Chapter 321: The Golden Cicada
Blood Spirit Cicadas were notoriously difficult to catch, and their blood-activating, body-strengthening properties made them especially valuable. Since Marcus was already here, he figured he might as well grab as many as he could.
"Pebble, move."
With a short command, Marcus waved his Red Locust Cicada Net and guided Blackie carefully through the red locust trees. Whenever he encountered a swarm of red locust bees, Pebble would peel off and lure them away, clearing the path ahead.
Now that Marcus had a working method and some experience under his belt, the process became much smoother. He repeated the same sequence again and again, moving cautiously, extending the net, sealing the capture, and withdrawing. Before long, his red locust wood basket was packed with more than thirty Blood Spirit Cicadas.
"Whoa. Almost full."
He gave the basket a shake and peered through the gaps. Inside, the cicadas were chirping wildly, panicked and restless. Thankfully, the broadleaf flower fragrance embedded in the basket muffled the sound completely.
If that noise leaked out, red locust bees would descend on him in seconds and turn him into a living pincushion.
"Heh heh."
Marcus covered his mouth and chuckled quietly. By now, though, the cicada calls throughout the grove had noticeably thinned out.
Alana had mentioned that Red Locust Grove only produced a little over a hundred Blood Spirit Cicadas each year. Marcus had already caught nearly a third of them. Naturally, the remaining ones were much harder to locate.
Honestly, it was not his fault. The cicadas had simply run into someone far greedier than they deserved.
At this point, Marcus had pushed deep into the grove. The red locust trees around him were enormous, their canopies blotting out most of the sky. Flowers clustered thickly on every branch, and the air was so dense with drifting red petals that visibility dropped to almost nothing.
The red locust bees were thicker here too. Swarms hovered close together, overlapping patrol zones. More than once, Marcus had to summon Pebble repeatedly just to lure enough of them away to move forward safely.
’Alright. Time to leave.’ There was no sense pushing his luck any further.
Wait. Not leave. He still needed to head toward Black Dragon Pond and find the Black Earth Cellar.
Just as Marcus was about to urge his Nightmare Dragon Steed upward, a cicada call drifted faintly from ahead. It was distant, but clear.
Marcus froze.
The grove had grown quiet, so quiet that the sound carried easily. The chirp was sharp and resonant, bright and full of energy, completely different from the usual Blood Spirit Cicadas.
’Could it be... a boss?’
Marcus focused on the direction of the sound, but the grove was too dense to see anything clearly.
"Reee—"
Another chirp rang out.
This time it was loud, not because it came from one cicada, but because more than thirty Blood Spirit Cicadas chirped together in response.
As the chorus faded, the distant, singular call returned once more.
Only then did Marcus realize how different it was. Even thirty-plus cicadas chirping together could not match the presence of that one sound. It cut through everything, leaving a far stronger impression.
That was no ordinary cicada. That was definitely a boss.
Excitement surged through Marcus. His pulse quickened as he and Pebble carefully advanced toward the source of the sound.
The drifting petals made visibility terrible, but the cicada calls formed a rhythm. One clear, solitary chirp followed by a responding chorus, back and forth like a strange symphony, guiding him deeper into the grove.
’Damn. This is brutal.’
The path ahead was packed with red locust bees. Progress slowed to a crawl. Marcus had to summon Pebble again and again just to carve out narrow windows to move forward. A distance that should have taken twenty or thirty minutes stretched into more than an hour of painstaking, exhausting flight.
Still, no matter how winding the path, rivers always reach the sea.
After circling several massive red locust trees, the scenery abruptly opened up. The trees ahead were even larger, but spaced farther apart, leaving wide clearings between them. Sunlight poured down unobstructed, illuminating the grove in brilliant red and gold.
The sight stopped Marcus in his tracks.
About sixty meters ahead, perched along the branches of a single red locust tree, were more than thirty Blood Spirit Cicadas, their bodies glowing faintly red. And above them, at the very top of the tree, sat a golden cicada the size of a fist, radiating a one-meter halo of red light.
’A golden cicada... glowing red?’
Marcus’s heart pounded. What kind of cicada was that? Was it some variant of the Blood Spirit Cicada? If so, why was it golden instead of red?
The urge to rush forward and hit it with Insight was almost overwhelming.
’No. Steady.’
Rushing now would only ruin everything. Marcus forced himself to calm down, took a slow breath, and assessed the situation carefully.
The distance was safe, for now. The golden cicada had not noticed him. It chirped contentedly, harmonizing with the cicadas below as if nothing in the world concerned it.
Marcus scanned the surroundings again. No red locust bees, not a single one in sight.
That had to be because of the golden cicada. Whatever it was, its presence alone kept the bees at bay.
"Perfect. That makes things much easier."
He murmured to himself and tightened his grip on the Red Locust Cicada Net. If the golden cicada was a type of Blood Spirit Cicada, then the net should work the same way, confusing its senses and suppressing its escape.
Ignoring the ordinary cicadas below, Marcus urged Blackie forward, inching closer to the golden one.
The Red Locust Cicada Net could extend freely thanks to the Spirit of a Hundred Flowers energy Alana had infused into it, but forty meters was the limit. Beyond that, the success rate dropped sharply.
He needed to get closer.
But when Marcus was still fifty meters away, the golden cicada reacted.
Before he could do anything, it spread its wings, let out a sharp chirp, flared with red light, and vanished.
At the exact same moment, the thirty-plus Blood Spirit Cicadas beneath it also spread their wings, activated Cicada Sheds Its Shell, and disappeared without a trace.
Marcus was left hovering in the air, surrounded by drifting red petals, holding his net like an idiot.
’Damn it. Son of a—’
That thing was absurdly alert. Fifty meters. It could sense him from fifty meters away. This golden cicada was on an entirely different level.
The way it vanished was identical to the others. Cicada Sheds Its Shell, no doubt about it.
Marcus clenched his jaw. There was no mistaking it, that golden cicada was a Blood Spirit Cicada.