Chapter 129: The Queen

Chapter 129: Chapter 129: The Queen

Thanks SinEater for the golden_tickets.

....

Tolu glanced toward the other enclosures.

"And the others?"

The Egbere followed his gaze.

For the first time, some of the anger left his face.

"They’ve been here longer than I have. Some were adventurers. Others were taken from settlements near the dungeon. I don’t know what happened to all of them, and I don’t know how many are still alive."

He paused.

"The insects take people away from time to time. Some return. Most don’t."

Tolu’s expression hardened.

He had suspected the prisoners were being kept for a reason. Now he had confirmation that the Eera were taking intelligent beings as well as animals.

"What do they want you to make?"

"Weapons. Tools. Mechanisms. Anything that requires more than hitting a rock against another rock and hoping for the best."

The Egbere snorted.

"They have plenty of workers, but their craftsmanship is crude. They can dig, build, and assemble simple mechanisms. They understand the principles well enough. But when it comes to fine work, materials, and proper construction, they need someone who knows what they’re doing."

He leaned closer to the bars.

"Unfortunately for them, I know exactly what I’m doing."

Tolu considered that.

The Eera’s workshops suddenly made more sense. Their traps had been clever, but many of their mechanisms were crude. They had the numbers and the intelligence to develop useful tools, yet their construction remained limited by the materials and techniques available to them.

An experienced Egbere could have been improving their capabilities.

Or, judging by the dwarf’s condition, refusing to do so.

Tolu looked at the lock on the enclosure.

Tolu glanced at the little man.

"Can you work with rare-earth ores? Ancient ones, specifically."

Bàbátúndé stopped brushing dirt from his clothes.

Slowly, he turned his head.

"Rare-earth ores?"

"Yes."

The Egbere stared at him for a moment before grabbing the bars of the nearest cage for support.

"How many atelewo do you have?"

"Five."

"Five atelewo?" Bàbátúndé’s eyes widened. "And what, precisely, do you intend to forge with them?"

"A war hammer."

Silence.

Bàbátúndé looked at Tolu.

Then he looked at the hammer strapped to his back.

Then he looked at Tolu again.

"A war hammer."

"Yes."

"With five atelewo of an ancient rare-earth ore."

"That’s right."

Bàbátúndé closed his eyes and took a long, trembling breath.

"Ancestors, give me strength. I have been imprisoned by oversized ants, deprived of my tools, and forced to endure the company of creatures whose greatest intellectual achievement is clicking at one another. And now, just when I thought my suffering had reached its limit, I discover that a man possessing five atelewo of ancient rare-earth ore wants to forge a hammer!"

He opened his eyes and pointed at Tolu.

"You! Tall fellow! Do you have any idea what you’re holding? Do you understand the rarity of such material? The properties it might possess? The number of cultivators who would surrender their fortunes for even a small quantity?"

"I know it’s valuable."

"Valuable!" Bàbátúndé threw his hands into the air. "He says valuable! A dragon’s hoard is valuable. A kingdom’s treasury is valuable. This is ancient rare-earth ore!"

He took another breath, visibly trying to regain his composure.

"Fine. Fine. I shall not judge you before I have seen the material. Perhaps, by some miracle, you have a sensible design in mind."

He folded his arms and regarded Tolu with renewed interest.

"Tell me, what kind of hammer are we talking about? Weight, dimensions, intended use, preferred balance. And don’t you dare tell me you simply want something big enough to smash things. If that is your entire design philosophy, I may have to reconsider saving your life."

The Fall of the Colony

"One thing at a time," Tolu repeated, turning toward the passage leading deeper into the dungeon. "We have a war to finish."

Bàbátúndé stared at him as though he had just announced his intention to personally fight the heavens.

"A war? Of course. Naturally. Why wouldn’t there be a war? I have spent the last several days locked in a cage, and now my first opportunity to escape comes with a war."

He shook his head.

"Fine! Go and fight. But if you survive, I expect you to remember that you owe me food, water, proper tools, and an explanation of those five atelewo."

Tolu started walking.

"I’ll remember."

"You had better!"

Behind him, Bàbátúndé continued muttering about the state of the world, the declining standards of dungeon construction, and the terrible misfortune of being surrounded by people who apparently had no appreciation for craftsmanship.

Tolu couldn’t help smiling.

Then he stepped through the cavern’s far exit, and his expression returned to its usual seriousness.

The Eera queen was somewhere ahead.

And he intended to bring her back alive.

---

The passage descended for several minutes before opening into a cavern that dwarfed the chambers they had crossed earlier.

Tolu immediately understood why the Eera had fought so desperately to protect this place.

It was their nest.

The cavern’s ceiling rose high above him, supported by enormous stone columns and thick, interwoven roots. Countless tunnels branched from its walls, some wide enough for Gravemantle to enter, others barely large enough for a single Eera. Wooden platforms connected several elevated passages, while crude bridges crossed deep depressions in the ground.

The entire chamber was alive with movement.

Thousands of Eera filled the cavern.

Workers transported materials between tunnels. Others reinforced walls, carried food, or tended to clusters of pale eggs inside carefully maintained chambers. Groups of armed Eera patrolled the elevated walkways, their antennae constantly moving as they exchanged signals.

And at the centre of it all stood an enormous structure.

It resembled a fortress built from hardened earth, stone, and layers of dark chitin. Thick walls surrounded a central chamber, while several entrances were protected by heavy gates and elevated platforms.

Tolu felt the energy emanating from within.

The queen.

Her presence was unmistakable.

Unlike the ordinary Eera, whose individual signatures were faint, hers was powerful enough to stand out even amid the enormous population.

My Lord, the Heart said, the enemy Dungeon Lord’s authority is concentrated around that structure. The queen is almost certainly being held there.

Tolu studied the fortress.

"Can you tell how much of the colony is under the enemy’s direct control?"

Not precisely. The queen’s presence appears to be central to their coordination, but the Eera are not behaving like mindless extensions of her will. They retain individual judgement and respond to signals, environmental changes, and immediate threats.

"Meaning killing the queen wouldn’t necessarily make them all stop."

Correct.

Tolu nodded.

That was important.

He didn’t want to assume that killing or controlling the queen would instantly give him control over every Eera in the dungeon. Even if she became part of his dungeon, the colony would need time to recognize its new circumstances, and he would need to understand how their relationship with a Dungeon Lord worked.

Still, the possibilities were extraordinary.

A second Level Three creature.

A growing population of intelligent workers and warriors.

An army capable of digging tunnels, constructing defences, setting traps, and overwhelming stronger opponents through sheer numbers.

If he could bring them into his dungeon and earn their cooperation, they would complement Gravemantle perfectly.

His beast supplied strength and durability.

The Eera could supply numbers, construction, and a level of coordination his existing creatures lacked.

But first, he had to win.

Tolu looked at the fortress again.

"Let’s finish this."

He reached through his dungeon authority.

His creatures answered.

Gravemantle stepped forward, its broad shoulders covered in hardened earth. Behind it, the rest of his forces gathered into formation.

Tolu raised his hammer.

"Front line, with me! Keep the smaller creatures behind you. Don’t let them surround us, and don’t chase anything into the tunnels."

His creatures moved into position.

For a moment, the Eera continued working, apparently unaware that an invading force had reached the heart of their territory.

Then a sentry on one of the elevated platforms spotted them.

Its antennae shot upright.

A piercing series of clicks rang through the cavern.

Everything changed.

Workers abandoned their tasks. Guards rushed toward the fortress. Eera poured out of the surrounding tunnels, carrying spears, crude blades, and shields made from hardened chitin.

The sound spread throughout the nest.

Within moments, the entire cavern was responding.

Tolu watched the Eera assemble.

Even now, under pressure, their movements displayed an impressive degree of organization. Groups converged on the main entrances, while others climbed the platforms to establish ranged positions. Several hurried toward narrow passages that would allow them to attack his forces from the sides.

They weren’t simply rushing to their deaths.

They were preparing a defence.

Tolu respected that.

It didn’t change what he had come to do.

"Advance!"

Gravemantle charged.

The first wave of Eera met the beast with a forest of spears.

Their weapons struck its reinforced shoulders and forelegs, scraping across the hardened earth. A few found gaps between its natural plates, drawing thin lines of blood, but none managed to halt its momentum.

Gravemantle slammed into the formation.

The impact scattered the front rank.

Tolu followed immediately, swinging his hammer into the opening. The blow shattered several crude shields and sent their bearers tumbling backward.

His creatures surged forward behind him.

The battle erupted across the cavern floor.

The Eera fought with determination. They climbed over fallen comrades, attacked from multiple directions, and attempted to drag individual enemies away from the main formation. Whenever Tolu’s forces pushed one group back, another rushed in to replace it.

Against weaker opponents, the strategy might have worked.

But Tolu had not brought his army here unprepared.

His creatures maintained their formation, refusing to pursue the retreating Eera into the side passages. Whenever the enemy attempted to surround them, Tolu redirected his flanks to close the gaps.

Gravemantle remained at the front, using its weight and physical strength to break through concentrated resistance.

The Eera were numerous.

They were disciplined.

But the difference in individual strength was becoming increasingly apparent.

An Eera spear thrust that might have wounded an ordinary beast barely scratched Gravemantle’s hardened hide. Its counterattacks, by contrast, could remove several defenders from the fight in a single movement.

Tolu’s other creatures exploited the openings it created.

The Eera attempted to compensate by attacking from above. Several dropped from the wooden platforms, aiming for the backs of Tolu’s larger creatures.

He had anticipated the possibility.

"Behind us! Deal with them!"

His rear guard turned to meet the attackers before they could disrupt the formation.

Tolu continued forward.

Every step brought him closer to the fortress.

The Eera recognised the threat. Their resistance grew more desperate as the distance narrowed, and a fresh wave emerged from the central gates.

These were different from the workers he had seen earlier.

They were considerably bulkier, with thicker chitin covering their chests, shoulders, and forearms. Their limbs were heavily muscled, and their mandibles were larger than those of ordinary Eera. Some carried broad stone clubs, while others wielded reinforced spears and shields.

They were the colony’s strongest defenders.

The ones entrusted with protecting their queen.

Tolu felt their energy signatures.

Stronger than the average Eera, certainly. Their bodies had been developed for combat, and the thick armour covering them would make them difficult opponents for his weaker creatures.

But they were not Level Three creatures.