The Giant Insect

Mr. Bug, sizzling as Edward burned him, had transformed into a fireball. Yet, the fireball rhythmically expanded and contracted, as if brewing something within.

Edward suddenly felt an inexplicable palpitation and quickly retreated, but it was too late. A red light flashed from within the fireball, striking directly at Edward's chest.

At this moment, Edward's jetpack had already begun to expel gas for backward thrust, but his chest was hit by a massive Scythe-like Bug Leg.

Although he had leaned back as much as possible to dissipate the force, the black armor on his chest shattered inch by inch. Edward was sent flying towards the water.

He skipped across the river surface like a stone, tumbling and bouncing dozens of times until he neared the southern bank of the Haer River. Exhausted, he splashed a large amount of water and sank to the riverbed.

Because Edward had been continuously setting fires, the dry branches and grass on Delta began to burn fiercely in the strong wind.

The firelight reddened the river's surface.

Within the flames, a colossal shadow began to writhe and churn. It resembled a giant Cocoon.

Somewhere on the opposite bank, amidst the slowly flowing river water, a splash rippled. A grayish-black figure stumbled ashore. He painfully removed his shattered helmet.

His face was pale, his lips tinged purple, as if he couldn't breathe. He finally let out a loud cough, spitting out a mouthful of blood. His throat sounded like a broken bellows as he gasped for air.

Edward now truly felt the difficulty of challenging an opponent two tiers above him. He had fought the other party for a long time, yet their health bar was still long, while he was left critically injured after taking just one hit.

He glanced across the river at the enormous Cocoon on Delta, engulfed in raging flames. Gritting his teeth, he muttered:

"Did this bastard just unleash a second transformation? What era is this, still pulling the 'Heavenly Silkworm Transformation' stunt? Making such a huge Cocoon, trying to reach for the sky again? Even kids born after 2000 wouldn't get this old meme, you know?"

He gritted his teeth and painstakingly removed his damaged black Breastplate. He gently touched his chest and abdomen. Fortunately, only three Ribs were broken, and they hadn't pierced his internal organs or protruded outwards. This proved the quality of the Breastplate he had crafted was quite superior.

He carefully realigned his broken Ribs, wincing in pain. He quickly retrieved a potion from his Spatial Ring. This was an Intermediate Healing Potion issued by the Alchemist Guild, capable of rapidly healing injuries and stopping bleeding and pain.

He gulped down several large mouthfuls of the potion, complaining, "This tastes awful. These Alchemists who make potions don't even add sugar."

Then, he took out a scroll from his Spatial Ring. This was a Healing Scroll gifted by Pastor Elvin. It was said to have been personally transcribed by Parish bishop. He tore open the seal, unrolled it, and pressed it against his chest. A warm light emanated from the scroll, gradually enveloping his entire body. His pain subsided, and his spirit gradually recovered.

He staggered to his feet and gazed at the Giant Bug Cocoon on the opposite bank. The Cocoon had grown to nearly two stories high and was still slightly expanding. Its outer shell was extremely thin, revealing the silhouette of a writhing giant insect within the firelight.

It seemed this thing was about to break free. Edward knew time was of the essence and quickly rummaged through his Spatial Ring for usable equipment.

Fortunately, he had a habit of keeping backups. He found another helmet and put it on, then donned another Breastplate.

His jetpack was still intact, but it seemed to be jammed from tumbling in the water, preventing its wings from deploying.

He fumbled for a magic gem from his Spatial Ring and inserted it into a Card Slot on the backpack. The Energy Crystal had shattered and was nowhere to be found. It seemed he'd have to make do with it as a rocket pack.

Edward tested the jetpack's condition. He didn't have time to repair it, so he activated the pack, spewing flames, and flew diagonally towards Lake Island.

Just then, the giant Cocoon burst open, and a colossal Long-legged Spider crawled out.

The spider was entirely purple. Its body was like a massive tank, supported by eight thick, ten-meter-long Appendages. Each Appendage ended in a sickle-like foot. Its entire body was covered in sharp Villi, as fine as steel needles and as thick as steel bars. Its eight Compound Eyes gleamed with a cold light. It looked somewhat like the tarantulas from Edward's previous life.

The Mr. Insect turned around. The giant spider's head bulged, revealing a tattered human face that glared at Edward. It roared:

"Do you know how hard it is to find a suitable body?

Do you know what I promised those guys to get out of the Nether Sea?

100 years! I have to serve those guys for 100 years!

Now it's all gone, destroyed by you, you Scum!

Scum! You will die today!"

With that, it raised its massive sickle-like legs and swung them at Edward.

Edward muttered to himself about the talking bug not obeying the Law of Conservation of Mass as he ascended to dodge. His mood actually relaxed. He had truly feared the opponent undergoing a second transformation into something that could fly.

It seemed this thing had no flight capabilities now, only a massive increase in size. That made it much easier to deal with.

Incidentally, the Professional levels in this world were categorized by approximate energy levels.

In Edward's understanding, the combat power of a formal Knight tier was roughly equivalent to an Infantry Fighting Vehicle, while a Great Knight was a Main Battle Tank. Whether they were 'Apocalypse' or 'Prism' depended on the Knight's attributes.

Of course, Edward was referring to destructive power and defensive capability, not ranged attack power. Knights were all melee units.

At the Sky Knight level, as the name suggested, they could take to the skies. Sky Knights possessed short-term flight capabilities and respectable ranged attack power. At this point, the gap between them and mages of the same level was not as significant.

As for the existence of the Fifth Stage, Edward had yet to witness it. Every country treated these old powerhouses like nuclear warheads, venerating them highly and rarely allowing them to act.

This current opponent, however, couldn't be equated to a human combatant. He was more like a magical beast. Fourth-tier magical beasts would diverge at this stage; some would become extremely agile, while others would undergo gigantification, becoming slow and sluggish. Worse still, they lacked flight capabilities, making them prime targets.

Edward fully activated his jetpack and ascended, hovering at an altitude of 500 meters. He leisurely watched Mr. Bug, who was now more appropriately called a monster or fiend, wildly swinging its sickle-like legs below, creating streaks of Wind Blade. This monster's defense wasn't as high as a true Sky Knight, but its bizarre regenerative ability was the source of Edward's apprehension.

He rummaged in his ring and pulled out a brown glass jar, about the size of a beer keg. The moment the jar appeared, he let go. It instantly dropped. He remarked, "I didn't make much of this stuff anyway. You can have it."

The enlarged Mr. Bug below seemed to have lost much of its intelligence. Seeing something fall from the sky, it swung its sickle-like legs and shattered it without a second glance.

The glass jar broke, and the viscous, pale yellow waxy oil inside exploded like a mist, drenching Mr. Bug. And because the wind had lessened, it coated him quite evenly.

Mr. Bug was still annoyed by the oil's extremely unpleasant odor when sparks from the burning grass and trees ignited it.

Crackling sounds echoed incessantly, and the ground erupted in dazzling, bright yellow fireworks. It was late at night, and the intense light forced Edward to squint.

What he had thrown down was called a White Phosphorus Bomb (N) in his previous life. Its function was self-explanatory. The bright yellow waxy oil was white phosphorus, which clung to the body like a leech and wouldn't stop burning until it was completely consumed. White phosphorus burns at temperatures reaching 1000 degrees Celsius and is a weapon prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.

In his previous life, Edward had asked a military enthusiast friend on a forum what weapon would be most powerful if he transmigrated to another world. Would it be a Gauss rifle or a laser weapon? His friend replied:

Why bother with that? It's all been researched long ago. Those powerful things are all written in the Geneva Conventions! It just depends on whether you have the skill to create them. Besides, as a normal person, could you bear to use such a wicked thing?

Now Edward is using it, completely without guilt, and feeling incredibly good about it.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bug below doesn't feel any pleasure. The intense burning makes him temporarily lose all perception of the outside world. He only feels excruciating pain and quickly uses his strange red light to isolate the fierce burning outside his body, trying to crawl into the river to extinguish the flames.

Just then, his back is hit by a violent explosion. It's an RPG Rocket Launcher from Edward in the sky, accurately hitting his back. The shaped charge in the warhead focuses the explosive force forward, forming a high-temperature jet of nearly 3000 degrees Celsius.

Even his strange red light can't block the high temperature. It instantly shatters his defenses, destroying his nerve center that controls his body. His eight long legs are instantly paralyzed.

He loses his chance to escape and can only desperately sustain himself with the red light, hoping to endure the burning and repair his body as quickly as possible. He feels extremely wronged by encountering Edward this time.

He originally wanted to show off before eating him, but unexpectedly, after fighting that strange Alchemist, he's been repeatedly frustrated. And he only lightly hit the Alchemist once. Is this really an Alchemist two tiers below him?

Could the legend be true? Is an Alchemist someone who "can take down a dragon with proper preparation"?

In a short moment, Mr. Bug feels like every second is an eternity, eagerly waiting for the bright yellow flames to finish burning!

Edward wouldn't let him have his way, of course. His original plan was to use another stick of TNT to blow the bugger to smithereens while he was immobilized. But there were no more explosives in his Spatial Ring.

He takes another RPG from his Spatial Ring and loads it into the launcher. However, this warhead is different from the previous one.

He mutters to himself:

"Leon Kennedy once said that no monster can't be dealt with by one RPG; if that doesn't work, then use a Red Warhead!"

Sorry, I've been too busy with work these past two days, working overtime every night. I write after my wife and kids are asleep, so the release time you see is when I finish writing.

Thank you all for your support. I'll open a single chapter to thank everyone another day. I'm going to sleep now.