The inside of the Hive felt wrong in a way that went beyond sight.
It wasn't just that the walls pulsed like living flesh—though they did, rhythmically contracting as if the entire structure were breathing. It wasn't just the amber slime that dripped down the curved surfaces, thick and viscous, clinging to boots and armor with obscene intimacy. It was the smell.
Pheromones. Rot. Heat-scorched protein.
The air was heavy, wet, and hot enough to feel like an incubator. Every breath coated the lungs with invisible residue, a biological fog designed not merely to suffocate—but to invade.
Su Chen and Saeko stood within a massive spiraling corridor that burrowed downward like the throat of some colossal beast. Veins of faint purple light ran through the walls, pulsing in time with distant heartbeats.
Saeko tightened her grip on her sword.
"…It feels sticky," she said quietly. Her tone was tense, uncharacteristically restrained. "Not physically. In my head. My instincts are… dulling."
She frowned, teeth clenched. "This fog is messing with my battle sense."
Su Chen inhaled slowly.
The toxins never made it past his blood.
"Hallucinogen layered with psionic interference," he said, eyes scanning the air as if reading invisible data. "Designed to blur threat assessment and induce emotional hesitation."
His Lich Bloodline burned, annihilating the invading compounds before they could even register as foreign. He stepped closer and placed a hand on Saeko's shoulder.
"Stay still."
[Buff Applied: Mental Clarity — Mind Authority.]
A cool blue pulse flowed from his palm, washing over her nervous system like a reset command.
Saeko blinked once.
Then exhaled sharply.
"…Better," she said, rolling her shoulders as her posture straightened. Her eyes sharpened, bloodlust returning like an old friend. "Much better. Thanks, Master."
"Stay close," Su Chen said calmly. "The Queen knows she's cornered. Desperate creatures don't fight clean."
They moved deeper.
The corridor widened—and the walls peeled apart.
From within the slime, figures emerged.
Royal Guards.
They were nothing like the drones outside. These were tall, humanoid insectoids standing over four meters high, bodies streamlined for killing. Their exoskeletons gleamed like polished obsidian, jointed with unnatural elegance. Each wielded twin bone swords that vibrated faintly with condensed psychic energy.
Their eyes locked onto Su Chen and Saeko simultaneously.
[Target Identified: Royal Mantis Guard]
[Level: 70 — Grandmaster]
[Speed: Supersonic]
"Four," Su Chen said, unfazed. "Level seventy. Faster than the Hydras."
The Guards vanished.
Not invisibility—velocity.
They moved so fast they left afterimages etched into the air.
Saeko laughed.
A bright, feral sound.
"Finally," she said, teeth flashing. "Something worth warming up on."
She didn't wait.
[Blood Asura: Phase Two — Activated.]
Her hair flooded crimson. Veins darkened beneath her skin as her presence sharpened into something predatory. She intercepted two Guards mid-charge.
CLANG—CLANG—CLANG!
Bone met bone. Sparks exploded with each collision. The impact alone cracked the Hive's walls, sending ripples through living architecture.
Su Chen faced the remaining two.
They attacked simultaneously, scything inward from both sides with perfect synchronization—an execution maneuver meant to bisect him in a single instant.
He didn't move.
Hands still in his pockets.
[Gravity Field: 500×]
The world collapsed.
The Guards slammed into the ground mid-lunge, their momentum turning into a death sentence. Exoskeletons shattered under their own weight. Limbs spasmed as muscles screamed against impossible pressure.
They tried to rise.
They failed.
"You're fast," Su Chen said as he walked toward them, gravity parting around his steps like water. "But speed doesn't matter when you suddenly weigh fifty tons."
He placed a hand on each of their heads.
[Flesh Manipulation — Bio-Disruption.]
Rampant cellular growth detonated inside their brains.
Their skulls burst from within.
[EXP +14,000]
He turned.
Saeko was still moving.
Blood streaked her arms and cheek. Cuts marked her body, but her grin was feral and alive. She severed one Guard's arm, pivoted, and drove her blade clean through the other's eye socket.
The corpse collapsed.
"Done," she said, flicking blood from her sword, chest rising with exhilaration rather than fatigue.
"Good," Su Chen nodded. "That was the foyer."
He looked ahead.
"The Throne Room is next."
The Queen's Chamber dwarfed everything before it.
A spherical cavern stretched outward, its walls lined with millions of eggs, each pulsing faintly with life. Neural cables thicker than tree trunks crisscrossed the space, converging at the center.
Suspended within them—
The Insect Queen.
She had shed her bloated reproductive form.
This was her Battle Aspect.
A humanoid figure three meters tall, encased in sleek white bio-armor that looked grown rather than forged. Six wings of pure energy unfolded behind her, crackling with psionic force. A long tail curved beneath her, tipped with a Void stinger that distorted the air around it.
Her face was beautiful.
Alien.
Compound eyes glowed a deep, predatory purple.
[Target: Insect Queen — Arachne]
[Level: 85 — Sovereign]
[Type: Psionic / Assassin]
Her voice didn't travel through air.
It bloomed directly inside their skulls.
"You," she hissed. "You slaughtered my children. Burned my home. You reek of Dragon blood… and death."
Su Chen stepped forward.
"I'm Su Chen," he said evenly. "And I'm here to evict you."
Her composure shattered.
"Arrogant meat!"
[Psychic Scream — Maximum Output.]
Purple distortion tore through space, a mental shockwave powerful enough to liquefy human brains.
Su Chen moved instantly.
He stepped in front of Saeko.
His eyes opened wide.
The Mind Stone concept flared.
"Silence."
His will collided with hers.
BOOOOM.
The psychic impact shattered eggs by the thousands. The air rippled like liquid glass. The Queen staggered backward, purple blood spilling from her nose.
"You—!" she shrieked. "You wield the Mind of a God?! How?!"
"I stole it," Su Chen replied flatly.
The Soaring Shuttle materialized around him, 365 blades orbiting like a golden storm.
"Saeko," he said without looking back. "Clean up anything that moves. The Queen is mine."
"Soaring Shuttle—Second Form."
"Golden Swordfish."
The blades fused, forming a massive, flexible construct of razor-sharp metal that swam through the air.
The Queen took flight.
She was fast—terrifyingly so—dodging with assassin-level precision, firing Void energy from her tail.
Su Chen pursued, gliding forward via Magnetic Flight. A blast struck his shoulder, burning fabric and smoking against his Diamond Body.
"Stop running."
[Space Authority — Lock.]
Reality froze.
Just for a microsecond.
The Swordfish struck.
CRACK.
Her armor shattered.
She screamed.
She grabbed the construct, muscles bulging as she actually managed to halt its rotation.
Su Chen raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
His body ignited.
[Meteoric Burst — Activated.]
Blue bio-energy exploded outward. Power tripled.
He teleported above her, Trident already in hand.
[Gravity: 1000× — Focused Point.]
"Ocean Authority."
"Abyssal Strike."
He drove it down.
SPLAT.
The Queen slammed into the Hive floor, the impact annihilating the Throne Room's foundation.
Su Chen landed atop her.
Pinned.
Broken.
Bleeding.
"You… monster…" she gurgled.
He crouched.
"I have a question," he said calmly. "You wanted to eat the World Tree. But your biology isn't native to this Earth. Where did you come from?"
She laughed weakly.
"We are the Vanguard… The Great Swarm comes… the stars are full of teeth…"
"Tyranids? Zerg?" Su Chen muttered. "I'll check your memory."
[Copying Complete.]
The galaxy burned.
"Problem for later."
[Target Neutralized.]
The Hive began to collapse.
And beneath the throne—
A Gate.
Su Chen smiled.
"Saeko," he said. "Pack up. We're going to Mars."
She grinned back.
"Finally," she said. "New bugs."