The Insect Den (2)
We arrived at what seemed to be the insect sorcerer's hideout. It was a completely enclosed underground space. Judging by the bricks and iron bars, this place was an underground prison. The air was dry, thick with dust, and carried a musty stench.
"Hmm..."
I headed straight from the (former) phone booth. A somewhat wide corridor appeared, with branching paths on both sides. It was clearly a maze made up of dozens of corridors, forks, and rooms.
It's pretty damn big.
I spread my senses to the max, but I couldn't feel the end of it. Exploring this alone would take more than a day. Unfortunately, I had to go to work at the sand company tomorrow. I needed to save time as much as possible.
"Beasts that form the legion, defeat your enemies."
Ten ant eggs floated in the air. They hatched and grew at a rapid pace, stopping at the size of large dogs.
"Go explore."
[Tap! Tap!]
[Click clack clack!]
I planned to leave the scouting to these guys. The ants advanced in the directions I indicated. They'd explore the underground prison in my stead and relay the info back to me.
"Hmm..."
I'm connected to them through mana. I could send them commands, and receive real-time info from them. Of course, it came with the downside of constant mana drain.
There are two types of summons.
One-time summons that end after casting, and ones that drain mana continuously. Each has its pros and cons. The former costs nothing to maintain but is hard to control; the latter costs mana but is easy to control. I prefer the latter. Even if I burn through my mana, I can still use deep-sea magic, so I use mana freely.
"Hm?"
Anyway, as the exploration continued, the connections to the ants started cutting off one by one. Minor injuries could've been healed through mana, but this felt like instant deaths. All ten at once.
"Down below, huh."
The underground prison extended deep underground. Nothing notable up to the fifth basement level. The moment we hit the sixth, the connections snapped. High chance something's there.
"Let's go."
Floating Go-seo in midair, caught it again, and moved on.
The prison was dark and labyrinthine, but I could see through the shadows pretty well, and I'd mapped the paths via the ants.
"...Not here?"
[Hum...]
But theory and reality differ. Even knowing the way, I got a bit lost. There should've been stairs, but I ended up in a huge cavern.
Thud!
At that moment, a trap triggered. The entrance sealed shut, and a weird noise came from below—like something crawling up.
[Rustle! Rustle!]
"..."
The cavern floor was iron bars. Bugs started crawling through the gaps. Impossible to count. At least hundreds of millions, maybe more.
[[[Sha sha sha shak!]]]
"What the fuck."
They filled the cavern. Then they surged toward me as one, like a black wave. Getting caught in that would leave not even bone fragments.
"Tentacles, shatter it!"
[Shuruk!]
Boom!
I quickly summoned tentacles, smashed the sealed door, bolted into the corridor, and resealed the entrance with more tentacles. Just as I thought I'd blocked it—
The stone walls crumbled, bugs pouring from the cracks.
"This is insane."
Old bricks were no match for their gnawing. The tentacles, realizing late, rampaged and collapsed the cavern, but the tunnels were already breached. Bugs surged like a spring, endless.
"Fighting's a hassle."
[Sha sha shak!]
I kept running, pondering. Honestly, not that dangerous. I had over a hundred ways to wipe them out right now. But spill blood for mere bugs? Bad math. Plus, something bigger lurked below. Needed to conserve blood.
"Bounce!"
[Whirr!]
My choice: run. They were numerous and annoying to deal with, but their speed was average. I found stairs fast, went down. A few traps slowed them. Distance opened up nicely.
I leisurely reached the sixth floor and looked around.
"A forest?"
It'd been a prison moments ago, but here was a forest underground. It had a sky, and light sources—not the sun, but close enough.
[Kee-sha!]
"Whoa."
Right then, blades flew from somewhere. I ducked, turned— a mantis summon I'd used before was there. Familiar mana; the insect sorcerer's pet.
"Lots of 'em."
[Kkiruruk!]
[Sha sha shak!]
[Pop pop!]
Hundreds, each big as large animals. Starving, too. They looked ready to rip me apart and devour.
Oh, right?
Their master was the insect sorcerer. Dead by my hand a month ago. No food supply since. Cannibalism probably forbidden. Fasting bugs.
"Uh... sorry?"
[Kkieeek!!!]
The giant insects screeched and charged. I surged my mana to counter. Sorry, I'll kill you quick. Go join your master, bug bastards.
Insect magic meshed perfectly with deep-sea magic. I could use both, even arrange unique spells blending them.
"Beasts, evolve and multiply."
I rapidly summoned insects—not specific ones, just random bugs. Hundreds of eggs appeared everywhere, hatched, grew fast.
[Kee eek!]
[Kya aak!]
But mature bugs vs. freshly hatched giants? Big difference. Size, fighting style, body use—all mismatched. Our bugs were getting pushed back.
"You are His children, thus denizens of the sea."
[Kee shat?]
[Grrul?]
So I infused them with deep-sea essence. Madness gleamed in their compound eyes. Scales and tentacles sprouted; they charged like berserkers.
[Kee eee eek!!!]
[Kee shaaa!!]
But even enhanced deep-sea bugs couldn't sweep the foes easily. Dumb bugs still had survival instincts. Starved to insanity, they kept coming. Deep-sea bugs regenerated as limbs tore off; enemies ate legs, tentacles, anything. A hellscape of death and devouring.
[[[Wheeeeeeng!]]]
"You little shit."
The battle spanned the forest; attacks came from all sides. Swarms of hornets dive-bombed from the air. Fast enough to pierce most defenses.
Need defensive magic ASAP.
What kind of magic has zero defense spells? Feeling oddly wronged, I slashed my hand, pulled a massive tentacle.
"Help me out again."
[Shurolong~]
My all-purpose tentacle: basic attack, defense, transport. It wrapped me protectively with three tendrils, intercepted hornets with the other five.
[Wheeeeeeng!]
[Shuruk!]
Not easy. They acrobatted around attacks, pierced defenses, or gnawed tentacles to stall.
More magic?
But bad vibes. Felt like a real fight below; couldn't overdo it. I'd bled a ton lately—anemic even as a monster. Time to play careful.
[[[Sha sha sha sha sha sha sha shak!!!!]]]
"Holy shit."
As I pondered, a black wave poured from a distant entrance. It swept everything—giant bugs, the forest itself—just snacks. Now I got why bug swarms were called disasters.
"Gotta bail."
[Yeah.]
Dunno where they massed up, but this wasn't an enemy anymore—a calamity. Winnable? Sure. But possible and smart are different. Fighting that head-on is idiotic. Run's the play!
"Fuck! Run your asses off!"
[Shwoooook!]
I urgently ordered the tentacle; it dashed through the forest on dozens of legs, leaping trees, smashing directions. But the bug wave accelerated with numbers. Would catch up soon.
Blow a big one?
Really nuke something huge? Whatever's below, survive first. Mid-thought, a stone door at the forest's edge. Sturdy, slightly ajar—could fit.
"There!"
[Shurorok!]
I commanded; tentacle veered, charged the door. Slipped in, slammed it shut.
Thud...
The stone door sealed with a boom. Bug clamor echoed surround-sound beyond, but thankfully, they couldn't breach it.
"We live."
[Whirr~]
[Shurolong...]
Me, Go-seo, tentacle—we all sighed in relief. Escaped the nightmare swarm intact. Near full strength now.
"Let's go."
[Whirr!]
I reabsorbed the tentacle, gripped Go-seo, descended the stairs. A pulsing throb echoed—like a living heart, resounding through the floor.
Another brawl incoming.
The boss of this insect sorcerer's dungeon hideout. Time to face his hidden ace.