That Time I reincarnated as an insect-Chapter 77 - 76: THE GROUND SPLIT

The floor kept trembling under Zza’s feet like the whole city was trying to shake her off its skin. She clutched Buzz against her chest, his body slack and warm in a frightening way, his head tucked under her chin. His wings dragged behind them, occasionally tapping the ground like a slow heartbeat.

She forced her legs to move.

Every step felt like walking through wet cement mixed with glass.

Creatures spilled into the hall in clumsy waves. Their limbs clicked as they crawled over each other, gold glowing in the cracks of their bodies. Some looked unfinished, like the hive built them in a hurry. Some looked too finished, like they had been waiting for this moment.

Zza swallowed the rising panic.

Breath in.

Keep going.

Don’t drop him.

"Buzz, come on," she whispered into his ear, voice shaking. "Give me something. Blink. Flutter a wing. Curse at me. Anything."

His body didn’t answer.

The ground lurched again. A ripple shot through the floor, knocking her sideways. Buzz slipped slightly in her grip, and she scrambled to keep him from hitting the ground.

"That’s right," she muttered through clenched teeth. "Stay with me. You better stay with me or I’m throwing hands with your ghost."

A creature screeched from the left.

Another came from the right.

Their jaws opened wide like they wanted to swallow her whole.

She shifted Buzz to one arm and snapped her free claw toward them.

"Back off."

They didn’t care.

The first creature lunged.

Zza spun, using her tail like a counterweight, and slammed her claw into its neck. It dropped immediately, but its fall knocked her off balance. Buzz’s limp body shifted again. She hugged him tighter.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered, breath shaky. "Can’t even get one peaceful second to freak out."

The second creature pounced.

Zza ducked, dragging Buzz with her, and rolled across the floor. Buzz’s head bumped her shoulder, and she flinched like she had been hit instead.

"Sorry," she whispered to him. "I’m trying."

The ground’s trembling grew heavier. The gold vats rattled. Vines of metal snapped off the walls and wriggled like startled worms.

Something huge was moving beneath the city.

Something old.

Something angry.

Zza felt the vibration run through her claws, up her arms, into her chest. It felt like a giant heartbeat.

A third creature lunged.

She dodged left.

A fourth dropped from the ceiling.

She ducked right.

Her vision blurred with exhaustion. Her legs shook so violently she wondered if they would refuse to hold her the next time she tried to move.

Buzz’s skin felt hot against her shoulder.

A small flick of gold flickered across his arm.

She froze.

"That’s you, right?" she whispered. "That’s you trying to wake up?"

Another flicker.

Then silence.

She almost cried out in frustration.

"Come on, Buzz..."

A creature grabbed her ankle and yanked her backward. The sudden pull ripped a cry out of her throat. She spun, kicking it in the jaw. Another creature tackled her from behind. The force slammed her chest-first into the floor.

Buzz slipped from her grip.

Her heart dropped faster than gravity.

She rolled, claws outstretched, grabbing him before he hit the ground. She dragged him into her arms and stood as fast as her shaking legs allowed.

"You’re staying with me," she breathed. "Even if the world caves in, I’m dragging you right out of it."

The hall lights surged white.

The floor cracked open.

A shockwave blasted upward, throwing creatures into the air like torn paper.

Zza shielded Buzz with her body as chunks of metal flew across the hall.

A long, groaning roar echoed from the depths below, deep enough to make her bones vibrate.

Then—

A massive claw burst through the floor.

Not polished like the hive’s metal.

Not smooth like the creatures chasing her.

This one looked carved by nature and rage.

Thick. Heavy. Jagged.

A second claw followed.

And then—

A head rose.

Long. Sharp. Covered in layers of hardened shell that looked like it had survived centuries of fights. Its eyes glowed with a reddish heat that wasn’t hive-born. Its breathing came out in harsh bursts, steaming the air.

Zza staggered backward.

"What in the world..."

The giant creature dragged half its body through the crack in the ground. It shook dirt off its shell, and the dust cloud rolled across the hall like fog.

The hive creatures froze.

Completely froze.

Zza blinked.

"Wait," she whispered. "Are you scared?"

The hive creatures backed away from the edge of the crater.

The giant thing growled, low and thunderous, like the sound of a mountain grinding its teeth.

It was huge.

Ancient.

Angry.

And absolutely done with the hive’s nonsense.

A voice crawled into Zza’s mind, uninvited, hoarse and rough.

*Little one... give him to me.*

Zza flinched.

"Excuse you?"

The creature blinked slowly, as if confused she dared argue.

*He burns too bright. The hive tries to take him. I can carry him out.*

Zza hugged Buzz tighter.

The creature leaned closer.

The ground shook with its breath.

*If you stay, you die. If he stays, he breaks.*

Zza’s pulse hammered so loud she could barely hear herself think.

The creature lowered its head to her level and let out a softer growl.

*I protect my own.* 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Zza’s voice came out thin.

"You don’t even know him."

The creature’s eyes narrowed.

*He carries the Queen’s mark and the wild spark. He belongs to all of us. Let me carry him.*

The hive creatures suddenly screamed and rushed forward in a frenzy.

Zza jumped at the sound, pivoting Buzz behind her again.

"I don’t trust you," she snapped at the giant beast.

*You trust the hive?*

"Absolutely not."

*Then choose.*

Zza looked down at Buzz.

His face slack.

His breathing shallow.

Wings twitching like he was dreaming through fire.

She swallowed her fear.

Her arms tightened around him.

A creature leaped at her face.

The giant beast swung one claw and sliced it clean in half.

Zza screamed, "Fine!"

She shoved Buzz toward the giant creature.

He caught Buzz gently with his enormous claw.

The movement surprised her so much she stumbled.

The creature tucked Buzz close to its chest.

Another swarm of hive monstrosities jumped from the ceiling.

The beast roared, loud enough to shake dust loose from the ceiling.

*Follow.*

Zza blinked. "Me?!"

*Yes. You think I leave you? Move, little fighter.*

Something in the tone—annoyed, protective, weirdly affectionate—clicked right into the part of Zza’s chest that was holding everything together with string and stubbornness.

She ran.

The giant beast charged through the hall behind her, using its body like a battering ram. Buzz lay cradled in one massive claw, protected under armored shell. Hive creatures slammed into the beast and bounced off like they had hit a wall of iron.

The hall walls shifted.

The ceiling folded inward.

The metal screeched as the hive tried closing off escape routes.

The beast snarled.

*They trap. I break.*

It smashed through a half-formed wall.

Zza followed, breath hitching with each step.

"Buzz, hang on," she whispered even though he couldn’t hear. "I’m coming. I’m staying. I’m not stopping."

The ground shook again.

More creatures poured into the corridor.

Zza grit her teeth and kept running, legs screaming, ribs throbbing.

Behind her, the beast slashed through three creatures at once, roared, and shielded Buzz with its entire body.

Its voice hit her mind again.

*Fast, girl. They call the Queen. She comes.*

Her stomach dropped.

"The actual Queen?"

*The real one. The deep one. Run.*

Zza ran until her legs felt like wet sticks.

She ran until her breath turned to fire.

She ran because if she slowed even once Buzz would be taken again.

The corridor widened into a giant open chasm.

The beast stepped beside her, Buzz still nestled safely in its claw.

Zza stared across the chasm.

"Where do we even go?"

The beast pointed its snout at a distant shaft of shifting light across the cavern.

*There. That hole leads up. Freedom lies past it.*

Zza squinted. "That’s... far."

*Then stretch your courage. Stretch your legs. Move.*

She didn’t argue.

She sprinted again, even though her muscles felt like they were dissolving.

Behind them, the sound of something colossal began rising through the lower tunnels.

The Queen.

The actual Queen.

Zza glanced back at the distant shadows and felt a cold shiver crawl up her spine.

"Faster," she whispered. "Please. Faster."

Buzz didn’t stir.

The beast kept running beside her, massive and steady.

The chasm air grew colder as the darkness behind them thickened, filled with the sound of something ancient pulling itself upward.

Zza didn’t dare look back again.

She pressed forward, legs shaking, lungs failing, heart pounding.

The Queen’s arrival cracked the cavern walls behind them.

A sound followed—a deep, low rumble that reminded Zza of a thousand eggs splitting open at once.

"Buzz..." her voice broke. "Wake up, please... I’m begging..."

The beast growled softly.

*He hears. Let him fight inside.*

Zza kept running toward the thin shaft of light, each step heavier than the last.

The Queen roared.

The world shook.

Zza stumbled.

The beast blocked the shockwave with its body.

Buzz twitched in its claw.

For one half-second—

Zza thought she saw his eyes flicker brown again.

Then the cavern floor split into two giant halvess.