Dungeon Novel: Chapter Thirty

It was very possible that nobody would die on the floor with the Ant’s nest either, that kind of firepower could just incinerate any ant that tried to attack from a tunnel. The close quarters, usually to the ant’s advantage, would be their own downfall.

Then Unbound had a thought, he subtly shifted the layout of the floor so that the intruders would have to swim through the flooded tunnels to get to the Queen’s chamber. He blocked off the normal tunnels that lead to the chamber and cut a small hole from the water tunnels that led to a small pool in the Queen’s room.

The party was walking through the small portal that led to the second floor, moving out onto the small plain that the Ant’s nest opened up to. The group of knights was silent, like armored dolls marching at command. The noble immediately complained upon seeing the mound of the ant’s nest even as they walked closer.

There were several worker ants on the surface, they acted to collect the food, rabbits, and small creatures, and as forward-scouts to warn the rest of the colony when an intruder appeared. They did not combat the intruders directly, their mandibles ill-suited to fighting, and their massive strength better suited to hauling away other items.

The intruders were very slowly entering the entrance of the nest, four of the knights guarding the fire mage as she threw plumes of fire at the shadows. The initial tunnels were scorched black with the heat and the knight's armor glowed in the flickering light.

The knights and the mage dispatched all of the ants within their reach without a single scratch upon themselves in return. The knight’s swords sliced through the smaller ants even as the larger, tankier ants were burnt to a fine ash.

As soon as that happened the whole party entered, the fire mage and four knights working as a vanguard to clear the tunnels before the rest of the group entered, it seemed that the mage dressed in black and white was a type of space mage that only guarded the noble.

After the fourth tunnel, a lethal soldier ant darted out of a small alcove that tore the throat from the nearest knight before the man could react. Quickly after the ant was torched by the mage but it gave Unbound a chance to absorb the knight, he wanted to see why the man didn’t react even when he was dying.

There was a sigil carved into the back of the man’s skull.

Unbound knew the sigil already from the fact he had absorbed it from the necromancers. It was a Mind affinity sigil and even with the limited knowledge trickling in from the last absorption he knew it was not a positive mental boost to the man in question.

It was close to suppression yet not quite controlling, he would require longer to find out what exactly it did but Unbound thought he would understand it soon and the extra knowledge it would give him was a plus.

The invader's group were more cautious after losing one of their own, taking more care to check the shadows within the Ant’s nest with fire. The rest of the ants laying in ambush were killed before getting a chance to move and the tunnels were being slowly filled with choking ash from the large soldier ant’s corpses.

They explored for a while, finding a multitude of tunnels that were full of ants. They had explored the largest part of the nest but kept returning to the underwater tunnels which led to the Queen’s chamber.

Two of the knights took a deep breath and swam in with knives bared. The heavy armor pulling them to the bottom, they made it several meters before encountering the aquatic ants that swam at the knights and attacked.

The knives were thrust through the water, slashing attacks hampered by the water around them, and pierced into the softer chitin of the swimming ants. The daggers cut chunks of meat leaking blood from the bodies, as the ants let out muffled cries of pain.

Killing the ants, the knights returned to the entrance of the surface, their level enhanced strength pulling them from the water. Small motions to the noble conveyed what they found in the tunnel and at a silent signal the black and white mage made a motion at the water and it slowly started disappearing.

It wasn’t flowing away but slowly disappearing into thin air, some sort of spatial warping taking place. The water was being moved into the top of the second floor where the rabbits and worker ants roamed, it was being transported through space but still through his Dungeon.

Unbound had to form a pool for the water to fall into as it was transported in greater amounts however despite the powerful feat of magic it was clearly taking its toll on the mage. His face was red with exertion and sweat was dripping from his brow as his hands formed patterns and he chanted nonsensical words.

But the magic worked the aquatic ants suffocated to death without the water and the group could cautiously walk into the boss chamber, climbing out of the former pool.

The knights immediately formed rings around the trio as they advanced towards the Queen, who stood still within the middle of her chamber. The ax-like limbs twitched slightly in anticipation and with nary a sound, she leaped forward whilst simultaneously slamming a wall of stone into a knight.

A great plume of fire erupted from the fire mage and roared towards the queen even as she sunk her forelimb within the chest of a slumping knight. The wall of rocks had smashed the other knight into a far wall, denting his armor but leaving the man unharmed. The fire burned the Queen ant, who let out great shrieks of pain even as the knights slashed at the tough chitin.

Another blast of white fire slammed into the Queen’s head and her struggling grew weaker underneath the relentless blows of the knights. Two out of twelve of the knights had fallen to the Ant’s nest and the invaders advanced to the third.