Following the death of the General, several prompts became available from the System.

*Black General Ant – Level 45 Killed. Experience awarded*

*Black Warrior Ant – Level 33 Killed. Experience awarded*

*…*

*Level up to 43! – Free points awarded*

*Loot Black General Ant? (Y/N)*

The level was good, for such a fight and all the enemies he killed Cyrus felt he deserved a second level for all the work he did. This made him realize all the more how impressive it was for others to get such a high level, there was a lot more effort involved than he had expected. This was also the first monster kill he experiences that warranted him the ability to loot it, meaning there was something worth taking.

Seeing no reason to deny it, he accepted the prompt and instantly most of the corpse broke down. His inventory displayed an Ant General plating, likely used as a resource for good armor. It was pretty tough when he struck it with his sword, so wearing it would make him feel a hell of a lot safer. Much better than the leather and chain mail that he currently had on his body.

*System Update: The Ant Prince: #%#^& is enraged at the death of his General. If he is unable to kill you inside the nest, the Prince will surely chase any escapees to the end of the dungeon.*

Well, that outcome wasn’t really outside expectations. He planned on killing the Prince anyways and if it planned on coming to him that made it all the easier. However, he suspected that the Prince would not be a pushover if the General had been anything to go by, so caution and planning might be required.

MIGHT, be required. Planning took time and effort he didn’t have.

Peluna approached from behind sweat matting her forehead from all the spells she had casted during the fight. As always, her barriers prevented a massive amount of damage from hitting him and granted him several opportunities for attack. Her reaction time to the frenzied ants had also been impeccable. She held up her fist for a well-deserved fist bump.

Unable to wipe the stupid grind off his face at the gesture, Cyrus lightly fist bumped her in return. The pair had worked very ell together against a much larger force with higher levels as well. It felt satisfying knowing what they were able to pull off working together, she truly was the only one he could trust.

Further congratulations were going to have to wait, as they suddenly heard voices coming from further down the tunnel. One was heavy and ragged, followed by a cheerful but still deep voice. A lighter feminine tone echoed down the tunnel, carrying much further than the other two. The voices all made Cyrus tense up, memories of the last group he had been with came flashing back. The faces of his companions while they were being slaughtered, Serence and Billo as they so casually betrayed everyone. Two faced bastards that could so easily turn on each other for coin.

His aura must’ve been displaying his anger, or maybe his face was expressing the emotions he had been feeling because Peluna’s gentle hand lay on his arm. She had a knowing smile on her face, as if she was able to see right through the mask of fury on his face and right into his soul. Truthfully, he felt slightly unsettled that she was able to read him like that, but he supposed it would be alright if it was only her.

It didn’t matter how she felt about it though, Cyrus would ensure he was never betrayed again. He kept his rapier at the ready when the party finally bended the corner of the tunnel, it was a group of 3 adventurers. One of them was a surly built demon, he could be better described as a walking tank. His armor was well crafted and made for defense and damage, very impressive looking. A shorter figure walked next to him, a dwarf with a great axe slung over his back and an orange beard dropping down to his waist, it was very impressive. The third adventurer was another demon with dual knives along her waist, several more littered her body and her armor was thin but practical. Excellent for swift and decisive movements but wouldn’t be able to withstand a heavy attack.

The walking tank made first contact; his eyes wide as he looked around the room. “All that noise and ruckus was you two? I take it you slayed that General on the ground there.”

Cyrus narrowed his eyes as the party approached, they halted a few feet away after seeing his aura emanating from his body. It was convulsing without Cyrus really intending to make it do so. A quick identify indicated that the three of them were all over level 30, giving them classes. His status check was unable to determine what classes each of them had though. The party didn’t feel very strong judging by the aura they gave off themselves, or what little of it there was to be exact, but they seemed well equipped anyways. The burly demon was clearly the best in their party, his armor was made to last and by the looks of it, had taken some decent damage with little effect to the wearer.

“Yes, I did, what of it?” Cyrus replied wearily, eyeing each of their party with suspicion. A sigh elating from Peluna to his side gave off the effect that she did not approve of his tone. Even so, she chose to remain silent despite her clear misgivings.

Sensing his obvious hostility, the female demon’s hands rest on her knives as if expecting this to spiral down to a conflict. The larger demon chooses to instead deescalate any possible confrontations. “No need for conflict, I doubt we can take on someone who killed a General on their own anyways. You’d gotta be at least level 60 and we sure as hell ain’t your match. Since you’re coming this way, I guess we chose the wrong way out.”

The party guessed his level widely incorrect, but Cyrus was under no delusion that he would correct them anytime soon. While he didn’t sheathe his sword, he pointed the tip down to make it look like he was dropping his guard. This was anything but the truth as his eyes intended to follow their every movement. Regardless of if they seemed nice or not, Cyrus wasn’t too keen on sharing any further information with them. The more misunderstandings the other party developed and the farther they stayed away, the better he was going to feel. Unfortunately for him, Peluna had no such intentions.

“We were on our way to find the Prince the System mentioned! Do you perhaps want to join us?” She asked cheerfully, clearly happy that she would have more people around. She returned a flat look to Cyrus after he tried to glare at her, the argument over before it even began.

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“Ah the Prince? We were intending on avoiding that fella and making a run fer it. Suppose if we work with you two, we might stand a chance.” The dwarf gave his input for the first time.

“I don’t know if we should join, your teammate doesn’t seem too agreeable about that arrangement.” The female demon replied, gesturing to a scowling Cyrus who still hadn’t taken his eyes off the group.

Peluna shook her head, regarding Cyrus with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t mind him, he’ll bark plenty but he doesn’t get to make all the decisions with me around. Besides, if the Prince is more to deal with than the General was than I might not be able to fully support him in that fight. I could use the help.”

The all bark and no bite comment had made it sound like she had him on a leash and didn’t go unnoticed. Cyrus raised his eyebrows and gave her a “Seriously?”, glance to which she only stuck out her tongue in return. For all his effort she really didn’t take him seriously at all. The other party seemed to find it amusing and visibly relaxed, seeing as Cyrus had made no move to counter what Peluna had said.

“Seems like we’ll get along just fine.” The burly demon chucked. “My name is Grim, the tank of the group and resident heavyweight. This here is Brummel and Thea. Brummel is a magic axe wielder while Thea specializes in more close combat and stealth.” The now identified Grim gestures to the now named dwarf and female demon in turn.

“Here’s too a bountiful and blood-filled relationship. I had really wanted to hunt the Prince, now we’re able to.” Thea cheers, the atmosphere between the two groups slowly merging.

Cyrus, realizing his plight and that Peluna was getting her way whether he wanted it or not, exhaled heavily. He wasn’t going to drop his guard no matter what happened, memories of Serence and Billo were all too familiar with this situation. While he was no longer giving off a dangerous aura towards the group, his glare didn’t relax and he gestured towards the farther tunnel.

“Well now that we’re all buddy-buddy, we should go further into the nest and kill that Prince. The longer we wait around the more time the monster has to prepare.” Cyrus states, wasting little time on conversation and choosing to march forwards away from the group.

Peluna winced at his attitude and choice to write everyone off but at the very least she can understand where he was coming from. It wasn’t like she didn’t feel resentment for Serence and for what they did to the party, but she didn’t feel the need to constantly distrust or hate everyone they came across. Truthfully, she knew there was more to his hatred than he had let on. The time she and Albus had spent with him and talked had revealed a spotty past and little information. Like he buried the memories and sealed it in an iron coffin. Hopefully one day she could drag him out of that pit, but for now she needed to take small steps. Too large and she felt that it would set his progress back further.

Her eyes remained on his back while he walked towards the tunnel guarded by the General. She knew that he was putting a wall between him and her and honestly it did put her off a little. She also knew that nothing worthwhile ever came easy, and if he chose to put that wall up then she would spend time chipping at it until it came down. Wherever his anger was coming from, it had a source and direction. Peluna smiled to herself, it was kind of like having a pet project, though she did like that he listened to her. Despite being uncomfortable with joining hands with another party, he offered no resistance or arguments when she said they would work together.

It meant that he trusted her, even a little bit. The feeling warmed her heart somewhat, even if Cyrus didn’t know it yet she intended to gain more of that trust so that he could open up. A nudge from her side snapped her out of her wandering thoughts as the other three matched her speed.

“Not the trusting type is he.” Grim states, it wasn’t a question but more of an observation. Cyrus was marching up ahead and cutting down any lone worker they came across in the tunnel. The warriors and rest of the nest must be gathered further inside as there was little resistance. Cyrus didn’t look as if he needed any help as he cut them down with one fell slash each time.

“Mistrusting is an understatement, I thought for sure he was going to attack us when we first met. There was so much killing intent coming off him I don’t think I would’ve even cut him.” Thea describes, her meaning coming off pretty obvious. Cyrus was dangerous, for his level his stats had to be pretty high.

Peluna shook her head, biting her lip with hesitation. “Please don’t hold it against him, it’s not his fault and he’s really not all that bad once you get to know him.”

Thea was smirking while looking down at the shorter beast woman. “What are you his lover?” She bluntly asked. “Defending him like that to us.”

Peluna hadn’t at all anticipated her reaction to be taken that way and her face turned bright red. She shook her head vehemently at the smug demon. “N-no way! Why would you t-thi-“

“Easy there lass, Thea just be teasing ya. Seems like you two have been through enough that you understand him though. Good thing he has you to cool things down though, I’m sure he’s bound to get himself into plenty of trouble.” Grim butts in, easing the flustered Peluna. Grim also seemed just as amused by her reaction though as does Brummel.

Wanting badly to change the topic away from her embarrassment, Peluna asks a question in return. “What brought you three down here? I didn’t think we’d see anyone before getting back to the surface.”

“Just grinding a few levels and looking to kill some ants is all, it’s our second time out as a party and we’re still getting used to working together. The ant Prince seemed like too much for us to take on, even a General might have killed all of us. We weren’t anticipating his quest at all.” Grim grumbled, upset that his intended training had essentially been steered away.

“Cyrus and I weren’t either; we were on our way back to the surface when the quest came up. So we decided we might as well kill the Prince on our way out. My name is Peluna by the way, I’m sorry I never introduced myself. I’m telling you his name because I doubt he’s going to introduce himself.”

Thea chose only to snort in response, nodding her head in agreement at that last statement. Despite her misgivings she didn’t look all that offended, which spoke volumes of her character. Grim also seemed to agree but was cut off from whatever he was going to say by the sound of Cyrus’ voice.

“You four might want to get up here, looks like we found the throne room!” He called over his shoulder, his eyes on the party of three when they approached as if he were expecting an attack. Peluna understood that he was wary, but this was borderline paranoia. These kinds of reactions were unhealthy and could only lead to problems further down the road. She decided they would have to have a talk about it later on and chose to put it aside for now.

Once they caught up, the group was met with what looked like the main home for the ant horde. Several spires encroached from the floor to the ceiling several hundred feet up. It would have felt like walking outside to the open area if they didn’t know they were inside of an anthill. Over a hundred warriors roamed the ground, making it a small army by the count of them. Suddenly, Peluna was more than grateful that the other 3 adventurers chose to join them, as this might’ve been far too much for her and Cyrus to handle. There was such a thing as overwhelming numbers, in this case that would likely ring true.

Towards the back of the room lay the target of the scenario. While the throne was made of sand, it was a throne no less for the strongest ant in the underground kingdom. Peluna could feel the aura it gave off and it was making her shudder as if she could feel an invisible gaze on her. The Prince wasn’t as large as the General was, yet it felt far more powerful.

“So what’s the plan?” Grim asked suddenly, audibly gulping as he looked at the army of monsters.

Cyrus looked at the four compatriots and nodded toward the Prince. “Get down there, slaughter the army and slay the Prince.”

Peluna practically facepalmed at the lackluster plan, Grim also seemed to be on the same page as her and shook his head hopelessly.

Thea however, was smiling unlike her two partners. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Peluna groaned inwardly, what had she gotten herself into? She was surrounded by bloodthirsty maniacs. Even so, she was kind of excited. She knew that their parties would be able to do it, all you needed was a little faith.