The Stage is Complete
With no other tank in the rear, the ant monsters that emerged from behind naturally targeted the mage casting spells at the very back. Just as their saw-like jaws were about to clamp down on her, a longsword suddenly appeared from the side and blocked the attack.
“…Kuh!! Damn it!”
If the mage fell in this situation, it would truly be the end. To protect her, the warriors who had been clearing the path ahead had no choice but to abandon their positions and shield her with their bodies. Yet even their desperate efforts proved insufficient against the swarming ants. The reason was simple: no matter how hard they struggled, those who weren’t proper tanks couldn’t overcome a numerically superior force. To make matters worse, the number of fighters pushing forward at the front visibly dwindled, causing the party’s advance to slow dramatically. That slowdown immediately translated into greater pressure on the tanks holding the front line.
“A… Aaaah!!! Where… where am I even supposed to attack…?”
Overwhelmed by the chaos, the party’s female mage spiraled into panic. With two separate fronts to defend and only one mage to cover the rear, collapse was inevitable. Spreading her spells across both fronts would have been far too inefficient. While she hesitated, the party crumbled at an alarming rate. Warriors in the rear, unable to withstand the sheer numbers, fell one after another. The formation they had painstakingly built collapsed entirely. Ants poured into the gaps, mixing with the party members, and the battlefield descended into utter pandemonium.
The once-solid party was slowly being swallowed by a black tide. Comrades who had been standing fine moments ago were reduced to chunks of meat in an instant. Severed arms and legs tumbled across the ground. Once the formation shattered, the slaughter became completely one-sided. Blood painted every surface red as indiscriminate carnage continued. To the monsters, the humans were nothing more than prey.
Even amid the massacre, the quick-witted acted fast. Several members who judged the party doomed fled the scene without hesitation. The situation was so dire that even the party leader abandoned his subordinates and tried to escape. In the end, only the unfortunate members who stayed behind to fight paid the price. By the time they realized the party had disintegrated, it was already too late. Cold as it was, their sacrifice as bait allowed the leader and a handful of others to escape safely.
From a distance, two figures watched the entire scene unfold: a sharp-eyed slime girl and an unidentified black cat.
[Whoa… I never imagined things would work out this perfectly. That party really exceeded expectations in every way. I honestly don’t know what to say.]
“See? I told you. I said the situation you were worried about wouldn’t happen. They’re just a little bigger than average, but their skill level is shockingly low. That’s why they couldn’t handle even this much pressure and fell apart so easily. Honestly, with a leader like that, it was bound to happen.”
I spoke calmly while watching the cat’s stunned reaction, though even I felt a flicker of surprise. I hadn’t expected the party to collapse so pathetically. All I had done was create a minor crisis, yet they crumbled like a sandcastle. It was almost comical—like watching an oversized child flail helplessly.
Without needing much thought, it was obvious who had orchestrated this disaster: me and the cat. More precisely, the cat had devised the detailed plan while I carried it out. My first task had been to hunt ant monsters. At first I questioned the purpose, but after hearing the explanation, I understood immediately. The goal wasn’t just killing them—it was harvesting the unique pheromones released by ants on the brink of death.
As everyone knew, ants communicated through pheromones, and ant-type monsters were no different. The cat had built the entire strategy around that fact. Obtaining the pheromones proved surprisingly simple. I targeted the smallest ants inside the dungeon, ambushed them, swallowed them whole just like I had with the giant ant earlier, and slowly dissolved their bodies until they were nearly dead. Then I spat out the barely breathing creature and collected the pheromones it released while calling for help. Easy to describe, but actually doing it—especially repeating the process multiple times—filled me with visceral disgust.
It was during this that I first used the Absorb skill. According to the cat, its original function was to drain stamina or mana through contact, but it could also absorb substances like pheromones if used creatively. Of course, touching the grotesquely melted monsters was something I had to do myself, and each time my face turned pale. The sour, acrid stench from the pheromones made me gag repeatedly, even though my slime body prevented actual vomiting.
Once collected, the pheromones were used to lure more ants. Covered head to toe in the scent of dying ants calling for aid, I wandered the dungeon. Miraculously, the ants swarmed toward me as if entranced—and, recognizing me as one of their own, they didn’t attack. It was incredibly useful. I gathered them like loot and herded them into a wide open space along the path to the boss room, far enough from the entrance to avoid detection but close enough to strike.
Once the main force was positioned, it was time to prepare the ambush unit that would attack from the rear. My slime body’s ability to divide freely played a crucial role here. Leaving the main group entirely risked scattering the ants I had gathered, so I left small portions of myself behind to maintain control. As long as my Residual stat held, splitting was no problem. The ambush unit was gathered the same way, positioned in a secluded spot a short distance from the main force.
All of this had been possible thanks to the cat’s abilities. It had come up with the idea in the first place and possessed perfect knowledge of the dungeon’s layout, making preparation far easier. Most parties used special equipment to mark the path to the boss room, so its navigational prowess was nothing short of remarkable. When it first said I just had to follow its instructions, it hadn’t been empty boasting.
The massive trap we had constructed worked exactly as planned. The ants, already agitated by the pheromones, never let the party escape. All I had to do was confirm the battle had begun and, at the right moment, lead the ambush unit into the party’s rear. That single action was enough to nearly wipe out an entire party, low-level though they were.
[By the way, that leader really is an idiot. I can’t believe he didn’t even send out scouts! Of course, even if he had, we would’ve dealt with them quickly according to plan.]
The cat sneered at the leader who had fled the scene. It was right. We had expected at least one scouting party and prepared an ambush accordingly, yet they charged straight in without any reconnaissance. Their arrogance had saved me the trouble. If they had been even slightly more cautious, all our preparations might not have worked so smoothly. At the very least, sending scouts would have warned them of danger ahead. But blinded by greed, they skipped even that basic precaution—and this was the result. The party was effectively annihilated, and the survivors were scattered. Recovery was impossible.
[It feels a little anticlimactic, but the operation was a huge success. Shall we go finish off the survivors as planned? I just checked—the leader slipped away like a rat. This should be a good opportunity for you too, right?]
The cat tilted its head slightly and stared at me. I didn’t like how it seemed to be pulling me along according to its own designs, but it was correct. This wasn’t nearly enough. Those who had driven me to death and reduced me to this state would pay—with interest. My eyes burned with a cold fury that chilled me to the bone. The groundwork for revenge was complete. Now it was time for the main course.