Chapter 119: Eggs
Chapter 119: Eggs
"So tell me what happened," I asked Dracule as I traversed the maze-like ant nest.
He was currently inside my storage space as I flew towards Amanda.
"It was awful. The ants close to the queen’s chamber are on a different level compared to the ants here."
I already figured that much. What I wanted to know was what happened a few days ago.
"A few days ago, a few powerful ants crawled up from the bottom of the nest. They dragged the weaker ones out of their homes. Those who fought were killed, and the others were dragged off to somewhere. Do you know what happened?"
It was unsettling to see such strange behavior from monsters. It was almost human-like.
"A few days ago... That was when the queen laid her eggs."
She laid her eggs? So the next generation of ants will be hatched soon. A generation that may or may not have my DNA. Ah, I just hope they don’t have anything to do with me.
"After finding the nest and observing them for a while, I think I understand what happened. It seems the queen needs several tons of food to satisfy her hunger whenever she lays her eggs. I’ve seen her food storage before she laid her eggs. They had several chambers packed to the brim with food. They had food enough to feed a small city for a year, but it still wasn’t enough. In such a case the weaker ants had to be sacrificed."
So, she eats them? It is hard to believe it requires that much energy to lay eggs.
"I also watched as the weaker ants were dragged to her chamber. The queen’s chamber was tightly secured, so I had to burrow deep underground to access it. Her chamber was so massive that it was like a labyrinth all on its own. The ghastly scent that gripped the nest a few days ago was coming from her."
Of course it was. Something that powerful had to be coming from her.
Dracule continued.
"I stayed in her lair for a few days and tolerated the unbearable stench even though it felt as if I were going to pass out. After a few days, I finally found the queen and watched as she laid more eggs. She must’ve laid hundreds of eggs, and on the last day of her laying eggs, one of them hatched early." Dracule’s voice sounded ominously inside my head.
He paused as if recounting the story inside his head before speaking it out loud.
"The creature that crawled from the egg stood upright like a human. It had 4 powerful arms and mandibles on its face. But the shape of its body was similar to a human woman’s"
A black exoskeleton? That definitely sounded like me. But why would it be shaped like a human woman?
That’s the part that I found confusing. Maybe it’s another creature’s DNA combined with mine.
Wait, Dracule told me he was attacked by a group when we first arrive in the second strata.
Given the way he described them, I figured they were Amazonians considering that there was a guild master that had a guild consisting of Amazonian women.
Could it be?
"The queen struggled to control this new monster. It was as if it had a will of its own, and it eventually escaped her chamber until it came face to face with the Phoenix King."
Wait, don’t tell me that the one that managed to defeat the Phoenix King is a newborn ant!
"At first it looked as if they were equally matched in terms of strength, but as they fought, it became abundantly clear that the ant was far superior in terms of strength."
Now I understood why Dracule was so terrified. A newborn monster shouldn’t hold that much power.
To think a monster who had just been born could possibly kill one of the strongest players in the world.
Something like that goes against the very law of nature. Players wouldn’t even survive if they were forced to face those types of monstrosities.
The Phoenix King was able to defeat Lily when she was an S-ranked boss monster.
So for the ants to be able to defeat him, he would have to be of the same rank or even higher.
"After the battle with the Phoenix King, the ant was severely injured and weakened. Which allowed the other ants to drag her back to the queen’s chambers."
Now I understood why Dracule was practically begging me to retreat. Against a foe like that, retreating might be best, but an idea was slowly forming in the back of my mind.
One that I couldn’t quite shake.
"Dracule, you’ve seen the ant fight. Did it use magic in its battle with the Phoenix King?"
Dracule thought for a second and then answered.
"No, it mostly relied on its impenetrable armor and its herculean strength. I’ve also seen it use skills similar to yours, but none of them were magic-based.
So it combines my armor along with the strength of an Amazonian who was strong enough to become a guild master.
It also had my wings, acid, along with a few other skills I possessed.
It had my strengths, but the real question is, does it have my weaknesses too?
According to Dracule, there were hundreds of them.
What would happen to my strength if I were able to kill hundreds of S-ranked monsters?
How much biomass would I get from such a feat? How much mana could I absorb to increase my bloodline purity?
These questions stirred in my mind. Of course it would mean nothing if I ended up dead, and defeating hundreds of S-ranked monsters sounded downright impossible.
But even the strongest beings in the world could be rendered weak if you knew their weaknesses.
"Based on your words, I’m guessing the other eggs haven’t hatched yet," I asked.
"Yes, that’s correct, but I’m not sure when the other eggs will hatch. It could be any day now."
That’s still good. It will give me time to gather everything I’ll need. In this state it’s highly unlikely that what I’m even planning will work.
I’ll need a lot of biomass, and there are over a million ants in this nest. I’ll have to hunt and collect as much biomass as I can before the eggs hatch.
"Sire, what are you thinking?"
I could tell from Dracule’s voice that he desperately wanted me to leave. Not for his safety but for mine.
I could never imagine him telling me to run from a fight before.
I think it’s because I nearly got killed by that nightmare crocodile.
"I’m going to stay. One way or the other I need to get to the next strata."
I never intended to leave here ’slightly’ stronger than I came. This was an opportunity that I couldn’t afford to lose.
Not only me, but I want Lily, Aphrodite, and Dracule to also grow in terms of strength.
Hearing those words Dracule sighed.
"I think it will be dangerous, but I’ll support you by becoming stronger."
"That’s good to hear."
After an arduous travel through the nest, I finally arrive at where Amanda was.
She was inside a chamber I prepared beforehand. The walls were coated in obsidian, and each entrance was covered in googum.
She sat with a dagger in hand as I arrived. At the sound of my beating wings, she lifted up her head.
"Liam!" She immediately hopped to her feet and rushed towards me. Before I could say a word, she lifted me up and embraced me in a hug.
Here was someone else who had also changed. Seeing her like this, I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to her.
She looked terrible, like someone who was at their breaking point. Her face was sunken in, and there were dark circles around her eyes.
Before I had the impression that she was tough. Not just physically but mentally strong in a way that nothing could affect her. That was how Amaelia described her sister.
Of course I was wrong. No, I am not like that, not even me.
I have a beautiful fiance waiting for me back home and a child on the way. And before that, my life was mundane. I hadn’t endured as much hardship as others.
And Amelia was basically family, so the least I could do was comfort her.
As she held me tightly in her arms, I could feel the tears from her eyes dripping softly onto the back of my carapace.
"Don’t worry, it’s over now."
Her lips folded and quivered, making her look almost like a baby while crying. Like someone who wasn’t used to crying.
"It’s not. I’m too weak. I don’t know how to get us out of this. I’ve been trying to figure it out, but I can’t come up with anything. If it’s not the ants, it’s the Phoenix King. I’ve never felt this powerless before. Maybe we should leave..."
I stayed silent as she spoke. This version of her was weak. At this rate none of us would survive if she didn’t get stronger and learn to deal with her emotions better.
Bottling it away wasn’t the answer, nor was wallowing in self-pity.
"Don’t worry, I have a plan."