Ordering the water-based otters to stay down in their puddles while a bleeding intruder right past them was surprisingly hard. During the first attempt at making it happen, there had been no expectation of actual resistance, yet the new pair of liquid-based creatures were more than fierce in their protectiveness over the area. Even the whipping tree had been more understanding of the Entity’s wishes, remaining as still as, well, a normal tree would. Even the roots underground kept their movements to a minimum which was saying something with how much they swirled around normally.
‘How far inside is he?’ the Queen asked the Core. She, just like the Entity, had been able to tell the exact moment that the pained steps were within the Dungeon’s borders, yet she seemingly didn’t have the same accuracy as the Core.
‘Not too far. Barely past the outside creatures. He should be getting into the cave within a few moments,’ the Core replied, studying the man curiously. Not much thought had been put into the individual during the first round of intruders, the more powerful axe woman being more important at the time, but the new round of intrusion allowed for much more available study. ‘I believe it’s far enough for you to start the scene, however.’
‘Understood. I do hope the children learned their moves right,’ the Queen responded as she sent out a high-pitched howl of sorts. It thundered through the cave itself, bouncing off the floors again and again. The Core would have normally stopped the echoes but the shuddering from the intruder made the Entity decide to keep it. It wasn’t like repeating sounds would be too rare from that point.
When an Ant hit their mandibles together, it made a small sound. When a [Giant-Ant] did the same, it made a thud which could be heard from a few meters. When an entire group of [Giant-Ants} do it? Well… that made it impossible to know when the sound started and ended, the chittering being perfect for the atmosphere.
The Queen had spent a good bit of time making sure that shadows covered everything close to the walls, giving her children ample space to follow the dying man further inside the cave without being seen. The unnatural darker spots might have been noticed by a calmer person, but there was little doubt that the one named Buck was none the wiser. The shifting of the eyes all around the room made it more than a little obvious.
Not that the constant sound was there to be comforting. No, it was meant to lull the man into a false sense of security. Only ants to think about? No, of course not. With a deafening blow, a larger stone was dropped just before the exit of the cave. The man looked back to see there was no way to retreat. The Core didn’t like the lack of extra fear on his face as he continued to walk after only a few seconds.
‘How is his reaction?’ the Queen questioned. While she was helping her children keep up the facade, there was no way for her to detect the man’s mood, forcing her to rely on the Core for information.
‘It’s pitiful,’ the Entity answered, not feeling like being a good informant. ‘He does not scream, he does not wince. The sound attracts his attention but he feels no more fear than when he first stepped into the cave.’
Truly, how disappointing. The prepared scene continued as the man went further into the cave nonetheless. A few of the newer ants were allowed to pass by him, getting close enough to hit him in the knees at points. It was clear that the man had expected death the first it happened, simply closing his eyes in response to the ant coming out of nowhere, but he was forced to continue after being left alone.
When a fragment of an exoskeleton hit him, however, there was some minor reaction to it. A flinch in the eyes and a sudden movement to try and dodge the weapon which had already been fired. The look of pain from that action seemed to do more than anything else around him. The Core was not happy about that but was forced to let it slide. Every noise made echoed more the deeper the man got inside the cave, almost becoming deafening until the very end.
The hole into the main room had been rebuilt, forcing him to crawl inside without being able to see where he was going. At least that caused some minor fear to fall onto his face. But, the Core was still hopeful more would come. The Queen had pressed down on the need for mental fatigue and more hadn’t been created. It could only pray that enough had been there from the start.
As a final scene, the inner room had been slightly up from the ceiling, allowing the sight of [Blood-Moss] covering just about everything to show up. The needle-like surface wriggled around the smallest bit, almost mimicking waves. That the humanoid avoided looking at them told the Entity more than it ever needed to know.
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In the middle of the room, the Queen was stationed with her Mana-Tendrils floating in the air. Her back was turned to the man as if she hadn't noticed him entering at all. Her focus was feigned on the smaller ant just in front of her. Its body was without flesh, being filled with [Dark Mana]. There was no life, no mental pull from it. There was only space for orders and a smaller tether to the Queen herself. The way the legs broke and healed over and over again, the cracking from the process, was apparently enough to make the man stop his progress for a minute or two. He simply looked at the monster before him. The Core wondered why but judged it to be due to a fear complex. It got to a point where the Entity thought about suggesting to the Queen that she should make the first move, but the action took hold of the scene without the Core needing to do much.
“What are you doing to it?” the humanoid asked. Though… the Core supposed it could just call it Buck like the Queen had instructed it to do. Making it personal while staying distanced itself was a great tactic when it came to making people nervous.
“I am making it better,” the Queen answered. A voice quite similar to the one she used normally rang out into the air. It held quite the pressure inside it, though the Core attributed that to the fact the ant was using [Wind-Magic] to make it. The technique to do such a thing was too advanced for the Core, sadly, else it would have likely done something similar itself. Making fake cries of help around the Dungeon seemed to be a valid strategy when it got the time to learn. “Removing the meat is only the first part. To make it truly strong, you need to rip it apart and set it together just like you want to have it.”
As planned, the [Undead] flew into the air, small pieces spraying close to just about every surface other than the one that Buck stood on. It was a very clear choice, the Core even having been ready to catch any that got too close. None did, of course, but it was still smart to be safe. Intimidation was not the greatest when the target became distracted by something else.
“What did you-” the Druid began to question but stopped when time seemed to reverse before his very eyes. The fragments returned into the air, flying backwards in the identical pattern they did when exploding outwards, only changing at the last moment to reach a new placement on the [Undead] body. In mere seconds, it had grown twofold, nearly reaching the humanoid's shoulders in height alone. It was a [Greater Undead Giant-Ant]. A longer name to be sure but it was what the system had designated it as long ago.
“I made it better than it could ever hope to be when alone,” the Queen answered, spending a few moments digging her Mana-Tendrils into the newer body. There were some fractures heard but they all disappeared as the tendrils left the holes, making it so it seemed like they had never been there, to begin with. “Should I ask why you have decided to return here?”
The spreading Dark Mana inside the man was the obvious answer but there was no need to make that clear from the start. Even without the ability to delve too much into the foreign body, the Core was able to see the damage being made clearly. It was their luck that the Druid’s Mana reacted so negatively to the Darker Energies, even if the Queen had spent quite a while perfecting the balance. It was destructive enough to set off the alarms but not enough to kill. That was something the body did all by itself.
“You should know,” the Druid by the name of Buck said with a seething tone. “You made it yourself.”
“I have made many things throughout my long life,” the Queen responded, her tone almost jovial. She enjoyed it a bit more than the Core had assumed. “Would you be kind enough to specify?”
“That thing you put inside me,” Buck responded, to which the more powerful made an ‘ah!’ as a response. “It’s killing me.”
“I believe I said as much the first time we met,” the Queen stated. “It is quite the terrible way to go out, don’t you think? Instead of the sweet mercy from instant death, you get to know what will happen several days beforehand. On that note, how are you even standing? The poison should have left you bedridden by now.”
The Core did its duty of pressing some Mana against the humanoid's knees, making them weak enough to give under the man. He fell to the floor before he even realized what was happening to him.
“Stop it,” Buck ordered through gritted teeth. “Take it out of me now.”
“Oh, are we going around commanding each other now?” the Queen questioned. The larger ant took a few steps, closing the distance between the two. The Druid tried to pull away yet his limbs were without power. “I don’t believe you have any right to even try doing that.”
“Please make it stop,” the druid pleaded, his tone changing in mere seconds. Being commanding had failed and begging for mercy was the instant switch. How pitiful those creatures were sometimes. The Core was meant to believe they were known for their intelligence?
“No, thank you,” the Queen happily responded. “I don’t want to, so I am not going to. It is nice being in that position where I can do that.”
The Druid made a few more pleading noises but they said just about the same thing. ‘Please do it,’ ‘Take the way,’ and a few others were repeated more times than they should have been. Even the Queen grew tired of it, or at least feigned that emotion, as she slowly began to turn and walk back to her current project. The bony creature did seem to slowly begin gaining damage on its lower back which needed tending to. It wasn’t as if the Queen very much couldn’t stabilize the creature at her current level or anything.
“I will do anything you ask of me!” Buck finally said. “Just say what you want and I’ll do it.”
That made the Queen take note. Turning back to the man, she seemingly studied his face for lies. A tendril getting closer to the body also seemed to be doing something, though the Core mostly assumed it to be for the fear surrounding it.
“Saying such things bear quite the heavy burden on you,” the Queen retorted, her voice more serious this time around. “Are you sure that you want me to accept your proposition?”
“For fuck sakes, yes!” the Druid shouted, though it came out much more hoarse than the man likely intended. “Anything.”
“Well then. I do have one thing I would be amenable to you doing,” the Queen said as her tendrils were used to pick up the man from the ground. “I need you to become a personal slave to me and anybody above.”