Chapter 41: Bliss
One queen, five royal guards, and twenty-something developed worker ants. If that wasn’t strong enough already, the royal guards had reached the same bottleneck as Mitch.
Hell, the queen had even broken through the bottleneck.
Luckily, they hadn’t noticed him yet. However, the longer he waited, the higher the odds of them finding him were.
Mitch surveyed the room, taking it all in. It was dim, with only the faint light of luminescent moss illuminating the space.
Stone pillars were spaced out in a seemingly random fashion, yet Mitch understood their use. They were support pillars for this large cavity.
He quickly formulated a plan and prepared for his trickiest fight yet.
Then, he rushed forward, past the regular ants. But not before grabbing one of them by the neck, pulling it with him.
Khiii
The royal guards noticed him as soon as he started approaching, but they reacted too slowly.
Mitch reached the first one and slashed his sword at its legs. Even with seemingly equal strength, Mitch was magnitudes faster. The blade swerved towards the ant’s joints and cut right through two of them.
Thud
It quickly lost balance and fell to the ground, completely incapacitated.
The ant next to it saw what happened and lunged towards Mitch.
That’s when he threw the ant he had been holding. The guard ducked out of the way, not wanting to hurt its companion. But in doing so, it had extended its neck as if presenting it to an executioner.
Mitch pivoted in his charge and came up right next to the guard, his second sword raised high.
Slash
’Hard.’
He barely cut through the ant’s neck, decapitating it. But this made him worry about how he would kill the queen.
Nevertheless, he had already pushed two of the six threats out of the fight.
The queen saw two of her children get crushed and let out a shrill screech, the sound of which shook the nest.
Mitch felt his eardrums throb as pain spread through his head. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling, looking like it was threatening to collapse.
He shook his head lightly to regain clarity and noticed this, but it was too soon to utilize this information. Focusing on the fight was his main priority.
Not intending to give the ants time to regain their bearing, Mitch once more ran forward. His eyes roamed around, registering the position of every ant in the cave.
He found one that had approached a little too close to him. Like before, he grabbed the ant and threw it towards an unhurt guard, intending to continue his strategy.
The ant he had grabbed tried biting his hand, but it was in vain. Although reaching 20% in Devouring did not affect his strength directly, his exoskeleton had become more durable as a result.
Shards of shattered teeth fell to the ground as the ant flew towards Mitch’s target.
However, this guard had a different reaction from the previous one. It opened its jaw wide and bit down, bisecting the ant flying towards it. Green liquid splashed everywhere.
Mitch was surprised by the ant’s decisiveness, yet it was futile. The strength with which it bit its companion showed that it was the guard’s first time.
The green blood had gotten in its eyes, temporarily blinding it. Before it could even think of cleaning its eyes, Mitch had reached its side, cutting three legs off.
’Three.’
There was no time to relax. The queen had started personally moving, and at a surprisingly fast pace, considering its size.
The remaining ants had also surrounded him from behind. His only saving grace was the fact that the other royal guards were still on the opposite side of the room.
He raised one of his swords, blocking the queen’s kick. Yet just a simple kick sent him flying backward.
Smashing into the wall, Mitch quickly got back on his feet, and then he tried circling the queen.
Any ant he came across, he slashed. Leaving them alive any longer would just hinder his mobility.
Getting just a little closer to the guards, Mitch slashed behind him, clashing his sword with another of the queen’s legs. This one, too, pushed him back. But that is exactly what Mitch wanted.
Just before the impact, Mitch jumped and let himself get launched backward, closing the distance between him and the royal guards.
Using the speed he got from being flung, Mitch brandished his blades and clashed them with both the remaining guards.
Boom
The impact left his arms in tatters, but the ants weren’t faring any better. One had half its head shattered, while the other lost most of its body.
Unfortunately, as the royal guards’ bodies had been broken, so had Mitch’s weapons.
He was now basically fighting one of the hardest bosses in a game with barely any defense or attack power. All he lacked now was a loincloth to cover his privates.
Yet he still didn’t panic. If anything, he started smiling.
He was happy. It was a feeling of bliss that was only acquired when put up against seemingly impossible odds.
’When was the last time I actually challenged myself properly?’
That thought would have to wait; he had bigger fish to fry right now.
The queen was livid. This wandering piece of food had invaded her home, ambushed her guards, and killed her children. It even kept taunting her with that twisted smile.
’Come!’
Mitch rushed forward. He might lack weapons, but he still had his wits.
There were still a few small ants remaining. Quickly making his way towards them, Mitch shattered their skulls one after the other.
His actions enraged the queen even further. Her eyes started burning with a red flame, intending on ripping the aggressor to pieces.
Mitch kept dodging any attack she threw at him. Even taking one attack from her could result in him dying.
After dodging her attacks for a while and killing the rest of the ants, one of the previous guards wobbled in front of Mitch, forcing him to make a sudden stop.
BOOM
One instance was enough for the queen to kick him in the side, launching him across the room.
Mitch slid down the pillar he had crashed against and slumped onto the ground, leaning back to keep an eye on the queen.
She was dashing towards him, her maw spread wide. She felt endless joy seeing the helpless smile spread across the pest’s face as her maw came closer and closer to its powerless neck.
