NOVEL NEXT Chapter 300 Specimen
Inside his mind, Shura whined in distress at the sight of Addison's injury, but like Zion, it chose silence.
They both understood the weight of this mission. They couldn't falter over every wound, nor could they risk annoying Addison with needless worry. All they could do was endure and keep moving forward.
"Alright, we're three hundred meters in. Just a little more and we'll hit the five-hundred mark…" Addison urged, her voice steady but firm. As she spoke, she gave Elric a reassuring pat on the back, recognizing the effort he was pouring into every crawl forward. A small push of encouragement was the least she could offer him.
Elric didn't reply, but he gave a firm nod. At his age, he had already weathered countless hardships, and this was no different. With two Alphas at his side and Princess Addison keeping everything under control, he trusted that following her lead would see them through.
He had witnessed her composure in crisis before, how she guided them out of the Tigren camp and through the dangerous forest. This situation felt no less dire, yet no less manageable under her command.
Her quiet encouragement spurred him on. The sting of the sharp rocks cutting into his skin barely registered now, perhaps dulled by adrenaline, though he knew the pain would hit him later.
Regardless, both he and Addison pressed forward, their movements deliberate and cautious, careful not to make a sound that might draw the swarm's attention.
Once they closed the last two hundred meters, it would fall to Elric to cast what Addison had requested, starting with the sound-cancellation spell. After all, the boulder might shield them from the locusts' sight, but their heightened sensitivity to noise meant even the slightest slip could rouse the swarm.
Just as planned, once Addison, Zion, Maxwell, Levi, and Elric reached the five-hundred-meter mark, they stopped to observe the swarm's movements within the barrier, searching for any discernible pattern.
From this close, however, Addison narrowed her eyes and frowned. Instead of the expected mottled greens and browns, all she could make out was a dense, writhing mass of red.
That wasn't right. As far as she remembered, locusts were typically shades of dirty green, faded brown, or other earthy tones that helped them blend into their surroundings. This crimson swarm looked nothing like the ones she had studied before.
Her voice cut through the tense silence. "Is red a natural color for some species of locust?"
She glanced at Elric, the oldest among them, hoping his experience might offer an explanation. Addison had her share of knowledge from books and long hours spent in the library, and while fragments of old memories stirred faintly in her mind, nothing she recalled had ever mentioned locusts that gleamed blood-red.
Wait—there was a species of red locust mentioned in the insect encyclopedia.
But if she remembered correctly, they were small, with black-spotted wings… Addison's train of thought faltered. From this distance, she couldn't make out enough detail to confirm anything.
For now, they had to focus. Their priority was to study the swarm's movement inside the barrier, committing its pattern to memory before making their approach. Five long minutes passed in tense observation before they finally pushed forward again, crawling toward the boulder they had marked earlier as cover.
This time, they moved faster, driven by urgency. But the speed came at a price, Addison and Elric's exposed skin scraped against sharp stone and gravel, leaving them with fresh bruises and shallow cuts as they dragged themselves forward.
Once they reached the large boulder, Elric immediately set to work. He renewed the sound-cancellation spell along with a standalone barrier layered with invisibility. While he chanted the incantations, Zion, Maxwell, and Levi crept closer to the barrier's edge, holding themselves in ready stances—prepared to move the instant Elric finished.
The final syllable left his lips, and the spell took hold. To the outside world, they looked like they had vanished; now, only they could see and hear one another. Elric stepped forward, pressing the tip of his staff against the shimmering barrier. Muttering another string of incantation, he traced a wide circle, just large enough for an adult to pass through.
The circle pulsed, then parted — an opening into the barrier's inner domain. Zion slipped in first, followed closely by Maxwell and Levi. They immediately fanned out, keeping watch behind the boulder.
Addison and Elric followed quickly, and the moment they were inside, Elric reversed the incantation. The glowing circle sealed shut, restoring the barrier as though it had never been touched.
As soon as they slipped inside, Zion, Maxwell, and Levi confirmed the locusts hadn't noticed a thing. Without wasting another second, the three shifted into their wolf forms. Just like before, Maxwell and Zion crouched low, ready for Addison and Elric to climb up.
Addison quickly climbed onto Maxwell's back while Elric—now more practiced—clung tightly to Zion's thick fur as he pulled himself up.
Once both were securely seated, Zion and Maxwell sprang forward in unison, paws pounding against the ground, while Levi kept watch at the rear. Maxwell led the charge, following Addison's directions as she pointed out their path.
"Center of the barrier," she instructed, her voice firm.
But they hadn't gone far before Addison noticed something unusual. Scattered ahead were countless tall, mound-like structures, damp soil piled high, resembling enormous ant hills, rising like ominous towers across the landscape.
"Wait—stop for a moment!" Addison called out, tugging on Maxwell's fur to halt him.
The sudden stop nearly caused chaos. Maxwell skidded, Zion and Levi almost collided into him, and both Addison and Elric lurched forward as if they were about to be thrown off.
Luckily, they had been pressed close against Zion's and Maxwell's broad wolf bodies, their hands clutching tightly to the thick fur, keeping them from being tossed to the ground.
"What is it, Princess?" Elric asked, puzzled as he followed Addison's line of sight.
Then he saw it, massive red locusts with twin horns jutting from its head, their bodies bent as they drove their abdomens into the damp soil. In an instant, he understood. They had stumbled right into the swarm's breeding ground.
One of the horned locusts was barely three meters away, still oblivious to their presence thanks to Elric's concealment spell. But even at this close range, its size was terrifying; its body was as large as his palm and thicker than two of his fingers together. A shiver crawled down his skin at the sight.
Before he could dwell on it further, Maxwell let out a low, guttural growl in his wolf form, lips curling back to reveal his sharp teeth. His agitation was clear, though they couldn't ask what had set him off, not while he remained in his wolf form.
Addison immediately slid down from Maxwell's back. Pulling a cloth pouch from her magic bag, she crouched by one of the mounds and carefully pushed her fingers into the opening.
When she withdrew her hand, pale, pulsing eggs clung to her palm. She quickly wrapped them in the cloth and secured the pouch.
Her eyes swept the ground, where a few dead locusts lay scattered. Normally, locusts didn't die after laying eggs, which meant these had likely reached the end of their lifespan.
But judging from their appearance, they hadn't been dead for long. Addison quickly collected a few samples of their remains as well.