Turning off [Scientific Insight+] during a massive battle is necessary for my safety. Being bombarded by numbers when constantly dodging and slashing takes away too much attention.

The [Antlion Workers] are easy to kill, although their armor is tough. One or two attacks in succession are enough to take them down. The problem is the number of enemies.

I can't stab with my sword, or I'll be without a weapon for too long. I'm hacking away at any body part that sticks out. Mounds made of corpses and limbs make it harder to move around.

One thing to note, the [Antlion Workers] cannot hurt me with my current resistance. The only danger is suffocation and the [Antlion Guards].

They are sturdier and need over twice as many hits before they go down, and that number keeps growing throughout the battle.

Except for the first guard, the others are almost guaranteed to get some damage. There are way too many antlions to dodge, so I'm holding my ground. I [Enroot] myself at the mouth of the nest.

Currently, [Enroot] isn't boosting my healing at all. Curious. Might as well use this skill now.

[Bolster Resistance]

-0

(-53)

-0

(-54)

-0

(-53)

They kill themselves on me. I stand there and push the bodies away when they pile up too high. The workers and guards clamp down and die in the process.

I didn't want to use [Bolster Resistance] because the mana cost scales on how high my resistances are, and I need appropriate rest to regenerate my mana unless I use my [Broken Blood] ability. But I don't want to waste it.

I finished the last antlion on the surface and stared into the nest. If I want to rest, I need to clear this place out. I end the [Enroot] skill and walk inside, inspecting the walls.

It's dry and crumbly like it could collapse at any moment from digging in the wrong spots. That's not good.

The sand is also strangely warm, It should be colder since it's out of direct sunlight, but that's not the case.

I walk deeper into the nest, even with the danger of being buried alive.

More swarms of workers and guards approach me, but at this point, I have killing them down to a tee. The tunnels are big enough for three antlions to stand side by side and tall enough for three to stack.

One antlion gets the drop on me, literally. I was distracted by killing everything else. It lands on my back, engulfing me. All these bugs are the size of a car, for gods sake.

It tries to pin me to the ground to no avail.

Its carapace is strangely translucent at its sharp pointy edges but has a hint of orange past that. It looks like it's made from crystal enveloping a misshapen basketball.

[Antlion Glass Blower C lv120]

Wait, it does arts and crafts? I push the monster off my back, giving it my full attention.

My question is answered when the orange ball starts to glow brightly, shining through the transparent carapace.

It spews molten glass from its mouth, coating the floor and almost my bare feet as I jump aside.

I fucking came in here to get away from glass, and now this fucker decided to evolve like this? Damn.

I don't bother fighting this glass vomiting monster. I raise my palm to the creature and blast it away with my firearm.

*BANG SHATTER*

The [Antlion Glass Blower]'s head shatters into millions of pieces as it slumps to the ground, defeated. What a letdown.

All the antlions have a role, and each antlion in that role is at the same level.

I wonder if the level is the requirement for that role or if being delegated the task from birth causes the level cap.

I wonder what the [Antlion Glass Blower] does for the colony or the runic one I saw earlier. What are the applications of vomiting glass?

Is it a crucible or a creator? It would make sense if they ate the glass the storm produces to brew the lava within them, but why would they need to evolve to do so?

I still haven't seen that magical antlion. I wonder if I can see its level now?

Name / Nickname

Ellis Vincere / The Last Winner

Race

Human

Class

Unique Master (Rank C)

Level

69 (7m/20m)

Titles

Proud Owner of a Rock, Fell the Mighty, Indulger…

~

~

Health Points

2012/2012 (+140% bonus)

Mana Points

350/1005

Armor Points

0

Might

200 (195 + 5)

Agility

100 (85 + 10 + 5)

Vigor

176 (115 > 141 + 20 + 15 )

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Mind

201 (126 + 75)

Spirit

158 (140 > 148 + 10)

Perception

40

Charisma

20 (5 + 15)

Luck

2

Unused

14 > 46 > 20

I've killed hundreds of creatures in my short time here. Unfortunately, most of them were at a lower level compared to me, so I didn't get the experience bonus my title [Fell the Mighty] gives me.

Once I reach level 100, the workers won't give me any experience. Sad.

Another thing strange about this nest is that it doesn't go far underground. Twenty feet of sand separates the ceiling and the surface. I'm worried about the tunnel collapsing.

A branching pathway that leads to different sections of the nest is being guarded by another group of [Antlion Guards]. But this time, they are being backed up by something more imposing.

[Antlion Sentinel C lv???]

It's double the size of a [Antlion Guard], with a thicker carapace and sharper mandibles. Its legs are bulkier and shorter, like a fat crab.

Since I know the [Antlion Sentinel] is a C-rank creature, it should have a level cap of 200. The highest level I was able to see was lv120. That's the range.

Their eyesight is pretty bad, so they must use olfactory sensors like other 'ant-like' creatures. Since they are underground dwellers, they should also be sensitive to vibrations.

Strangely, these antlions haven't noticed the commotion. Maybe they have and are staying on guard instead of approaching. I don't think they have spotted me yet.

I thought colonies used swarm tactics to kill intruders, but their 'passiveness' shows higher levels of thinking. I wonder if they arranged this or if orders were given. I wonder who gave the orders?

Twenty [Antlion Guards] and one [Antlion Sentinel].

I've been neglecting to keep up with my resistance, so I check what my new values are.

Slashing

100

Ice

100

Piercing

200

Acid

100

Blunt

331

Poison

401

Fire

270

Lightning

100

Mental

182

Radiant

200

V@#%

1

Force

200

Necrotic

89

Exhaustion

20

My [Blunt] resistance should let me tank anything from the guards even without [Bolster Resistance], or at least in theory.

My only means of attacking at a range is throwing things, so I backtrack and harvest the mandibles from the antlions I killed. Either they'll break formation to kill me, or they'll gradually be felled from the remains of their kin.

I stretch my body before getting into a stance. I arch my arm back and throw a mandible straight at the nearest [Antlion Gaurd].

-110

That got their attention.

I throw another before reaching for my weird arm container for more ammunition before throwing those as well.

-140

-109

-120

The [Antlion Sentinel] doesn't move from its spot. It's focussed its attention on me, which gives me a bad feeling.

Before the [Antlion Guards] even reach me, a stream of liquid shoots out from the sentinel's mouth in an arc aiming for my face. I sidestep and watch the liquid melt the sand beneath my feet into a black sludge.

This bug is like a living pressure washer, another stream of liquid sprays out, hitting the walls and ceilings. I need to finish this fight as soon as possible or retreat before this fucker collapses the chamber.

I chuck another two mandibles and charge towards the approaching [Antlion Guards]. I finish off the guard I've been harassing with projectiles with a single smack before kicking another guard in the face.

It clamps down on my leg, hurting itself and leaving me unharmed. Another few attacks would finish it off, but another guard comes up behind me, clamping down.

It definitely hurt this time, but it doesn't matter. The antlions are too big for more than maybe three or four to attack me at once.

Without my resistance, these antlions would be a deadly menace. Their mandibles constantly crush down on my body. If my resistances were nonexistent, I'd be snapped in half after a second or two.

But in reality, the antlions that clamp down on me die from their own actions, not before dying to my own blade.

Reminds me of a story about a snake that clipped itself on a saw on the ground and saw it as a threat, so it constricted around it, causing it to die against the sharpened blades.

These antlions could learn a thing or two about the life lesson the story portrayed. Give up and die. No, wait. It was something about letting go of anger. That doesn't sound entirely right either...

A jetstream melts one of the [Antlion Guards] in front of me, barely giving me time to dodge.

Holy shit, it melted straight through the carapace like it wasn't even there!

I quickly finish off the rest of the guards. It takes only three meaty wacks before they die to my barbed blade, and I can swing my sword pretty fast.

By the time I kill one of them, two others kill themselves thanks to my thorns. Damn, I love this relic.

It hasn't even been a minute since I initiated the fight by throwing body parts, and all the guards are dead at my feet.

My acid resistance is lacking compared to my other resistances, but this is not the place I want to train it.

I rip a mandible free from a nearby corpse and throw it to the unmoving sentinel.

-0

I preemptively dodge a stream of acid that never came. Instead, the [Antlion Sentinel] slammed its front legs into the ground as sand crawled up and down its shell.

A layer of earth covered its body, most likely boosting its defenses. It completely blocks the entrance to the other tunnels. Now, what do I do?

I don't want to get too close if this is a feint, but I'll have to if I want to do any damage.

Or I can do this.

I throw my fucking sword at it. After spending a thousand health to boost the damage.

-942

Damn, that boy was tanky. The sword sticks out nonfatally from its head like a sword in a stone.

The sand armor shatters, sending harmless shrapnel everywhere. Harmless to me, I mean.

*KUROGREEE*

I'd like it if the screams of pain weren't accompanied by acid spraying everywhere. It's flailing so much that dodging every droplet is impossible.

-150

-104

-88

[Resistance: Acid 100 > 125]

I back off quickly while activating [Bramble Blade] from my sword. Vampiric vines spring out from the sword, wrapping the creature and limiting its thrashing.

Too bad my ring is picky about its meals. A secondary source of damage with the vines would be helpful in prolonged fights.

While the creature is straining against its bondage, I approach from the side. Resummoning my blade with a spray of blood, I drive down my sword over and over until the slow beast stops moving.

If the sentinel ever decided to move from that spot, killing it wouldn't be easy.

I wish all my fights were normal. It's either: things can't kill me or can kill me plainly if it gets a direct hit on me. Then again, what is a 'normal' fight?

Maybe I should stick to my weight class and bully everyone at my level. I'm virtually invincible at that point. I need Flash Gordon to check my ego before I get myself killed.

I wonder how my beasts are doing.