Chapter 105: Into the Hive
“Is everyone ready?” Zac asked as he glanced back at the group. It was time to find the queen, and a strike force was assembled. It would be led by Ogras, with Zac second in command. Zac didn’t mind not being the leader, as he didn’t have any experience leading an operation like this. He didn’t want to risk his teammates getting killed due to his inexperience. Besides, he could always overrule him if he felt it warranted.
The group consisted of only 6 people. Apart from Zac and Ogras, Janos and Alea also joined the group. Ilvere and Namys were left behind, leaving them in charge of the main army whose job was to keep the fight going outside while they entered the hive. Janos was a support mage who hopefully could turn the odds in their favor, while Alea’s attack had proven itself effective even against the Fiend Wolf.
The last two were Rivea and Herod. Rivea was the Pyromancer with the Seed of Tinder. Herod was the earth mage who first spoke up about the digging on top of the wall. It turned out he possessed the Seed of Tremor, making him extremely perceptible to even small tremors in the ground. His job was to act as a scout in the tunnels, whereas Rivea was just additional firepower.
They didn’t bring any more people, as quantity didn’t really work against E-Grade evolved beings. Most of the soldiers would only be a hindrance rather than an asset inside the hive. Even Rivea was mostly brought so that she could defend their backs while the rest fought the Queen and the bodyguards.
“Human, why not just wait a few more days?”
“You’re pretty close to affording the Fruit, huh? Remember if I die the mission is failed, and the contribution crystal is gone.” Zac answered with a small smile.
It was true. Since Ogras started using the wide-scale shadow-attack his contribution points skyrocketed. In only 10 days he almost got as many as he did during the three weeks of the first wolf horde, and he possessed over 40 million points by now.
Ogras muttered something under his breath but didn’t seem overly worried. There was a whole third wave after all, and there still were a lot of Contribution Points to be gained inside the hive. Zac got over five million points for killing the fiend wolf, and he heard afterward that both Ogras and Alea got quite a few points as well for helping out. Killing E-Ranked beings at this stage seemed truly profitable.
They were currently at the back of the fight against the insects and started to move forward. As they did both Ogras and Janos cast a skill, shrouding them both in shadows and illusions, making them almost invisible. They easily slipped past the ant-army and headed into one of the large tunnels.
The inside looked just like outside, with black walls and green crystals. The crystals thankfully emanated some light, though it was a lot darker compared to the tunnels in the mines. They could light up their path with the help of Rivea, but held off on that for the moment wanting to maintain their cover. They didn’t expect to be able to sneak all the way to the core room, but the faster they proceeded without being bogged down in fights, the less pressure on the fighters outside.
Groups of ants kept coming through the tunnel to join the battle outside, and most simply ran right by. With Herod’s timely warnings they usually had time to press themselves against the wall while their skills hid them. However, they were still discovered every now and then, and were forced into a furious battle. It was mainly Zac and ogras who slaughtered the ants without using up too much cosmic energy, and then threw the bodies into Cosmos Sacks.
They quickly realized something was wrong as they walked. The inside of the hive actually seemed larger compared to the outside. The hive was shaped almost like a pyramid, reaching about a hundred meters in height and was a few hundred wide meters at the base. But they had walked over 10 minutes in an almost straight tunnel without reaching an end. They were frequently forced to stop as they walked due to the incoming packs, but they should long have crossed the whole structure.
“The hive is likely a spatial being, containing something like a hidden realm,” Ogras said with a low volume when no ants were nearby.
“Not illusion. Unless extremely strong,” Janos added with a nod.
“Does this change anything?” Zac asked.
“Not really, the mission is still the same. But it will be much harder to find the queen, we don’t know just how large the inside of the hive is anymore,” Ogras answered with a sigh.
As they proceeded further into the hive they ran into fewer and fewer packs of ants. Soon the group found themselves at a crossroads. The path split into three, and it looked like the left descended while right ascended. The middle path stayed the course.
“The core room should be in the depths since that place would be safest from external attacks,” Ogras said, and the group veered off to the left paths. There was no talk about splitting up since perhaps only Zac and Ogras would be able to survive if they ventured out alone.
As they moved further down the rocky walls started to transform, looking more and more like flesh. It reminded them that they weren’t actually inside a mountain, but rather inside a huge being.
“Trap!” the earth mage suddenly exclaimed, and soon after the ground opened up beneath them. They barely had time to jump forward, and as they turned back they looked at a pool of acid seething where the floor once was.
“Does it know we’re here?” Zac asked.
“Who knows? The information missive never explained how aware the hive queen is. It might just have been an automatic reflex from us stepping on this path. The ants might know which spots to avoid,” Ogras answered with a frown.
It did not take long for the group to find the answer to the question, as a group of huge ant-warriors streamed toward them. They were almost as large as the titans but far more nimble. Their name was [Ayn Elite Guard], and their front legs looked very specialized. One of the arms had the same sort of long blade like the mantis-like captains, whereas the other was extremely thick almost like a crab’s arm. It almost looked like a shield Zac thought as he watched them approach.
As usual, Janos erected a mirage around them, making it seem they were part of the wall as they pushed against it. The guards looked a bit confused as they slowed down as they looked around. As if in response the green gems in the wall behind Zac and the others started shining more brightly. The guards immediately perked up and resumed their charge.
Seeing that the illusion wasn’t effective any more Zac threw a rock toward one of them. The stone hurtled toward the front elite guard who lifted its thick arm in response. A deep clang resounded as the ant was slightly pushed back, but not a mark could be seen on its arm. Clearly, the thicker arm was extremely reinforced.
The ants approached and Zac moved to the front, and with a grunt swung his axe against the shield to test its might. A massive shockwave pushed both his target and a few of the other guards back, but the thick shell even held against his new weapon. There was a small crack though, and a few more swings would probably do the trick.
Zac was surprised at the sturdiness of these things, as there weren’t many things below E-grade that could survive a swing of his anymore. If they could take the shells of these things they would likely be able to create some pretty damn durable armor. With some treatment and inscriptions engraved onto them, they might even become E-graded gear.
“Don’t ruin their shields,” Zac said with some greed in his eyes. Of course, perhaps only he was actually able to damage them in any case.
In the end it fell to Zac, Ogras, and Rivea to kill the group of guards. Zac was actually forced to use the Seed of Sharpness to kill the ants while Ogras used his black spear to penetrate into the joints of the guards. As soon as the tip of the spear breached their armor spikes made from shadows poured out of the tip and wreaked havoc on their insides. Rivea lobbed a few fireballs that stuck to their heads and quickly boiled their brains.
Herod tried to help with a few earth spears as well, but his power wasn’t enough against these warriors. He could only help out by erecting earth walls to protect the non-combatants. It was a strain on him as they weren’t in an actual cave, but a living being. The earth mages drew power from the ground, which enabled them to do more with less expenditure, but it wasn’t possible in here. Alea was simply staying put. Her poison spikes would be able to kill these things, but they consumed a huge amount of cosmic energy, so it was better for her to wait for more formidable targets.
They threw the most well-preserved carapaces in Cosmos Sacks and pushed further down, not bothering as much about stealth anymore. They were clearly spotted somehow, and it would be better to just rush through.
Soon they came to a large circular room, and after brief hesitation they ran toward the door that seemed to be leading downward. But just as they approached it the pathway simply closed up by the walls moving together.
“If it’s only the entrance that’s closed I can break it down in less than a minute, but if the whole tunnel is collapsed we need to find another way,” Zac muttered as he touched the closed doorway.
“No, let’s retreat befo-“ Ogras quickly interjected but was interrupted by the pathway they came from opening as well. “Sh*t, break the door we came from!” the demon shouted.
Zac didn’t hesitate and used [Loamwalker] to appear next to the door and Furiously slammed into it with a Sharpness-imbued [Chop]. A large crack appeared in the door but before Zac had time to swing again the floor beneath them opened up.
It was as though the ground was a huge maw that opened up, and the group helplessly fell down into the large hole.
“Grab on to each other!” Ogras shouted, and luckily the demons were quite close to each other.
However, Zac who used his movement skill earlier was over twenty meters away from the others and he had no way to broach the distance while falling. A rope was flung toward him, but the winds in the hole pushed it out of his reach.
Suddenly the seemingly endless hole split up, separating the groups, and Zac was suddenly utterly alone while falling into the abyss.
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