Chapter 63: Insect (6) A Hasty Conclusion

A crimson, circular barrier enveloped the entire villa, its intense heat and pressure compressing every inch within. Not a trace remained—neither the magical insects nor their hosts, not even the building or the ground itself—they were all utterly obliterated.

As a method for clearing monsters, this spell was unmatched among fifth-tier fire magic. Yet, compressing it into a single-target spell exponentially increased both its difficulty and power, transforming it into the seventh-tier spell, Solar Flare Burst.

“As expected of an S-class potential candidate, splendid work! Hahaha!” Jeff, holding his detection device, strode forward with gusto. “But now, it’ll be hard to pinpoint the location of the basement Zhao Tianhe mentioned…”

The other patrol members were ordinary people; without the proper gear, they couldn't step into the scorched earth for quite some time.

“Don’t worry.” Zhao Tianhe cast Fire Protection and Frost Shield upon himself and entered the charred zone.

He drew a deep breath, switched his senses, and stomped firmly.

“All right, the location is confirmed.” He rushed to a spot still glowing red-hot with burned brick and stone, pointing. “Dig here.”

With a flicker of thought, Jeros softened and collapsed the material—a Marsh spell, only effective on loose earth. Fortunately, the ground here had been burned loose.

Captain Jeff was the first to jump into the cavity, descending the stairs to explore below. Jeros cast several protective spells on Zhao Tianhe before joining him.

After proceeding down the steps for more than ten meters, the temperature dropped sharply.

“Speed up, keep up with Jeff.” Jeros cast Flight on Zhao Tianhe, and both accelerated downward.

On either side, walls bore strange corrosive marks. Closer inspection revealed similar traces on the steps themselves.

“Was this passage gnawed out by insects?” The realization sent chills down Zhao Tianhe’s spine, but what struck him as stranger was the apparent age of these marks.

“Ancient… forbidden magic?” Zhao Tianhe frowned, feeling unsettled.

The passage stretched endlessly, its darkness and narrow confines stirring unease. Suddenly, the sounds of battle echoed ahead.

Zhao Tianhe and his companion rushed toward the noise, and the scene opened up—a vast underground cavern, soaring a hundred meters high.

Hundreds of hosts, including a dozen insect-men, besieged Captain Jeff.

Corpses littered the ground; it was clear Jeff had fought his way through.

“…Such a miserable fate…”

Zhao Tianhe caught a faint moan and looked closely—a mangled insect-man muttered to itself.

“Recently parasitized? If there’s no one else here, this must be the culprit…” Zhao Tianhe frowned, perplexed. “Did he parasitize himself? Trying to strengthen himself, but botched the process?”

“That one’s gone mad! Turned himself into an insect-man!” Jeff shouted. “No point interrogating, just kill him!”

“Damn… that’s letting him off easy…” Jeros grumbled, preparing a spell.

“Wait, let’s capture him alive. Having a living specimen will help us identify the spell.” Zhao Tianhe suggested.

“Good idea.” Jeros nodded, and with several prismatic rays, severed the monster’s limbs.

The other creatures were incinerated with chain lightning.

“This place feels eerily like a dungeon…” Jeros bound the insect-man with magic and surveyed the cavern.

“Indeed,” Jeff agreed, “but it looks naturally formed. Besides…”

Jeff approached the insect-man and crushed its skull with a hammer.

“A dead monster is a good monster. I recall we only need the core for research, right?” Jeff smiled.

“More or less.” Jeros nodded.

Zhao Tianhe remained silent, his expression calm, but his hearing stretched outward.

“Insect noises?” He stared at the ground, brows furrowed. “There’s something off about him, and this isn’t over…”

“Jeros,” Zhao Tianhe said, “use Arcane Sight.”

Jeros’s pupils glowed with the multicolored sigils of magic.

“This… is a dungeon!” Jeros exclaimed with surprise as he observed the familiar flow of magic. “Impossible! If it is a dungeon, why are there no monsters? Hmm… some peculiar magic blocks their birth—it’s not that monsters are absent, but that they’re destroyed at the creation stage. Some energy is eroding the life energy spilling from the dungeon, forming a closed cycle…”

“So, the dungeon is completely sealed, preventing monsters from emerging?” Jeff asked, astonished. “How can that be?!”

“Clearly, this is a large-scale spell, not a natural phenomenon.” Jeros nodded in agreement. “But if such a spell exists, why not use it in other dungeons?”

A mystery remained unsolved, but their mission was accomplished—the culprit had been apprehended.

At the Central Patrol Bureau, Jeros watched Zhao Tianhe exit the morgue and took the glass jar from his hands. Inside was a thoroughly weakened, bulbous magical insect. After extraction from the host, it had begun to deteriorate and was unlikely to survive much longer.

“Any news?” Zhao Tianhe asked.

“This came from the Association.” Jeros tossed him a stack of reports, his expression bored.

On the first page was the culprit—a seemingly ordinary middle-aged man.

Of course, he only appeared ordinary; his ancestor was an S+ rank hero, a spirit from another world. Yet the report contained only the details on this man, Blair Abufan Katoat, with not a word about the hero’s identity.

S+ rank heroes’ profiles were top-level classified, even those who died centuries ago. Jeros and Zhao Tianhe lacked clearance to access them.

The strange dungeon’s information was likewise S+ classified. However, there was a note: the dungeon was absolutely safe. As for why it was in this state, that too was classified.

“It’s all nonsense, really.” Zhao Tianhe tossed the report onto a chair. “I nearly got eaten by those insects!”

“Nothing to be done. Your potential may be S+, but right now you’re just a C.” Jeros replied. “Still, today made me realize something—developing skills can’t rely solely on targeted training. It’s not enough…”

“Uh, you mean…” Zhao Tianhe eyed Jeros’s smiling face, unease stirring within him.

“Exactly. Starting tomorrow, we’ll do some actual combat training.” Jeros smiled even more broadly. “Don’t worry—you won’t die with me around.”