Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Opening a path (III)

As he had expected, the hole was far from enough to stop the rhino-ant. It might have stumbled, but its speed was well over the threshold to stop it. Only with the inertia that it carried, it would continue forward, in its unstoppable and imminent collision against the high human.

Various Rough Arrows kept coming. Even if it wasn't much, they slowed down the enemy slightly, at the cost of destroying the arrows. They ended up on the ground, and trampled by the thick legs of the ant. They were quite different from other ants legs. It seemed incredible that they belonged to the same species.

In fact, it was such a rare ant due to the futility of its existence. The rhino-ant wasn't able to get out of the anthill, nor help with the most trivial tasks. In addition, it was necessary to feed it. However, in the event of an attack, it could be a fundamental asset against the invaders. At this time, the ant was exercising for the first time the function for which it had been born.

The Lightning Spears plunged deep into the ant. They were firmly on the ground, and the speed of the ant didn't allow any other outcome. Despite having a few more levels, the ant was momentarily stunned, which didn't make it stop. It just flew off forward.

Eldi stood on the ground, while holding a huge shield in both hands, and activated Great Guardian. His skill allowed him to temporarily increase his affinity with shields, in addition to reducing the damage received. Also, he had previously summoned Area of Defense, and Lion's Heart. If not, Eldi wasn't sure if he could face such a terrible charge without hesitation.

The impact was terrible. It almost shattered the shield, which barely held whole, and was visibly cracked. Only Stability had kept the high human from being thrown heavily back, though his arms trembled. If he hadn't relied on Impregnable, he wasn't sure what would have happened to them.

His legs, fixed on the sandy ground, were dragged back several meters. Their trace was evident in the two long grooves in the ground.

"That was dangerous," a female voice said barely a meter away.

He turned for a moment, puzzled. It wasn't that the elf had gotten close, but that he had been pushed to her.

"It has been terrible. I still have chills," he admitted.

While saying so, he put away the shield and took out the axe. The ant's body was tough, but the bludgeoning damage wasn't suitable. Precisely, as it was specialized in ramming, it was prepared for it.

Both started to attack. Once stopped, the ant was helpless. It could only slowly withdraw to return to its position and restart the charge. Obviously, that was something they weren't going to let it do.

They soon realized that only the first layer was really hard. Behind, its muscles were designed to cushion the blow for the ant, and make its enemies to take the hit. Therefore, they could rush to finish it off. Soon, more ants would be coming from the side tunnel the group had crossed before.

While Eldi was facing the rhino-ant with Goldmi's help, Gjaki and the lynx had been decimating the ants in front of them. So, the elf and the high human advanced over the corpses half torn to pieces, and being collected by the assistants.

"It's a pity. We won't have time to pick them all," the vampiresss lamented, despite having more meat and ant legs than she could count.

They spent another twenty minutes advancing through the tunnel, and sealing the side tunnels. It was only temporary, but once they were past them, it didn't matter anymore.

The danger of those tunnels was that they could be attacked from the flanks too. Once they were left behind, there was only a tunnel behind them that all the ants had to share, wherever they came from.

Finally, they arrived at a huge room, where even the goshawk could fly with some freedom. At the end, one of the Bats was watching a gigantic ant, which Gjaki assumed was the queen.

Until then, the workers came and went, but now the group was blocking the entrance. There were only a few soldier ants left of a slightly higher level, 76.

Without a doubt, they were dangerous. Since the place was wide, they could attack all at once. On the other hand, a wide place was more than welcome by the lynx, the vampiress and the goshawk. The three of them, supported by Goldmi, didn't hesitate to start their attack.

"I always get the most boring work," Eldi complained. He was in charge of blocking the ants that tried to come from behind.

He actually didn't think so, but the battle mage couldn't pass up the opportunity to say those words. In the game, he had often complained about it.

"Ha, ha. We have asked for it before," Gjaki mocked from a distance.

"Can I ask for the queen?" Eldi teased.

"No way! I have seen it first!"

While speaking, the vampiress slipped between the legs of an ant, as the lynx climbed on another, and the goshawk attacked the eyes of a third.

The supposed advantage of the ants of being able to attack several at the same time was soon called into question. They could only watch while one of their kind was attacked from above or below. Otherwise, they risked hitting the other ants, something that had already happened several times.

Perhaps, the smartest thing to do would have been to try to attack Goldmi and, above all, Eldi. That way, they could have prevented him from further blocking the reinforcements.

However, the ants were too focused on their immediate enemies, as well as they were incapable of planning a strategy. One by one, they were falling before their agile enemies, since the difference in level was useless if they couldn't even touch them.

The worst thing for the insects was that one of their most dangerous weapons, Spitting the corrosive acid imbued with mana, was totally nullified by the skilled archer. She was very attentive to all the ants. She could even hit three at once, which caused them to be sprayed with their own acid, and be hit with a Wind Arrow in the throat.

Therefore, it was only a matter of time until the soldier ants were wiped out.

They advanced towards the queen, which they hoped wouldn't resist. It was when they got close enough to it that the vampiress' eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Level 93!? How's it possible!?" she was quite surprised.

It made no sense, neither from the density of the mana nor from what they had seen so far.

At that moment, the walls around the queen began to collapse. Long legs covered with sharp knobs appeared out of the earth.