Chapter 699 - The Disgusting Insect, The Death of the Old Hag (1/2)

Day 151 - 11:51 PM - Mountain Farming Village, Barangay Mabini, Municipality of Viga, Catanduanes

Turning into a wavy surge of black mist, Mark charged towards the giant grub, which was supposed to be the old hag's mount.

It was an entirely unexpected move from Mark. Even Legra, or what she appeared like, was shocked.

Legra was a Mambabarang, not only a regular one but an elder that lived since mid-colonial times. At that time, because of her fame, the church was already hunting her.

After a few years of cat and mouse chase, Legra got severely injured by her pursuers. Although she managed to escape soon after, she was already dying.

On the verge of death, that was when she received enlightenment about her demonic powers.

Her human body, a bag of useless flesh, was already facing death. At first, Legra thought that it was the end. But then, she came to a realization. If her body was dying, Legra just needed a new one. At that time, she did not know whether it was possible or not. However, she had no choice but to gamble.

Unfortunately, the only thing Legra had at that time was her Demonic Insect Queen. It was her catalyst in her curses and the medium to control the insects she raised. And to say, it was not a good-looking insect. It was a red-colored maggot about the size of an a.d.u.l.t's fist.

Nonetheless, Legra had no choice.

Invoking a curse with the last ounce of her demonic energy, she bound her soul to her Demonic Insect Queen.

Usually, bounding a person's soul on an insect in her possession was meant to curse that person. Once the curse succeeds, Legra could use the insect to affect the target with unsightly things. One of those effects was making the victim vomit small creatures like c.o.c.kroaches, maggots, and worms.

In Legra's desperation, she revised the bounding curse. Instead of just connecting her soul and the Demonic Insect Queen, she made it that her soul would be pulled into it instead.

Using all her energy on the verge of death, Legra blacked out.

After Legra woke up, she was not human anymore. Furthermore, without the restraints of her human body, her abilities became more open to other things.

Legra developed her abilities, becoming not only someone that controls insects but also someone that could create monsters that were not supposed to exist.

And now, Legra was unexpectedly facing a threatening situation. It was the first time since she almost died years ago.

Legra did not know how Mark found her. It was true that the old hag was her appearance back when she was human. Now, however, it was only a replica made out of shape-shifting insects Legra created. It also became her vessel as her current body was not something convenient to use for the things she wanted to do.

When her vessel was shot down by Mei, Legra took a careful move. She left the vessel and hid inside the grub she was riding. It was no problem since she could still command the vessel like her own body.

Seeing Mark charging at the grub where she was hiding, Legra focused her concentration.

Waves of cursed energy surged out of her body to block Mark. Although it seemed that physical attacks would miss Mark in his current form, there was a possibility that raw energy attacks might hit.

A reddish surge of light attacked Mark. Sure enough, he was hit.

The cursed energy came at Mark like a torrential flood. There was no space to sneak into for him to avoid.

Thus, Mark was forced out of his subspace, appearing midway through his charge towards Legra. Furthermore, because of the cursed energy, Mark could feel the searing pain on his skin. If he was not a Demon, this energy would be enough to give him third-degree burns on his whole body.

”GOT YOU!”

Legra roared as dozens to hundreds of flying insects charged at Mark. The cursed energy froze him in place for all the insects to attack him at once.

The wasp stings of the insects pierced Mark's body, and the mantis-scythes slashed his skin...

Or that was what was supposed to happen in Legra's mind.

Legra's eyes dilated. It was because Mark was smiling.

A black surge of energy enveloped Mark, allowing him to turn into black mist again. Entering his subspace once more, Mark charged towards the grub, unobstructed like a fish in the sea. All of the attacks of the insects did not hit anything but air.

Legra could not understand what happened. She knew that her cursed energy affected Mark for a brief moment. But what happened?

Unable to believe it, Legra intensified the cursed energy she was releasing. It was too powerful that even the nearby Demons fell to the ground with their skin turning red as if it was being melted. It was worse for some Spirits and Elementals nearby. They immediately turned into melted corpses before they turned to ashes.

As for Mei, she already retreated. Mark ordered her to prioritize her safety. In this situation, staying beside Mark would only make her more of a hindrance than a helper. Thus, she could only watch him at the side while eliminating the insects around her.

Legra was agitated as the surge black mist continued to charge at her. She was already reaching the limits of her energy reserves. Yet, she was not able to stop Mark at all.

And for fear of her life, Legra finally decided to flee.

Legra burst out of the giant grub's body, revealing a bright red wasp-like creature. It was not big at all, about the size of an open palm of an average a.d.u.l.t. It had the appearance of a queen wasp if not for its nightmarish characteristics.

Although it had a triangular head that a queen wasp had, the two compound eyes it was supposed to have had a human's instead. Its tiny limbs were actually tiny human arms and legs filled with thorny spikes and had red-colored skin.

As it appeared to be, although she succeeded in her life and death gamble and lived, she turned into an imperfect being. It was no wonder that she used a human-shaped vessel instead of showing this unsightly appearance.

Legra flapped her wings at sonic speeds. Even with her unsightly appearance, her flying speed was still unparalleled. In a second, she was already at the border of the forest with all her flying insects protecting her.

However, it was of no use.

Mark appeared before her, blocking her path of escape.

”NOO!!!”

That was her last word as the Flamberge clad in flames bisected her disgusting body vertically.

BOOM!

Legra's magical energy exploded, causing a shockwave in the surroundings. Even the mist that was released by her Lord was swept away by the shockwave.

Mark was almost swept away by the explosion too. It was too sudden, after all. Who would have thought that Legra's magical energy would explode after her body was destroyed? It seemed that she was forcefully containing magical far greater than her body should be able to.

Flapping his wings, Mark managed to stay in place. He would not waste the chance to get some harvest from this kill.