The leader, shocked by the fact that the abomination in front of him could talk, stuttered, "What in god's name are you?" before taking a trembling step back.
"Me?" Jasper commented as a smile crept on his face while pointing at his chest. "Well, what am I? Some might call me an abomination, but if you were to ask me… well, I would consider myself the next stage of human evolution."
"Human evolution? You look like a miscarriage an insect had after getting raped by a caveman," one of the humans shouted, and laughter erupted.
Enraged by the latter's words, Jasper landed in front of the human, in the blink of an eye, before decapitating him with a palm swing for his blasphemous statement.
A fountain of blood erupted from the mutilated body, staining everyone in its path as the corpse twitched.
"I'm sorry," Jasper laughed while licking the blood from his fingers. "I overreacted by a bit."
Shocked by Jasper's feats, the surrounding humans scrambled away, except for one, the team leader, who was not intimidated by Jasper in the slightest. "You are quite insecure about your appearance, insect," he stated with narrowed eyes as he coldly unsheathed his sword.
Jasper sniggered at the sight of the sword, "Please, give up. That sword is a mere toothpick."
Unswayed by the latter's words, the leader spat onto the ground before leaping straight toward Jasper with a slashing motion.
Unfortunally for the leader, however, Jasper was right. Instead of his sword carving into the carapace, it bounced right off, and in the end, the leader stood shooked right in front of the three-meter tall insect hybrid creature, who only stared down in pity.
"I told you so," Jasper commented, amused as he grabbed the leader's face with his hand before effortlessly lifting him from the ground.
Struggling, the leader attempted to kick Jasper while furiously swinging his sword at Jasper's face, who gently grabbed the sword by the blade.
"Do I have to repeat myself?" Jasper asked, disappointed as his grip around the blade tightened till it broke. "These weapons are mere toys to me.~" Jasper remarked, amused as his grip around the leader's face tightened. His fingers slowly bore into the latter's skull, whose struggle only increased.
But the leader did not resign to his fate. Instead, he roared loudly in desperation for help as he tried stabbing Jasper's chest with his broken blade tip multiple times, just for the tip to bounce off no matter how much he tried.
"You know the definition of insanity, right?" Jasper asked while gradually increasing the pressure applied against the latter's skull. "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." After finishing his sentence, Jasper squashed the latter's head, sending pieces of flesh, blood, and brain matter flying everywhere.
The rest watched in horror as Jasper broke their leader's skull effortlessly.
"Father was right. Humans are indeed quite fragile," Jasper commented before throwing the mutilated corpse against the nearest tree.
Only after that did he shift his focus back to the rest. "So who of you will answer my comment?" the insect hybrid asked while licking the blood from his face.
***
"It's so boring," Luz yawned as he rested on the back of a horse-driven-carriage.
Francis glared at Luz before coldly commenting, "damn, did I really become the coachman for you two?
"Yeah you did," Lewis yawned before continuing his nap as he enjoyed the warm sunlight.
Sighing, Francis commented, "We will soon be there, boys. Hopefully, the two are prepared for our first encounter with a village.
An hour later, the carriage came to a stop.
"Are we there?" Luz commented while stretching his arms.
"Yes, we are," Francis answered before shifting his gaze towards Lewis. "Lewis, could you please watch over our carriage as Luz and I visit the village? Also, If you see a giant flame ball erupting, you know what to do."
Lewis nodded, and the two, equipped with their armors and weapons before they followed the trail leading to the village.
As they got closer to the village, a female villager picking some berries on the roadside was surprised by their appearance. "Outsiders!? May I know what brings two strong warriors like you to our village?"
Luz smiled, and Francis answered, "We have something urgent to discuss with the village leader."
"I see… Let me lead the two of you to him," the girl answered, concerned, before grabbing her basket and leading them.
Ten minutes later, an old man welcomed the two of them, and a mere glance was enough for him to realize with whom he was talking. "The Ryder family, huh?" he commented before leading the two into his cabin. "Please, enter my cabin so that we can talk in private."
Inside the cabin, Francis deployed a sound barrier spell before making himself comfortable.
"So what bring two esteemed members of the Ryder Family to me?" the village elder cautiously asked while preparing some tea for the two visitors.
Francis chuckled at his word before answering, "Strange thing seems to be happening in the villages that happen to be in the woods."
The old man stopped for a moment before answering, "Indeed, strange things seem to be occurring in the villages." After answering them, he gave each of the two a cup of black tea before taking a seat as well. "Where should I even begin? The forest is getting stranger by the day. Usually, we trade with the nearby forests and other merchants living in the nearest city. But other the past few months, the number of visitors decreased."
"I see," commented Francis before asking, "have you guys tried visiting or contacting the other villages?"
"We tried," the old man sighed. "But whenever we tried, strange things seem to be happening. Hoards of insects regularly appear out of nowhere and start hunting us whenever we leave our village too far."
Francis and Luz quietly shared eye contact before Luz took the lead. "That explains a lot. We visited some of the villages that were deeper in the woods, and I don't want to frighten you, but they weren't faring so well."