"This is a good strategy actually..." Min-Jae said, stopping one of the attacking ants mid-lunge with his telekinesis. The creature hung suspended in the air, mandibles clicking uselessly.
Cha Hai-In moved in a fluid arc, her sword flashing twice—once across the ant's head, then through its segmented body. The exoskeleton cracked with a sharp sound, and the ant crumpled as Min-Jae released his hold.
Four down in two minutes. Four more to go.
"Yes. But we need to be faster. Time is running out," Cha Hai-In said, her gaze drifting toward the other four hunters engaged with the Ant Queen. They were mostly on the defensive—dodging, with Ma Dong-Wook raising his shield to block the occasional strike. Just as Min-Jae had predicted, the Queen wasn't much of a fighter herself. Not yet, anyway.
But that momentary distraction cost her.
One of the remaining ants surged forward, closing the distance in seconds. Before its mandibles could reach Cha Hai-In, Min-Jae teleported directly above it. He drove his fist down onto the creature's head with brutal efficiency.
The exoskeleton shattered on impact, and the ant slammed into the ground with enough force to crack the stone beneath it.
"Black Flash."
Min-Jae landed beside her. "Focus, Nuna." He glanced at the remaining three ants, then back toward the Queen. "There's only three left. You can join the others if you want."
Before she could answer, he was already moving. Another ant lunged at him, and he caught it with his telekinesis, lifting it just high enough. A sharp twist of his wrist—the ant's neck snapped, and it dropped lifeless to the ground.
"No," Cha Hai-In said, stepping forward. "Let's finish these first."
She moved like water, closing the distance to the nearest ant in a heartbeat. Her blade traced a clean line across its thorax, then reversed through its head. The ant collapsed in two swift motions.
One left.
The final ant hesitated, antennae twitching as if sensing the futility. It didn't get the chance to flee though. Min-Jae locked it in place with his telekinesis while Cha Hai-In struck from the side, her sword piercing through the gap in its armor. Min-Jae released his hold at the same moment, and the ant fell.
Both turned toward the Ant Queen.
The creature was enormous—easily three times the size of the bodyguard ants—with chitinous white armor and Its pale lavender eyes, it looked at least strong in terms of taking attacks, due to the armor.
Cha Hai-In saw it immediately—the opening. The Queen shifted its weight, turning toward Ma Dong-Wook, exposing its side for just a moment.
She didn't hesitate. She launched herself forward, sword raised, closing the distance in a blur of motion.
Mid-air, everything changed.
The Queen's mandibles spread wide, and a stream of viscous purple poison erupted from its mouth, aimed directly at her.
Min-Jae teleported in front of her before she could even process the threat. The poison hit his Infinity and stopped cold, sliding harmlessly down the invisible barrier before splattering onto the ground below. The stone hissed where it landed, smoke rising from the corroded surface.
Cha Hai-In landed a few meters back, creating distance between herself and the Queen.
Min-Jae glanced over his shoulder at her. "You're not supposed to be the reckless one."
---
As they regrouped, all six of them formed a loose circle around the Queen.
"The bodyguards are down. This is our chance—push forward, everyone!" Ma Dong-Wook's voice cut through the tension.
Baek Yoon-Ho and Ma Dong-Wook charged in tandem, closing the distance with heavy footfalls. Behind them, Lim Tae-Gyu nocked arrow after arrow, each one streaking through the air and finding purchase in the gaps of the Queen's armor.
Min-Jae's gaze lingered on Baek Yoon-Ho. The man looked completely different from before—his form had changed, become something more primal, more dangerous. 'So this is what Hunter Choi Jong-in mentioned.'
He turned his attention back to the Queen. 'It's too weak. I don't even need to do anything at this point.'
But the thought had barely formed when the Queen's mandibles parted again.
Baek Yoon-Ho had just landed a solid strike against its armor when the creature retaliated. Purple poison sprayed from its mouth in a wide arc, catching both him and Ma Dong-Wook mid-attack. They stumbled backward, poison sizzling against their skin.
The moment they hit the ground, Min Byung-Gu was already moving. His hands glowed with healing energy as he worked to neutralize the poison spreading through their bodies.
The Queen's lavender eyes locked onto him.
It lunged.
Ma Dong-Wook threw himself between them, his shield raised just in time. The impact drove him back several steps, boots scraping against stone, but the healer remained untouched.
Choi Jong-in seized the opening. Flames erupted from his hands in a roaring torrent, engulfing the Queen in a column of fire. The white chitin blackened under the intense heat, smoke rising from its armored body.
Then—
A roar tore through the chamber.
The sound was deafening, primal, accompanied by a shockwave that rippled outward and forced everyone to brace themselves. Dust and debris scattered across the ground.
"What is this now?"
"It's calling for reinforcements?"
But Cha Hai-In was already moving.
She launched herself upward, her sword gripped in both hands. At the apex of her jump, she brought the blade down in a single, precise slash. The movement was almost too fast to follow—a silver arc that caught the light for just a moment before it severed clean through the Queen's neck.
She landed in a crouch at the same instant the Queen's massive head hit the ground beside her.
Cha Hai-In straightened slowly, her breathing controlled. "Is it over?"
Min Byung-Gu walked forward, and put his mace over the head of the Ant dropped at the ground.
"You should finish it off properly. They don't die for a long time." He said.
"Did we just become the seventh team to clear an S-Rank dungeon?" Lim Tae-Gyu asked, lowering his bow.
"No." Baek Yoon-Ho's voice was sharp. "I'm detecting something in the air. Can you sense it, Hunter Min-Jae?"
Min-Jae's expression didn't change. "It's the ants from outside. That last roar was a call for reinforcements." His eyes narrowed slightly. 'Excluding a few, most of the S-Rank hunters in Japan have already been taken down. And that magical energy presence I felt earlier... it's getting closer.'
"What about your flame net barrier, Hunter Choi Jong-in?" Min-Jae asked.
Choi Jong-in's face went rigid. "The flame net I placed around the entrance—" His voice caught. "It's been breached!?"
The air in the chamber shifted.
The magical energy around them changed so suddenly, so completely, that it was like standing at the center of a storm. Heavy. Oppressive. Overwhelming.
The same presence Min-Jae had felt from outside was here now.
Footsteps echoed through the tunnel leading into the Queen's chamber—slow, deliberate, unhurried.
Then a figure emerged from the shadows.
It was massive, standing well over seven feet tall, its frame humanoid but distinctly wrong. Black armored exoskeleton covered its body like plates of obsidian, and beneath that armor, powerful muscles shifted with each movement. Its eyes glowed a deep, burning red in the dim light of the chamber.
'A Ant ? Is it evolved form of the ants ?' Thought Min-Jae.
Sharp claws extended from its hands.
It stepped forward into the room.
"What the hell is this ?"