Chương 587: Chapter : 587

"The boss fight is over," Ken mumbled lazily to himself. He wiped a small chocolate crumb from his chin.

"Zeus got the final hit. Now we just wait for the victory screen. I hope the drop rewards are good. I really want to go find a pizza." But the Bug King was not finished. The giant monster twitched. It pushed its cracked head upward. Its glowing red eyes flickered. The red light slowly faded into a dull, sickly orange. The monster opened its massive, jagged jaws. It did not let out a terrifying roar. It did not hiss. The beast spoke. The monster used the remaining traces of its dark magic to project its thoughts.

The voice echoed across the ruined plaza. It sounded like grinding stones mixed with crushing glass. The magical cameras picked up the sound instantly. The voice broadcasted directly into every single television set in the entire Empire.

"You think you have won," the Bug King rasped. The monstrous voice was full of intense, bitter pain.

"You stand there in your pristine white clothes. You look down at me. You believe you destroyed an invading evil." Zeus narrowed his green eyes. He raised his hand. Yellow electricity sparked between his fingers again. He prepared to blast the bug into dust.

"Do not attack!" Princess Iris shouted loudly. She stepped out from behind a stone wall. Her violet eyes were wide with surprise. She pointed her silver rapier at the ground.

"Listen to it, Zeus! The creature is talking!" Zeus scoffed. He did not lower his hand.

"Monsters do not talk, Iris. They only destroy. I am ending this right now."

"Wait!" the Bug King wheezed. Blood dripped from its jaws.

"We are not mindless beasts. We are a hive. We had a home." Ken stopped chewing his cookie. He blinked his sleepy dark eyes. He slouched forward slightly. He stared at the dying bug.

"Oh, wow," Ken thought casually. He shoved his free hand deep into his pocket.

"This is a massive lore dump. The developers are dropping the entire backstory right before the boss dies. It is exactly like a classic role-playing game. The villain always gets a tragic flashback scene. It makes the players feel guilty. I just wanted a simple bug hunt. Now I have to listen to a sad story." Naomi walked over to Ken. Her green wind magic faded from her boots. She slid her twin silver daggers into her belt. She looked at the talking monster. She smiled a small, soft smile at Ken.

She reached out and took a chocolate chip cookie from his bag.

"This is very strange, Ken," Naomi whispered quietly. She ate a small bite of the cookie.

"Bugs do not usually give speeches."

"It is very common in anime," Ken whispered back. He gave her a goofy grin.

"They have to explain their secret motives. Just eat your cookie and enjoy the exposition." If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. The Bug King coughed. A large puff of dark smoke escaped its mouth. The creature looked directly at the floating broadcast cameras. It wanted the entire world to hear its final words.

"We never wanted to come to your city," the Bug King confessed loudly. The grinding voice echoed through the televisions across the continent.

"We lived peacefully. We hid deep inside the eastern mountain caves. We stayed far away from your walls. We did not care about your Empire. We only cared about our hive." Sayma stepped forward. The intelligent Vice-Captain pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose. She clicked her pen rapidly. She wrote every single word in her neat notebook.

"If you lived peacefully in the mountains, why did you swarm our capital?" Sayma asked politely. She spoke loudly so the beast could hear her.

"Why did you attack innocent citizens?" The Bug King let out a hollow, wet laugh. The sound was incredibly sad.

"Our home was destroyed," the Bug King revealed. The monster's orange eyes dimmed.

"A blinding flash of toxic light ripped through our caves. The Solurious explosion. The blast that wiped out the Bluemoon Kingdom. The shockwave shattered our nests. The radiation melted our eggs. Our entire hive was left with absolutely nothing." The 13th Unit went completely silent. Princess Iris gasped softly. She lowered her sword completely. Laxmi dropped her arms. The bright orange flames around her knuckles vanished. Zinia crossed her muscular arms and frowned deeply.

"They were victims of the bomb," Zinia muttered. Her deep voice was full of shock.

"The corrupt politicians blew up their home."

"We wandered the ruined mountains," the Bug King continued.

"We were starving. We were dying from the toxic ash. Then, a shadow appeared. A mysterious figure stepped into our broken hive." Ken tilted his head. He popped another cookie into his mouth.

"A mysterious figure," Ken analyzed lazily in his mind.

"The man behind the curtain. The secret manipulator. This plot is getting very thick. It is a classic conspiracy arc. The bug is just a pawn."

"Who was the shadow?" Princess Iris demanded. She took a step closer to the crater.

"Who spoke to you?"

"I do not know his name," the Bug King rasped weakly.

"He wore a dark cloak. His face was hidden. He radiated immense, unnatural magic. He spoke directly into my mind. He offered us a new home. He promised us unlimited food. He promised us a place to rebuild our hive." The giant bug let out a long, rattling breath. Its massive scythe arms twitched on the dirt.

"The shadow manipulator directed us here," the Bug King confessed to the entire Empire.

"He pointed us toward your capital city. He provoked our hunger. He used a strange, high-pitched magical frequency to control our swarm instincts. He whipped my children into a violent frenzy. He forced us to march into your streets. We had no choice. We were guided by a master." The monster closed its dull orange eyes. Its breathing slowed down drastically.

"We did not want your war," the Bug King whispered its final words.

"We were just the distraction. You are all fighting the wrong enemy." The Bug King stopped moving. Its massive body went completely still. The dark purple shell began to crumble. The huge monster slowly dissolved into a pile of fine gray ash. The ash blew away in the afternoon wind. The creature was totally gone. The ruined plaza was absolutely silent. Prince Zeus lowered his hand. The yellow electricity faded from his fingers entirely. He stared at the spot where the monster died. His cold green eyes widened.

His perfect, arrogant composure cracked. He realized his massive victory meant absolutely nothing. He had just executed a manipulated animal. Princess Iris stood frozen. Her violet eyes were wide with pure realization. She looked up at the floating broadcast cameras. She realized millions of citizens just heard the exact same confession. The entire nation just discovered a terrifying truth. The bug invasion was not a random natural disaster. It was a highly calculated, intentional attack.

Someone had actively provoked the swarm. Someone used the destroyed monsters to attack the capital.