Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Taylor POV.
Our journey through the hive had been somewhat boring. Especially for the Korean hunters. Apparently, none of them had fully grasped the implications of my quirk. Something they realized after the first two minutes.
My quirk was absolute control over the Jeju ants within a 5-block radius. This meant that no ant could approach us without falling under my control. Once under my control, I simply lured the ants closer and let the hunters kill them.
Easy, boring, and effective.
And that wasn't at all what they were looking for. Actually, the Korean hunters were more than happy for the trip to be easy, but there was a huge problem: the camera broadcasting the entire raid. It was one of the very few times an S-Rank huntress raid had been publicly broadcast, which meant people had expectations.
They wanted a fight; they wanted to see the S-Ranks unleashed. Especially the Koreans, many of whom wanted to see the ants massacred. So, after the first two minutes, I was ordered to control the ants and make them fight the S-Rank hunters.
Honestly… It wasn't something I was really expecting when I joined this raid, but this was better than the option of constantly fighting for our lives while running towards the queen.
And besides, it was really fun to be able to fight the Korean S-Ranks with my ants. And it seemed like some of them were really enjoying having a real challenge, so… win/win, I guess.
The only strange thing was that I had joined the fight too. I had drawn Shusui and was attacking my ants, which… it was really weird fighting against myself. I needed several adjustments so it wouldn't look rehearsed or fake.
"Another fork," said Huntress Baek, looking at the various tunnels in front of us, then she stared at me. I just looked around, studying the tunnels before focusing on one in particular.
"That one." I said without hesitation. The huntresses nodded and began to move forward. We followed the tunnel path we had indicated, taking out any stragglers before stopping at a huge cave.
"It's the breeding chamber," Huntress Choi said, illuminating everything with her fire. I looked around at the thousands of ant eggs placed in the chamber. It was truly impressive.
"If the breeding chamber is located here, it means the queen's chamber is nearby," said Huntress Baek as she approached.
"Oh wow, this is really interesting," I said excitedly as I approached one of the eggs and examined it more closely. "I can feel my control over these ants! I can feel that they are fully formed ants, even as they are growing! That means they don't go through the larval and pupal stages; instead, they hatch fully grown from the eggs!
"Legs, mandibles, antennae... it's all there. Underdeveloped senses, it's... latent. It seems weaker than the others. They're still growing, they haven't finished growing yet. Hmm... curious, they're slightly different from the ones we've fought so far, it seems to be a new generation." I said quickly before stopping once again. Luckily, no one seemed to mind my babbling.
"So, those ants from before were protecting these eggs, I'll burn them all," said Huntress Choi as her fire grew.
"Wait! Look over there! That egg... it's the biggest one! " said Huntress Cha, pointing in that direction. I looked in that direction and a chill ran down my spine. It was easily six or seven times bigger than the other eggs.
I suppose that was the egg of the mutant ant Izumi was talking about. My body was completely tense, and I looked around cautiously. My quirk wasn't detecting any ants nearby, but I still didn't let my guard down.
"Do you have any idea what came out of there, Skitter?" asked Huntress Baek, completely tense. I bit my lip and shook my head.
"That's hard to say," I said immediately. "Ants are born fully formed, which means the egg was already large when the queen laid it, meaning its size was determined from the start. The queen was investing more resources from the beginning."
"And that... is difficult. We saw remains of eaten ants. There are no resources on the island, so they resorted to cannibalism to survive. Creating this egg... would be a waste of resources... unless the queen considered it absolutely necessary, above the survival of the colony." I said quickly. I could see everyone tense up.
"Could it be... another queen?" Huntress Lim asked tensely. I stopped, staring at the egg and examining it with my insects.
"No... not necessarily. Future queens tend to be large, yes, but size alone doesn't tell you what caste they were. It's... difficult to say, especially since this colony seems to get stronger with each generation."
"It could be a simple experiment by the queen, or something else entirely. The queen seems to be controlling the direction of evolution. She gave them wings so they could leave the island on purpose once she ran out of resources here. So, the question is… why does that ant need to be that size? " I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but with just the egg remains, I don't have any more information," I said apologetically.
"Don't worry," said Huntress Baek, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Burn this whole place down. Everyone, stay alert, don't let your guard down. If that thing is a new generation or something different, it could be dangerous." She added quickly, looking at everyone, and they all nodded immediately.
I watched intently as Huntress Choi burned all the eggs to ashes. Then they looked at me again, waiting for my next instructions. I just glanced at the tunnels and their layout one more time before pointing to a specific one. They all nodded, and we started running.
"Oh," I said foolishly as I stepped out of the grow chamber. The huntresses stopped and went on guard.
"Is something coming?" asked Huntress Cha with a frown.
"Oh, no, no, actually, the opposite." I said quickly while looking around. "My Quirk just clashed with the queen's ability; we're getting closer." I said easily. That made the hunters straighten up even more.
"Are you sure?" asked Huntress Choi with a frown, I nodded.
"I am. Apparently, the nullifier can only prevent her control from being transmitted over long distances, but her control is strong enough at short range to even overcome the nullifier." I said, frowning.
"Does that mean you'll no longer have control over the ants?" asked Huntress Lim, frowning.
"I won't have control over all the ants; I'll have to fight against the queen's influence, and here, it's really strong," I corrected her slightly.
"Hmm, your quirk was Queen Administrator, right? So, a duel between queens?" Huntress Ma asked playfully. I looked at her in surprise before shrugging and smiling mockingly.
"Does that mean you're my worker ants?" I asked mockingly. Huntress Ma burst into laughter and playfully punched me in the back. Her blow sent me stumbling several steps forward and made my bones crack.
"That's the spirit, Skitter!" said Huntress Ma cheerfully. Huntress Baek shook her head in amusement.
"Does this change anything?" asked Huntress Baek, looking at me. I shook my head.
"Little to nothing. The closer we get to the Queen, the more control she'll have, and the less control I'll have. That means we'll have to fight to go deeper. But I'll still be able to sense when they're approaching without any problem. And most importantly, now that I can sense the Queen, I can pinpoint her location more accurately." I said easily. Everyone nodded.
"Well, you've done a spectacular job so far, Skitter. I thought it would take us longer to get down the anthill. I wasn't really sure about the Japanese plan to bring you here, but you've been a great help. I guess they were right to let us bring the ant expert." Huntress Baek said with a nod. I stopped and looked at her before nodding.
"Thank you." I said softly. Huntress Baek nodded.
"Alright everyone, get ready! You heard Skitter, we'll have to fight to get to the queen, and that's exactly what we'll do! " said Huntress Baek before grinning wildly. We all exclaimed in affirmation before getting into position and then we started running.
As I said, we had to fight more often and harder. My quirk needed more time to control the ants; I needed to fight against the queen's control to gain control of them. We didn't have that time, so they were killed before I could take control of them all.
"The queen's royal guards are approaching!" I exclaimed without hesitation. Everyone tensed, and Huntress Ma stepped forward. I watched as the ants, three times larger than the previous ones, approached furiously. "I can only control one of them!" I said without hesitation, and just as I had said, I snatched control of one of them from the queen and used it to attack the unsuspecting royal guards.
The hunters didn't lose their momentum; they launched themselves into the fray and took advantage of the fact that the ants were distracted attacking my ant to quickly strike and kill them before turning on the others. I used Shusui to easily cut down the ants in front of me.
"Are we close to the queen?" asked Huntress Choi, I shook my head.
"No. I can feel its control, but not her, I'm only feeling which direction it grows stronger in to guide me," I said without hesitation while looking at the only ant that remained alive, the one I had under my control.
"So, we haven't even reached the queen's chamber, and we're already fighting the royal guards," said Huntress Baek, frowning. "How strange is that?" she asked again. I went over to my ant and checked her over.
"They're old. These ants are at least four years old. They came through the door along with the queen, or the queen created them a few days later. Either way, they're 'first generation.' They were stripped of their duties as royal guards."
"That means that, from now on, we'll be facing increasingly stronger ants," I said without hesitation. Everyone nodded seriously.
"Will you have any trouble controlling the stronger ants?" asked Huntress Baek. I shook my head.
"None, my control remains the same; the only thing interfering is the queen's influence," I said without hesitation. Huntress Baek nodded.
"Good, stay safe," she said seriously. I nodded.
"By the way, I couldn't help but notice, your swordsmanship is the same as your husband's," said Huntress Cha. "I mean, I know I shouldn't ask, and you can choose not to answer if it makes you uncomfortable, but it's... mesmerizing to watch. Did Ryuma-sama teach you?" asked Huntress Cha curiously.
"Don't worry, it's no secret," I said, shrugging. "And no, Ryuma didn't teach me. It was Izumi, my husband. He created this sword style. He created several." I told her honestly. Huntress Cha looked at me in surprise.
"He creates several sword styles?!" she asked, surprised. I nodded.
"They all start with Sun Breathing. And then there are at least 15 variations of that style, but they're different enough to be completely distinct, and I think he's creating even more. He also has a two-sword style and a three-sword style. So, in total, it's between 18 and 20 styles, I'd say." I said easily. Huntress Cha turned to look at me incredulously; in fact, she wasn't the only one—the others also looked at me in surprise.
"And... you said he's 18? What? I think one per year since I was born?" asked Huntress Baek, almost incredulous. I hummed as I looked at the tunnels around me, trying to get my bearings in the labyrinth.
"Hmm... I think he created Sun Breathing when he was about six years old? The others followed just as quickly." I said distractedly. After a few seconds of silence, I turned to look at them. "Did something happen?" I asked, confused. Huntress Cha shook her head and smiled awkwardly.
"No... nothing at all," said Huntress Cha with a... trembling smile. "And I suppose you've known him for a long time if you managed to train to that point," she added quickly.
"Izumi? Oh no. I met him when I came to Japan. 1 year, 7 months, and 3 days ago." I said without hesitation before blinking, blushing slightly, and looking away. "But who's counting?" I shrugged, trying to appear indifferent and change the subject. "As I was saying. No, actually, I'm embarrassed to admit that I thought my quirk would be more than enough, so I really hadn't trained at all. Not even how to throw a punch when I first met him. Izumi was very... vocal about how stupid that was."
"So he started training me. A lot. His training was torture, but I know I'm a bit behind the others. I rely heavily on my Quirk to fight, my Armament Haki isn't that impressive yet, and I have trouble with my Observation Haki. And—" I stammered uncertainly before slowly falling silent at the look of utter disbelief on the other hunters' faces. They fell silent again, and I glanced at them uncomfortably, squirming slightly. "Did I… say something wrong?" I asked cautiously. The hunters exchanged glances before sighing heavily and wearily.
"Wow... so this is what it feels like to be in front of a genius? Is this how the other hunters talk about us, the S-Rank? " Huntress Baek asked, sounding pained. I blushed slightly.
"I... I'm not a genius," I tried to say awkwardly. The completely dry look they gave me made me shudder.
"We're just... going to go kill the queen," said Huntress Choi with a sigh. I looked at them cautiously before pointing at one of the tunnels.
"This way." I sighed finally and started walking again. "By the way, there's a swarm of ants approaching, about 50 of them." I said, pointing to the tunnel.
"Thanks. I really needed something to punch." Huntress Baek said, sighing with relief. The other Hunters seemed just as excited. I glanced at them strangely.
"I suppose we should prepare," said Huntress Min before using her quirk to strengthen us. My eyes widened slightly as I felt the enhancements. It reminded me of what Darkness could do with her shield, only vastly enhanced.
"I suppose things are about to get a little hectic," said Huntress Ma with a huge smile.
"Skitter, focus mainly on leading us to the queen as quickly as possible!" said Huntress Choi. I nodded and started running. The others quickly followed, in fact, they surrounded me immediately.
We fought off wave after wave of insects as we ventured deeper into the nest. It was a turbulent descent, but for some reason, I couldn't help but notice that the Huntresses were… somewhat enthusiastic. It almost seemed as if they were competing to see who could kill the most ants. Or maybe… de-stressing?
I mean, I couldn't control the ants. The number I could control dwindled more and more as the queen ant's influence grew. But even so, I could sense them, and I still had my regular insects, so I could easily keep track of how many ants each of them killed.
And I was in the bottom percentile. Even Huntress Min, who was supposed to be the healer, was strangely enthusiastic. I guess they were really excited about retaking Jeju. That was good.
"Wait!" I shouted suddenly, and everyone around me stopped abruptly. I looked up in a specific direction. "I sense the queen; she's within my range," I said without hesitation. All the hunters stiffened.
"Skitter, situation." Huntress Baek ordered without hesitation. I grabbed Shusui, unsheathed, before I started drawing on the ground.
"The queen was in the farthest corner, protected by eight royal guards stationed here." I quickly drew a large circle to mark the cave, then smaller circles to indicate the queen, and finally, even smaller circles for the royal guards. "I... I think I could control just one of them and make it fight the others to distract them, then take advantage of the moment of distraction to eliminate them as quickly as possible before we focus on the queen," I said uncertainly. Huntress Baek nodded.
"Do it." Huntress Baek said without hesitation.
"I'll take care of keeping the Queen distracted," said Huntress Ma, raising her enormous shield.
"I'll provide support from a distance," said Huntress Lim, raising her bow. We all nodded.
"I know it's unlikely, but you can't control the queen, can you? " Huntress Choi asked, frowning. I narrowed my eyes and tried to focus on the queen before feeling her uncontrolled fury pushing me away.
"No. No chance." I said without hesitation. Huntress Choi nodded.
"I guess it'll have to be the hard way," said Huntress Choi without hesitation.
"Very well, we arrived faster than we were, we have time to plan properly," said Huntress Baek before looking at the scribble on the floor and beginning to speak. A few minutes later, we were all moving back toward the queen's chamber.
The enormous queen ant was really easy to see, even in the darkness of the cave.
"Skitter!" exclaimed Huntress Baek. I took control of one of the ants and didn't even hesitate. I used its sharp fangs to slice the neck of the nearest guard. The ant's head was severed, and I launched my ant at the next guard, though it was attacked by two of them.
Then we all moved. Huntress Baek partially transformed into a giant, furious white tiger and lunged at the ants. Huntress Choi used her fire to its fullest, creating small fire dragons and launching them at more guards. Huntress Cha and I headed toward where my ant was being attacked by two guards.
We took advantage of their distraction and attacked. Huntress Cha cut hers in half vertically, while I decapitated mine and cut off her legs to prevent her from moving even after she was dead.
With the path clear, Huntress Ma ran forward and collided with the Queen Ant, preventing her from attacking us. Then we moved to kill the rest of the ants. Thanks to our planning, the royal guards were killed very quickly, except for the one under my control, and then we focused on the Queen.
We all attacked her at the same time without hesitation. While Huntress Ma was in the lead, Huntress Cha, Baek, and I flanked the queen and attacked her from the sides, while Huntress Lim attacked her with her arrows from afar.
In a short time, we began to wear her down enough; some of her legs had been severed from what she was dragging herself along.
"Everyone, fall back!" shouted Huntress Choi. At the command, we all jumped back without hesitation. Then Huntress Choi focused most of her remaining aura into a massive explosion that engulfed the queen.
The queen was half dead. Almost completely charred, but still alive. To our surprise, the queen ant moved.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!" The ant queen let out a huge scream and my eyes opened wide. At that time, Huntress Cha moved quickly and decapitated the queen, killing her completely.
"Skitter! What was that!? " shouted Huntress Baek.
"It was a cry for help!" I screamed in panic. "The ants are coming this way!" I yelled without hesitation.
"What?! And the Japanese?! " asked Cazado Lim quickly in a panic.
"The queen's scream overwhelmed the nullifier!" I said without hesitation. "They must be ignoring the Japanese!" I said quickly.
"Confirmed! The Association says the ants are returning to the nest right now!" exclaimed Huntress Ma quickly. "We have to get out, now!" she exclaimed.
"Skitter! Can you guide us outside? " asked Huntress Baek in my direction.
"Wait!" said Huntress Cha. "Without the Queen's influence, doesn't that mean you have total control now? Does that mean you can control them completely?" she asked, turning to face me.
I opened my mouth to answer when I felt a horrible presence. My Quirk tried to cling to it, and I could physically feel it being mercilessly shattered for the first time. I could feel my nose starting to bleed, yet my body remained completely rigid. We all turned in a particular direction.
A giant ant. A large, muscular, humanoid ant with a black armored exoskeleton, glowing red eyes, and razor-sharp claws. Its entire body seemed to emanate a malevolence that made me pale. The mutant ant Izumi had mentioned.
"SCREEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!" the ant screamed with all its fury. It was angry. We were in trouble.