Chapter 150

〈 Episode 150 〉Fierce Struggle to the Death

Lucia, having positioned herself to protect Asha from Aether, glared at her enemy with blazing eyes.

‘She’s not stronger than me. That much is certain. But why?’

Lucia instinctively felt that the gap between her and Aether wasn’t that great. However, Lucia’s attacks weren’t reaching her, and conversely, Aether’s Magic continued to harm Lucia, threatening Asha’s life.

‘Is it… because I’m young? Because I’m not an adult?’

Facing a limit she couldn’t understand, yet couldn’t overcome, Lucia felt like crying. But she knew that at this moment, even a little more delay would endanger the safety of Asha and Anet. Lucia admitted that she couldn’t beat Aether right now.

“Huh?”

Lucia hugged Asha from behind. Asha didn’t understand Lucia’s actions but kept Aether in check, while Aether, watching Lucia, realized what she was trying to do.

“Escape is impossible. I’ve already erected a Space Barrier.”

“No! It’s possible!”

Lucia, pulling in even Anet, disappeared from that spot. At that moment, a loud explosion echoed far away from Aether. Aether realized from the sound that Lucia had forced her way through the barrier she had set up.

“A foolish act…”

She clicked her tongue at the tragic scene she could sense without seeing. She had installed a massive barrier to prevent teleportation, but recklessly casting Magic there would tear the caster’s body to pieces, if not the companions, making it as good as dead.

Aether was certain of Lucia’s death. But she still needed to confirm what had happened to the other two.

“Still, to move that far in that instant is unexpected. Hmm?”

Aether was surprised by the Mana energy that followed. Soon, another explosion erupted. And again, and again, a series of roars spread out. Sensing an unusual situation, she moved towards the epicenter.

Aether flew as fast as possible, but couldn’t keep up with the repeated teleportations. The Space Barrier she had set up had trapped herself.

“I can’t believe it. There’s no way she could use such a suicidal act so many times.”

Before long, Aether realized that the pursuit was meaningless and stopped flying. She had come here herself to thoroughly annihilate the three, even blocking teleportation and cornering them, but the operation failed due to an unexpected outcome.

Aether could tell which direction Asha had gone, but she couldn’t chase after them that far. Even she knew that entering the Bees’ territory alone was dangerous.

“Hmm…”

Aether made a groaning sound at the new variable in the situation. To decide the future direction of the Elf army, she turned her back and returned to the Elves’ territory.

“Haaah! Ugh, uwaaa!!”

Asha couldn’t come to her senses as the surrounding scenery kept changing and explosions erupted from all directions. Anet had already lost consciousness and was clinging to Lucia, staggering. The chaotic teleportation was repeated eight times in a row.

“Ugh, ugh…”

Asha, unable to keep her balance, suddenly saw something sticky on her hand. Her face turned pale as she saw the thick, red blood smeared on her hand and body. Asha looked back at Lucia, who had been hugging her.

“Lucy! A, aaa…”

Asha lost her words at the sight of Lucia’s gruesome appearance. It was as if her entire body had been put into a grinder and crushed, with only a vague shape remaining. Only her left leg was attached to her body, and the rest of her limbs had disappeared without a trace.

Her wings, bent hideously as if crumpled, were covered in blood, and a huge scar ran across her chest, exposed between her clothes.

“Ugh…”

“Lucy! Are you okay? W, what do I do, haaah…”

Asha desperately began to heal her daughter, sobbing at her daughter’s miserable appearance. She choked back tears, blocked the blood seeping from her chest, covered the wound, and poured Mana into it.

“Ugh!”

Asha frowned as blood splattered on her eyes, but continued to heal. Little by little, color returned to Lucia’s pale face. Her eyes, which had been trembling, opened faintly.

“M, Mom…”

“Lucy! Why did you do such a reckless thing!”

“I’m okay,”

“What do you mean, okay!”

Asha was dumbfounded that Lucia was saying such a thing even in this situation. But she had no choice but to step back as Lucia’s body began to convulse.

“Lucy!”

“Ugh…”

The blood splattered everywhere was sucked into Lucia’s body, and Tentacles sprouted from her body, which had only shoulder stumps left, becoming bones and muscles to create arms. Asha was flustered and stared blankly at her daughter restoring her body.

Asha approached Lucia only after she had regained her complete form. Since she had never seen Lucia get hurt, it was also the first time Asha had seen her recover.

“Lucy, are you okay now?”

“I feel a little sick, but I’m okay now. I’ve used up a lot of what I had stored.”

“Lucy, did it hurt?”

Lucia nodded slightly at Asha’s question. Asha hesitated for a moment, worried that Lucia might be in pain, then carefully hugged her.

“Don’t do that, okay? Why do you do things that hurt…”

“But…”

“You don’t have to do that. Did you think I’d be happy that Lucy got hurt like this even if I got out of this safely?”

“Okay. I won’t do that…”

Asha inadvertently looked up at Lucia. Lucia in battle mode was half a palm taller than Asha. Including the wings extending from her back, Lucia looked much bigger than Asha.

“Lucy, what am I going to do, you’ve gotten so big… Now Mom has to look up at you.”

Lucia was flustered at Asha’s words.

“Too big? Should I shrink?”

Asha burst out laughing as Lucia turned small again with a poof.

“Ahaha! You don’t have to, Lucy! Big or small, you’re still my daughter, so what does it matter if you’re bigger than me.”

“But didn’t Mom say she liked it when I was small?”

“Huh?”

Asha wondered if she had ever said such a thing, then realized that Lucia still remembered what she had said a long time ago.

‘You can’t say anything carelessly in front of children…’

“What Mom meant by liking it small was that I didn’t want Lucy to get so big that Mom couldn’t even reach you. This much is fine, so it’s okay.”

Asha corrected Lucia’s misunderstanding.

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

At those words, Lucia returned to her original form. Asha smacked her lips as she watched her daughter flapping her wings energetically.

‘As expected, it’s easier when she’s big than when she’s small. I guess it’ll be hard to see Lucy in her small form now…’

Suddenly, Asha felt like she had forgotten someone.

“Oh my god, Anet!”

Asha rushed to Anet, who seemed to have been thrown into that corner and collapsed, unable to withstand the violent teleportation.

“Ugh!”

Asha repeatedly patted Anet’s back as she retched.

“Anet, are you feeling very bad?”

“I, I’m sorry, ugh!”

Anet’s condition returned to normal only after Asha used Spell to stabilize her physical condition. Her complexion was still not good, but she was barely able to support herself.

Asha once again felt that the teleportation method Lucia had attempted was very rough.

“Anet, where are we?”

“We’ve arrived. My kin will be out to greet us soon.”

As Anet said, the sound of countless flapping wings began to be heard before long. Asha, who had been waiting to meet the Bees she hadn’t seen in a long time, widened her eyes at what approached her.

“…Who?”

The Bees that were in Asha’s memory were nowhere to be found, and what was in front of her were monsters that seemed to have undergone 4th Evolution from the previous Bees.

The monsters, presumed to be Bees, escorted Asha’s party politely. Asha was still dumbfounded.

“Are those really them?”

“It may be a slightly changed appearance from the Queen’s memory, but they are my kin. We cannot survive the battle with the Elves if we do not look like that.”

“U, ugh…”

Even if the Bees had grown larger, some of their cute appearance remained, but the Bees that Asha faced were truly killing machines themselves. Their compound eyes were gleaming like steel swords, and their stingers and legs boasted a terrifying appearance that seemed as if they would grind away all the skin with just a slight touch.

‘No wonder they fought against the Elves.’

Judging by their appearance alone, the Bees looked as if they would rush at Asha and tear her limbs apart right away, but they were following Anet and Asha like gentle sheep, flying quietly. From that sight, Asha’s previous memories gradually surfaced.

“Anet, I’m sorry. For leaving you behind back then. Did you have a hard time?”

“Not at all. This body, which the Queen herself conceived, is powerful enough. Even now, it would be enough to cut off the limbs of the Elves and turn them into livestock.”

“A, ahaha…”

Asha lost her words and burst into a dry laugh at Anet’s words, which naturally carried a murderous aura. In this way, Asha’s party, who had survived Aether by the skin of their teeth, headed to the Nest of the Bees.