Chapter 41: Lotte

Nissima came up smiling brightly.

Her smooth black hair fluttered elegantly in the air.

And next to her…

‘Ah!’

A metal spider… was floating.

And it was completely!

‘Me… Crazy!’

“Hohoho! Proudly introducing! This is my masterpiece, Lotte!”

『 ☆☆☆☆☆ 【Lotte】 Proten Arachnid LV175 』

And so on.

Does this make sense…?

Not only did the level increase, but the stars also increased!

So potential also increases?

The surprise that the status window told me was fleeting, and the scene unfolding before me was like the video I saw on the news back then.

‘Is it a superconductor…?’

I thought of the superconductor commotion that heated up the world in my previous life.

There were videos all over SNS of magnets floating in the air and spinning around.

It was really amazing back then, but…

This spider in front of me now was hundreds of times more amazing.

All eight legs were balanced slightly above the torso.

And that too perfectly!

The entire body shone with a bluish black light, and the crystals of the ice wall reflected beautifully on the surface, shining like stars in the night sky.

The superconducting spider moved slowly and smoothly, as if swimming in water.

Each leg moved elegantly as if walking on an invisible cushion.

This kind of thing actually existed…

“Hoo… What on earth did you do to the spider?”

The master also looked at the spider here and there as if he was very curious.

“Hehe. There was a strange mineral called Proten in the labyrinth of Prostia. You mixed it with the spider!”

‘Huh…?’

For a moment, a horrible image that I shouldn’t imagine in detail flashed through my mind.

‘Ugh… I’m glad you’re still alive…’

But why does the word Proten sound so familiar?

I’ve definitely heard it somewhere…

I tilted my head and gave up.

It must be a mistake.

Nis-sama fixed his gaze on me, curious about my reaction.

‘Oops!’

“Wow! It’s so cool!”

My roots quickly scraped the floor, engraving excited letters.

The flower petals trembled with excitement.

“Hohoho~ As expected, Rico is the one who recognizes things the best!”

Nis-sama made a very satisfied expression.

The hem of the black dress fluttering.

“Now, from now on, this child is Rico’s. Please raise him well~”

“Huh!? To… Me!?”

The root was surprised and wrote crooked letters.

The flower petals were surprised and opened wide and then closed again.

“Of course~ I said I’d give it to you as a gift~”

‘M… mine? Such an amazing spider…?’

Flutter, flutter.

Lotte floated in the air and slowly approached me.

But…

flutter,

flutter! wiggle!

rustle!

Suddenly, all the bugs retreated backwards.

The spiders were the first to climb the ice wall and hide in the corner of the ceiling, while Miel and the butterflies flew higher and hid in the shadows.

The Frost Hoppers fled, climbing the walls, and even the always confident Blizzard Hornets flew away, buzzing.

Everyone seemed to be startled, as if they had seen a ghost.

‘Huh… why are you doing this?’

The spiders were particularly reactive.

They were huddled together, shaking all their legs, like a scene from a horror movie.

Even Glacia, the most laid-back of the bugs, jumped up and ran away.

It was a speed that was normally unimaginable.

‘What the… Glacia could move that fast…?’

Glacia ran away with the determination of an office worker leaving her job.

She packed up her territory with her six legs and disappeared in a flash.

‘Hey… were you always that diligent…?’

Only Cecilia was still sitting quietly on my flower petals.

‘Ah, at least Cecilia…’

But when I looked closely, Cecilia was shivering with her eyes covered by her fiery wings.

‘Ah… I’m holding on because I like it…’

My heart became lonely.

Lotte had been modified against her will and became like this, and now even her friends treated her as a monster.

She was the top bug leader…

‘Poor thing… No one would have wanted her…’

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you…”

She quietly scratched the ground with her roots.

She wrote in soft curves as if soothing a wounded child.

“But what are your abilities?”

The master looked at Lotte with interested eyes, seemingly unconcerned with Bug’s reaction.

“First of all, as you can see, she can levitate!”

Nissima said happily.

“Ah! And now that I look at it, it seems like she can bite other bugs!”

‘That’s…!’

My friend ran away because she was modified strangely!

“Is that all?”

The master’s cold gaze turned to Lotte.

“Huh~ We’ll have to check that out now!”

Nissima said, pouting.

“Then shall we check her skills? Lotte’s aura has gotten quite strong… She’ll probably fight quite well!”

‘Maybe…?’

An uneasy feeling ran up my spine at those words.

It felt like something dangerous was hiding behind Nissima’s playful smile.

The master let out a sigh.

At that moment, Cecilia spread her fiery wings and flew up.

Bravery radiated from her small body.

Flap flap!

『 ☆☆ 【Cecilia】 Blaze Lumiere LV102 』

‘Huh… Cecilia wants to fight?’

Worry rose inside me.

Cecilia’s level was just over 100…

Lotte was now 5 stars and level 175…

‘But it’s a friendly match… Surely she won’t get seriously hurt? If you get hurt, I can heal you right away…’

But I couldn’t completely shake off my anxiety.

Cecilia and Lotte stood facing each other in the center of the room.

The contrast of the small flame butterfly and the levitating spider was like a scene from a movie.

Then, the master waved his hand elegantly.

In an instant, a transparent ice barrier surrounded us.

The ice wall rose up in a circle, creating an arena like the Colosseum in Rome.

‘Wow… You can make something like this with ice!’

《This is so cool!》

He excitedly scratched the floor with his roots.

The flower petals fluttered because he was so happy with the sight.

“I made this because I was worried that Cecilia’s fire would fly at you.”

‘Ah!’

My heart warmed.

I thought you just made it to look cool… but it was a consideration for me.

‘As expected, master… Even these little details…’

《Chunin! You’re the best♡》

He engraved the words with lots of hearts.

He decorated it with more care than usual, even adding flower patterns.

The master smiled faintly and stroked my petal.

A shiver ran through my body as his cold hands touched me.

Yes!

A stadium date like the nobles of Rome!

The petals opened wide and then closed shyly.

“Hehe… I want to raise one too. My labyrinth has a Rico too.”

“Nice.”

The master cut off the playful words of Nice.

That’s right!

I’m yours!

Now, the match was finally about to begin.

It seemed like all the bugles had gathered around Cecilia and were cheering her on.

They were waving their small wings and legs as if they were trying to cheer her on.

‘Hmm… Lotte was your friend too… This is too much…’

I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help but cheer for Cecilia more.

She’s my daughter!

The master and Nice also looked at the two with excited expressions.

The master’s eyes were filled with anticipation, and Nice’s red eyes sparkled.

Flap flap-!

Cecilia moved first.

An unbelievably large firestorm erupted from the small body.

The red flames exploded and spread in all directions, dyeing the entire space red.

As Cecilia’s flames filled the space, the ice wall began to melt slightly.

However, it quickly froze again with the master’s magic.

“Oh my~ Such a powerful flame!”

Nissima exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

“Because Rico raised the child.”

The master spoke calmly, but there was a hint of pride in his voice.

‘Hehe… My daughter was praised!’

My flower petals bloomed with pride.

However, when the flames cleared, Lotte was still floating around in perfect condition.

There was not a single scratch on her bluish-black surface.

‘Mi… Crazy defense!’

“Wow…”

The master’s cold gaze pierced Lotte.

“Hehehe, it’s my work after all~?”

Nissima smiled proudly.

At that moment, Bugles’ reaction was amusing.

The spiders hiding in the corners’ eyes lit up brightly, and Bugles’ antennae hanging from the ceiling all stood up.

Even Glessia, who had run away, peeked her head out from beyond the ice wall.

‘So… you guys think you’re amazing too.’

At that moment, Cecilia’s whole body was enveloped in flames as if she was angry.

She burned red like a small sun and rushed towards Lotte.

It was beautiful to see her flying with a red tail like a meteor.

‘That’s right! Go! Flash Drive!’

But Lotte stayed still this time too.

She didn’t even show any sign of moving.

‘Uh…’

Boom!

In the blink of an eye, something happened.

Cecilia was bounced away like a rubber ball.

On the other hand, Lotte was still fine.

In fact, she seemed to sparkle even more…

‘The… strongest tanker…! The attack is not working…!’

At that moment, Cecilia fell to the ground, her limp body drooping.

Her wings that were like flames faintly disappeared.

‘No!’

My heart sank.

I quickly sprinkled Cecilia with a lot of pink pollen that had a healing effect.

The pink pollen enveloped Cecilia’s body as a sweet fragrance spread.

As soon as the master removed the ice wall, he carefully lifted Cecilia with the black roots and placed her back on top of my petals.

I could feel her small body still trembling.

‘Are you okay…?’

Crunch crunch!

Cecilia began to gnaw at my petals with her trembling body.

Her appearance seemed to indicate that she would become stronger and avenge this humiliation.