The thick, ink-black clouds rolled and churned ominously, blocking out the sun. Despite it being only a little past 3 PM, the sky's brightness was so dim it felt closer to twilight, barely brighter than the early hours of dawn.
"Ah, don't come near… don't come near!"
A janitor screamed in agony, trembling violently, his legs shaking uncontrollably as though caught in a sieve, his face as pale as paper.
He had always been a diligent worker, quietly tending to the flowers and plants at Xijiang University, living a simple, peaceful life. At sixty-one, he had just six more months to go before he could retire, spend his days at home tending to his garden, drinking tea, and playing with his grandchildren—content with such a quiet life.
But...
He never could have imagined that, without warning, a monstrous creature would emerge right before his eyes!
It was a massive, scarlet beetle!
He had seen his fair share of beetles in his lifetime, and had no doubt crushed many underfoot...
But this one... this one was at least the size of a Spanish bull!
Through his glasses, the janitor could clearly see the beetle's fiery red shell, covered in strange, unsettling patterns. Its six long, spindly legs were as thick as large pipes, each nearly two meters long. The sharp, conical horn on its head glinted in the light, sending a chill down his spine.
But what made it most terrifying were its compound eyes!
Those eyes—there was something eerily human about them!
Filled with hatred, disgust, and a deep, insatiable bloodlust!
And within them flowed a strange, unnatural gleam—those eyes glowed, brighter than any low-powered light bulb!
"Zzzz—"
The scarlet beetle moved its mandibles, emitting a low, piercing screech, as foul green liquid dripped from its razor-sharp fangs, sizzling on the ground. It was corrosive and toxic, causing the grass beneath it to wither and turn yellow at an alarming speed!
"Quick... quick, run…"
The janitor stammered, his body trembling as his legs refused to obey, too weak to even stand. He desperately tried to flee, but his body betrayed him, paralyzed by terror.
Just five seconds of eye contact with the beetle, and he was drenched in cold sweat, his clothes soaked through!
Helplessly watching as the beetle drew closer, he could smell its stench—a vile, pungent odor. Then, suddenly, he felt a sharp, searing pain shoot through his ankle!
"Ah! My leg!"
He collapsed to the ground, nearly losing consciousness from the excruciating pain. His legs bled profusely, and he could clearly see his ankle severed—both feet completely bitten off by the monstrous insect!
"Crack, crack!"
The beetle continued chewing on his broken feet, even the old, smelly shoes didn't deter it. The beetle devoured them with the speed and voracity of an animal savoring a delicacy. In just a couple of seconds, they were swallowed whole!
Then... the beetle slowly gnawed at the janitor's body, first his legs, then his abdomen. Finally, the beetle's mandibles chewed his head to a pulp...
When it was all over, all that remained on the grass was a pool of black-red blood, broken chunks of flesh and organs, and scattered, torn remnants of fabric...
A living, breathing man had been reduced to nothing in less than a minute—his body devoured by the beetle!
It wasn't just the students in Li Jiayu's class who witnessed the horror—those in other classrooms were also pale and sickened. Many of them experienced severe stomach cramps, vomiting uncontrollably in the process!
And it wasn't only the janitor who met such a gruesome fate on the school grounds. There were students rushing back to their dorms to fetch clothes, couples having a quiet date beneath the trees, and others...
In just one minute, more people died than in any previous year at Xijiang University!
Within moments, over twenty people had been killed, and the beetles appeared from nowhere, almost as if they had leapt out of thin air. The number of beetles rapidly grew, and within a few breaths, nearly a hundred were on the grounds!
Each beetle was as large as a Spanish bull, and its destructive power was many times more terrifying than the bull itself. A hundred of these creatures would pose a threat no less dangerous than a fully armed military force!
The students trembling in the classrooms were filled with dread, their minds filled with the same terrifying thought—the impending "city-sacking massacre!"
Historically, a city's fall might involve dismemberment or burial alive, but facing these monstrous beetles meant being slowly chewed to death, bit by bit...
This death... was enough to make one's blood run cold, to drive the soul to the brink of insanity!
"Insects! Insects! How can there be so many terrifying insects!"
"They're eating people! They're eating people! I knew that couple… the guy is my hometown buddy, the girl is my best friend... How could they just be eaten like that? Ugh..."
"This can't be real! The largest beetle in the world is the Titan beetle, and it's only 18 centimeters long... Even if it's a genetic mutation, or a result of genetic engineering, there's no way a beetle could grow this big!"
The classroom erupted into chaos, some students screaming in terror, others babbling nonsensically, and some trying to sound overly scientific to explain the impossible. Several girls, already with wet pants, found them even wetter, and those who hadn't wet themselves before, now had soaked trousers too...
"These insects... they don't belong to Earth's ecosystem... they're from the Insect Realm..." Li Jiayu's gaze was sharp and intense as he watched the giant beetles scurrying across the ground, his eyes tinged with suppressed fury.
"The Insect Realm?"
Gao Xiang froze, then suddenly recalled something:
"I remember now! You mentioned something about the Earth's spatial tremors, that they caused rifts... So those rifts... they lead to the Insect Realm? And those red beetles... they're coming through these rifts, invading freely..."
The more Gao Xiang thought about it, the colder his spine became!
If Li Jiayu's words were true... without electricity, without modern weapons, how could humanity possibly face these brutal, bloodthirsty giant insects?
Were they supposed to fight with nothing but their flesh and blood?
How could that even be possible… Gao Xiang couldn't even bear to think about it, and the idea of suicide seemed far more acceptable!
"You're right... Hmm, looks like my axe skills haven't dulled."
Li Jiayu swung the fire axe a few times, the sound of the steel cutting through the air sharp and steady. Though he wasn't a master swordsman, his movements were quick, precise, and powerful.
In his previous life, Li Jiayu had often been pushed to the brink, forced to pick up whatever weapon was available—hammers, bricks, steel rods, baseball bats, slingshots, crossbows, kitchen knives, chairs, even knives, forks, and belts. Anything he could get his hands on had been used in battle.
Later, when he joined a Demon Hunter group, he had even studied combat techniques and weapon handling. Though not exceptionally skilled, he was still more than capable compared to most trained soldiers.
Seemingly satisfied with his fire axe, Li Jiayu smiled faintly and said:
"However, the Insect Realm isn't the only place... Aside from the insects, there's also the Abyssal Realm."