Theramore's Royal Palace was now in utter chaos!
When the purple-black crystal smashed through a room and struck the ground, it caused only a minor disturbance. Daelin was speaking with Caliea at the time. The Admiral was a veteran of the brutal Orcish War and had not even been interested in taking a look. Princess Caliea had merely instructed the guards to carry the thing away so it would not spoil their honored guest's enjoyment.
In fact, before the Hive Crystal was activated, it looked quite harmless, and the hexagonal crystal hovering slowly above the ground even possessed a peculiar beauty.
Yet beneath that beauty lay an abyss that could drive people to despair.
A brave Kul Tiras sailor drew his cutlass, holding a Dwarven Rifle in his other hand. Around him, more than a dozen fully armed guards surrounded the crystal tightly.
No one felt worried, because the crystal really did not look dangerous. But the moment the sailor approached, the crystal melted once again. At the sight of the black tide of insects surging in every direction, these elite soldiers reacted a beat too slowly. Then black, shrieking death engulfed the scene.
By the time Erigor, who was responsible for guarding the Royal Palace that day, reacted, a fifth of the palace was already covered with Qiraji Workers that had nourished themselves on ample flesh and blood and grown into their complete forms.
They resembled beetles enlarged more than tenfold, yet looked horribly malformed. Their most distinctive features were the wings concealed beneath their black shells and their six backward-bent legs, slender yet powerful, long and sharp. Their sharp legs clicked against the ground as they marched in silence, sweeping through everything before them. Whenever they encountered an obstacle, their mouthparts, frightening enough to make a grown adult