How would one go about routing out an entire ant nest?
Mitch could think of a few ways, but the most reliable one was to eliminate the queen.
Then what if there are several queens?
Just kill them all.
Mitch had already decided on what to do.
First of all, he lacked a weapon. The mandible he had been using as a sword until now was good, but it had turned dull from the three weeks of endless battle. However, he had no other weapon to speak of.
He looked at the forest around him. The rivers of blood he had spilled in recent times had left a neon green stain on the trees and the ground. Fortunately, this would be his last massacre for a while.
And to start the slaughterfest, Mitch would face his fears. He would kill what had nearly ended him last time.
Why bother thinking of what to use as a weapon when he would get one naturally?
He would kill all the queens anyway. Killing a smaller queen for its teeth before making his way to the larger queen would make no difference.
Mitch ran towards the nest entrance, passing by the previous battlefield.
As for any ant that he encountered on the way, he simply killed them.
Scouring his barren surroundings made him realize what would happen to the rats if he didn't kill the ant queens.
The rats were his only source of Mynt. If they disappeared now, Mitch would not have enough time to gather followers. That would be the end of him.
He descended into the disorienting tunnels and started running.
Any ant he encountered exploded into a shower of green, sticky ichor. As Mitch ran, he began to understand why Devouring was classified as an E1 power. The ease of cultivation was offset by the limited power it offered.
He had barely become stronger from reaching 20%. On the other hand, his stamina had vastly improved.
Nevertheless, he still started feeling tired. That was because he kept running at full speed. He hoped to reach his target undetected, intending to finish the fights in a clean manner.
Eventually, he reached a structure similar to the one he remembered. A queen's chamber.
He threw a quick glance around, which told him that there were about twenty ants with the queen.
But he didn't care. He had battled ants for three weeks straight. He had learned of their strengths, their weaknesses, and even the best strategies to deal with them.
Mitch rushed forward, intending on getting the first strike in. The queen was too far away from him, so he instead rushed towards the strongest-looking normal ant.
Before the ants could even react to his abrupt appearance, Mitch slashed towards the neck of his target.
Thump
"One."
He had easily cut its head off before once more rushing forward. This time, he was close enough to engage in combat with the queen.
If it had been a week earlier, Mitch would have first killed the smaller ants to prevent them from interfering. But now, he hardly cared for them. The only threat here was the queen; the sooner she was killed, the faster Mitch could move on.
He slashed towards the queen's jaw with all of his strength.
Cracking sounds spread through the cavern. Unfortunately for Mitch, it came from his sword and not from the queen's mandible.
All the fighting Mitch had gone through finally became enough. It was not completely shattered, but using it after this battle would prove difficult.
However, it had served its purpose.
'Chance!'
His strike had pushed the queen's head away just enough for her stance to break. Mitch recognized this and kicked towards her unguarded leg.
Even with his enhanced strength, he still felt his shin bruising. The queen was hurting even more.
Her knee joint broke and bent in a completely wrong direction, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground.
The exchange had taken about one second, barely giving the other ants time to reach. Mitch cast a quick look at his surroundings, noticing the ants surrounding him. But they were too late.
With the queen incapacitated, Mitch jumped over her head and onto her back. From there, he stabbed his sword into her eye, shattering it in the process. The shards cut through her brain and turned it into mush.
'Weak…'
One second to close the gap. Two to kill it. Absolute decimation.
He had no time to relax. Although the rest of the ants were weak in comparison, they could still warn the rest of the nest if he was careless.
His weapon was broken, but that didn't stop him. A strike from him was enough to shatter their skulls. His speed left the ants in the dust. He darted back and forth, not letting any of the ants run away.
After a few seconds, only Mitch remained in the room.
'I did it.'
He wanted to celebrate, to scream out in joy about having killed an entire chamber of ants with ease. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that.
The time he wasted and the ruckus he caused could be the difference between the main queen noticing his presence and not.
He walked over to the queen's head and ripped her teeth out. Now he had two weapons for his fight against the big boss of this anthill.
The pride in his chest kept swelling, but he didn't let it get to his head. He knew that the fight about to commence would be the hardest battle he had ever fought.
Even Katherine remained completely silent, afraid that any disturbance to his concentration would result in him being grievously wounded.
Mitch rushed through the tunnels once more, avoiding any foe he could while killing the ones he couldn't. He found several more chambers but decided to not enter them yet.
At last, he reached the familiar room. A ginormous ant was lying in the middle, yet this time there were several others standing around it.
[Name: Ant Queen]
[Devouring (25%)]
[Name: Royal Guard]
[Devouring (20%)]