Chapter 227: Shouting Love at the Center of the Lord's Castle
Chapter 227: Shouting Love at the Center of the Lord's Castle
The Queen Ant's presence was so overwhelming that I was completely focused on her, but she wasn't the only one who had burst from the collapsed wall.
As expected of a boss monster that lives in a swarm, a considerable number of Transcendent Species were clustered around her.
To be honest, I was seriously intimidated.
No matter how much our party boasted stats that were more than enough for hunting on the 2nd Floor, could we really take on this many at once?
Unable to suppress my trembling heart, I subconsciously opened my status window to check my stats.
The moment I saw it, I immediately regained my composure.
Why did I even think that?
Of course we can handle them. If things go south, I can just dump my bonus stats into Charm and beat them with Saint's Touch. Problem solved.
Besides, even if I dump all my bonus stats into Charm now, I don't have to worry about the women dying from pleasure in bed anymore.
I haven't spent the skill points yet, but since I've hit level 100, I can learn ‘Weaker Stance’.
Alright. I'm feeling confident now. Let's do this.
Still, it feels like a waste to invest all my bonus stats into Charm from the start.
I'll try fighting normally first, and if that doesn't work, I'll raise it.
“Guwon-nim! I will fight on the front lines as well!”
Seeing me pause for a moment, Silvia must have sensed it was a crisis.
She had her hand on the hilt of her sword and was about to approach me.
“No. You stay right where you are.”
“But…!”
Silvia cried out with a grief-stricken expression.
Don't make that face. It's not because I doubt your skills or don't find you reliable.
But if you fight by my side, I can't use Holy Ground Proclamation!
“Actually, this is exactly the kind of situation where it's dangerous if enemies get to the rear. Besides, I might not be able to hold them all off this time. You keep protecting the rear from there. I'm counting on you.”
“Hngh… Yes! Please leave it to me!”
As soon as I said I was counting on her, Silvia stood her ground firmly, this time with a moved expression. Isn't her capture difficulty a little too easy?
Judging by how awkward she was during sex, she's probably never had a proper boyfriend. How is that possible? She's pretty, and she's this easy to win over.
Well, whatever. That's not what's important right now.
I charged toward the Queen Ant and activated Saint's Sincerity.
Then, once I was far enough from the rear, I used Holy Ground Proclamation as well.
The moment I activated it, the sight of the Queen Ant and the Transcendent Ant species all turning to look at me at once was a little intimidating.
But I believe in my Saint's Touch!
Wrapping my fists in Saint's Touch, I attacked the Queen Ant's leg without slowing my charge.
Kieeeeeek!
The moment my fist made contact, the Queen Ant thrashed about with a sharp scream that seemed to make the entire space vibrate.
At the same time, the ant eggs that covered the entire wall burst open all at once.
And from within, newly hatched ants revealed themselves.
They shook off the sticky fluid and soon swarmed toward me with great vigor, looking no different from any other soldier ant.
If it was only the eggs in this room that hatched, I honestly wouldn't have been too worried.
Thanks to the effect of Holy Ground Proclamation, they would all charge only at me anyway. And no matter how numerous they were, as creatures limited to melee attacks, the number that could attack me at once was finite.
I ended up surrounded, unable to move a single step, thrashing about with Saint's Touch active while ants bit me all over, but at least my life wasn't in danger.
But we had passed by countless eggs on our way here, leaving them untouched.
What if that scream just now had caused the eggs in the other rooms to hatch as well?
Of course, my girls have gotten stronger, but they haven't leveled up as much as I have.
At best, they've only leveled up enough to enjoy themselves with me without having to worry about dying from pleasure.
I left Silvia as an insurance policy, but she can't draw all the monsters' aggro like I can.
No, it's still too early to assume the eggs in the other rooms have hatched…
KABOOOM!
Just then, a loud explosion rang out.
It was Diana's magic.
But the sound of the explosion came from quite far away.
I was surrounded by ants and couldn't see my surroundings clearly, but one thing was certain.
Diana hadn't been clearing the ants around me.
And the frequency of Sara's arrows had noticeably decreased.
The arrows that had been skewering lines of ants with every shot, knocking them off my body.
It all meant only one thing.
Dammit. So the eggs in the other rooms really did hatch.
The women were gathered near the passage leading from the previous room.
After all, when entering a new room after completely clearing the previous one, taking up a position there is usually the safest bet.
But this time, that decision had backfired.
They were probably busy fending off the ants swarming in from behind.
Thankfully, the healing magic still flowing into my body told me that the women weren't in any immediate danger yet.
KABOOOM!
This time, it was close.
But there's no way they've dealt with all the enemies swarming from behind.
There were just too many eggs we'd ignored on our way here for that.
Diana probably got anxious when I was completely swarmed by ants and out of sight, so she must have fired a shot near me.
“Girls! I'm fine! I'll handle things here! For now, focus on the enemies coming from behind!”
“But…!”
I heard someone protest, but their voice was drowned out by the noise of the ants.
“I'm fine! Please, just focus on your own safety! You trust me, right?!”
I shouted once more to reassure them, then decided to deal with the enemies in front of me.
I told them to clean up the rear and then help me, but if the eggs in every room we passed through really hatched, then the number of enemies coming from behind would be overwhelmingly greater.
If anything, I'd finish off these guys faster; there's no way the enemies in the rear would be cleared out first.
Alright. Let's do this. I'll clean up this mess quickly and go rescue them in style.
That's how much leeway I still had.
In fact, even though I was still completely surrounded, the ants were dropping dead the moment they were grazed by Saint's Touch.
The Transcendent Species that popped up now and then took a few more hits, but that's nothing a few more points in Charm couldn't fix…!
Then, my vision suddenly went dark.
What now?!
I hadn't closed my eyes, nor was something blocking my view. The room itself had simply grown dark.
But Diana should have a sphere of light floating at the very top of the room, right?
Looking up at the ceiling, I understood why it had suddenly gotten dark.
The Queen Ant was flying above my head, blocking the sphere of light.
It was so ridiculously huge that I could feel the wind pressure from its wings alone. For an ant.
What's it doing? It should be affected by my skill, so shouldn't it be charging at me?
That question was answered immediately.
Because the creature dropped straight down from above my head.
“Holy shit…!”
Agh. I've been trying so hard to stop swearing lately! What if my image gets ruined in front of my girls! Monsters are just useless, good-for-nothing creatures!
I bluffed to myself, but that didn't change the fact that I was in a dangerous situation.
I raised both arms to block above my head and tensed my entire body.
Hold on! My 250 Strength! And my 250 Durability, too!
KABOOOM!
That's the sound of a monster hitting the floor. Can you believe it?
My arms? Thankfully, they're fine. At least they don't seem to be broken. Though the gauntlets I was wearing seem to have been crushed.
The ground I was standing on caved in, a testament to how much the Queen Ant must have weighed.
And from the impact, I was thrown flat on my back.
Then, the Queen Ant lowered its body even further, pressing down to crush me.
I heard the splat! squish! of the ants around me bursting.
Me? I'm fine. Right before it fell, I used my bonus stats to raise my Durability to 250.
Though my whole body aches, and more importantly, I feel like crap.
But getting this close to me will be your downfall.
I tried to lift it with all my might, but it was so heavy that even with 250 Strength, I couldn't budge it.
I considered investing more bonus stats, but I realized there was no need.
After all, this was a problem that could be solved by just continuously hammering it with Saint's Touch.
Alright, I'll send you to heaven.
Lying spread-eagled, I used the snap of my wrist to tap its body.
Kieeeeeeeek!
Yeah, yeah. I know my Saint's Touch feels good, but could you please stop rubbing your body against mine like that? You horny thing.
No matter how big my thing is, it's not big enough to fit in you.
Go hit on your own kind. Your own kind.
As I kept hitting it with Saint's Touch, I could feel the belly of the creature crushing me gradually slimming down.
Thanks to that, a small gap opened up between the ground and its belly.
Before it could lower its body again, I quickly rolled to the side and escaped from underneath it.
Phew. The refreshing taste of underground air.
Yeah, being held by my girls is more than enough for me.
Having successfully escaped, I faced it again and realized why its belly had slimmed down.
It was laying eggs. A whole bunch of ridiculously large eggs.
No wonder it was so heavy.
“That's... not our kid, is it? I told you not to have any kids! I even gave you abortion money, so why…!”
Kieeeeeeee!
Guess you can't take a joke.
Simultaneously with its cry, the freshly laid, still-warm eggs began to burst and hatch.
Wait, that's weird. Why are they hatching right after being laid?
Even for monsters, let's try to stick to some basic common sense here.
The creatures that hatched were, without exception, all Transcendent Species.
Dammit. I need to finish this quickly and help my girls, who are struggling in the rear.
There's just no end in sight.
Thanks to the Queen Ant's team-killing earlier, the number of regular ants has decreased enough for me to see my surroundings, but with the increase in Transcendent Species, I guess you could say the situation hasn't improved at all.
I turned my head to glance at the situation behind me.
There, as expected—no, in numbers exceeding my expectations—ants were surrounding the women.
Silvia was doing her best to block them from the front, but it was impossible for one person to stop enemies swarming from all sides.
Sara and Diana were also unleashing a massive barrage of attacks.
Sara was piercing through them with her arrows, and Diana was wiping out huge numbers of ants with each explosion spell, but it seemed even they were struggling to hold back the overwhelming numbers.
Dammit. At this rate, it wouldn't be surprising if one of them got seriously hurt.
Sara would probably be okay, but Diana or Leia would take significant damage from just a single hit.
Especially if Leia gets hit, we'll lose our healer, and the situation will become even more desperate.
Kieeee!
While I was distracted for a moment, the Queen Ant led the Transcendent Species in a charge, as if asking where I thought I was looking.
Dammit. Just how much stamina do you have?
After coming so much from my touch, isn't it about time you passed out?
Swinging my fists wreathed in Saint's Touch, I fell into deep thought.
To be honest, there was one way to make my girls completely safe.
But if I use that method, then again... No, but it'll only be for a moment. A moment should be fine, right?
“Kyaaaaak!”
Just as I was hesitating, I heard a scream from behind me.
Goddammit! Right. Is this really the time to be worrying about something like that?!
I immediately set Holy Ground Proclamation to its maximum range and activated it again.
Then, I heard the sound of the ants from the rear swarming toward me.
“I'll draw the aggro of the ones coming from behind, so you guys move to the side and focus on attacking!”
Right. No matter how sensitive Silvia is, is she really going to go crazy in heat just from being affected by Holy Ground Proclamation for a moment?
Honestly, there have been tons of people I've used my skills on and never dispelled the effect.
Take the defensive battle against the orcs with the other adventurers on the 2nd Floor, for example.
I walked around with Holy Ground Proclamation active, but the adventurers who were affected back then were only exposed for a moment, so nothing bad happened, right?
Besides, I even touched the High Priestess with Saint's Touch to prove myself when we first met.
And she was perfectly fine, wasn't she?
Surely, if it's just for a moment, Silvia will be fine too.
As long as I can end this as quickly as possible—before Silvia goes into heat, or more importantly, before Leia turns into a Gumiho—there won't be a problem.