"...This counts as a draconic scion?" Sylvia looked at Ruan Mei, skeptical.
Yet Ruan Mei remained entirely absorbed in studying this unique specimen. "Biologically speaking, yes."
"I just hope the Vidyadhara doesn't come after my head." Sylvia shrugged, offering a half-hearted prayer.
"Heh... Who knows? If they ever find out, they might just revere you as their savior," Ruan Mei chuckled.
An ability to create new Scions of Long? If those Vidyadhara—who were completely incapable of reproducing—ever caught wind of this, there was no telling how fanatic they would become.
With that in mind, Ruan Mei spoke up, "Leave this bug to me. I'll claim it's the result of my own research. I was planning to study draconic scions soon anyway."
"You're covering for me?"
"Not exactly. This specimen is highly unusual, even among draconic scions. It makes for an excellent research subject."
"Thanks."
The two women, flanked by their two bugs, continued pushing forward, heading wherever the Swarm was densest. After all, their mission today was to cull these larvae before they could form a full-scale swarm.
Halfway through their trek, a green icon suddenly blinked into existence on the tablet, which had previously been a sea of red dots.
Ruan Mei blinked. "Why is someone coming down here?"
"Someone else is here? Who?" This wasn't exactly a tourist spot; coming down here without the right skills was practically a death sentence.
"The system is showing Asta's ID."
Ruan Mei shrugged and looked at Sylvia, seemingly waiting for her input.
"Let's head over and check on them. We can't let anything happen."
"Fair enough."
--+--
On the other side of the zone, March 7th hid behind Stelle, eyeing the deserted, eerie corridor.
"Hey, hey... isn't this place a little too creepy? I didn't know the space station had a sector like this. You don't think there are invisible things lurking in the corners, just waiting to jump out and go boo when we walk past, right?"
Stelle's smirk instantly turned into a frown. Couldn't she say something positive for once?
"March, don't jinx us..." Please, hold your tongue. We came down here to find someone, not to fight our way through a dungeon.
"What do you mean! I didn't... ugh, that was just bad luck! What do you mean jinx? You're the one jinxing us!" March retorted, entirely defensive despite lacking any real ground to stand on.
Granted, she might have predicted things accurately a few times before, and sure, her bad predictions always came true while the good ones didn't. But—but that wasn't her fault! It was just a run of bad luck. How could bad luck count as a jinx?
As they kept moving forward, March continued to mumble under her breath. And then, as fate would have it, they rounded a corner and ran straight into trouble.
SCREEECH!
A piercing shriek ripped through the seemingly empty air, startling March.
With a flick of her wrist, she hurled a massive chunk of Six-Phased Ice forward. Stelle wasn't slow to react either; her bat came swinging up with a loud crack!
Thud!
SQUEEEAL!
Accompanied by a bizarre screech and a dull impact, the struck bug shimmered into visibility and hit the ground, completely dazed.
"Ew! Gross! Look at the size of that bug!"
March immediately lost her composure. Snatching up her bow, she swiftly scrambled backward. Stelle, on the other hand, didn't bat an eye. She drew her fiery lance and pinned the bug straight to the ground, unleashing scorching flames to incinerate the monster.
Stelle then glanced back at March, who had finally calmed down. The look on Stelle's face spoke volumes.
"..."
March looked ready to cry. "Fine, fine! I'll just shut up! It really was just bad luck this time, I swear!"
She really wasn't a jinx. If this kept up, she was going to earn a reputation as the Express's resident omen. What if they never let her speak again?
Right then, Stelle opened her mouth and whined dramatically, "Wahhh... Sylvia, where are you? March is bullying me with her jinxes again~"
"Hey! Stop calling me a jinx!"
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL