SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will - Chapter 283 S-Rank Black Ant Queen
Chapter 283 S-Rank Black Ant Queen
Moon did not rush after the two escaping ants, they were ants after all.
He slowly walked toward the melted opening in the wall and passed through it with Mirage, both moving into the unknown depths ahead.
Activating his lighting rune, Moon observed the darkness fade away, “Runes are versatile tools. I don’t need to constantly maintain a flame in my hand just to see a few meters ahead anymore. With this, I can illuminate tens of meters in every direction.”
The light made navigation significantly easier.
It didn’t take long to reach the end of the tunnel, and the moment Moon emerged into the larger chamber beyond, he was immediately attacked by three captain ants that had been lying in ambush.
Moon defended against their surprise attack without significant effort—he’d anticipated this exact scenario and wasn’t caught off guard by their attack.
After dispatching the three ambushers within seconds, Moon’s attention moved to the remaining Black Ants positioned defensively throughout the chamber, watching him with obvious anger and wariness flashing in their multiple eyes.
But Moon’s eyes ignored the standard defenders entirely, focusing instead on one particular figure at the back of the formation that stood out to him.
His eyes widened with surprise and excitement.
“That’s an S-rank beast!” Moon grinned fiercely as he spotted the massive Black Ant Queen—easily twice the size of even the largest captains, positioned at the rear of their defensive formation and protected by approximately fifty subordinates of varying sizes.
The chamber was clearly the colony’s central headquarters— dozens of eggs were arranged throughout the space, each one connected via natural tubes to beast corpses that appeared to be providing sustenance for the developing larvae.
“I hit the jackpot!” Moon laughed with delight, finally understanding why there were so many A-rank Black Ants in this nest.
An S-rank Queen had been continuously producing them, building an entire army. The number of eggs was close to a hundred, terrifying in its own right—if each egg grew up to become an A-Rank Black Ant, the human base was destined to collapse under their attack.
Moon’s staff appeared in his right hand as [Ignite] began forming above the crystal.
Whoosh!
He released the crackling fireball into the densest concentration of defenders, killing dozens of standard ants that wouldn’t contribute meaningfully to his skill proficiency development. Those caught in the direct blast died instantly, while others on the periphery writhed from severe burning damage.
[You have killed the level 25 A-Rank Black Ant]
[You have killed the Level 25 A-Rank Black Ant]
[…]
[You have gained 20 Lives]
Killing notifications flashed across his vision in rapid succession, but Moon ignored them entirely, focused on his primary targets.
Within seconds, most of the chamber’s defenders had been eliminated. Dozens of developing eggs had also been destroyed in the process, though they provided fewer lives than mature creatures.
After he was done, only five captain ants and their imposing Queen remained standing amid the carnage.
Moon returned his staff to his storage ring and charged toward the survivors, excited at the prospect of finally mastering his skills against such formidable opponents.
The battle began with Moon engaging all five captains simultaneously while the Queen observed from the rear, studying him, trying to look for any weaknesses it could exploit.
The battle didn’t last long against the five captains—within a few seconds, two captains became corpses that were left on the floor.
After killing two captains, the Queen decided her remaining forces needed direct support and moved to join the engagement with them.
Seeing the S-rank beast’s intervention, Moon immediately abandoned his self-imposed limitations on his skill usage. Fighting three A-rank captains and an S-rank Queen using only physical attacks would be suicidal—he had no desire to lose several hundred lives in this encounter.
He had already lost plenty against the Supreme Rank fox, and he intended to keep the rest.
Moon began incorporating his lightning abilities strategically, using targeted lightning strikes against the Queen whenever she attempted to interfere with his captain fights, paralyzing her temporarily while he focused on the remaining subordinates.
Moon deliberately toyed with all his opponents, slowly raising his skill proficiency through an artificially prolonged fight rather than quick eliminations. Once his progression rate began diminishing at 90% completion, he decided to finish the captains, paralyzing them with quick lightning strikes before landing killing blows that sent them tumbling to the floor with no light in their eyes.
Turning his full attention to the final opponent—The Black Ant Queen.
Throughout this entire battle, Mirage simply watched from a safe position along the chamber wall, patiently waiting for Moon to complete his training while occasionally feasting on the corpses of fallen ants Moon had killed earlier.
The Queen now stood alone, facing an opponent who had slaughtered her entire colony while treating her as a spectator.
Moon decided to engage the Queen using physical combat only, determined to extract the final push needed to master his new skills completely.
The battle that followed was intense and grueling. For ten minutes, Moon found himself challenged as he deliberately limited his arsenal to hand-to-hand techniques against an opponent that outmatched him in raw physical power.
The Queen’s missed attacks carved deep in the stone around them, while her armored carapace deflected many of his strikes. Moon took significant damage during the exchange—deep cuts across his arms and torso that his various defensive skills couldn’t deal with.
Just as Moon felt his stamina beginning to wane from the multiple injuries that he littered his body, the notifications he’d been working toward finally appeared:
[Stone Clasp]
[Rank: Uncommon]
[Level: 1] [Evolve]
[Details: Your hands gain devastating crushing strength, allowing you to firmly seize weapons, enemies, or objects with overwhelming force. +100% Physical Damage]
[Heaviness]
[Rank: Uncommon]
[Level: 1] [Evolve]
[Details: You have mastered understanding of your body’s mass distribution, turning it into a perfected weapon. You can apply your full weight behind attacks with flawless precision and timing. Current effect: Increase bodyweight by 100%.]
The Queen, sensing the sudden change in her opponent’s power level, released an aggressive shriek and lunged forward for what she intended to be a finishing attack.
Moon met her charge head-on, activating his lightning skill at the same time, paralysing the queen for the precious second he needed to end the fight.
He lunged on her head, before grabbing it with both hands.
With [Heaviness] doubling his effective body weight and [Stone Clasp] dramatically amplifying his grip strength.
CRACK!
With a twist that used lightning, and his entire bodyweight, the queen’s head left its shoulder completely.
[You have killed the S-Rank Black Ant Queen]
[You have gained 1400 Lives]
The Black Ant Queen’s body fell to the ground lifeless, just like its offspring at the hands of a young man.
Moon stored the corpse of the Black Ant Queen and its offspring in his storage ring for later sale.
The nest had provided him around 4000 lives, plenty of A-Rank corpses to sell, and an S-Rank beast’s corpse.
Moon estimated that he made close to 5 Million Dollars from the quick expedition, and he was satisfied with the results after finding the S-Rank beast.
‘I came here for a quick buck on the way, but I managed to gain an extra kill for my advancement.” Moon smiled walking out of the cave, still heading towards his destination.
