Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Vermis In Action

The words were soft, almost respectful, and that only made it worse.

The Town Lord’s face twisted, not in fear, but in pure anger as his aura surged, the air around him tightening under the pressure of a peak Body Tempering practitioner, while the two men behind him stepped forward without hesitation, their presence rising as well, three forces pressing down on the ruined street as broken bodies and twitching insects surrounded them.

“…You think you can walk out of here alive after this?” one of the subordinates said, gripping his blade tighter as his eyes flicked toward the swarm, wary now.

The ground shattered beneath their steps as they burst forward in a straight line, their speed cutting through the swarm as if it were nothing, their bodies reinforced enough to ignore the biting insects, their skin resisting the poison that would have already killed any normal man, and in that instant, they reached her.

But Vermis didn’t step back.

She raised her hand slightly.

“Gather.”

The swarm responded instantly as countless insects surged toward her body, crawling, climbing, merging, their forms layering over one another in a grotesque motion as they fused into something denser, something solid, forming a living armor that wrapped around her limbs, her torso, her back, thick plates of chitin locking into place while smaller insects filled the gaps, reinforcing every inch of her form until she no longer looked fragile.

She looked armed.

The Town Lord’s fist came first, carrying enough force to break stone, and it slammed directly into her.

The impact echoed.

Vermis moved.

Not fast like before.

Direct.

Her arm shot forward, and the insects along it shifted, sharpening, forming a jagged, writhing blade that struck toward his chest.

He reacted instantly, twisting his body as the attack scraped across his side, tearing through his armor and drawing blood.

Behind him, the two subordinates attacked together, one aiming for her head, the other for her legs, their coordination clean, practiced.

“Break her defense!”

The blade came down.

The strike landed.

And the insects moved again.

The armor split apart at the point of impact, not resisting, but yielding, the blade sinking in only to be caught, slowed, trapped as the insects closed around it, crawling over the weapon, locking it in place.

“What the—”

Before he could pull back, Vermis stepped in.

“Pierce.”

The insects on her other arm compressed, tightening into a dense spike before driving forward straight into his chest, bypassing the outer resistance as the swarm forced its way through the gaps, through the flesh, through everything, burrowing deep.

His body jerked and his mouth opened, but no sound came out. Shortly after, he collapsed.

The second subordinate roared and swung again, abandoning defense as he went all in, his body glowing faintly as he pushed his strength to the limit, his strike finally breaking through part of the armor and slamming into Vermis’ shoulder, cracking the insect plating apart and forcing her back a step.

“You’re not invincible!”

He pressed forward, attacking again and again, each strike breaking more of the armor, scattering insects across the ground.

For a moment, it looked like it was working.

Then the scattered insects moved.

They crawled back, and rejoined.

The armor rebuilt itself mid fight, sealing the damage as if it had never been there.

The man froze for a split second.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Vermis tilted her head.

“Just die.”

Then the ground beneath him exploded.

A massive insect surged upward, slamming into him from below, throwing him into the air as smaller insects followed, latching onto him mid fall, covering his body, forcing their way into every gap his strength couldn’t protect at once.

He hit the ground hard.

He didn’t get back up.

Now only one remained.

The Town Lord stood there, breathing heavier now, blood running down his side where her earlier strike had landed, his gaze locked onto her as the swarm slowly shifted around her body, rebuilding, reshaping, endless.

Seeing his two subordinates die just like that, the last bit of order inside the town shattered.

Someone dropped their weapon.

Another turned and ran.

Then all at once, the entire street broke into chaos as people fled in every direction, pushing past each other, screaming, tripping over bodies, desperate to get away from the thing standing at the center of it all.

“Run!”

“Open the gate!”

“Get out of here!”

They didn’t care where they went.

They just wanted out.

Vermis watched them for a second, her gaze calm, almost distant, as if she were simply observing insects scattering after their nest had been disturbed.

Then she spoke.

“Don’t let anyone leave.”

The ground answered her.

From beneath the roads, from under the walls, from inside the buildings themselves, the swarm surged out all at once as thick waves of black bodies flooded the streets, cutting off every path, climbing over each other, forming walls that moved and shifted, sealing the exits before anyone could reach them.

A man nearly made it to the gate.

He didn’t get to touch it.

The swarm dropped on him from above.

He screamed as they covered his face, his chest, his arms, forcing him down to the ground as he thrashed wildly, his strength crushing dozens of them, but it didn’t matter.

There were too many.

His screams turned into choking sounds.

Then silence.

At the center of it all, the Town Lord staggered back a step.

His eyes moved, not toward Vermis, but toward the people.

His people.

“…Stop,” he said, his voice rough.

No one listened.

They couldn’t.

They were too busy dying.

He turned back to Vermis.

For the first time, there was something else in his eyes, fear.

“…What do you want,” he said, his voice lower now, unsteady. “Gold? Resources? I can give you everything. Just stop this.”

Vermis looked at him. Then past him, at the bodies.

“I already have what I need.”

His jaw tightened.

“…You’re insane.”

He took a step back.

Then another.

The swarm shifted with him.

Closing in.

“No,” he said quickly, raising his hands slightly as if that would stop anything. “Wait. Listen. I can still be useful. I’m a Body Tempering practitioner. I can serve. I can fight for you. Just… don’t do this.”

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