One thing was for certain: after today, Percy would never look at a bug the same way again.

  The creature standing before him towered over the largest buildings he’d seen on Remior, save perhaps for Phoebe’s temple at the foot of the Oracle Mountain, or the headquarters of the noble Houses. The gargantuan insect was nearly thirty metres tall, and over twice as long from antennae to stinger. Her membranous wings were folded neatly behind her back, though Percy wouldn’t be surprised if they could stretch even wider than her body.

  Overall, her appearance was rather similar to that of the smaller bugs: a black, glossy carapace sprinkled with colourful dots that resembled stars – the very reason for the name of their species. However, there were a few differences that set the Queen apart from her offspring, outside of her size.

  A golden watermark pattern covered her entire exoskeleton, rippling through and around the stars, making the creature’s chitinous exterior resemble a galactic nebula. Percy guessed that the Queen owed her strange markings to either her royal lineage or her Violet grade. Or, perhaps, the two things were one and the same, but he knew even less about the hive’s innerworkings to tell with certainty.

  Another feature – which the smaller bugs might actually share with their mother, but which Percy hadn’t noticed in the past – was a series of jagged ends lining the sides of the wasp’s limbs. Each was sharp enough to slice a person in half for the crime of merely walking into it by accident. Not that the Queen needed the dagger-like protrusions to kill someone – her limbs were already wide enough to flatten a grown human with a single stomp.

  Of course, Percy’s eyes captured a few more details than his “companion’s”. He could clearly follow the bright Violet lines spreading through the Queen’s circulatory system, her soul burning beneath her flesh like a silver inferno as an ocean of ink-coloured willpower rolled and tussled violently within her frame, barely contained.

  ‘I have to give her credit for suppressing her domain, at least. She’s more polite than most humans I’ve met,’ he noted.

  Curiously, Percy didn’t feel very tense under the creature’s scrutinizing gaze. Perhaps he should have been more wary of the monster, considering how much larger and stronger it was than the Starry Knight that had nearly claimed his life a few years prior. Then again, his confidence wasn’t unfounded either, given how much stronger he and Micky had grown since their frantic escape from the Guild.

  Even so, the elemental body stepped closer to the human, ready to meld into his Cloak at a moment’s notice. If the colossal insect was weaker than Deimos, they might be able to take it down without going all out, but fighting their way out of the hive was bound to be even harder.

  “Greetings, Your Majesty,” Percy said, bowing his head slightly. He had no idea whether the creature could even understand him, let alone appreciate the gesture, but he genuinely felt like reciprocating the Queen’s excellent manners. “I must thank you for your hospitality, and for giving us the time and space to recover before our meeting.”

  No response.

  The wasp didn’t so much as twitch. She was still looking at them unflinchingly, their figures reflected countless times across her compound eyes. The other bugs stopped moving at once, however, halting their incessant buzzing and plunging the chamber into silence so deep that one could hear a pin drop.

  Yet, one of the creatures did move, a shape slowly approaching by the corner of Micky’s vision. It was an elephant-sized bug – a Starry Knight – its rhythmic steps echoing through the vast chamber. Walking in front of Percy, it stopped right between him and its mother.

  Percy had no idea what the insects were up to, so he just watched with curiosity as the Queen raised her forelimb a few metres above the crystalline floor of the cavern. Without the slightest warning or hesitation, she slammed the colossal limb down at her subject, sending a tremor through the hive as she crushed the entire lower half of the bug’s body into goo.

  The gruesome sight cause Percy’s eyes to widen with shock. On one hand, the Queen’s blatant disregard for the life of her own descendant wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – it likely meant that she didn’t care as much about all the other insects he and Micky had slain in the past.

  On the other hand, it was a clear indication that she wouldn’t give a damn about a human’s life either. The only reason they were still alive was because she wanted something from them, so they had to make sure the negotiations reached an amicable conclusion if they wanted to leave this place peacefully.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  ‘What did she do that for, though?’ Percy wondered, a frown forming on his face as the Starry Queen made no further move. It wasn’t until a few seconds later, when she slowly pushed the still-twitching body of the dying Starry Knight toward him that he realized what she wanted. ‘Don’t tell me… does she expect me to put a clone in this thing?’

  As cruel of a move as it was, he had to admit that it was chillingly practical. Violet beasts were certainly intelligent enough to communicate with sapients, but it didn’t look like the Queen possessed any serviceable vocal cords, nor did the mental field that she used to convey her commands to her subjects seem to extend to anyone else.

  In other words, the simplest way to speak to Percy would be to have him enter one of the insects’ bodies, tapping into their network. And… judging by how thoroughly she’d injured the creature, she’d clearly figured out the basics of how Percy’s bloodline worked too.

  Swallowing hard – mostly due to the Queen’s callousness than genuine fear – Percy ignored her offer entirely, walking around the Knight. Not only did he have no intention of sharing the wasp’s agony just to chat with its abusive mother, he also had a much better way available.

  Approaching the Violet beast, he cautiously lifted his arm, placing his palm against the pillar-like forelimb gently, so as to not startle its owner. The chitinous exoskeleton was still covered in green mucus – which was rather unsettling. Percy had to put genuine effort to avoid gagging, unwilling to offend the Queen so soon.

  Pushing his soul to the very surface of his skin, he used a sliver of grey mana to attach it to the Queen’s. Percy had already upgraded his Soul-to-soul spell to Refined, but he could obviously still access the original, less intrusive version of his Spectral Art. The giant wasp shuddered for the briefest of instants as their souls connected, though she didn’t pull back.

  ‘You don’t have to sacrifice your subjects just to talk to me,’ Percy said, as Micky tossed the spasming remains another glance.

  ‘A small loss,’ a feminine voice responded, cold as ice. ‘I agree that your method is more convenient though,’ she added.

  ‘May I know why you’ve gone to so much trouble to bring us here alive?’ Percy asked, cutting to the chase.

  A faint chuckle echoed in his soul before the creature responded. ‘Bold of you to ask me that, after breaking into my home without permission, slaughtering thousands of my subjects, and then even having the gall to return. Maybe I just wanted to gut you two personally and take my time savouring your innards.’

  Percy shrugged, not intimidated by the creature’s empty threats in the slightest. The Queen had to know how risky it would be to attack him. Besides, he doubted that she’d gone through such lengths just to threaten them. Still, he opted to reply a little more diplomatically than that, to hopefully ease the tension in the room.

  ‘I do apologize for our transgressions. It was never our intention to stir such a mess last time. We merely wanted to pass through the tunnels to escape from the Guild. We would have left peacefully had your children allowed us.’

  The Queen clicked her mandibles in annoyance, though it sounded more like a couple of boulders grinding against one another.

  ‘And what about today’s mess? Or did you forget about that chasm you’ve carved into my hive? My children are still trying to fill up the hole as we speak, but that strange ice of yours isn’t making their job easy…’

  Percy flashed the Violet beast a sheepish grin, scratching his head as he recalled doing something of the sort during his battle with Deimos. Too much had been going on in his mind at the time to worry about that.

  ‘Well, I’m sorry about the hole too. As you can imagine, killing Violets is messy work,’ he replied pointedly, his meaning clear. That said, he didn’t want to provoke the bug too much, so he rushed to change the topic. ‘Anyway, I’m sure you didn’t bring us here just to chastise us. I suppose it’s safe to assume you want something?’

  Percy doubted that wasps could exhale, but he was also rather certain that what he felt surging through the Queen’s soul was as close to a sigh as it could get.

  ‘It’s not merely a question of what I want. It’s just as much about what you want. Or what you should want, at any rate.’

  ‘I’m not sure I follow,’ Percy replied.

  It was admittedly just speculation on his part, but he’d been operating under the assumption that she wanted him to teach her Circulation. Of all the things he’d revealed during his previous visit, he thought that it was the one most likely to have piqued her interest.

  That was especially the case, if the Queen had realized that the boosting art could be used in reverse to preserve or even restore a beast’s stamina. Of course, she hadn’t seen Micky use Hibernation or Regulation – since the crow hadn’t even invented those spells yet. On top of that, she would probably find it difficult to replenish her beast mana without a second affinity to draw from. Even so, Percy wouldn’t be surprised if the centuries-old creature had recognized the spell’s potential at a glance, beast or not.

  During today’s meeting, Percy’s hope was to exchange Circulation – and maybe even the Moirais’ Decree, if necessary – for an egg to place Nephthys in. Or at least, that had been his goal before listening to the Queen. Suffice to say, her following words shook both his hopes and assumptions to the core.

  ‘Then I’ll make it clear for you. Unless you find a way to help me, not only is my hive doomed to die out, but with it, so is your entire world…’

  Book 1 on at no extra cost, grab a copy for your shelf, or listen to the audiobook on .