Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

Chapter 906: Karmic Reckoning (II)

—

Anuman, the voiceless husband of the Bug Empress, resolutely stood before Nicholas and Patricia.

In his insectoid facial features, a look of conviction, dedication, and certainty was recognizable. It’s the look that says, ’If you want to hurt them, you’d have to step over my corpse first! ’

He held no ounce of fear, terror, or respect for the humans before him. He either didn’t care that he was completely out of his league here, or he genuinely had no idea. In his mind, there’s only one thing he’s sure of.

Anuman will protect his family no matter what. This was his duty and his responsibility as a husband and a father. Life Evolution Realm can’t get in the way of that.

Even if the Supreme Will were to manifest her physically, he’d still do the same.

Things were different for Pelle and Maricel, though.

Pelle, the Bug Prince of War, and Maricel, the Wise Bug Princess, recognize the terror these two humans before them represent.

They could see them in their senses, and they were limitless. This was something way beyond they could handle. Even way beyond what their mother could ever be.

Who would’ve thought, right? Humans? The puny creatures they used to look down upon? The dirt on their boot? The most fragile and helpless creatures the Primitive Universe ever created? Who could’ve known that they’d grow up this fast, advance this freely, and take sovereignity so swiftly?

Pelle could’ve sworn that these humans were playing with them. Where were these two when he personally went on a crusade in the dimensional gap of the Heavenly Star Chaos Realm? Surely, they were mocking him.

The power these two people held could easily erase him from existence before he even knew what happened. Hell, they could make it so that he never existed in anybody’s memory, and nobody would’ve second-guessed it!

Why did they not make a move back then? Was it really so funny to them to watch him strut in their front yard with delusions of grandeur?

There was no way that they weren’t this strong back then. Pelle refused to believe that! Why? Because that would mean that they made that much progress in so little time, and that’s just impossible! There’s no way that could ever be true!

He knew that his mother had been searching for the path forward for so long. It had taken her millions of years just to approach the door to the Primal Origin Lifeform. Hell, she’s not even close!

So telling him that these humans had sprinted that fast when they left them alone for a couple hundred of years was a concept that he just refused to believe.

No way, that’s just not possible!

That said, that doesn’t matter that much now, does it? Who cares how they did it or how fast they made it? It doesn’t change the situation they found themselves in right now.

These two had come here, on their own, and made a mess out of the place. They had no company, just them two. Pelle could even tell that they didn’t have to do much at all. Whatever they did to the Hive Mind and the souls of his fellow bugs that should’ve gone back to his mother, they did it in such an effortless manner that they didn’t even need to sweat.

His mother’s masterpiece, the very core talent of their kind, their very foundations, gone and utterly broken at the mere presence of these two.

And wasn’t that just terrifying? Even more so than his sudden disconnection to the Hive Mind and losing his intimate link to his mother.

Maricel was more or less feeling the same way as Pelle.

She may have never made an appearance at the frontlines nor had any direct confrontations with the human sovereigns, but she was aware of their might. She was also more than aware of how swiftly they make progress.

Maricel had personally planned for attacks and harassments for the space marines. She often finds herself deliberating the best way to stall their progress.

It’s a little game between her and whoever was leading the Space Marines, a game that she never really won that many times. She had no qualms sending bugs out on the frontlines knowing that they really wouldn’t die. Their souls would just return to the Crimson Womb and be reborn shortly later.

To her, the value lies in the intel they brought back upon their deaths. The little gaps and holes in the Space Marines’ defenses, their tendencies, and any mistakes she could exploit to damage their defensive lines and hopefully penetrate them one day.

Again, she rarely had a decisive victory against whoever she was playing against, and even then, she never quite left lasting damage.

The resilience and adaptability of the human race always astounded her.

Despite that, though, she never really believed that such a day like this would ever come. Sure, the humans were resilient, but it’s maybe because of her sheltered and spoiled life that she never believed that they’d ever be bold enough to attack the Horde at their home turf.

Especially not when she knew just how well defended their home was.

But, like many times in the past, she was wrong. And in this specific situation, her misjudgment was accompanied by a crisp slap to her face, a slap that left the hive mind screaming as it burned, their home reduced to mere rubble, her fellow bugs going insane killing each other, her mother unable to lend aid, and her cowering behind her father who’s not even as evolved as she was.

What a truly awful situation they found themselves in.

**

When she saw her husband shielding their children with nothing but his own body with both Nick and Patricia standing before them indifferently, all reason flew out of the window for her.

With a speed that would make light blush in shame, she stood before them.

There she was, snarling, hissing, all hairs raised in a mixture of protectiveness, fury, and terror. She was discharged purple venom that drew an arc around them, encasing her and her family.

She made herself bigger than she was. She did it to intimidate her enemies, hoping that they’d back away and leave her and her own alone.

But instead of being scared, Nick and Patricia just looked amused.

She was the scourge of the primitive universe, acting like a cornered beast. Well, she was a cornered beast, wasn’t she? This was her home, one that she built with her own bloody hands. There’s nowhere else for her to go. All the other bugs have gone insane without the presence of the Hive Mind, and their souls never returned to her.

The only thing that she had left was the bugs behind her, her own family, the ones she resurrected through impure and flawed means, ones that should’ve been long dead already if it wasn’t for her blasphemous ritual.

“We lost, okay!” She snarled at them. Her face twisted in pain, and her appearance disheveled.

She spread her arms protectively to block their sight of her family. It’s as if she didn’t even want any of them to see the ones she’s resolutely protecting.

“I lost,” she stated, sounding extremely vulnerable, defeated, and lost. “I surrender. You already made sure that we will never be a threat anymore.”

“You won! I concede. I can’t…this is as far as I go; I’ve long realized that. I will never reach the Primal Origin Lifeform Realm.”

“You’ve won, alright!” She snarled, hatefully. It’s as if admitting this physically, emotionally, and spiritually drained her.

“Take your victory and leave us alone. We’re no longer a threat to you. Just let us live our last days together! We won’t appear before you ever again!”

The Bug Empress looked wretched. The weight of her sins and failure collapsed right above her, and she’s gone broken and defeated. Begging to be spared should’ve been beneath her, and it was, but not when it comes to her family.

She would’ve sent them away, far, far away, where humans could never reach them, in hopes that they could live their remaining lifespans in peace and quiet. But Nick and Patricia got to them before she could.

“Mama…”

Amidst the tense silence, a small and pitiful voice sounded out.

It was innocent, gentle, afraid, and confused. Nick’s and Patricia’s gazes shifted from her to Cain, the youngest prince and the most innocent creature that’s left in here.

“What happened? Are you sad? Please don’t be sad, because when you’re sad, I’m sad too.”

Cain clutched the hem of his distressed mother’s dress, his pale and puffy face twisting in discomfort, and he looked as if he were about to cry at any second now.

Seeing him like this was the last straw for the Bug Empress. She knelt down and embraced him protectively. Hot tears poured all over her face as her endless grievance, frustration, and love for her family spilled out of her.

Nick and Patricia saw all of this. On the surface, they remained stoic and indifferent, but deep down, the little thing made their hearts clench in guilt for what they did.

Seeing their worst enemy, the woman bug who turned herself into the scourge of the primitive universe, having a mental and emotional breakdown as she clutched her youngest child while shaking in terror drove that point home.