They were hiding behind a wall, waiting for the ant patrol to pass and send the order; everything was fine. After two minutes, the ant moved along the tunnel and disappeared to keep its obedient watch.

"OK, is time." Silas gave them the signal, and they moved quickly between the tunnels. They were so close to the entrance that the ants could detect them at any moment, but thanks to Silas’s emitting the ant smell, they had extra time for the preparations.

Nathan took a stance and summoned his shield. Behind him, Nora and Rebecca were ready.

"Silvano, use your power and send me to a high point inside the colony. Wait one minute, then summon the portal back in the same position."

He was going to be the scout, thanks to his invisibility; he was going to confirm a route for them to move without alerting the ants.

"I’m ready." Nora was helping Silvano, so there was no need to be afraid, but he couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat.

Entering a nest of giant ants was probably the most dangerous thing he had done since coming to this world. Fighting wolves in a cave or even the monster Emily ended up taming were things he could never do alone, but he had a lot of help during those fights.

I was never alone; my guild companions or the pix soldiers and Cink gave me so much help. One wrong move is going to cost me my life. Calm down. There is nothing you haven't done before, and exploration is essential when going for the loot in PvP wars and raids.

He thought about the scariest experience he had during the last year of living here. The memory came so easily, and it gave him goosebumps. The feeling of loss and missing his senses that day was engraved in his soul, and his heart settled into a steady pace.

Yeah, there is no way ants can do something like that; at most, they’re going to kill me, melt my bones and organs into a soup, and give it to their queen.

"Open it." Silvano nodded, and the purple portal appeared in front of him for only a few seconds. He ran inside, and then it closed off. He fell a short distance until he touched the ground.

When Silas raised his eyes, he was in the middle of the nest, surrounded by ants. They were either working or patrolling. Some of them turned their heads around when the portal appeared, but it closed in less than a second. They just paid attention for a moment before continuing their work.

He didn’t have time to worry; he was invisible and had the familiar smell of ants, so there was no way for them to discover his presence. He had to make the most of the minute to look for an appropriate place to arrive.

He dashed through the ants and jumped into the walls. There were several tunnels and paths all over, but he had no time to look at each one individually. He had to choose a place where Silvano and Franco could stay without being detected by the ants.

Is no good; there are too many ways to move here, and all of them are full of ants patrolling. The only option is the ceiling. He looked up at the ceiling; some of the tunnels were high enough that the ants below couldn’t see them from there, but even those had some ants around them.

He jumped into a rock, and then above, where he could see the tunnel, there were about four ants working on the stone and expanding the tunnels. They were a bit smaller than the soldiers he fought outside, but they surely had the same ability to use the smell to alert the others.

Time was up, and he had to return to where he came from. The portal appeared again, and he crossed it in a second. As soon as he came back, Silvano closed it off again. He took a moment to regain his breath and gave a report of the situation.

"About thirty meters to the right corner, then upward about ten meters. There is a spot with four ants. We need to kill them fast before they can send a signal to alert the colony."

"What about their number?" Franco asked.

"I couldn’t count, but there were over two hundred ants moving around the main area; there are probably more inside the tunnels. I also saw the ones with the horns; there were over a dozen of them. If they notice us, I don’t doubt they’re going to explode and order the same for the soldiers."

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It would be an explosion that came out of a movie. All the ants detonating to protect the nest from the intruders, combined with the poison, would be a certain death.

"We can’t fight in the same place for too long or they’re going to overwhelm us; we go directly for the queen and kill it. After that, we leave with Silvano’s portal."

They didn't waste time and gave him the nod to proceed with the second part of the plan.

"Here goes!" Silas released a wave of pheromones, indicating there were intruders around the tunnels.

Silvano summoned the portal back, and thanks to Nora, he changed coordinates by connecting to Silas' perception smoothly, like they were reading his mind.

"Remember, ten minutes tops; if we don’t come back, retreat to the other portal and back to the village!"

Silvano summoned a second portal; this one took them back to the tunnels leading to Puy’s village. He had to keep this portal up for ten minutes straight to secure their companions' escape route. If Silvano failed, this could very well mean he killed Nora, Nathan, and Rebecca. He looked back at them for a moment before crossing the portal.

No one looked back at him; they were all facing forward, and they had complete trust in Silvano's powers. Count on me; I won’t let you die!

Silas was the first one to cross to the other side; he recognized the tunnel and moved in front to kill the ants that were farther away. He used more pheromones to send a signal that everything was okay, and then Franco came with a firm step.

The older man had his gloves on and, like a flash of lighting, killed three ants with a single rush. His fist mowed down the ants' torsos and heads with precision and devastating power. He didn’t give them a moment to fight back.

Silas finished decapitating the last ant in the back and made sure that the rest of the tunnel was safe. He noticed the soldiers moving in the direction he had indicated the intruders were coming from as he looked around the corner. Nathan and the girls were waiting for the attack.

Hundreds of ants moved in a wave towards the intruders. He saw some of the leaders turning red in the way they were ready to sacrifice their lives to defend the queen, but they ignored the real danger that came from inside.

"Some of the soldiers are blocking the passage in the south. The queen most be around there. Let’s go!" They moved carefully, evading the routes with ants and killing all the workers that were in their path.

"Uf, uf." Silas was sweating from constantly having to use his power to release smells.

"Don’t force yourself; if you need to rest, tell me, and I will clear the path." Franco was prepared to take on all the ants on his own if he had to.

"Save your power for when we reach the queen, uf," they continued to kill the workers and some of the soldiers they encountered as they ran deeper into the nest.

After taking a turn, the path in front was blocked by several soldiers and one of the leaders. There was no alternative way, and he couldn’t maintain the smell. The ants turned to look in their direction, and then the putrid smell filled Silas’s nose.

"They are going to explode!"

"Stay behind me. Silvano, wait for a chance to open a portal past the ants. I’ll blow them off with a single strike."

"Wait! How are you going to deal with the poison?"

"I told you, with one punch!" Franco ran forward, and his feet brushed against the ground. The friction was strong enough to cause a noise, and he threw a hook with all his weight behind it.

The ants were raging with suicidal instincts, showing neither hesitation nor a sense of self-preservation. This was their last resort to defend the queen and their future as a colony. They vomited poison, and their legs were slashing at the walls, trying to slice Franco in half.

He used all the momentum to blow them away as they exploded. The air sent them back, and the poison turned on them. The ants were like land mines that had been raised from the ground into the air. They were like fireworks, killing their own kind. It was a domino effect where they caused the others to explode backwards. This was the result of their fatal instinct.

Silas smiled to himself. He was thinking about the first encounter, when they turned Nathan's shield into a closed trap. Now that he knew what they were capable of, he did the same thing to them. Franco was the only one who could do something like this using his incredible strength.

Silvano watched closely behind the massacre and waited for an opportunity. He saw the end of the tunnel as their objective and made the portal. They crossed it to the other side and finally saw their enemy.

The queen was massive; her body was half red and half yellow. Around her were workers taking care of the eggs. He noticed the stone surrounding the queen; she had built her nest around this bed.

"That stone." He didn’t have the knowledge or class to determine the quality of the stone like Nadine, but he could tell it was a rare material. "I want to take it! but we don’t have the power to win in a straight fight." He took a step back and let Franco attack.

"Don’t get too close, this one is strong!" He raised his fist and clashed against the sharp claws of the ant queen.

His fists were covered with gloves, but it only took a single attack for them to start melting. Not only the queen, but all the other ants swarmed them with fury.

He blocked the queen's attacks. His body was already melting from the poison that was splashing around the nest, but he felt no fear.

"You’re a strong insect, but the only thing you know is to lash out to save yourself. I have been training for a year to fight all the creatures this damn world throws at us!"

The air turned silent for a moment that felt like an eternity before his voice echoed.

"Void Fist!"