He raised his fist and punched the Ant King right in the face, then rolled across the ground toward one of its legs.
He did not need to check to know his attack had barely done anything.
His knuckles stung with sharp pain.
In his old life, it would have felt like punching a block of iron with bare hands.
He pulled out his pickaxe and slammed it into the stone beneath the Ant King's leg.
BAM!
BAM!
[Ding! You get 1 Stone Block!]
[Ding! You get 1 Stone Block!]
[Ding! You get 1 Stone Block!]
A hole formed under the Ant King's weight.
Its massive body tilted as it lost balance.
Ben kicked off the ground and put the pickaxe back into his inventory.
'Craft Bronze Hammer.
Modify its size.'
[Crafting completed! 50 mana used.]
A huge, slightly unbalanced hammer appeared in his hand.
The handle was as thick as a wooden staff, like the kind used for brooms.
The hammerhead was even larger, and its striking surface was covered with sharp metal spikes, like a meat tenderizer.
He increased his muscle mass.
Both of his arms swelled, growing thicker and heavier.
With all his strength, he swung the hammer down on the Ant King's head.
BANG!
CRANG!
This time the attack worked.
The chitin armor on the Ant King's head cracked open.
A loud screech tore out of its maw.
Ben moved in to continue the assault, but something heavy smashed into him.
It felt like being hit by a truck.
The Ant King's foreleg slammed into his stomach and sent him flying.
He braced for the impact against the stone wall, but instead, he hit something soft and springy.
"My beloved, time your attack with me."
He twisted around.
A shimmering magical barrier was behind him, stopping his flight.
Elvira stood there with a confident smile.
Her hand glowed.
The barrier flickered, then vanished, and Ben dropped to the ground in a controlled fall.
"That crack," she asked, "can you break it apart?"
Ben did not know the full list of spells Elvira had, but as a regressor, she surely had more fighting power than she had shown when they fought each other.
"I can," he said.
"But do you have a plan after that?"
Ben nodded to himself as he spoke.
"As long as his flesh is exposed, I will focus my attacks there.
I want to stun him long enough for me to use Consume."
"Alright, let's go with that," Elvira said.
"Buy me some time.
But remember, I can only cast this spell once.
After that, my mana will run out."
"One chance.
That will be enough."
The Ant King's eyes burned with killing intent.
"You bug!
How dare you hurt me!" he roared, his face twisted into a monstrous snarl.
"You are the bug here!" Ben shouted back.
He charged at the Ant King and prepared to clash again.
At the same time, he ordered the wounded Krell scouts to guard Elvira, while the uninjured ones moved to support his attack on the Ant King.
This time, the Ant King did not just stand and take hits.
Its movements were more aggressive and focused.
Despite its large body, it slipped aside with surprising agility, dodging Ben's hammer swings.
The Krell scouts could only harass it.
They jumped around its legs and tried to strike at the cracked area on its head whenever they saw an opening.
Elvira closed her eyes.
Two magic circles formed in front of her, then slowly rotated and slid over each other until they combined into one.
Her eyes opened.
A third magic circle appeared, drawing itself on top of the fused one, line by glowing line.
'To think I would need to use this spell already,' Elvira thought with a quiet sigh.
Her new life had not lasted long, and she was already forced to use one of her trump cards from her previous life.
"My beloved, dodge!
Fusion Magic x3!
Voltflare Lance!" she shouted.
Swoosh!
A spear of fire infused with crackling electricity formed in the air above the circles.
With Elvira's command, it started spinning at high speed, then shot toward the Ant King like a burning drill.
Ben dodged one of the Ant King's sweeping attacks and, at the same time, ordered the Krell scouts to grab hold of one of the Ant King's legs.
He wanted to restrict its movement so the spell would hit.
The Ant King saw the incoming magic.
Even with its leg held down, it bent its body and jumped, trying to evade.
But the lance curved in the air as if it were alive and adjusted its path upward after the Ant King.
'So she really could have killed me if she wanted,' Ben thought. 'How many more cards is she hiding?'
In their last fight, Elvira had only used Fireball.
Compared to this spell, Fireball was like a toy.
If this had hit him while he was still human, Ben was certain there would not be a single piece of him left.
Even from this distance, he could feel the burning heat rolling off the lance.
BOOM!
The Voltflare Lance slammed into the Ant King and exploded.
The shockwave spread dust and fragments through the chamber.
The giant insect crashed back to the ground.
Through the cloud of dust, Ben saw the result.
A quarter of the Ant King's head had been blown away, exposing part of its brain.
Lightning danced over its body, wrapping around its limbs and joints like chains.
The electricity forcibly tightened its muscles and held it in place.
Ben's eyes lit up with a dangerous gleam.
He kicked the ground and jumped toward the stunned Ant King.
The moment his hand touched its exposed brain, the electricity surged into his body as well.
His muscles seized, and a numb, painful stiffness spread through his limbs.
He forced his body to move anyway.
He activated Metamorphosis and controlled his muscles directly, pushing through the paralysis.
His hand dug into the Ant King's brain.
"CONSUME!!!"
Elvira watched as the Ant King's body started to bulge and twitch, as if something was rampaging inside it.
Her face had gone pale.
Her eyelids felt heavy.
Her mana reserves were now almost empty, but she forced herself to stay awake and observe the scene in case something went wrong.
Even after all their attacks, she could still sense a huge amount of mana and vitality inside the Ant King's body.
'I hope it works.
If it fails…' Elvira thought, fear tightening her chest.
She knew the side effects of Consume.
If the skill failed, Ben would be stunned for five seconds.
It sounded short, but in a fight like this, five seconds was enough to decide everything.
She began to shape another spell with shaking hands, trying to form the basic structure.
It would be a last resort if Ben failed.
"You fucking bug!!!
Just give up!!!" Ben roared.
He was still fighting the Ant King inside its body.
It was not a simple absorption.
He did not know how the Ant King was doing it, but its flesh seemed alive.
It twisted, pushed back, and resisted his Consume skill from the inside.
While he was locked in that internal struggle, a sharp crack echoed from above.
The barrier on the ceiling began to split open.