Chapter 347: Ant Dungeon (Part 6)

"[Super Accel Flame Stomp]!" Exclaimed Aria, an intense, fiery burst erupting around her as she slammed her right foot onto the ground, scorching the dirt and grass as the Monsters converging in on her got blown away.She lunged straight towards one of them, driving her fist forward as she closed in on it before it could recover, a blast of crimson flames erupting from her fist as it collided against the middle of the Monster’s chest, a sharp, sizzling crunch ringing out as the Monster got sent hurtling back through the air.

Aria swiftly spun around as a couple of Soldier Ants zipped up behind her, whipping her left arm across and unleashing a devastating eruption of Negative Energy and crimson flames, blasting the Monsters to pieces.

"<Command: Don’t Move>," I chanted, as a number of Soldier Ants surrounded me, freezing them in their tracks.

I zipped around and sliced their heads off before they even had a chance to try and break free of the effect of Command, several thuds echoing out as their heads fell off and hit the ground.

I turned my gaze up as a Soldier Ant came swooping down towards me, driving its claws towards the top of my head.

I swiftly reached out and grabbed its forearm, a screech of pain ringing out as I unleashed Mana Pulse, its body shuddering in agony, before I swung it across as I tightened my grip on its arm and slammed it onto the ground.

As the Monster seized up in pain upon impact, I lifted my foot up and rapidly drove it down, stomping on its head and crushing it, a loud crunch ringing out as the thick green liquid burst out and splattered across the ground around me.

"<Void>," I chanted as a couple more Soldier Ants came rushing towards me through the air from up ahead, the Monsters getting pulled into the dark, spherical mass as they closed in, before I swiftly deactivated it as about half their bodies disappeared into the black hole.

The lower halves of their bodies thudded against the ground, a gloopy liquid oozing out and matting the grass down.

Looks like there’s just one more...and Aria’s locked onto it.

She shot towards the Monster as it flew up towards the ceiling, before she crouched as she got under it, her calves tensing before she launched herself up into the air as her legs shot up like springs, boosting her leap with a pressurized burst of Negative Energy.

She grabbed the Soldier Ant’s left leg, before rapidly twisting her body across as it began to swing its claws down at her arm, spinning the Monster around before flinging it straight down towards the ground with a powerful snap of her arm, a deafening crash ringing out as the Monster’s body collided against the ground with a devastating impact.

"[High Accel Flame Strike]!" Chanted Aria, drawing back her right fist as she plummeted back down, before driving her fist towards the Monster as she closed in on it, a powerful shockwave erupting upon impact.

A cloud of dust rose up as cracks spread out across the ground, the entire area rumbling intensely as several chunks of exoskeleton flew out of the dust cloud.

As the rumbling began to settle, the dust cloud starting to fade, Aria strolled back into view, stretching her arms out with a smile.

"Nicely done, though...you did notice that it was already dead, didn’t you?" I remarked with a wry smile.

She’d already killed it when she hurled it down, so that last hit was literally overkill, she basically just punched a corpse.

"Heh, yeah, I realized it was dead right before I hit it," She grinned sheepishly.

"On another note...this has seriously been way too easy," I replied with a slight grimace, feeling disconcerted.

"Yeah, it really has. We aren’t far from the Boss Room now, but the rate at which the number of Soldier Ants has been increasing has been a lot slower than with the weaker Monsters," She nodded in agreement.

We were up to the ninety-first floor now, once we clear the next floor, the Boss Room will be next. With the weaker Monsters, their numbers would increase by an average of about five every five floors.

In other words, with the Giant Ants, it was around three to five on the first five floors, eight to ten on the subsequent five floors, thirteen to fifteen across the eleventh to fifteenth floors, and so on.

And the Giant Flying Ants followed a similar rate of increase. But it’s been different with the Soldier Ants.

We ran into groups of no more than five from the sixty-first to seventieth floors, no more than ten over the next ten floors, and then no more than fifteen upto the ninetieth floor.

And this floor had eighteen of them.

Absolutely nothing’s gone wrong so far, which has only made me feel an increasing sense of dread as to what’s in store for us in the Boss Room.

The pattern this Dungeon has been following, it’s basically like playing on easy mode, it’s been even less of a challenge than High Level Dungeons usually are.

"I finally got to take one down," Grinned Brid, as Aria and I regrouped with the others.

I had summoned Acedia initially, once we began running into groups of more than ten Soldier Ants, but Brid was pretty insistent that he and the others be given the chance to protect themselves, the Attack Mages agreed with him too, and even Iqra was on the same page.

So, I relented and withdrew Acedia, trusting the others to handle themselves if and when necessary.

And Brid had taken down one of the Soldier Ants on this floor by himself, the few that made it past Aria and I on the previous floors were shot down by the Attack Mages.

"Yeah, nicely done. Regardless of the fact that this has been a lot easier than a Critical Level Dungeon would normally be, the way you’ve handled yourself so far has been nothing short of impressive," I remarked as I patted his shoulder, before adding, "Alright, guys, let’s take one last break before we cover the final stretch of this Dungeon."