71. Great Wave (5)
“Curtis! Where’s the commander?”
Bastian leaped down from his Gigant in a frantic rush.
“What’s going on, brother?”
“Kuyepson got hit by the ant monster’s mental attack!”
“What? I told him to be careful!”
“No choice. He instinctively grabbed and tore the ant monster apart to save another squad member.”
“Damn it, we can’t afford to lose a single Gigant pilot...”
“More importantly, where’s Commander Wayne?”
“Well... about that...”
Curtis wore an extremely troubled expression. He explained how Wayne had slipped out through the secret passage.
“What? He went to take down the queen ant?”
“Shh! Keep it down.”
Bastian whipped his head around, scanning the battlefield urgently. Then relief washed over his face.
“What nonsense is this? Look, Predator’s moving right there!”
“That’s Hermes he took. Nancy’s piloting it now.”
“What? That wind Gigant? Then who’s in the one over there?”
“Nancy’s riding it. He said if the commander suddenly bails, it’ll tank morale on the defensive line...”
Nancy could pilot a 2nd-class Gigant for travel, but she wasn’t battle-ready yet.
“And tell your men to hold steady for just two more days. Everything will be over by then.”
“Ugh!”
Bastian rubbed his forehead as if nursing a headache.
“Even so, he can’t keep charging off alone like this every time...”
“He’s not alone this time. He took Sabina and the orcs with him.”
“Sigh! That’s not the point. How can the future lord of the territory move so recklessly? And you—when you heard that, you should’ve stopped him!”
“Haha! You know Commander Wayne’s personality, brother. He’s not one to listen.”
Squad Leader Bastian resolved to speak to Wayne firmly about this once he returned safely.
“Don’t worry, though. He’d never dive into something impossible.”
***
Odds: fifty-fifty.
That was the rule Wayne had set for himself.
- How much risk can I take to survive?
This was the question he’d asked himself back when he was John Conner, after killing the real Wayne and barely escaping with his life. His answer: never take on anything with less than a 50% chance.
In truth, the plan to block the queen ant legion at Westline Fortress wasn’t even fifty-fifty. It was a 50% shot at saving the territory, plus maximizing ant monster kills at the fortress.
The original plan was to thin out the ant legion’s numbers here as much as possible, then evacuate his soldiers through the dwarf-dug tunnels just before the fortress fell. After that, they’d hold the line properly in the territory.
By then, whether it was the imperial army or the grand territory’s forces, they’d have time to reach the barren lands.
But after absorbing the princess ant’s memories and experience, the plan changed.
‘Spread out wide!’
At Jamie’s antennae twitching on Hermes’ back, the 5,000-ant legion fanned out broadly, swarming the 500 soldier ants blocking the entrance.
Ten worker ants per soldier ant! An unwinnable matchup on paper.
But the terror of a swarm lay in its density and relentless attacks.
“Kigek!”
“Kigik!”
A soldier ant’s massive jaws snapped, severing the waists and heads of three workers in an instant.
But that sacrifice let twenty more workers cling to its legs.
As they bit and pulled, the soldier ant—several times their size—began to stagger.
It whipped its head around, crushing another worker on its foreleg.
In that gap, ten more latched on.
It killed another.
Ten more piled on.
And the tide turned.
Dozens gnawed obsessively at its legs until they severed one by one. Ants on its back targeted the neck and waist in unison.
Its antennae sliced off in a flash, the soldier ant thrashed.
“Kieeeek!”
But it didn’t last. It collapsed.
Five workers sacrificed for one soldier ant dead. Profitable trade.
‘Good! Keep encircling and pressing them!’
At Wayne’s command, the workers systematically surrounded and slew the outer soldier ants.
Density increased, encirclements tightened—worker casualties dropped.
The queen ant’s hive had evolved a simple command structure for massive swarms, unable to issue complex orders to individuals. Wayne’s legion used strategy and tactics, overcoming the power gap.
If those 500 soldier ants had fought in a line or cooperatively, the outcome might’ve differed. But guarding the nest, they stood immobile, blocking the entrance—and fell from the edges inward.
[Whoa! We actually broke through!]
Sabina’s eyes widened in shock.
Two-meter workers had defeated seven-meter soldier ants. And over 3,000 workers remained.
[Now we’re entering the nest—stay sharp!]
[Yes, Wayne!]
Wayne sent the remaining legion into the fortress first.
‘Keep pushing through!’
They smashed isolated soldier ant guards, advancing.
Halfway through the fortress.
Over a dozen ten-meter fire ants, their skins encased in red shells, blocked the passage in a line.
[Damn! Spread out wide!]
Wayne shouted in agitation.
Splaaash!
Green formic acid spewed from the fire ants’ mouths!
“Kigek!”
“Kigik!”
Sizzle! Sizzzzle!
The workers screamed.
Dozens approaching were drenched, shells dissolving as brains and organs melted.
[Gasp! What the hell is that?]
Sabina yelped.
[Queen fire ants. A-rank monsters. Cover me from behind!]
[Ah, got it!]
These were the queen’s specially reared ones—tricky foes, their acid lethal to E-rank workers in seconds.
Vreeee! Rumble rumble!
Hermes charged the rightmost queen fire ant at blinding speed.
As it aimed acid at the incoming Hermes, workers swarmed its front first—forcing it to spray them.
Hermes slid sideways, blades ejecting from its wrists, slashing the ant’s underbelly.
Slash! Splaaash!
“Kiaaaak!”
The fire ant’s gut split open.
But it didn’t die instantly. Blood and entrails spilling, it lunged jaws at Hermes.
Whoosh! Thud!
Hermes backflipped, barely dodging the closing maw.
Hermes sacrificed power and armor for pure mobility—mirroring Wayne’s enhanced physique.
The fire ant pursued, jaws gaping.
Swoosh! Thunk!
“Kiiia!”
Sabina’s arrow pierced its eye.
Artemis’ shots were pinpoint at short range.
By then, workers blanketed its legs and body.
Once latched, even a ten-meter ant couldn’t shake them off amid acid sprays.
Thud!
The fire ant toppled, opening a gap.
‘Good! Circle back and flank the rest!’
Workers exploited the breach, hitting the others from behind.
Hermes struck their sides.
He’d considered absorbing their Odd, but time was the enemy now.
By now, ants around the nest would swarm to protect the queen. Fail to kill her fast, and he’d be the one cornered.
Frontline workers died to acid, but rear assaults overwhelmed the fire ants.
They too fell under black ant masses.
But the legion’s losses were heavy—only 2,000 workers left.
‘Grrr! Grrr!’
‘Good job, Eleven!’
Eleven, who’d scouted the narrow passage first, discovered a massive underground cavern kilometers wide beneath the fortress.
And there was the queen ant.
[Over here! Found the queen!]
***
The tunnels descending underground formed a complex maze, plunging to astonishing depths.
Incredible how they’d dug such a colossal network in days. Clearly, she’d planned this as the foundation for a new empire.
[Ugh! So many monster corpses...]
One vast chamber held a mountain of dead monsters. Thousands of workers fed larvae numbering in the tens of thousands.
They ignored the intruders, focused solely on their tasks.
Production in the queen’s kingdom never halted.
“Grrr!”
Eleven trembled in fear, red Odd flaring, waiting before the queen’s chamber.
At Wayne’s arrival, he retreated.
[Is that the queen ant?]
A colossal queen ant loomed against one cavern wall.
At forty meters, she wasn’t a monster—she was a mountain, a boulder.
[That’s her. Velokina, queen of all ants. Stay back and support like I said. She can’t move—we’ve got the edge.]
[Yes! I’ll do my best.]
Wayne advanced the remaining legion toward her.
‘She probably doesn’t even consider losing.’
Velokina’s true weakness: underestimating humans.
Especially Wayne’s abilities, which she knew nothing of.
But Wayne knew her well.
He knew queens couldn’t move while laying eggs—like now.
Her rear and mid legs—four total—were rooted firmly in the ground. Only forelegs free. Even with enemies before her, she laid eggs nonstop.
Workers below carried them off through narrow tunnels.
If she’d seen intruders as threats, she’d have gone all-out from the start.
‘That’s your weakness!’
Wayne and his ant legion charged.
“Kiiia!”
Two princess ants emerged before the queen.
Then, from left and right tunnels, 10,000 workers surged, densely blocking the front.
The queen wasn’t unprepared.
His 2,000 ants charged; 5,000 countered them. The remaining 5,000 rushed Wayne.
His ants clashed with the princess ants’ legion mid-field.
Meanwhile, Wayne raced for the outermost gap.
“Kiiiiiaaa!”
Rumble rumble!
At the princess ants’ command, workers swarmed, sealing the path ahead, awaiting him.
But Wayne didn’t slow.
He accelerated to max speed toward the ants.
Even a 2nd-class Gigant charging a packed 5,000-ant mass was suicide.
Then—
Vwoom! Pop!
Hermes suddenly vaulted sideways, then raced along the wall at terrifying speed.
Thud thud thud thud!
“KiiiaK?”
A princess ant turned, staring blankly.
Wayne had concentrated Odd in Hermes’ soles. Sharp spikes extended from the feet, letting the heavy Gigant wall-run without falling.
Wayne blew past the ant legion—straight for the queen.