Chapter 17: Legless Fiends

The moment the millipedes laid their eyes on Leon and Nedra, they rushed forward like an angry tsunami of purple chitin. The rage they felt was endless. They knew no hate except what they felt for the two beings before them and the centipedes, but there were no centipedes here now, only Leon and Nedra.

Nedra slashed her foremost legs against each other, generating a small shower of sparks before rushing forward. The tips of her many legs gained a purple hue to them as she threw herself against the nigh endless number of millipedes with ardent fervor. Leon also engaged the millipedes, but he didn't rush forward blindly. He stood his ground and mercilessly slew any millipede that got within range of his sword.

[Level 8 Ghost Millipede Soldier killed. You have gained a level.]

[Level 14 Ghost Millipede Soldier killed. You have gained a level.]

[Level 16 Ghost Millipede Soldier killed. You have gained a level.]

[Level 30 Ghost Millipede Soldier killed. You have gained a level.]

[You have gained a level.]

The kills kept on piling up on top of each other, and his levels kept on rising.

[Level: 17]

SCREEEE!

Upon seeing the weaker specimens getting massacred, the Royals that were present finally stepped forward. They took the fight to the dethroned queen and the black skeleton that accompanied her.

CLANG!

Leon's sword let out a resounding clang as it collided with one of the strong legs of a Royal, but he noticed that he was able to leave an injury on it this time, instead of just leaving a white mark.

'I can do this!' He roared within his mind as he focused on putting more pressure on the wave of monsters. The millipedes directed much more Royals to Nedra so that they could end her once and for all now, while leaving him to deal with only four of them. The last time he had fought them, just one of them was enough to throw him off his game, so they believed that four of them would be enough to completely overpower him.

Oh, how wrong they were.

Leon struck again in a sweeping motion with his sword. This time, he swung his sword with the intention to slice off the legs of the annoying Royal that kept pestering him.

Shhk!

Purple blood stained the ground, and was accompanied by the pained screech of the Royal as its body tumbled past Leon. Its first four sets of legs had been cleanly sliced off by Leon's sword!

Shocked, the tide of millipedes froze in their attacks, but Leon did not. He quickly lunged at another Royal, and attacked its legs before it could react and pull back from his range. By the time the millipedes could regain their composure, another Royal had lost its front limbs, completely ruining its balance, and leaving it as easy prey for Leon's following attack that easily beheaded it.

He threw himself into a crowd of Millipede Soldiers and promptly proceeded to massacre them. Limbs and heads flew through the air, leaving a trail of purple blood flowing in their wake as Leon continued to mercilessly slaughter them.

[MY CHILDREN!!! DO NOT TOUCH MY CHILDREN!!!!!!] A powerful psychic blast slammed into Leon and lifted his body off the ground, sending him flying into a pile of High Grade Mana Crystals that was sitting in the corner of the cavern.

'Leon!' Nedra's voice rang within his mind as it reeled from the shock of the impact. The Undead Millipede Queen rushed to the front of the pile of crystals with her bladed limbs raised in a defensive stance.

The wave of millipedes before them froze for a few moments, before splitting in the middle to form a path that connected the chamber behind them with the two intruders. On the path, a lone Millipede with purple chitin that was emblazoned with white marks walked forward. This millipede was massive, when compared with those that were present around it, but only reached about half of the length that Nedra had been when she was Mornica.

[My children... How DARE you lay a hand on my children... HOW DARE YOU?!]

That shrill voice echoed through the soundless cavern as the millipede made its way forward. Leon slowly got up from the pile of crystals and picked up his sword.

"What happened?" He mumbled.

'Leon, are you okay?' Nedra asked him telepathically.

'Yeah, I'm fine. What happened, though?' He replied and asked back.

'You were knocked back by a psychic wave caused by my daughter's anger.' Nedra told him, 'It is best we retreat now. I did not expect that she had grown to the point where she could leverage her psychic prowess to such a level.' She advised.

'Retreat?' Leon's mind was still in disarray as he tried to process all this. 'Alright.' With that, as the enemy Millipede Queen was basking in her glorious prance, Leon and Nedra removed themselves from the picture as they beat a hasty retreat from the scene.

[After them!]

The Millipede Queen gave her order and the wave of dark purple once again moved into action, chasing after the two.

Leon and Nedra took off down the tunnels at a blazing pace. Nedra was still familiar with the tunnel network, as the millipedes had made no changes after overthrowing her. Because of that, they were able to quickly make their way to the exit of the underground nest.

'Up, up up! I will hold them back for you!' Nedra told Leon, as it would take much longer for him to climb out compared to her. She turned around to watch the path the millipedes would come from while Leon got to climbing.

The sounds of the hundreds of millipedes rushing down the path reached Leon's ears, and he doubled his efforts at climbing. The frightening wave of millipedes came rushing down around the corner, and Nedra readied herself.

When the millipedes were merely thirty meters away from her, she activated one of her skills which remained after her rebirth, <Hivemind>.

[STOP!]

At once, the threatening wave of millipedes came to a stop, frozen by the command of one who had authority over them. This moment of them being frozen was just enough for Leon to make his way out of the nest, and Nedra to turn and follow him up, and they vanished between the crumbled buildings of the desolate town.