Monster Evolution System: I became a Rat-Chapter 92: Queen’s Heart

"Sure," Gringha replied, his eyes narrowing slightly, hiding an emotion or thought that gave Rosacer the creeps.

The Nasreen Stinger was covered with guards hovering in the air, their pincers and stingers sharp. They shone in the sun as if made of glass, transparent and semi solid. They constantly reverberated as the creatures flapped their wings.

Gringha had already begun rotating toward the center of the field, intending to attract most of the soldier Stingers.

Meanwhile, Rosacer slowly moved toward the Nasreen Stinger, toward its heart, beating with deep reverberation.

Each echo of its beat moved in waves across the field. It was almost a miracle that other monsters did not attack the Nasreen Stinger.

The field trembled with the pulse of the Nasreen Queen.

Each throb sent ripples through the tall grass, bending it outward like the breath of something buried beneath the soil. The hovering soldier Stingers vibrated in unison, their translucent bodies flashing under the morning sun. Their wings hummed with a glass-like resonance that clawed at the ears.

Rosacer exhaled slowly.

"Three steps forward..." he muttered under his breath, measuring distance, wind, and the pattern of their patrol.

Behind him, far to the right, Gringha stepped into the open deliberately. He dragged his boots through the grass, snapping stems loudly.

"Come then," Gringha whispered.

The reaction was immediate.

Half of the hovering guards pivoted mid-air. Their bodies twisted with insectile precision before darting toward him in a shimmering wave.

Rosacer moved sideways, his knees bending and his head lowered.

He slipped low into the grass, using the ripple pattern created by the Queen’s heartbeat to mask his movement. Each time the pulse rolled through the field, he advanced two silent strides.

The Stingers hunting Gringha shrieked, their glassy pincers clashing as they closed in on him.

Gringha did not retreat.

He raised his crescent dagger lazily, spinning it between his fingers. The blade caught sunlight, reflecting fractured beams across the field.

A soldier Stinger lunged.

Gringha bent backward at the waist, the pincer slicing the air inches from his nose. His dagger flashed upward, hooking into the creature’s thin thorax seam.

A twist, then a crack, and the stinger broke apart like fragile porcelain.

Three more dove.

Gringha rolled across the grass, kicking up dust and pollen. A stinger plunged into the soil where his chest had been moments earlier. He grabbed the embedded limb, used it as leverage, and swung himself upright.

His dagger carved a shallow arc.

The creature’s wing membrane split.

It spiraled downward, screeching.

"Can’t fly now, little one," Gringha muttered, a bit louder on purpose.

The remaining guards swarmed him.

"Perfect," he shouted.

Across the field, Rosacer closed the distance to the Queen.

Up close, it was grotesque.

The Queen’s body resembled a swollen cocoon fused around a pulsating heart. Veins of dull violet venom ran across its surface. Thin larval Stingers crawled across the membrane, feeding from leaking sacs.

Rosacer lifted his Gewehr slowly.

He did not shoot.

Instead, he crouched, studying the rhythm of the heartbeat. The membrane tightened just before each pulse. Loosened immediately after.

"Open... close... open..."

A soldier Stinger noticed him.

It screeched and dove.

Rosacer snapped the rifle upward and fired.

BOOM.

The shot tore through its head, scattering translucent fragments across the grass. The recoil shoved his shoulder back, but he was already moving.

Three more guards detached from the Queen and rushed him.

Rosacer slammed the rifle’s stock into the ground and vaulted sideways. A stinger pierced through his coat, grazing his ribs. He grunted, rolled, then fired point blank into another attacker.

The blast blew its abdomen apart in a burst of milky venom.

He slid to his knees.

The Queen pulsed again.

Rosacer lunged forward.

A guard intercepted him mid-step. Its pincer clamped onto the rifle barrel, bending it aside. The creature’s tail arched overhead, venom dripping from the needle tip.

Rosacer released the rifle instantly.

His left hand ignited.

Blight flame coiled around his palm, sickly green and yellow, crackling like burning rot.

He grabbed the Stinger’s tail.

The flame spread violently.

The creature convulsed, its transparent body blackening from within before bursting into smoking shards.

Rosacer shoved the corpse aside and sprinted the final distance.

Behind him, Gringha’s laughter echoed across the field.

Gringha was bleeding now. Thin cuts traced across his arms, but he moved faster, weaving between attackers with erratic footwork. He deliberately stumbled, baiting a cluster of guards downward.

Five Stingers plunged together.

Gringha dropped flat.

They collided mid-air, their glass bodies cracking against each other. He sprang up through the confusion and slit two throats in one flowing motion.

"Rosacer!" he shouted mockingly. "You are running out of time!"

Rosacer ignored him.

He reached the Queen.

The membrane swelled, sensing him. Larval guards began detaching, crawling toward him in a writhing carpet.

Rosacer planted his burning palm against the pulsing surface.

The Queen shrieked.

The membrane tightened, attempting to push him away. Venom sacs ruptured beneath his hand, sizzling against the blight flame. The smell of burning toxin filled the air.

Larval Stingers climbed his legs.

One sank a needle into his boot.

Rosacer snarled and slammed his other hand down, spreading flame in a widening circle. The larvae curled and dissolved into black slurry.

"Stay still," he growled at the Queen, as if commanding it.

The next heartbeat arrived, and the membrane relaxed.

Rosacer drove his entire arm through it.

Blight flame surged inward.

The Queen convulsed violently. Its hovering guards faltered mid-flight, their wing vibrations losing rhythm.

Across the field, Gringha noticed instantly.

"Oh... that works," he whispered.

The Queen’s heartbeat accelerated. The pulse waves turned chaotic, ripping through the grass in jagged bursts. Rosacer’s arm burned inside the creature, venom crawling up his sleeve, eating through fabric.

He clenched his teeth and forced the flame deeper.

The Queen spasmed.

Once.

Twice.

Then the pulsing stuttered.

The hovering soldiers dropped from the air like rain made of glass.

Gringha stepped back as shattered bodies fell around him.

Rosacer yanked his arm free just as the Queen collapsed inward, the massive heart deflating into a sagging, twitching husk.

Silence spread across the field.

Smoke curled from Rosacer’s sleeve. Venom hissed against dying blight embers.

Gringha approached slowly, stepping over broken Stingers.

He tilted his head, studying Rosacer with narrowed eyes again.

"That," Gringha said softly, twirling his crescent dagger, "was reckless."

Rosacer picked up his bent Gewehr and inspected the damage without looking at him.

"It worked."

Gringha smiled faintly.

"Yeah," he said. "Maybe you really did kill the headhunter."

Rosacer gave him a narrow look, then turned and pushed Gewehr inside his coat and into his inventory. Fortunately, it was not seriously damaged.

This whole ordeal had taken the four blight flames he could conjure at his limit. Now he was a little helpless if Gringha decided to attack him.

So, he was ready to ignite Oblivion to escape. But seeing Gringha’s reaction now, it seemed that there would have to be a wait. He too was a little battered.

"Killing a Nasreen Stinger, even though it was an infant... we are at least Silver Rank now," Gringha said, bandaging his punctured wounds. He looked at Rosacer’s body and asked, "Do you have a passive healing ability?"

Rosacer frowned and moved towards the remains of the Nasreen Stinger. He plucked some shells covering the heart. "No, I do not."

"Then rest for a while and treat your wounds," Gringha said loudly as he finally finished bandaging himself. Then he threw the remaining bandage towards Rosacer. "Catch."

Without turning, Rosacer caught it with his left hand. With his right hand, he shoved the shells into his inventory, pretending he was putting them inside his coat.

"You wear a massive coat, or do you have a storage artifact... it is the coat, right?" Gringha remarked as he sat down on the ground.

Rosacer ignored him as he bandaged his hands, which were slightly burnt. His ribs were fine, so he did not bandage them.

He then turned towards Gringha. "You want a share in this?" pointing towards the Nasreen corpse, which was still spewing smoke.

Gringha laughed instead. "Alright, it was my fault. I was not invited."

Rosacer shook his head.

"Yes, it is good you know the right thing to do."

Gringha laughed again.

With that, the hunt was concluded. The two rested for some time and then left for the village. The sun was slowly going down. They decided it would be better to pass through the forest before nightfall.

Rosacer wanted to ask about the night monster he had encountered, but he did not get the chance. They had to constantly hide as monsters passed by them. With battered bodies, they chose not to pick any fights.

The reason Rosacer did not use Oblivion to teleport was that he did not fully trust Gringha to use it in front of him or with him.

Gringha sighed as he hid behind the bush. He turned toward Rosacer, who was in the trees, then shifted his gaze back.