Silver Blade looked at the faces of her party members, stopping on Braag.
The latter slowly shook his head.
“I’m good. Let Fend do the honor.”
Final Fend’s eyes lit up. He quickly stepped towards the treasure chest as if afraid someone might snatch it from him.
“Thanks, Braag.”
Throwing out a quick thanks the young man’s hand was already touching the chest.
The others discussed while waiting for the chest to open:
“What quality is this chest?”
“Looks to be bronze. Not too bad.”
“I wonder what platinum chests might contain.”
“Platinum is the highest grade, isn’t it? It can’t be any less than legendary or even unique equipment.”
“Unique…”
Balm whispered, looking forward to the time when she would be entirely clad in unique equipment. Bleary Mirage only told them about its existence but nothing about its properties, leaving everyone guessing and fantasizing.
“Hey, not bad!”
Final Fend’s joyous exclamation brought everyone’s attention back to him.
“What did you get?”
“A spell scroll with a revive spell!”
Final Fend watched his new friends, confused by their mixed reactions.
“What’s going on guys?”
Bloody Edge answered with a grim expression:
“I fear this is a bad omen.”
“Yes, I don’t have a good feeling as well…”, agreed Fortune.
“Don’t be so pessimistic. Those ants won’t kill anyone as long as I’m here!”, stated Balm with conviction.
“My condolence for you, Balm.”
“Right, how can you wave such a death flag for yourself?”
“Stop… stop joking. I won’t die, ok?”
At the end Balm’s voice sounded uncertain, prompting the others to laugh loudly.
Silver Blade wore an amused smile, leading the party back on the right track. During the walk everyone did their best to reassure Balm. After all, no one really wanted to lose their healer.
After the short side quest the party continued following the drag marks. The path slowly led them deeper into the earth. The tunnel opened up while crystals in different colors mixed in. The atmosphere would be great if it weren’t for the groups of ants attacking all the time.
Even elites were mixed in from time-to-time, making the fights increasingly more difficult.
After two hours of this everyone had a hint of exhaustion on their faces.
But at this moment, they finally arrived in a larger cave. Silver Blade scanned the surroundings suspiciously.
“No enemies?”
“Strange…”
“Finally, this game shows some conscience!”, exclaimed Fortune.
But at this moment the mage’s eyes fell on another opening not far away. Gorgeous crystals were arranged around it in a beautiful formation.
However, the area behind it was hidden in darkness, emitting a dangerous feeling.
“Seems like we are reaching the end…”
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“This looks very much like a boss room.”, agreed Silver Blade. “Let’s take a rest here before continuing.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Subsequently the party leaned their backs against the walls, relaxing their exhausted minds. They conversed in low voices, some even directly closing their eyes.
After about fifteen minutes they gathered before the exit with renewed spirits.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes! Let’s kill a boss!”
Final Fend was the most eager, looking forward to fighting side by side with his new friends.
“Ok guys, you know the drill by now. Always keep your eyes open for signs of skills. We need to be quick on our feet!”
“Got it!”
Silver Blade nodded solemnly at the others before stepping through the entrance.
A moment later the party found themselves in a dark room. A faint rustling sound could be heard.
The party steeled themselves, taking out their weapons and staring at the other end of the cave.
Slowly, a large purple crystal attached to the ceiling lit up. Light gradually spread through the room.
A mysterious silhouette got revealed gradually. At first only a large figure could be made out. But step by step more details could be seen.
Six long legs ending in incredibly sharp tips. Large, thin wings adhered to a red carapace permeated with threatening red lines. And a huge round head with an eerily large mouth shielded behind two horrifying mandibles.
Its eyes were still closed, opening slowly when light fell on them, revealing eyes pure as glass, round, and entirely blood-red.
The indifferent gaze sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
But this was not all. Everyone’s eyes quickly wandered down the elevated platform the tall ant rested on, falling on a large net filled with barrels and crates.
Some of the wares were broken open and all kinds of items were scattered on the floor.
Following the trail of items Braag couldn’t help but gulp. He found hundreds of sticky, white eggs glued to the side of the cave. A few strange stones were placed among them, seemingly delivering some kind of energy to the eggs.
Braag shuddered slightly, speaking carefully:
“Guys, why don’t we… just grab those wares and leave? There is no need to fight, right?”
Just as Braag finished, a low sound came from behind them. Glancing over his shoulders the dwarf saw rays of colorful laser-like rays connecting the crystals, blocking the exit.
“Dear viewers, our escape has been cut off. Our party has no chance but to face the queen of all ants directly. Will we stand a chance? Or will this be the time for us to return to the graveyard?”
“Ok guys, stop joking around! The fight is about to begin!”, warned Silver Blade sternly while inspecting the enemy.
[Ferocious Ant Queen
Rank: Boss
Level: 22
HP: 5200/5200]
The ant queen slowly stood up, revealing its full height, which rivaled a one-floor building.
While the party felt pressured by its indifferent gaze, a strange sound suddenly reached their ears. They glanced to the side, watching as four eggs cracked open.
A couple of ants crawled out of the eggs. At first the appeared small, almost like normal ants. But when they dropped to the floor, a mysterious magic seemed to drive into their bodies.
The ants suddenly increased in height. Their back legs grew strangely thick. With stiff movements the raised their bodies, walking on two feet, their eyes at the level of an average human’s.
“What in the…”
Final Fend cursed slightly as he scanned the enemies, which came in two pairs.
[Ferocious Ant Queen Guard
Rank: Lord
Level: 21
HP: 4500/4500]
[Ferocious Ant Queen Attendant
Rank: Lord
Level: 21
HP: 4000/4000]
The ant queen opened her mouth wide. With a jerk of her head, she spat out two shields covered in slimy salvia, which were immediately kept by the two queen guards with great reverence.
A moment later the ant queen repeated the move, gifting two staffs to its attendants.
“I don’t like this. Can we destroy those eggs first?”
“I feel like it’s risky. Let’s first probe the situation.”, decided Silver Blade.
“Ok. You’re the boss, sis.”
Suddenly the party members felt that their stiff bodies could move again. They realized that the fight had officially begun.
“Fend, you take those guards, I go for the attendants and the queen!”
“Understood!”
The siblings communicated quickly, directly approaching the enemy since the cave was rather spacious.
After a short distance they both stopped. Final Fend swung his weapon at one of the guards, instantly drawing its attention.
Knowing that its queen was in danger the guard didn’t hesitate for long, immediately blocking Final Fend’s path.
[-166!]
At the same time Silver Blade instantly activated a skill, stabbing her sword deeply into the floor.
Suddenly a broad ring of holy light erupted from the floor some distance around her. It didn’t hit the queen guards, reaching only the two attendants.
The skill’s damage was negligible, but its effect of drawing aggro was significant. However, the skill wasn’t over yet. Another ring of holy light erupted further away than the first one.
This time it was the queen ant who got affected. The large creature turned its heavy body, staring angrily at the intruders.
However, the party was looking at something else in surprise. A small amount of damage was dealt to the ant guards. It took them a second to figure out why.
“The damage to the queen ant gets shared by the guards!”
“Damn, we need to kill them first!”
“Careful, sis!”
Final Fend suddenly shouted anxiously. He watched one of the ant guards turn around and approach Silver Blade.
The young man didn’t dare to hesitate, instantly using [Chain Lock].
His weapon raced through the air, tightly wrapping around the guard.
“Thanks, Fend!
Guys, stop staring! It’s time to attack! Let’s focus on those attendants!”
“Got it!”
The party complied with Silver Blade. Instantly, attacks and skills rained down on the opponents.
Braag directly used his [Big Berta] while Fortune prepared another [Magical Sphere], followed by casting [Arcane Bolt].
Bloody Edge went invisible, approaching the attendants together with Watchful Eye.
The attendants dropped to half HP after being bombarded by the ranged attackers. Suddenly a red light flashed in their eyes. They raised their staffs high, a large amount of mana gathering at the tips.
Two large circles pulsing in dangerous red light appeared within the cave.