"Chiek..."

Megaloblatta’s antennae stiffened as he wobbled to his feet, his right arm hanging limply by his hip, a searing pain terrorizing his senses whenever it swayed.

He snapped his mandibles and his breathing grew to be erratic, like the panting of a spoiled child about to throw a fit

Something about Charymos’s glare swirled an abundant rage within him, because even now that he had been Named, the Kraken Spawn saw him merely as a pest, a sentient piece of excrement.

Why? What had he and his kin done to earn Charymos’s ire, that he would sacrifice thousands of them as if they were merely livestock that existed for his whims?

Rather, why was he the only one that was spared? Why is it that he was born only to exist as someone else’s folly, burdened with the hell that was the deaths of his kind?

More than Charymos, Megaloblatta loathed himself for surviving. But could he not have simply begged to die with his kin?

His own cowardice and selfish desire to live tormented him more than anything else.

"I hate you, Lord Charymos! Why did you have to kill everyone?!"

Those words escaped with drops of blood from Megaloblatta’s mandibles.

"Join the fucking line. Also, do not refer to me as your Lord. I have no use for betrayers."

Charymos replied shruggingly.

"Why did you spare only me?! What did I do to deserve this hell that you have put me through?!"

Megaloblatta’s wobbling ceased, replaced by a trembling fury.

"Why? Why not?"

Charymos raised his middle finger.

"Also, were you not the one who had just complained that talking this much during battle was strange? And yet here you are, running your mouth. Shut the fuck up and come at me."

Charymos took one step forward, close enough that Megaloblatta was within his range.

"..."

The insectoid agreed in silence, the wings on his back vibrating intensely, releasing a frequency that would liquify bone marrow.

Ta!

Megaloblatta charged, and in response, Charymos thrust his trident, aiming for the abdomen.

Fwish!

Megaloblatta performed a rapid sidestep, leaving Charymos’s trident to skewer an afterimage, and in that same instance, he executed a spinning heel kick aimed at the temple.

Fwosh!

Charymos deftly bent his posture, the kick whizzing above him at a speed greater than any arrow ever loosened. Less than a split second later, the Kraken Spawn gripped the shaft of his trident with both hands and rotated it with all the strength that he could muster —Unleashing its base at a great force aimed at Megaloblatta’s raised thigh.

POW!

Brrr—rrap!

Charymos failed to strike true and instead struck the ground, causing it to tremble as Megaloblatta beat his wings to escape into the air.

■■■■Summon High Intrusion: Macropanesthia Gattling!■■■■

As soon as that spell was cast, a great magic circle appeared before Megaloblatta, one that had three more, intricate circles within it.

TRRR—TA!

TRRR—TA!

TRRR—TA!

The magic circle spun, raining down literal bullets made from the hardest cockroaches in existence.

■■■■ Kraken’s Sneeze! ■■■■

In response, Charymos waved both of his hands, unleashing droplets of slime that were akin to steel balls into the air, and each and everyone of them multiplied into thousands more.

TINK!

TINK!

TINK!

The two spells collided in mid-air, slime bashing into cockroach bullets, producing a sound that would convince anyone in the far distance that two armies were crossing swords.

Clang! Clang!

Charymos calmly, yet swiftly parried any of the cockroach bullets that came near him, yet his eyes never once left Megaloblatta, in fact, he dared not to even blink.

Brr—rrap!

Megaloblatta swiftly evaded Charymos’s slime and circled the Kraken Spawn like a vulture having spotted a carcass.

■■■■■ Summon Greater Intrusion: Falx Periplaneta! ■■■■■

As he continued circling, he cast that spell and two greater magic circles with four inner circles appeared on each of his sides, and two evolved versions of the Falx Periplaneta sprung forth.

One of the summons followed him as he circled, and the other allowed gravity to claim its being and immediately attacked Charymos as it landed on the ground.

"Sigh... Are you looking down on me?"

Charymos, seeing the summoned creature charge toward him, rolled his eyes and condensed slime to the tip of his trident, before holding it as though he was about to swing it like a bat.

■■■■ Leviathan’s Maw! ■■■■

Charymos swung his trident and expelled the slime at incredible speed, boasting a sharpness that would put even a highly pressurized water jet to shame.

The summon was instantly sliced in half —No, not just the summon, but the walls themselves were sliced cleanly and echoes of the slime’s destruction could be heard in the distance.

"Chiek."

Crack, squelch!

Megaloblatta robbed the Falx Periplaneta that had been following him of its praying mantice-like scythe and dove toward Charymos.

CLAAAANG!!

They clashed in rapid succession, so rapid in fact, that one could not make out if they were exchanging multiple blows or if it was a single clash since the deafening sound had grown to be linear.

[!!]

As they continued their somewhat even brawl, Charymos saw an opening and struck Megaloblatta’s limp right arm with the shaft of his trident.

"Argh!!!"

Megaloblatta screamed in agony, causing Charymos’s heart to leap in elation.

Charymos grabbed Megaloblatta’s right arm, twisted it and...

"Aaahhh!!!"

The insectoid could not help but scream, his exposed inner flesh being twisted like that was a pain mere words could never do justice.

POW! THONK! THONK!

...Charymos struck Megaloblatta repeatedly with the shaft of his trident, and not once did he let go of his right arm.

Megaloblatta attempted to beat his wings to escape, but Charymos kicked him in crotch as hard as he could, dragging him back down and causing him to drop the scythe.

"Where the fuck are you going?! Don’t you want revenge?! Huh?!" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Thonk! Thonk!

Charymos struck Megaloblatta until he brought him to his knees.

Defiant, the insectoid quickly rose to his feet to muster a counterattack only to be struck back down with a force much greater than before.

"Your death shan’t be painless. You should have continued existing beneath me as you were, that was mercy!!"

Charymos twisted Megaloblatta’s arm to an extreme degree and hoisted him up like a hunter preparing to flay his kill.

Squelch...

Slime dripped from the Kraken Spawn and covered the entirety of his trident.

Vrrrrrr!!

The trident gained immense rotation but did not scatter any of the slime nor did it deter him from holding it steady.

He then coiled his elbow, steadying his aim.

"..."

His eyes grew cold as he watched Megaloblatta writh in pain, not a single ounce of mercy or remorse visible in his eyes.

■■■■ Scylla’s coil.■■■■

Vrrrr!!!

The instant he cast that spell, the trident spun even more, reaching speeds of about 100 000 rotations per second, and it looked more like a lance now as it had the illusion of a pointed tip.

Then he slowly...

Drrrrrr!!!!

... With a sadistic smirk on his face, he began to drill at Megaloblatta’s chest.

"Aaaargh!!!!!!!!"

Megaloblatta wailed with his mandibles facing the heavens. Despite the durability of his jet-black exoskeleton, it was reduced to nothing but molten slag in the face of Charymos’s spell

Seeing as he would soon pierce his heart, Charymos’s bit his lower lip in great anticipation.

[!!]

But suddenly!

Charymos saw a blinding light suddenly abound in intensity, investigating the source, he beheld the Roach’s left arm glowing bright as though embraced by the plasma of a dying star.

[D-damn it!]

Charymos quickly thrust his weapon forward to finish him off, but Megaloblatta dislocated his right arm —Despite it still being in Charymos’s grasp —to perform a flip to evade.

Crack!!

Charymos let go of the arm to take a step back.

Brr—rrap!

Megaloblatta, still suspended in mid-air, beat his wings to close the distance between them, he then used his dislocated arm to grab the tentacles on Charymos’s chin, pulling him closer.

■■■■■Alpheidae Detonare!■■■■■

With a flash and a —

BOOOOOOM!!

...Megaloblatta struck Charymos square in the face, resulting in a mushroom cloud of flames that rose to the First Floor through the gaping hole above them, some of the flames entered the passageways of the Basement Floor, devouring anything and everything until they reached all the way down to Charymos’s chambers.