Chapter 1124: 17.51 Fourth Violet Star - Detecting Parasitic Zergs.

There were many other voices in the greenhouse that could be heard after this old man's voice. There were several voices, including those of a little boy, a young man, an old woman, a middle-aged man, and other voices of various ages replying to the old man's voice. The land suddenly becomes filled with several humanoid creatures, each of whom is illuminated by a s.h.i.+ning light.

A young child wearing a white kimono entered the scene; she stands out from the other characters nearby because of how solidly built she is. This is Tiny Ice Lotus, the only SSS-ranked Sentient Flower Fairy that Yara had nurtured herself, and it is from the deepest part of the Greenhouse. Little Bing'er is her full name.

Even though she talked in a sweet, baby voice, she seemed irritated and unhappy. She spoke in an ancient tongue similar to that of the previous elderly man, although it was a contemporary human tongue.

"How annoying~ These Ants Zergs look disgusting when they gather like this. Grandpa Pine, Grandpa Oak, can you pull the living humans that are still outside back inside? I will make an Ice Dome to block it all out."

From inside the greenhouse, a few pine and oak tree branches protrude. Several human combatants are still present on the academy grounds. They were encircled by these branches as they were dragged back to the greenhouse. A few people coated in red and green blood were carried inside after a short while. The majority of these injured people were educators who choose to give their lives to buy the students some time to escape.

"Teachers!!!" Almost all the students happily exclaim.

Argh! Cough. Cough.

"They are so badly wounded. What should we do? Is there someone who brought potion with them?"

"N-No, we were trying to run so..."

Little Bing'er cast a chilly gaze their way before performing a quick dance to command the local Ice Elements. She exerted control of the situation and caused a thick layer of ice to emerge from the ground underneath her. In front of her, a swarm of ant Zergs had been frozen and eventually disintegrated. Even the mindless Zergs began to fear her existence after numerous Zergs were instantly killed. Because of panic, they could only retreat.

Little Bing'er snorted and started dancing around the greenhouse once more after noticing the Zergs' response. She did this until a substantial dome of ice formed around the greenhouse's structure and a tiny ice domain spread beyond it, quickly converting anything that approached into an ice statue.

Hmp!

Little Bing'er enters the greenhouse and builds a wall around it before going back inside to get ready for a nap. These low-level Zergs couldn't even break through such thick ice with their sheer numbers, therefore this ice dome was sufficient to stop their invasion. The Ice Dome would be adequate to protect all inside, unless a high-ranking Zerg emerged to demolish it.

At that point, a few Sentient Plants with the capacity to heal were requested to a.s.sist the injured humans by the Old Sentient Trees. Tiny Bing'er took a position in front of Jace Green with her hands on her hips.

Little Bing'er asked, "It's you right? The King's Friend."

A bit confused, Jace Green asked, "King?" Is he talking about Yara?

"Yes, it's me." Jace Green von Imperlian said with a smile.

Little Bing'er said, "Good. You will tend to me in exchange for our protection. You promised to do anything right?" She grabbed the back collar of the youngest prince and dragged him to the depths of the greenhouse.

"I... I don't know how to take care of children."

"The f.u.c.k are you talking about? You are going to look after me. I'm a flower, remember? You should be able to tend my petals, and my roots, and water me. You need to do it once in the morning and the evening." Little Bing'er explained.

Only then did everyone realize that the young guy and mature woman who were tending to their instructors as well as the young man and two elderly men who looked to be watching over the kids were all Sentient Beings that could transform into humanoids due to the strength they possessed.

Those who kept their word searched the area for gardening equipment and enquired of the two elderly guys about how to utilize them. Although they had been taught how to use these tools, they were skilled enough to match Yara. But because these elders save their lives, they also have to finish what they started.

"S-Senior, we are ready. Please tell us what to do."

"I will help us well. I can help water the plants!"

"Me too. Me too."

---

The First Military Imperial School's survivors were momentarily protected, while other academies in the city had less luck with survival. Every soldier and citizen in the area where the Ant Zerg Swarms first manifested themselves had already been consumed alive. Because they were taken off guard, they were unable to call for help, which is what caused the current situation.

The common soldiers who must have also been parasites were overlooked as everyone was focused on identifying the parasites from the n.o.ble Faction. After all, unless someone had ignored the invasion and even engineered a way for the Zergs to infiltrate Imperium territory, how could those Zergs have done so? Several Imperium citizens died as a result of this failure.

At the Royal Court...

The Crown contacted everyone available during this exigency. In addition to the Royal Knights, every General and n.o.ble had gathered. While leading the troops to at least drive the Zergs from the Main City and save as many people as possible, Dean Frey von Gregory a.s.sumed Adjutant Kir von Giselle's role and served as his representative. To protect and clear out the Zergs that had penetrated the Main City, an elite extermination team was gathered and sent in four different directions.

The majority of these Ant Zergs were low-ranked, thus there wasn't much of a fight. The numbers are the only issue. Unless the Ant Queen is eliminated, the never-ending ant horde will continue. Adjutant Kir von Giselle is looking for this creature. The only way to stop this invasion is to destroy the Ant Zerg Queen.

"They say the Zerg had invaded our Imperium Star?! How come no one noticed or no one had reported it!? Are you still doing your jobs properly?!" Emperor Cale Meijer von Imperlian bellowed at the General who was tasked to protect the borders of the Imperium Empire.

The General receiving criticism couldn't speak. After all, he delegated his duties to his subordinates while he spent some time with his family. In any case, he has failed in his obligations. He cannot prevent the Emperor from becoming angry. He has no choice but to bowed his head and take the Emperor's scolding.

Dean Frey von Gregory speaks up after the Emperor has calmed down. "Your Majesty, even if the General failed his duties, I do not think the soldiers swear their loyalty to our Empire to open the borders for the Zergs. But there were no traces of force for the opening of the borders nor there is any news that came from them. Obviously, some of those soldiers were parasites. They quietly opened the gates and silently entered our lands."

"Are you trying to say that there are some parasites in the Military as well?" Duke Claudius von Gretel asked with a frown on his face

As it was such a top-secret, only the Emperor and the Grand Marshal were aware of the parasites' existence. But, the information needs to be shared now that the Empire is being attacked. The generals and marshals in the court, of course, were not simpletons. They were aware that the safety of the entire Empire depended on keeping this top secret, in addition to the Zerg.

The emperor realized that all of his officials were looking at him. They were aware of Dean Frey von Gregory and Duke Claudius von Gretel's remarks regarding the alleged parasites. Their eyes begged for an explanation in this regard.

Sigh~

Emperor Cale Meijer von Imperlian summoned the other officials who had been cleared of parasite detection while pinching the area between his eyebrows. They were now carrying a few just created detectors in their hands and directing them toward the nearby Marshals and Generals. Now, anybody who wasn't previously tested for detection in the initial batch is being checked.

They discovered that there were parasites after the detection. One at the beginning stage and two at the end stage. A general and an Old Marshal were the two individuals who had reached the end stage and whose bodies were entirely under the influence of the parasitic zergs. They were both close to the Queen Mother and the Nova Clan.

Everyone in the court had already seen the scene that was being displayed by the device. These two men had a bug gnawing on their brains, which was nearly gone, and its body was plainly swollen from consuming more than half of their brains, as the detector was showing a live readout of what was happening inside someone's head.

"AHH! Late Stage! This is no longer human!!!"

Emperor Cale immediately commanded, "Kill them! No need to wait anymore. Destroy their heads and kill the Zerg in it!"

The two targets showed a frightened expression as if they couldn't believe that their Emperor and their comrades were trying to kill them now.

"W-What are you trying to do? Your Majesty! I'm not a Zerg!!"

"Dammit! What the h.e.l.l are you doing?! Did you want to weaken the Queen Mother's faction and did this farce intentionally!!"

A few from the same side hesitated when they heard what the two had shouted and thought that maybe the Emperor was being unreasonable as they said.

BANG. BANG.

Without holding back, Dean Frey and Duke Gretel pulled out their energy weapons and began firing them at the two guys. As the diseased General and Old Marshal were shot in the head, there were cries of pain in the vicinity. They were able to avoid it but suffered a head injury. The fact that these two weren't already dead when their heads were shot was astonis.h.i.+ng. Their expression of terror began to wane and persisted for a while before disappearing entirely.

Urgh!!!

Dean Frey von Gregory felt that the Zerg inside was about to counterattack and shouted to rest in the room.

"Cover your ears!!"

SHRRRIEEEKKKSS!!!

The two targets' mouths let out an awful scream. Extreme vertigo attacked the heads of those who were caught off guard by this cry, making them sluggish. The half-destroyed head of the bug was slowly releasing a bug that was attempting to alter their body.

Duke Claudius von Gretel warned, "They are trying to change their bodies. Be on guard!!"

The scream had no impact on Dean Frey von Gregory since he had his ears s.h.i.+elded with qi and was patiently waiting for the Zergs to escape their present vessels. He fired his energy rifle as soon as they leaped out, instantly killing them.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

KRIEK!!

Before they died, two parasitic Zergs lay on the ground twitching. Now that everyone in the court has come to think that Zerg exist that can parasite on human brains, they turn to face the other general whose brain is showing indications of being eaten. The same general who failed to guard the borders is now in charge.

He felt like the enemy of the world as everyone regarded him with caution. He even got out his rifle and pointed it at him because his anguish was about to burst. It wasn't until then that anyone realized he was attempting suicide.

"Please tell my family that... I'm sorry. I'm going ahead."

But before the General pulled the trigger the gun in his head was taken away by the Emperor.

Emperor Cale Meijer von Imperlian shouted, "Are you crazy!? Since Dean Frey didn't kill you on the spot like the other two means there is a way to save you! Killing yourself? What about your family and your responsibility!? Don't run away!"

"I... I-I can still be... saved?" The General asked in disbelief.

Dean Frey von Gregory nodded his head and said, "Your situation is just the initial stages of parasitism. We can still remove the Zerg and save your life though your strength might degrade in exchange. Are you still willing to go into surgery?"

"I am willing!!"