The aged warrior watched me get on my feet, with her eyes. So not only had she become a real monster, but she could also see, now? Great! And her mandibles were back. A dangerous-looking pair with a blade so sharp it would gleam in the daylight; I had no doubt about that.
Are you alright? The old warrior asked me. She was itching to help, but her attention was already divided in twelve ways. She didn’t want to take the risk.
I’m fine, thanks. Though, I admit, my chest burned where the antennae had struck me. It was not a light injury. I should have expected nothing less from the master of antennae art.
That’s great news. The aged warrior chimed in. I almost thought I squished you like an ant.
Don’t get ahead of yourself. You are also an ant.
Oh, you have found your voice, I see. But you better control it or I’ll be forced to straighten your self-esteem with some whipping.
She had gotten scarier, alright. The shiver that shook my body can be a testament to that. It was no wonder I grew silent. And she liked being the dominant one very much. That hadn’t changed at all.
Now, you have two choices. She clapped her antennae, well, the pair at her head and the soldier, her protégée, the one I had almost killed, and whom I considered a friend, climbed into the chamber behind her. He dragged a large cube of strongly fragrant mushroom. Its sweet scent quickly overtook the wooden scent of the fungus in the chamber.
It had the same appearance as before: White, soft, and jiggling. However, its sweet fragrance was inviting, mesmerizing. Much like the ant lions pit, it called me, but I knew the horror that waited on the other side of that invitation. I heard my companions hunger after it. I didn’t have any water on me to free their minds. Well, a few slaps to the back of their heads produced the same result.
Looks like your companions already know what to do. The aged warrior scented. Accept the call, eat the fruit of Gluttony, and become one of us. Refuse, retaliate, interfere with the other's decision, and I’ll force-feed it to you. You can choose to become like him, She slapped her protégée on the back. His lost antennae had grown back and he appeared happy. However, his uncharacteristic silence spilled all there was I needed to know to make my decision.
Or you can become like them. She pointed behind us. Shading hell! The horde had caught up to us, but they refused to enter the chamber and continued watching from the other side. Even the mindless knew to be silent in front of her.
Was it you? I genuinely wanted to know. I deserved to have my questions answered. Did you kill the ant and put its corpse in the mushroom farm? Did you spread the infection?
Yes, Yes, and yes. Now decide.
The old warrior poked my side. Can I ask what’s happening here? And why she wants to feed us instead of killing us?
Did the termites not tell them anything? And I realized I had forgotten to ask the explorers who had warned them. Well, first thing first. That’s the infection carrier. I answered. You eat that and you become one of them, an infected.
Whoa. That’s a lot to take in. I had only turned away from her when she poked me again.
I know it’s not the perfect time, but did you go to the 47th city to figure this out?
Yes.
That’s—
The thundering sound of a whip slashing the air put the stop to her questions. They were a big help, however. I was no longer shaking. I was nervous, but I had a plan. Nothing bad had happened yet. We could still survive this.
Just tell me why you did it and I’ll tell you my decision. I can’t say I would hate you if it was for revenge.
It was for revenge.
The soldier almost leaked something. It was difficult to ignore him, but I did and shook my head.
Then you went too far. I scented. You should have tried to change the rules, to end slavery and equalize the status of workers and soldiers, but you chose the wrong path.
She didn’t sound so enthusiastic about my suggestions. I wanted revenge kid, not to become a diplomat. And my plans had nothing to do with the slaves and their treatment. She lost me there and it was noticed. Weren’t you curious about how I lost my mandibles?
I felt embarrassed. Did you know?
You had no control over your antennae, which… haven’t acted up once since you have stepped foot in here. Your olfactory control improved? In what three days?
Four days. I corrected her. Just why couldn’t anyone get the days right? It was absurd.
And don’t forget about the story. You already have us encircled and there is a horde of infected behind us. We are not going anywhere.
She released amusement. I saw fondness in her eyes, but she quickly covered it up with irritation. You are right about the last part. Alright, under whose command did we defeat the termites and sent them running? The old warrior tried to answer, but she was interrupted. It wasn’t a question; the aged warrior was merely being dramatic. It was mine. We defeated them under my leadership.
You commanded the city forces? I did the same mistake as the old warrior, and it got me scolded. I apologized for butting in and she continued the story.
However, that’s where our ideas differed. The queen wanted to eradicate the termites and I was against the decision. You have been to 43rd city, haven’t you?
I nodded.
And what do you think of their flooding mechanism?
It is beautiful.
But the queen didn’t understand. I wanted to slave the termites, to make them create such marvels for us. Think about how different our lives would have been if I was allowed to have my way with them.
The three of us were stupefied.
The aged warrior reacted to our reaction. I wasn’t a saint either, but they were devils in ant skin. I was removed from my post when I refused to act and my general, the boy I had taught, took my seat. I knew he had queen’s ears, but I didn’t think she would agree to his idea. Taking him under my wing was a mistake I made.
She vexed by slamming her antennae at the ground. Good thing we were far away from her. When the dust settled she stood in her place with the antennae back in their original position, pointing straight above.
I’ll be cleaning my antenna with the wax of his eyes when the time comes. Looking back at us she continued. They did everything right to take control of the army from me, but they didn’t kill me, and that was a mistake. By the time they caught me, I had already sent my most loyal soldiers to help the termites escape. That’s the story.
And they followed your order? The old warrior asked.
Haven’t you also followed an order to your death?
She was going to refute her claim, but I stopped her.
Did Princess know about your plan? I asked in her stead.
No. She is too full of righteousness, too pure. But she did know the story.
No wonder she didn’t like the commander.
We both grew nostalgic. I shouldn’t have mentioned her.
She’s a lovely child, strong but also unfortunate. I nodded. She will make a lovely queen.
Teacher… I called and her antennae turned stiff as if experiencing fright. Where is Princess? I asked, but she didn’t move, gave no answer. What did you do to her?
A whole minute passed before she finally stirred and answered.
I gave her wings.
Get down. I politely scented.
Get down? She repeated behind me amused.
But my words were not for her. The duo standing to my left knew what I meant. They had seen the horde of infected losing themselves the last time I had scented the words.
As my antennae fizzled with activity, they crouched on the ground, dropped their antennae, and hid their heads. I took a step forward, pushed it deep into the ground collecting all of my pheromones, every single molecule, and blasted it in an overwhelming ring.
The infected couldn’t counter and dropped to the floor like dry leaves falling from a tree at the touch of a passing breeze. The aged warrior also dropped her head, though she stayed standing. The old warrior picked up the unconscious soldier and we ran toward the other side of the chamber, to the entrance that led into the 41st floor.
The soldier holding the round and thick coin head saw the size of the entrance and finally understood why I didn’t allow him to drop it. He almost fell from the excitement but held himself.
I didn’t even sense what happened next, but I was rolling on the floor before I knew it. The pain that pierced through my chest was bad. The world spun, and my sight rolled in and out, fading and appearing and fading again. I didn’t have the time to worry about the other two. They had been hit, too, and sent flying far away from me. My weight had kept me from joining them on the flight. I couldn’t figure out whether it was a good or a bad thing; my thoughts were all jumbled up.
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I heard the warning snap of a hundred whips behind me when I stopped rolling. Overwhelm had failed to stop her. The realization was a horrifying one. The skill had never failed until then. It was a bigger blow than the one that had caught me unguarded.
Who taught you to do that? Her exoskeleton grew Red as she burned with anger. Something throbbed under her skin. Maybe it did work but in the opposite way. The first time I had used the skill, it had produced just about the same result. She looked like madness —really scary.
I had Bella teach me Sneak; however, that wasn’t the point. My companions, I looked to my left and found them down with pain. The old warrior was fidgeting, having convulsions. The attack had blasted away two of her left legs; while the other one had his back caved in. He would survive, they both would.
Yes.
You lying unfilial child!
Her anger flared. She grew a bit taller, harder, and stronger.
Her mandibles grow more menacing and antennae grew even longer. She released a loud blast of pheromones, repeating the skill I was so proud of, but with greater range and precision.
The blast hit me squarely. I swayed. I dug my claws into the ground as the pheromones reaped havoc to my senses and mind. Thankfully, I had plenty of resistance and my mind held. It was a hassle to stand up, but I did. I fought with the flaring chest pain and got some feet under me, only to see her swinging every single one of her thick antennae at me, with enough force to tear the air and make it cry out in pain.
I wound not have survived if hit. I charged at her to get as close as possible while the antennae were still mid-swing. I had stab covering the edge of my mandible and I pierced. She raised her head and let out another blast of pheromone. This time I swayed back. The antennae stuck my back hard; again and again, they struck me. I survived because I was far too close to her and she couldn’t swing them properly.
My exoskeleton was hard enough that it didn’t break, but it indeed cracked. I bled, but also stayed on my feet. It’s nothing I told myself. Reckless courage activated at this point. The system deemed my opponent impossible for me, someone, on the level of a bird or a hisser. It was a laughable matter in its own right. Would have done it too if I had time to breathe.
Join us. You will keep your sanity if you accept the change. You can’t stop it. Not now. The aged warrior was still at it, but I didn’t think she meant it anymore. For either, she acknowledged my strength and wanted to subdue me before forcing me to change, or as I thought, the infection was taking over her mind.
Her whips were too quick for my eyes, but I inspected their path and motion. The next time she attacked I stopped one with the flick of my antennae.
A crackling snap ensued from the point where our antennae met.
I stumbled to the side from the force of the impact, while light returned to her eyes.
--You blocked that? But it won’t be enough.
Then she looked away from me for a second.
The others had found consciousness and were getting up, on both sides. The infected were quicker because they didn’t care about mental nuisance and body balance. It didn’t come as a surprise when most of them fell to the floor on their second step. Whatever the case, it allowed my companions to get a hold of the situation.
The monster that was the aged warrior charged toward them. I went right after her. I slashed one of her legs, causing her to stumble.
The old warrior shook off her daze in the meantime and raised her head. She must have been scared to death to sense a true monster and more of them charging toward her.
But she kept her cool. Her battle-hardened mind knew how to react under pressure. She slapped the soldiers awake. Both stood up. The one who had been carrying the coin head was a bit woozy, but she didn’t let him fall asleep again. It was a matter of their life and death.
The infected were starting to come around too, but the bigger problem was that the aged warrior was targeting them. Maybe she was simply trying to get into the chamber so she could threaten me with the princess? I couldn’t let her do any of those.
The leg I had cut recovered when she stabbed an antenna into one of the infected passing by. The infected grew weaker whereas she recovered. That was… unexpectedly horrifying, both to witness and believe. Her strides grew longer after feeding, but I was still faster than her. I didn’t lose hope. She could heal so I needed to keep hurting her. The answer was as easy as that.
I charged under her, letting the skill take me into a grounded flight. I pierced her underbelly as charge carried me forward. There was a rip and I had opened a large slit on her underbelly. The cut wasn’t smooth and nether was the experience, but that finally stopped her, for a while.
The aged warrior cursed me in ways I didn’t know existed, as her rotten insides fell out of her abdomen. A sizzling liquid boiled out of the wound, drenching me and the floor below. It burned, worse than the acid of a termite, even an infected one. There was no shelving the pain off to my skills. It hurt like having my antennae ripped off my head. I could only live through the pain since I didn’t have any water on me.
But that wasn’t enough to kill either of us. I remembered I didn’t need water and cleaned myself. A natural coldness washed me as the skill removed all traces of acid off my body.
Horrifying was the sight of her insides that squired on the ground, as if alive.
I rolled away from her as her mandible snapped close above my head. She wasn’t anywhere near me, but the sound was horrible indeed. One snip was all it would have taken. I backed away as her antennae collected four infected slaves that were rushing past her and pulled them into her body. She didn’t eat them like a normal infected but pulled them into her body. The antennae retracted like worms burring back into the ground and they took the infected with them, assimilating them into her body.
I couldn’t have stopped her even if I wanted. So I did the next best thing. I scented the old warrior to run and took care of an infected that as trying to reach past me.
Meanwhile, a shudder passed through the aged warrior’s body. The insides that had only been squiggling outside climbed back inside the abdomen and the wound mended. I happened exactly that way. Then she started changing. Her body grew bulkier, uglier. A mass of flesh grew to cover her exoskeleton, and jet black plates like that on Barry’s body grew above them. Her legs exploded one by one, and creations of solid white chitin took their place. Flesh grew to cover them and then finally plate armor.
Her mandibles pushed out of her face as she let out an undulating scream from her throat. I bolted at that point.
Run! I advised the old warrior and the soldier. They were thinking of helping me. I doubted they would be of any help. RUN to the 41st and get ready to block the—
I ran out of pheromones, but they understood. There were not far from the entrance. The old warrior gave me a scent of understanding.
The coin head and the tunnel opening were of exactly the same size, a perfect fit. And why wouldn’t they be? Everyone knew the 41st used to be the queen's own abode: it was warm, large, and protected by the crystals from the top and rocks from below.
I had no idea why she moved out of it, but something must have happened for the most important place in the whole city to be turned into a slum.
The old warrior carried the coin head as one soldier helped the other walk.
I kept the infected at bay as they made way to the entrance. Still, no matter how I tried, three infected managed to slip past me. The old warrior saved the other two by blocking the rush with the coin head. However, these infected were not like others. They could coordinate with each other.
They caught the soldier that had been unconscious until just a minute ago and tore him to shreds. The infected slave instantly turned toward the other one instead of eating the food they had procured. So they could not only coordinate but even have a different sense of priorities? No wonder the aged warrior gave us a choice. The thought gave me jitters.
We were lucky that the aged warrior was still occupied with her transformation. Maybe she didn’t expect it to take so long, or she didn’t care about the delay and was confident about the end result? Whatever the case, the anxiousness was making my head race, and it was only producing bad thoughts. Because there was no way someone who had single-handedly —doubtful, but there was no other clue—planned the downfall of the mightiest colony of ants, would make a silly mistake of looking down on her opponent.
So when her transformation gave me time to meet with the others and get to the other side of the tunnel, my heart couldn’t help but grow nervous. There shouldn’t have been anyone else besides her to pose a problem for us. The connection was vague, but it had pointed directly here the last time it had flared.
Our eyes met, for real this time. She waved her antennae at me raising goosebumps all over my body.
Close it! I scented as rushed into the entrance and rolled on the cold floor with an infected in tow. It squirmed under me as the old warrior and the soldier together pushed the door into thick entrance and took position behind it.
The infected bit into my chest, but it only caused me discomfort, no pain. Its mandible couldn’t cut through my armor, but mine did.
I leveled up the moment I killed it. Level 9, but it didn’t matter.
There was a second of silence then she knocked on the door once from the other side, and then after a pause, she repeated again.
The sound from the impact traveled all the way down the straight tunnel, echoing like the pain and remorse of the dying that once echoed in the tunnel. And the echoes produced a sound, one that only I could hear, thanks to a method that she had personally taught me. It was a message and I didn’t find it strange at all. She had lived for far too long, and all of her methods had been one stranger than the other. All I knew was that the infected listened to her and she had enough experience to turn the war on its head. She had destroyed the termite’s empire all alone. The history would repeat once again if she wasn’t stopped.
This thing can’t hold me for long, boy. Go meet your princess, she’d down there. I give you five minutes, but after that, I’m coming in. Prepare yourself. It was the message that echoed. The banging continued, slowly getting faster and stronger. She was trying to be dramatic.
Let’s go. I told the others. They looked between me and the door, their antennae acting up in nervousness, and slowly stepped away from it. The coin head held its place.
Five minutes. I told them. That’s all we have. We need to hurry. There has to be an escape route inside.