Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Powerful Giant Ants
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Gripping the Frostfire Sword, I pulled out another turtle, imprinted the starting point on it, and tucked it back into my pocket before pressing forward.
This time, my goal was to venture as deep as possible and find the queen ant ruling over the powerful giant ants—then kill her. No matter how much of a wave dungeon this was, taking out the boss that commanded all the ants would make clearing it far easier.
Of course, that was the ideal plan. My top priority right now was simply locating the queen.
'They're still on my trail. Why would the queen tell me to destroy her own egg?'
It felt off. Like I was missing something crucial.
I didn't know much about ants, but it didn't make sense for a single colony to have two queens. The queen's egg should have been the precious item that would produce the next generation's ruler, something all the ants would gather to protect.
So why smash it? Wouldn't that be as good as signing their own doom?
Plus, the clear condition felt way too straightforward for a unique-grade dungeon—and one that wasn't exactly friendly to humans. The ants' overwhelming power made it plausible, but I wasn't about to let my guard down.
I downed a sensory amplification potion and pushed ahead, hyper-aware of my surroundings.
How long had I been moving? I'd wandered through enough tunnels that something should have shown up by now, but...
"What the hell?"
There wasn't a single powerful giant ant in sight—not even a hint of life. It was like they'd all vanished.
Sensing something wrong, I scowled. Variables always led to the worst-case scenario faster than the best.
The ants hadn't gone mad and mass-suicided or broken out of the dungeon. Dungeon breaks never happened with hunters inside—especially not in a dungeon with a black hole phenomenon.
So if they were nowhere to be seen, they had to be gathered in one spot. And the only one who could rally all the powerful giant ants like that was the queen. Find that gathering, and I'd find her too!
With that hopeful twist on the variable, I picked up the pace. No need to creep along hiding my presence anymore—I kicked off the ground and raced toward where the ants must be clustered.
It didn't take long to find them: hundreds of powerful giant ants packed together.
'Holy shit!'
Way more than I'd imagined—at least three hundred, easy. They were all bowing their heads to a massive, furious queen at the front.
Gulp!
Seeing her broke my resolve. No helping it. The Sun Eye revealed her as a unique C-grade.
My two main stats had hit F-grade, and I'd barely scraped D-grade in magic power by awakening it. But this queen was a monster no average B-grade hunter could beat one-on-one.
Maybe that C-grade divine being who'd pummeled me senseless recently could hold her off somehow?
The dungeon's unique D+ rating probably meant it was this dangerous if you just blocked waves without facing the queen.
Sure enough, the strongest elite guards among the ants were unique D+. They'd probably show up in the fifth wave.
The hierarchy seemed to be common soldiers, elites, guards, then queen. Higher rank meant bigger size too—the queen was about twice the size of a common soldier.
I swallowed hard and spied on their meeting from hiding.
The queen was roaring furiously at the ants for some reason, and her subjects trembled in terror at her rage. Finally, she issued a command: Most of the ants were to join the search.
Drop everything else. Find the missing queen's egg and the intruder!!!
The moment she bellowed that, over two hundred common soldiers surged to their feet and scattered through the tunnels.
'Damn it!'
A swarm was charging straight for my hiding tunnel. I yanked an item from my inventory and equipped it. The stealth skill from the one I'd used against Ra activated, turning me invisible.
Big mistake. Total idiot move. I should've just bolted.
Ants—especially the common soldiers—had severely degenerated eyes that could barely make out brightness and shapes. Perfectly natural for life in these dark tunnels.
They relied on their antennae to sense air vibrations and movement. Going invisible meant nothing. They could still detect my breathing, my tremors.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
I plastered myself against the wall, stifling my presence, but they spotted me instantly. With tunnel-shaking shrieks, they slammed their jaws and charged.
"Damn it all!"
This was bad. Really bad. Facing dozens of powerful giant ants, I spun and ran.
"Equivalent Exchange! Max out my Infinite stat!"
Massive coins burned away as my body surged with power. Stats capped at +30. But it was enough.
Luckily, the ants' stats were mostly in strength, so they weren't that fast. Relatively speaking—for their rank and grade, anyway. They kept pace with me.
Grinding my teeth as the behemoths lumbered after me, determined not to lose their prey, I racked my brain.
'What now?'
Leading them straight to the queen's egg was suicide. It'd be like escorting the enemy army to our base.
But I couldn't ignore it either. With this many ants swarming the tunnels, my teammates would be found in no time. Waves or not, the ants would pour in.
I'd figured there'd be more than just waves from the start, but this was the worst case. Without me, all they could do was hold out.
Time to choose. I glanced back at the twenty or so chasing me...
'Just hold on a little longer.'
I kicked off harder, luring them far from my teammates.
How long did I run? Eventually, escape hit a dead end. I skidded into a blocked cavern, stopped, and caught my breath.
Did they think I'd given up? The ants slunk into the cavern, chittering like they were mocking their prey.
"Hoo... This is pissing me off."
As they approached, clacking their massive jaws, I closed my eyes, held my breath, then snapped them open.
Whoosh!
Red flames erupted from my left eye, aimed at the ants. The moment my sun-filled pupil met their huge eyes, messages flooded in.
Degenerated eyes didn't matter. Even in their blurry world of light and shadow, they couldn't miss the brilliant sun blazing in the dark.
Of the 23 chasing me, 14 powerful giant ants panicked, shrieking from debuffs.
I didn't waste the opening. My Frostfire Sword flashed as I dove under them, expertly targeting joints while sprinting.
I couldn't finish them off. Priority was disabling as many as possible before debuffs wore off—and the unaffected ones were charging murderously whenever I surfaced under the others.
The Frostfire Sword sliced joints smoothly. As the eleventh ant's legs buckled and collapsed, the debuffs vanished all at once.
'About five minutes?'
Low proficiency and level meant no back-to-back uses. Even infusing magic power into the Sun Eye felt like the eye rejected it—impossible.
Still, neutralizing half was a win. I burst out from under the collapsing ant.
Thud!
The crippled ant bellowed rage and sorrow at its kin. As if in answer, 12 ants charged me like mad.
The cavern shook with crushing pressure. I focused, moving with precision.
I leaped straight at one barreling head-on. It crouched low, mocking me, ensuring I couldn't slip underneath like the others.
Exactly what I wanted. I kicked off, unfurled one wing, and morphed Myriad into an item.
My physical stats spiked instantly. My shoes became blue sneakers patterned with clouds. I stepped on air once and landed atop the ant.
Never expected me to go over instead of under? It shrieked in fury. But I had no time for its tantrum.
Determined to crush me even at the cost of one of their own, the remaining 11 hurled themselves onto the ant I rode, jaws gaping. No escape—surrounded on all sides.
I focused my mind, relaxed my body like flowing water, becoming the water itself.
I positioned my sword against jaws snapping for my waist. Grabbed the ones lunging for my arm and redirected.
Taiji—like a Tai Chi master among hunters. I spun, adding my rotation to their overwhelming force, guiding it into the ants charging beside us.
Crunch! Crack!
Their jaws clamped shut—tearing into their own kin.
I wasn't unscathed either. No way I could block all 11.
Crack! Crunch! Snap!
In that split second, two moves deflected eight ants. But the last three bit down inescapably.
Snap!
Their jaws clamped my right thigh, left arm, and gut with terrifying force.
Skill: Flowing Water Transformation
Deflects incoming attacks!
Lucky or unlucky? The jaw aiming for my left arm missed like cause and effect had glitched—snapping empty air.
Luck was fleeting, though. Agony and crushing pressure hit my gut and right thigh.
"Gahhh!"
Their antennae sensed my trembling, twitching like they'd already tasted victory.
"Nngh!!!"
Not yet. I won't die here. Myriad shifted to a high-grade sword, gripped safely in my unbit left hand.
Right hand readjusted the Frostfire Sword. I stabbed down into the necks of the two holding me.
Squelch! Spurt!
Impaled, they yanked their jaws free with shrieks.
"Kkh! Kkh! Damn... you bastards."
I chugged potions from inventory, spraying the wounds. Top-tier commons and the best high-grades, but the damage was too severe—only half-healed, though the painkiller spread relief.
I stood.
"You ant bastards! Let's finish this!!"
I won't die like this. I'll kill you all and make sure my little sister lives!
Ignoring the dripping blood, I leaped down from the ant's back with both swords in hand.