Chapter 45
Celt carried Hill back to the starship. Dick, who had been waiting anxiously, came forward to say something, but fell silent under Celt's cold gaze.
Celt placed Hill on a soft bed, stripped him of his soiled clothes and dressed him in a new robe. He was no longer shy, but adapted to the female insect's service, and perhaps many other female insects had served him in the same way.
A violent emotion gathered in Celtic's lowered eyes, but it was forcibly suppressed.
He meticulously smoothed out every wrinkle on Hill's robe. Hill noticed and placed his cold hand over Celtic's hand, his voice extremely gentle: "No matter how smoothly you smooth it out, it can never be the same again."
The male insect's bony hands slowly moved Celt's veiny hand away. Celt knelt down, looked up into Hill's eyes, and his azure eyes held a cold smile: "What you need is another one, isn't it?"
"drop--"
The hatch suddenly opened at that moment, and the hurried footsteps of the female soldiers could be heard.
"Your Highness—"
Eric was ahead of Albert, which was to be expected. Eric was an Imperial Major General and had the right to freely enter and exit starships, while Albert belonged to the Federation and needed to apply to enter starships.
Since Hill was sitting upright by the bed, Eric naturally knelt down and then crawled over on his knees: "Your Highness, how are you? Are you injured? I am so late, I am sorry that Your Highness has frightened you."
Eric was filled with remorse. He cautiously approached the bedside. There was only so much space in front of the bed. Celt clenched his fists and suddenly stood up. "I have other matters to attend to, Your Highness. Please excuse me for leaving now."
Hill ignored him, seemingly not even remembering that such a bug existed. Celt turned and left, and behind him came Eric's concerned and surprised voice: "Your Highness, what happened to your hand? I'll get you some repair fluid."
In the reflection of the alloy hatch, Eric could be clearly seen holding Hilgard's pale hand.
The lights inside the starship flickered, illuminating Celt's deep-set features. Dick approached: "Marshal, this time the star beasts arrived very strangely, and their pinpoint strikes were extremely precise. I've already arranged for the accompanying troops to pursue them, and we should be able to obtain them soon—"
“No need,” Celtic interrupted Dick, “I’ll go myself.”
Dick paused for a moment, then subconsciously followed. After opening his mouth several times, he chose to remain silent, as if he had vaguely guessed something.
For Celtic, killing was an ever-present habit. He usually disliked torture and instead pursued precision and speed, so he preferred to kill with a single blow.
This time, however, seemed different. Sharp bone wings pierced through the star beast horde, bringing with them a shower of blood and bits of flesh. No tools or weapons were used; it was pure slaughter, a sight that chilled even the insects to the bone.
He had completely transformed into an insect, his rationality was on the verge of disappearing, and he urgently needed to find a way to release the pent-up violent emotions. Without male insects, he could only choose to kill, but getting caught up in killing would accelerate the speed of his mental rage.
This is a dead end.
"Six months ago... because the search for a female insect failed... ha..."
Hill's promotion was actually six months ago. He thought it was just a normal period of aging.
"The father and mother prepared a lot..."
His Majesty the Insect Emperor prepared many female insects as candidates, but Hill's first choice was himself.
"The tanning period is so long...it's usually only half a month..."
Because she wouldn't allow herself to be marked by Cyrus before him, she repeatedly controlled him, preventing him from being freed, and time and again, she forced him to delay his budding period.
"They come one by one, and whoever serves them best gets to..."
One female insect after another entered Hill's room, serving the young male insect who was entering the advancement stage. Kissing, entanglement, and undulations—scenes uncontrollably surfaced in Celt's mind. The faces of those female insects were blurry, sometimes Eric's face, sometimes Albert's.
No, there were many more, female insects he didn't know who had served Hill, and many more to come.
Hill is very clingy in bed, demanding hugs, and even if you can't hug her, she'll still wrap her arms around your neck. She loves being showered with kisses, and when she's tired, she'll fall asleep comfortably. She'll even be teased in her sleep—
The female insect, now fully transformed into a worm, burned with ferocity in her eyes. Her sharp, bony wings precisely sliced open the spine of a star beast, which let out a shrill scream as bones and pieces of flesh crashed to the ground in mid-air.
Like dominoes falling, a massive star beast was dismembered alive in mid-air.
Countless female insects have witnessed Hill's lustful state, and after he wakes up, he continues, switching to another female. If one female doesn't serve him well enough, they switch to the next one, until he smoothly passes through his pubescent period.
These female insects would become his future female servants or female slaves, or occasional objects of his favor; they had all kissed and possessed Hill's body.
"So many... I can't remember them all..."
Hill's voice echoed in his ears, each sound like it was dismembering his heart. It was perfectly normal for a male insect to have countless females, just like Sirius Nathaniel.
But it shouldn't be Hill, that little male that once belonged entirely to him—
How could it be Hill—
Blood rained down on him, and in the blink of an eye, only countless pieces of flesh remained, not even a single intact corpse.
"Hill, how are you? Are you hurt anywhere?" Sirius rushed in. He wasn't as fast as Eric because male insects don't have wings and need to use a flying vehicle to get there.
Eric had left, leaving only Hill, the only insect in the large bedroom, with the battle situation displayed in real time on a virtual screen in the center of the room.
Celt's insect form is ferocious and terrifying, enough to deter any male insect, but his killing is undeniably commendable. He is powerful, precise, and effortless, enough to teach any female insect a lesson.
"Why are you looking at him?" Sirius breathed a sigh of relief after realizing that Hill was alright, then frowned.
"Isn't it interesting to watch him lose control?" Hill leaned back in his chair, his white robe spotless, the repair fluid on his fingertips wiped clean by Eric, as if he had never set foot in the dust.
He reached out his long, bony hand as if to touch the ethereal female insect, and murmured softly, "This is just the beginning, Marshal."
I will repay the pain I have suffered a thousand times, ten thousand times over, and then, just as you threw me away, I will throw you away.
Two stars had passed when the killing stopped. The prolonged complete transformation into insects would make it difficult to regain sanity, so Dick had to step forward to warn him.
The scarlet eyes carried a strong stench of blood, and drops of blood, not yet dried, continued to fall along the worm-like bones. In the five-second silence, the hearts of all the insects clenched.
Fortunately, the insect-like skeleton began to degenerate, slowly revealing Marshal Celtic's cold gray eyes.
Fortunately, the marshal still retained his rationality.
Dick secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Marshal, His Highness Sirius believes that you have failed in your duty of protection and has punished you by sending you to the disciplinary room for one day."
As the future queen consort of Sirius, Sirius certainly had this right.
Dick continued, "The Marshal is wounded; the military can handle the coordination."
The female general's military duties are the only commands that supersede those of the male lord.
Celtic lowered his eyes, concealing his lingering resentment: "I accept."
Dick: "...Yes."
Following Celt's footsteps, Dick followed closely behind. He tentatively said, "This time the Star Beasts came very strangely. It seems their target was the engagement ceremony. The Marshal didn't leave any survivors, so there's no way to investigate."
"But, wouldn't this jeopardize the marriage alliance between the Empire and the Federation?"
The sudden attack by star beasts on Akeron, a planet located on the border between the Federation and the Empire, inevitably aroused suspicion in both the Empire and the Federation.
Celtic's footsteps paused. The disciplinary chamber scanned Marshal Celtic's face and slowly opened. The doors that opened to both sides separated Celtic's cold face, leaving Dick behind him unable to know the marshal's expression at that moment.
"So what if it endangers us?"
Marshal Celtic's voice was deep and resonant, causing Dick's heart to skip a beat and a strange sense of crisis to rise within him.
"With me here, what waves can Albert possibly stir up?"
He faced the darkness. The punishment room was filled with countless instruments stained with the blood of female insects. The lights were off, so no insect could see the dark undercurrents in his eyes.
As his voice faded, the stench of blood emanating from him seemed to intensify.
Is this a tacit admission? But what does it mean to you, Marshal, a rational and indifferent man driven solely by self-interest? Dick couldn't help but take a step forward.
"Marshal, have you forgotten your condition? You are in worse shape than you were six months ago, and you cannot take any more inhibitors, otherwise—"
"Your current state, if discovered by any insect—"
They will all be doomed.
Celt stepped into the punishment room, ignoring Dick's advice: "Expand the investigation to include the movements of all S-class female insects on the capital star six months ago, including foreign military females, and find out which female insects have entered the Holy City."
His voice was chillingly cold, carrying a strong aura of killing intent that kept the insects at bay. The door to the punishment room closed, and the light disappeared completely. Celt closed his eyes, letting the emptiness and stinging pain after the killing wash over him like a tide.
He will kill each and every female insect that has ever possessed Hill, in the most cruel way.
——
"Your Highness has been sent to the starship, is that right? Yes, I will go there immediately."
The river flows gently into the distance, and a female insect with black serrated edges on the outer edge of its hindwings rests its feet on a dead tree in the water.
Dead trees blocked the water's flow, leaving behind a few scraps of white cloth. A slender hand with insect-like markings picked up a piece of cloth and bent down to sniff it.
The scent of male insect pheromones is a blend of Sophie Rosa and a faint, fresh herbal fragrance, reminiscent of His Highness Hildard's close-fitting robes.
How could it have been torn to shreds here? Marshal Celt took His Highness away from the clutches of the Star Beast, so there shouldn't have been any remaining pieces of cloth left behind. Could it be that a Star Beast interfered and injured His Highness Hilgard?
This is unreasonable; to be precise, no star beast could do it.
Albert frowned slightly, and suddenly, he heard the sound of the female insect's bony wings flapping: "Who's there?"
He quickly flapped his wings, and a female insect with long, light brown hair waded over from not far away. She was tall and had a gentle expression, and it seemed that a gentle and warm smile was always on her lips.
“Your Excellency Albert, I am General Hessen, Second Army Commander.”
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