Chapter 53

Athena and Kaila immediately took position behind the skeletons as throngs filled the passageway, and I quickly utilized magic. [Dark Bolt] The black sphere that left my hand flew swiftly forward, colliding with the foremost of the creatures. Boom! A loud explosion resonated through the passageway, and a fine dust was raised. Despite the apparent annihilation of more than ten creatures, they unflinchingly trampled over the bodies of their comrades and charged towards us. Click-clack. The leading creature, possessing a massive jaw, seemed to be a soldier ant. Yet, the skeleton evaded its jaw as if it was nothing, slicing through the border between the creature’s head and chest with its sword. Then, it knocked aside the jaw of another ant charging towards it with a shield, and Kaila sliced through the staggered creature in its entirety. Her sword carried a faint aura, seemingly a measure to conserve mana. ‘Not using mana at all is the best, after all.’ It was possible to handle them just targeting their joints, without any aura. However, Kaila, though not adept, had a mana heart and, more importantly, had undergone physical reconstruction with two spirits, boasting a considerable capacity to handle such level of mana consumption without much complaint. ‘But the aura does have its benefits.’ Glancing at Athena, I noticed her movements in sync with the rampant skeleton at the front, cutting through giant ants, albeit with less efficiency than Kaila. This was inevitable as Kaila could afford to slice through anything that came her way, but Athena had to precisely target the creatures' joints, naturally resulting in a difference in speed. Added to this were differences in terrain experience. Kaila efficiently used her shield to block and counter the charging creatures, silencing the giant ants with minimal movement, whereas Athena, not using a shield, had to rely on evasion, necessitating larger movements. Such a tactic not only required keen senses and physical prowess but also a wealth of experience, which Athena seemingly lacked, making for noticeably inefficient movements. Moreover, the ant tunnel’s terrain offered little space for maneuvering, causing Athena to gradually lose ground against the giant ants. “Athena, use the skeleton as a shield! Block with it!” “…Yes!” Kaila, sharing a similar thought, advised Athena. ‘Using it as a shield…’ Indeed, that seemed a good strategy. Positioning themselves behind the skeleton to align with its movements would simplify combat. It would reduce the need for evasion and free up some space since the skeleton was blocking attacks directly. However, this put more strain on Kaila, which wasn’t a concern. ‘She’s flying.’ As if compensating for past mobility issues, she was slaughtering a far greater number of giant ants than Athena and the skeleton combined. Crunch! Leveraging her excellent leg strength enhanced by magic and using robust combat boots, she crushed a giant ant to death, surrounded by countless dead bodies of giant ants. ‘…I should support Athena.’ I wasn’t idle either. Thanks to our combined efforts stabilizing the front lines, I began directing support where it was needed. [Deafness] [Charm] Casting series of curses, Deafness to render the adversaries deaf and Charm to bewitch them. Both spells, being curses, easily afflicted the creatures with poor resistance to magic. ‘Charm utilizes pheromones too.’ Though I couldn't afflict a wide area at a third-class level and had to cast individually, using it against those bothering Athena reduced their aggression instantly, making them instead hinder their comrades. [Regeneration] Regeneration was a spell suited for the undead, considering I was a necromancer. The skeleton, serving as Athena’s shield, began sustaining injuries more frequently than before. It was an inevitable scenario. The dense swarm of giant ants limited its initially agile movements, and taking on the role of Athena’s shield meant it couldn’t remain unscathed. Thus, while supporting Athena, I also had to take care of the skeleton. -Shriek! In the meanwhile, specters clung to several giant ants, continuously draining their energy. Shortly after, the passageway was littered with the bodies of giant ants. We easily secured victory in the first wave. “This isn’t all, is it?” The creatures from the first room had merely emerged in full. The ant nest, being a network of rooms and tunnels, was swiftly becoming aware of the situation. Having annihilated the ants here, more were bound to come following the news. “Good thing we were quick. Had we been slower, reinforcements might have arrived before we could handle them.” Repeated occurrences would mean non-stop combat until every ant was exterminated. “Let’s proceed further in. The current situation here isn’t ideal.” The giant ants' corpses filled the surroundings. The spacious passageway was nearly blocked halfway. “Seems like we’ve killed about a hundred, right?” Agreeing with Athena’s remark, I nodded. “Well done. Just keep it up.” “...If it weren't for you, we’d have been overwhelmed a long time ago. Couldn’t even dream of maintaining the front line. Thanks. We survived because of you.” It wasn’t an exaggeration. Otherwise, Kaila would have been surrounded by the giant ants. ‘Well, Kaila would have made it out anyway.’ The prowess she displayed today was several times stronger than when her legs were impaired. It truly made one realize anew the significant role legs play in combat. By now, going all out, defeating Kaila would be impossible for me. ‘Even with skeletons and specters on my side.’ Well, in an environment filled with corpses, I might stand a slight chance of winning. But that would only be about a 20% chance. It hit me anew how fortunate I was to have Kaila as an ally. Perhaps Kaila might even outshine Athena in the long run. Of course, Athena is also growing terrifyingly fast, and she still has one spirit elixir left, so it’s too early to jump to conclusions. ‘The growth from just that previous battle was evident enough.’ Yet, the issue was that Kaila’s growth was equally visible. Ultimately, having both my companions grow together was a joy from my perspective. After all, I played a significant role in their development. We pressed further into the ant tunnel, past the giant ant corpses. “What’s this? Ugh, that’s…” “It looks like a food storage.” Athena gasped in horror, and Kaila responded calmly. Presumably, these were the creatures we had just annihilated. “Wow… They didn’t seem that strong… but they’re no ordinary creatures. There are even orcs.” “They must be strays. Most orc tribes wouldn’t fight with giant ants.” They usually avoid each other. “Hmm… There are humans too…” Their partially devoured forms were dreadfully gruesome. It seemed they were torn apart alive, right until the brink of death, the expression of agony partially remaining on their faces. There were other monsters, plants, and beasts as well. It was time to navigate through the tunnels in search of other chambers, as this one was empty. Drrdrrdrr. The ant tunnel started rumbling again. Naturally, the group took positions, the hunting pattern mirroring the previous battle. The problem was the sheer number of creatures approaching this time was significantly more than before. ‘It seems the word has spread all the way down.’ My fears were realized. The first ones that rushed in were possibly just buying time, as the waves that followed weren’t staggered but came all at once, leaving no time for rest. “Conserve your stamina!” Realizing the gravity, instead of verbal responses, the group shifted to calmer actions. Most of the incoming ants were worker ants; it seemed a considerable number of soldier ants were stationed in the first chamber. ‘And we wiped them all out.’ This made the battle somewhat easier than before. Especially Athena, benefiting from her recent synchronization with the skeleton, showed markedly improved performance, allowing me to focus on unleashing magic on the swarming ants instead of worrying about her. But their numbers were overwhelming. ‘We’ve already surpassed a hundred.’ The passageway felt narrower with the accumulating bodies. Athena’s breathing became noticeably more labored, startled by the unexpected numbers. Ideally, I wanted to extract energy from the specters that were gleefully draining the giant ants and give it to Athena. Skreech, Crunch! This increased the burden on Kaila, who, sensing the situation, started to act even more flamboyantly. Screech! Athena hastily retreated, thankfully managing to avoid direct hits. Thanks to the skeleton that blocked most of them. “Acidic fluid…!” I had anticipated it, but we let our guard down since it didn’t show in the first wave. Adding ranged support to this situation would be troublesome. So, I quickly instructed, “Slowly, retreat while fighting!” Sizzle! Screech! Meanwhile, more acidic fluid poured from behind, some even falling on their comrades. However, the giant ants seemed unaffected, possibly due to resistance. The already limited space for maneuvering was reducing further due to the dead bodies. Adding ranged attacks to this scenario made it difficult for Athena to hold on. Truthfully, making it this far was commendable. An average low-ranked mercenary might have collapsed from poor stamina management or broken mentally and fled by now. Athena definitely showed significant growth. ‘The exit is still far away.’ The safest place was towards the food storage area. ‘It’s relatively spacious inside.’ It would be a dead-end, but it came down to them or us in the end. I began preparing another spell. ‘One won’t do.’ The most effective spell currently would be Dark Bolt. It could take out more than ten giant ants in one strike, creating a momentary gap for us. But one spell wouldn’t give the frontline enough relief. ‘Then...’ Using it more than twice might work. No, there was a better strategy. It was a bit risky mana-wise, but not impossible. The circle spun rapidly. Extracting a considerable amount of mana, I channeled it into my staff. The dragon heart atop my staff consumed my mana, emitting dark light and beginning to vibrate. As the mana amplified and spread into the air, it aligned with my will, forming one spell initially. Boom! Thanks to extra mana, a slightly more powerful Dark Bolt was launched compared to before, exploding in the middle of the giant ants and creating a significant gap. Immediately after, I arrayed the remaining mana to form two spells. Several dead giant ants stood up in grotesque forms, their bodies being restored through regeneration magic. I forced out every bit of mana, spreading it once again, and soon, two additional spells were activated. With a higher skill level, one Animate Dead spell resulted in two zombies, and thanks to the staff’s power, three zombies stood up with just one use of Animate Dead. Since Animate Dead was used twice, a total of six undead ants rose. Regeneration magic also helped restore some of their bodies, leaving me with almost no mana left. “Fall back for now. Head towards the food storage.” Clutching my throbbing head, I gave the order. Following my command, Kaila and Athena began to retreat immediately, and the skeleton, after buying us a bit more time with the newly created undead ants, began to fall back as well. The specter, though seemingly regretful to leave the fray, started to follow me as soon as I retreated. Originally, turning giant ants into undead might have been considered inefficient, but the circumstances had changed.