—

The expression of the team froze, the elite force unknowingly glanced towards Luis for instructions and saw that he was already holding up a signal that says: ‘Don’t move.’

They did what he ordered and saw that the Alpha Soldier Ants went past them. The two just went over to the Mud Ball Hill to gather some food and deliver it somewhere.

As soon as they disappeared the team breathed a sigh of relief, Luis thought: ‘So these Alpha Soldier Ants also go on rotation, good to know.’ He sent a go signal towards the team and they continued their journey.

After some time of careful movements, they arrived at the place where Julius left off. Luis already handed out the order to be extra careful as they were moving towards unknown territory, there might traps so they have to tread carefully. He also gave an order to Julius to continue mapping out the area as they go.

They faced a 5-way path and decided to scout the leftmost path first. There walked for quite a while before eventually reaching the end of the path. There they saw another batch of eggs but these ones are clearly larger than the ones they encountered earlier.

The surface of each eggs were covered in grime, there’s also some strange vein-like patterns etch on it and they were also glowing with a faint green light which made the eggs look otherworldly

The team huddled up and discusses in a low voice: “These eggs are bad news.” Luis said.

“If my sources are correct, then what’s inside these eggs are the King’s Escorts. When they hatch, they will serve the Ant Queen for a while but their loyalty will shift towards the Ant King once he’s born. They rival Silver Knight Realm experts and grow stronger as they get older. We have to get rid of them now.”

The mood just turned incredibly solemn. The danger of this things just escalated by a few levels. If what Luis said was true then once these ants come out of their shell then no one in the Elite Forces can handle them. Luis might be able to hold them off for a bit but the issue is there’s at least 10 eggs in here. He would be mobbed and would probably die a horrible death due to their numbers.

“We have to get rid of them while staying hidden as well. We don’t want a mob of ants hot on out trails once were done.” Luis added some more.

“I have a plan.” Julius got their attention so he explained. “We poke a small hole on top of each eggs and poison them. I have a few vials of deadly stuff on me, what about you guys?”

“I also have some, but that would empty my stocks.” Bea said in response.

“I have a few on me as well, but like Bea it would also empty my stocks.” Merlin added.

“Doesn’t matter, we are sneaking in. Just use all of them and we move on, our main concern is finding the queen anyway.” Luis said and gave the go signal.

The team moved and poked holes on top of each eggs. Julius, Bea and Merlin went on and poured a vial of poison on the opening on each head. Once they’re done, they immediately retreated. Luis made sure to remind them not to leave any traces since they don’t want attention now.

After checking if the room doesn’t have any paths behind, the team went back to the 5-way path and went to the one next to the room they previously went in. This time, they arrived a very strange location.

It was a room that had a strange collection of mementos from their victims. They saw bones of both humans and beasts, totems, parts of houses, woods, figurines, beast skins, and etc. All of them wore strange expression on their faces as they saw this room. They huddled once more and discussed in low voice.

“What’s up with this room. Is it a junk room?” Malik asked while scratching his bald head.

“No, it’s more of like another storage room, but this time it has mementos of their victims.” Raphael said.

“This is the Hoarding Room.” Luis explained, “I’ve seen it on the records from Lair Hunting Knights. Ever lair or something of the sorts will have a room like this. For some reasons, beasts developed a tendency to hoard things that they think have value. This is their wealth to put it on perspective. Some beasts outside of the kingdom engages trades with other species.”

“So…these ants are cognizant of what they are doing?” Bea asked.

“More or less yeah.” Luis agreed, “They aren’t fully aware but their instincts tells them to do it. The more intelligent members handles the trade. I might be wrong but that’s what the records shows.”

The elite forces pondered on his words, it wasn’t everyday that they will encounter something like this in this line of work. They are more used to dealing with people since that is what Luis specializes. Not mentioning lairs, they weren’t even expecting to encounter a colony inside of their home of all places. It was a strange and new experience.

“Check the room if there’s other paths.” Luis gave the order and the team moved. After scouring each corner of the room, they found none so it’s time to move one.

Now they ventured at the middle path. And what they saw at the end made their scalps tingle a bit. On the way here, they already met with countless of ants already. But this room takes the cake.

It was a massive room, filled to the brim with ants of different kinds. All of them started counting how many ants could see but since they are moving, it was proving quite difficult to do so. Luis guessed that there’s at least 500 here not counting the one’s they encountered before. There are several Soldier Ants as well as Alpha Soldier Ants mingling with each other here. Thank god for Julius’ concealment ability, they can’t imagine how’s it like being mobbed by this many ants.

Luis’ head throbbed due to headache, he decided to get out of this room before someone makes any mistake. This room just made him realize that his forces are definitely not enough to handle all of them.

They returned to the previous room and decided to enter the fourth path, and once again they were greeted by that same, nasty stench albeit worse than what they encountered previously. They could already tell what kind of room they will enter but they still moved forward.

And just like what they were expecting, this room was specifically where the ants makes their food. The teams saw a few worker ants here which were making those mud balls from before.

They saw a pile of dead bodies on the side. The ants will pick up a bunch, chop them into pieces, mix them up and mash them into a mud ball which are going to be placed on the opposite side.

Beatrice almost threw up, Merlin wore a disgusted expression while the boys had faces full of killing intent. They witnessed how those dead bodies included humans of all ages and genders, yes even children. And they watched how these…abominations, chop them up to pieces like they were some stray cabbages.

Luis fought the urge to give the assault command here and there. He can’t afford to make a ruckus now since they’re in too deep in the colony. Just in the next room alone are hordes of ants that could trample them to death. If he become reckless right now, then there’s no doubt that it will be their turn to be chopped up.

He signalled retreat, but Malik refused to move. Raphael had to drag him by his collar to carry out the command. As they returned to the previous room, Luis stepped forward and gave Malik a light slap on his face to wake him up.

“Endure. We will destroy them, that’s a promise.” He then placed a hand on Malik’s shoulders.

“Sorry and Thank you boss.” Malik bowed down and felt quite embarrassed. Good thing he didn’t blew up or else it would be the end for them.

“Alright, let’s move on.”

The team then went to the last room that they haven’t checked yet. And what greeted them, were sticky greenish substance scattered all over the place. Each time they took a step, they felt the resistance because of the stickiness.

That substance is Mucus. Mucus splattered everywhere.

As their mobility were greatly hindered, Luis ordered to move carefully and not make too much noise. The deeper they went the thicker these mucus gets. And upon reaching the end of the tunnel, they were stunned by what they saw.

The whole place resembled a spider web, but instead of web it’s mucus. On the center there was a huge sphere made out of condensed green mucus that is shining with a green light. And on the center, there is a figure curled up into what looks like a fetal position. No one needed to say anything since they already knew what’s inside that sphere.

It was the Ant Queen.