Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 296: Midnight Crystal (Part 21)

Whooooooooooooosh.

Oskar swung his sword, slashing one ant after another. He didnʼt want to use his abilities because, inside the Igno Ants Nest, serious threats could be waiting for them.

If the Igno Ant King could actually be born, they would need all their strength to stop this dangerous monster.

Erla, time after time, fired shots, destroying the lizards and the birds hovering above them. For her, any distance was within attack range, though it greatly affected her mobility.

Lero and Osana assisted their teammates, but there wasnʼt a strong need for their actions at the time. Igno Ants were numerous, but their squad had fought against more powerful monsters.

The only reason why they took this mission and even agreed to give parts of the bounty to Adam and Katrin was because of the risk of the appearance of the Igno Ant King, nothing else mattered.

”Alright, weʼve finished our work. Before we split up, the eastern passage was almost cleared, we had already purged the northern one, so Adam and Katrin had yet to clear one of their passages. At best, theyʼve already moved on to the second aisle, either way, we have to help them.” Oskar said confidently before running forward.

Erla, Lero, and Osana looked over at each other. They nodded and followed their leader. None of them could have imagined what awaited them at the western passageway where Adam and Katrin were now. .net

Step. Step. Step.

Five minutes later, they had run around Igno Ants Nest and were approaching the west passage. They were already having strange expressions on their faces, for earlier they had passed through the southern passage where Adam had made hell.

They couldnʼt believe that in the time it took the four of them to kill the monsters, Adam and Katrin had dealt with every ant, every lizard, and every Dark Looho and Giant Rogo.

”Well, looks like they have to fight right now. They must have spent a lot of effort to get to this point.” Erla muttered running between the heads of the ants torn apart.

Lero smiled widely with a fiery look.

”In that case, we should help them! After all, there are two of them and four of us!” Lero was full of enthusiasm.

Unlike him, Osana was silent. She didnʼt share Leroʼs enthusiasm and Erlaʼs admiration, she was thinking about something keeping a cute smile on her face while her eyes were almost closed.

She looked at the dead ants, at the burns on their bodies that could only have been left by the lightning, and realized how the situation was.

Katrin followed Adamʼs progress and in a way, it was logical because they knew each other, she wanted to become as strong as him, and so on.

Strangely enough, Osana knew more about Adam than Katrin did. However, she followed not only his progress but also the progress of every notable K1-Phantom, including Alexia and a few others.

Osana unlike Katrin fully embraced her role and she wanted to find a powerful teammate for herself. Not that she was going to leave Golden Light Squad right now, but she was used to planning ahead and preparing for opportunities in advance.

ʼHmm... Oskar, Lero, and Erla donʼt seem to have noticed this, but none of those ants are cut. Adam has no sword or wind, but his threads are sharp and thin enough to leave perfect cuts like from a scalpel. However... all these ants are torn and burned by pure lightning power.ʼ

Osana knew well what Adamʼs abilities were, so... she easily came to that conclusion, realizing exactly what had happened here.

Step. Step. Step.

Turning behind the ashy hill, Oskar, Erla, Lero and Osana found themselves in front of the western passageway where they saw an even more amazing sight.

Adam looked bored and sat on a mountain made of thousands of ants, their body parts and paws burned by lightning.

Next to the mountain as if at the base of the mountain were many dead lizards and a few Dark Loohoes. At the base of the mountain were four Giant Rogoes.

Adam wasnʼt doing anything, he just stared ahead with his fingers attached with a pensive look in his eyes.

Katrin stood next to the mountain, stomping her foot irritably on the ground and occasionally glancing at her NEP, checking the time every few seconds. She looked like someone who was in a big hurry to get somewhere and couldnʼt afford to waste any more time.

”Oh, theyʼre finally here.” Katrin frowned heavily, looking at the Golden Light Squad.

Erlaʼs eyes went wide in disbelief looking around.

”No way... How did you do it so quickly? How many abilities did you use to destroy those monsters?”

Leroʼs eyes shone brightly as he glanced at Katrin.

”Wow. Iʼm sure Adam couldnʼt have done it without your help. You seem to be an excellent support! How did it all happen? I want to hear it!”

Katrin frowned heavily, clutching her staff tightly.

Adam glanced at her with mild interest. Katrin made it clear that she didnʼt want to be considered the support, so Lero made a critical mistake.

”Shut up, kid.” Katrin snorted unhappily before waving her hand and heading for the west aisle.

”Weʼve wasted too much time waiting for you. Come on, the sooner we destroy the kingʼs larva the sooner we can finish this boring mission.” Katrin said arrogantly.

Tap.

Adam jumped down from the mountain of monster corpses, ending up next to Katrin.

”Wait.” Oskar said seriously, ”I understand your haste, but the chances of the king being born right now are too slim to be in a hurry and take a risk. You managed it faster than we expected, but you sure put a lot of effort into it. Letʼs take a break.”

Katrin raised an eyebrow, looking at Oskar as if he was talking complete nonsense.

”Agh? What the hell are you talking about? I didnʼt have to use a single ability. Adam managed it just by the power of his artifact, nothing more.” Katrin waved her hand carelessly walking into the Igno Ants Nest.

Adam just shrugged following her and leaving Oskar and the others no other choice.

Oskar frowned, clenching his fists tightly. Adam and Katrin were obligated to obey his orders it was part of their deal, but given the circumstances, he couldnʼt make them stop.

”Alright, maybe theyʼre right. Letʼs get this over with as soon as possible.”

...

The main part of the Igno Ant Nest was underground. From above, there were only exits and passageways for the ants to easily move around and bring in the resources gathered in the Black Cinder Forest.

However, no further danger awaited them at the bottom of the Nest.

”Damn, itʼs empty in here... Itʼs even kind of threatening.” Lero muttered glancing around and slowly stepping through the tunnels dug by the ants.

Erla nodded.

”The Igno Ants used all their strength to protect their king and let him be born. It didnʼt matter that thousands died to do so, they even used Igno Guards. Considering their numbers, that should have been enough to hold off the monsters for a few more hours.” Erla muttered thoughtfully, trying to figure out what the antsʼ plan was.

Osana smirked, glancing at Adam who was serenely walking forward.

”Yeah, youʼre right. The king was probably going to be born in two or three hours, but the ants didnʼt expect Adam Vinter to be here. With his help, we got to the anthill faster than expected.” Osana quickened her step slightly, about to get closer to Adam.

Whoooooooosh.

Katrin swung her staff, stopping her.

”Hey, pink-haired bitch, stay close to your squad. They might need your help unlike us.” Katrin said coldly piercing Osana with her gaze.

Osana smiled, bowing slightly.

”Sure, sorry for disturbing you.”

Katrin frowned, not believing the sincerity of Osanaʼs words, but she wasnʼt going to take this conflict any further.

”Hey, we killed all the monsters who wanted to take the kingʼs resources, killed all the ants and even guards fell. But... there must be someone else in the anthill, right?” Adam said calmly, staring intently ahead.

Adam continued:

”They fought and sacrificed their lives so that a king could be born, thatʼs understandable. But...” Adamʼs gaze grew colder, ”Itʼs all pointless if no new offspring will ever emerge. Someone, well, we all know who has to give birth to new ants.”

Oskar, Erla, Lero, and Osana nodded simultaneously. All of them had already thought about it. In insects, unlike humans, it was often the queens who were in charge, not the kings.

There was a simple reason for that - only queens could give life to the next generation, and all the others were just swords and shields to protect the queenʼs life at all costs.

Step. Step. Step.

Their footsteps echoed as they reached the last, lowest, and largest room.

The first thing they saw was hundreds of scarlet crystals, dark roots filled with flames, and various fire flowers lying under a mirrored barrier next to a huge larva.

Now and then, the larva would shudder, absorbing a few black crystals or roots into itself, slightly increasing in size and raising its power.

But... the king larva wasnʼt the main problem they were about to face.

On a high rock, as if on its throne sat the Igno Queen who was larger than all the other ants and even guards by dozens of times. She was even bigger than Giant Rogoes, which were considered to be one of the massive monsters in the Black Cinder Forest.

In front of the Igno Queen, next to her throne, stood three tall ants that looked more like humans than insects, for they had two arms and legs.

A powerful aura emanated from each of them, and their gaze was filled with the determination of knights ready to defend their queen and king to the very end.