Chapter 463: The Insect Song

The sound of insects obviously couldn’t have come from the surrounding fields, since it was early spring and Leopold was colder than the Holy City—some places still hadn’t even seen the snow melt. How could there possibly be insects buzzing at this time of year?

There was only one possibility...

Muen and Anna’s gazes settled on the hundreds of peasants crowding around them. Shock flickered in their eyes—but mingled with it were anger and pity.

The insects... were all inside these people’s heads.

Someone had placed those strange, brain-eating parasites into the minds of these innocent villagers and used them to control them.

And it wasn’t just the harp earlier—even this “insect song” had the power to tamper with cognition. Otherwise, Muen and Anna would have noticed the source of the sound long before now.

“So that’s why they couldn’t light a fire?”

Muen’s expression darkened as he looked around.

Beyond the encircling crowd, the town ahead was shrouded in darkness—no trace of a flame anywhere.

The prohibition on open fire wasn’t some local custom. It was because... these insects didn’t like fire.

“That must be it.”

Anna nodded slightly, then lifted her hand. A spark shot from her fingertip and fell onto the bonfire rack at the center of the clearing.

In an instant, flames roared to life, blazing bright enough to illuminate the whole square.

“Fire... no fire... damn it... no fire...”

As the light flared, the restless crowd went mad. Pain and pleasure twisted together on their faces as their limbs convulsed uncontrollably, instinctively scrambling away from the fire.

“Huh? You two are flying?”

A familiar voice made both Muen and Anna turn in surprise, their expressions tightening.

It was the burly Mayor Auntie.

Perhaps the fire’s heat had burned away some of the influence—she looked a little more lucid now, staring upward in astonishment at the two of them floating in midair.

“Right, did you eat what we gave you earlier? The tasty one, that’s our eggs... Huh? Eggs? What eggs? What am I saying?”

The mayor frowned, confused by her own words.

Then she lowered her head and saw, not far ahead, the blood-soaked, spasming man on the ground—and she saw...

“In-insects! Insects!”

By the firelight she saw the grotesque little worms writhing inside the man’s skull.

“Wh-why... why are there insects in his head?”

Terrified, she stumbled back several steps, clutching her chest, her whole body trembling.

Goodness, so scary. Such big bugs crawling around inside the brain—must hurt so much.

And those brains—red and white, moist and juicy—they looked delicious... Huh?

What am I thinking?

Her eyes widened. Something was wrong.

Those monstrous worms squirming in flesh and brain matter should have made her sick, should have turned her stomach—but instead, she felt...

Hungry?

“Huh? Insects? Insects? He’s the only one with insects in his head?”

As though realizing something about herself, the mayor’s trembling hands rose to her own face, which twitched and contorted between crying and laughter.

“Huh? My face? Why? What am I doing? Do I have them too? Huh? Impossible, impossible! There can’t be insects in my head... but then, what’s this sound? What is it?”

“My head hurts... no, I’m hungry... no, I want to eat... eat...”

“No! No, get out! Get out of my head!”

Suddenly she went mad, slamming her head down onto a stone.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Blood splattered.

A sharp crack rang out—skull shattering—and a spray of red and white burst forth as several black, misshapen little worms crawled out of her brain matter, their needle-like limbs twitching, shrieking.

The mayor’s lips curled in a grim, relieved smile.

“Ah... ah... finally... finally out, you damned things.”

But more worms still infested her mind, drinking her brain. Smashing her skull hadn’t freed her—just like the man before, her body stiffened and began to move again.

Half her head was gone, yet she was still “alive.”

Her fat limbs jerked and writhed like those of the undead.

The woman who moments ago had been bright and hearty now wept in agony, yet a twisted grin hung at her mouth as she rose unsteadily from the ground.

Looking up at Muen and Anna, her lips moved:

“Eat... eat it... eat that meat... eat... our eggs!”

As this horrific scene unfolded, the townsfolk around them seemed to snap out of their delusion.

But that “clarity”... was only the beginning of their hell.

“No... no... I don’t want to be eaten by insects!”

“Get out! Get out of me!”

“Help me! Merciful Goddess, please save us!”

The bloody nightmare spread. The stench was suffocating. People screamed and smashed their own skulls, then rose again with twisted smiles, heads tilted back toward the sky.

The insect song mingled with their cries, like the laughter of demons.

More shattered-skull corpses swayed to their feet, all raising their eyes toward Muen and Anna.

Even Muen—who prided himself on having seen his share of gore—felt nausea claw at his throat. He shut his eyes, unable to look any longer.

He couldn’t stop it. The parasites were already inside their brains.

“No need to run.”

He heard Anna’s quiet voice beside him.

“Let’s release them.”

“...All right.”

Black fire rippled to life. Muen had no intention of dragging # Nоvеlight # this out—he only wanted to end this hell as quickly as possible.

But Anna caught his arm.

“Let me.”

“Hm? You, Senior?”

“Don’t forget who I am.”

She turned her head, brushing back her hair.

Muen saw her eyes, devoid of emotion, and knew she was angry.

“I can smell Pollution on these insects.”

“An Evil God?”

“Maybe. Not sure yet. But that already makes it my jurisdiction—let me handle it. Besides, your flames make too much noise; they might alert whoever’s behind this.”

“...Fine.”

Muen thought a moment, then let her take over.

Without hesitation, Anna stepped forward.

Her whip—her usual weapon—was gone. She simply extended her hand and pressed lightly downward.

In that instant, all sound vanished.

Every shriek, every wail, every shrilling insect note—gone.

It was as if the whole world had sunk into a deep dream.

A pale moon rose within her eyes. The authority of the Former Evil God manifested there, granting all things the same... stillness.

“Chiii—”

Amid the silence, the insect song flared again.

The grotesque worms buried in the endless night screamed in rage, writhing and struggling to escape that abyssal stillness.

“If I let you keep growing, you might become troublesome.”

The moon still hung bright in Anna’s gaze, but the darkness beneath her feet deepened. Far more terrifying than the worms, black shadows slithered through the night—whispering, coveting the real world.

“But for now... you’re still just insects.”

Expressionless, Anna’s pale hand fell. The darkness swallowed everything whole.

Muen closed his eyes again and waited for death’s silence.

...

...

“Something’s off.”

Muen crouched beside a young woman whose eyes remained wide even in death. Her belly was swollen—she had been pregnant—but no trace of life remained.

Even the child inside her had long since been devoured by the insects.

“This doesn’t look like a calculated attack at all. Too weak.”

He shook his head.

“Feels more like someone just wanted to disgust us.”

“You think the one behind it was aiming for you?”

Anna stood quietly, staring at the hands that had just slaughtered hundreds. The cold night wind tangled her hair, and for once, a hint of fragility softened her pale face.

Muen took her small hand, sharing his warmth.

“Either me, the duke’s son, or you, the Acting Swordbearer. Too coincidental—it can’t be chance.”

“True, but I received no warning. There should’ve been Silent Bureau monitors in this town. An incident this large couldn’t possibly have no precursors.”

Anger furrowed Anna’s brow.

Hundreds of people parasitized and dead—enough to draw the Empire’s full attention.

Yet she, acting head of the Bureau, still couldn’t determine the incident’s nature, let alone find who was behind it.

“For now... let’s gather whatever information we can.”

Muen gave a quiet reassurance, then crouched again beside the mayor.

She lay on the ground, half her skull shattered, yet her eyes were still slightly open, a faint glimmer within.

The insects had been eradicated; she should have been dead. But using the Authority of the Silent Moon, Anna had forcibly frozen her body in the moment before death.

Muen didn’t know how long that would last—only that he hoped she could answer a few questions.

“Madam Mayor, as someone who experienced it firsthand, I’m sure you understand the situation. So I’ll be direct.”

He met her gaze.

“Has anyone suspicious visited town recently?”

“...”

Her lips twitched.

“What?”

Muen leaned closer until his ear was beside her lips, catching the faint words squeezed from her barely breathing throat:

“Wander... ing... poet.”

“Wandering poet?”

Muen’s eyes gleamed as he suddenly remembered—the mayor had mentioned earlier that a wandering poet would perform at the festival.

That harp music earlier...

“Emi... ly.”

As Muen leaned closer to listen, the mayor suddenly gathered her last strength, clutching his wrist, pleading:

“It was Emily... the first to meet... that wandering poet... Please... please, you must... save her.”