Chapter 48 – Broodmother (1)

Chapter 48 – Broodmother (1)

The sound of hundreds of bloodspawn shrieking all at once rang throughout the cavern as they turned to face the ant.

[Soldier Ant – Level 7]

The ant’s level was high compared to most of its kind that Rowan remembered fighting, but still, it stood no chance against the horde.

Then, another ant stepped out from the tunnel beside it. Then, from the tunnel beside that one. One after another, they appeared, until ants had come from nearly a dozen different tunnels.

But it wasn’t just a single ant from each of the entrances. No, more and more poured out, and though he couldn’t see too well into any of the tunnels from where he was, he could still see enough faint glint of eyes and chitin to know there were many more insects waiting to enter.

Then, both sides charged. Hundreds of beasts clashing as the bloodspawn tried to stop the ants from pushing further into the chamber.

Turning towards him, Henry spoke. “This ain’t normal, is it?”

Rowan shook his head. “No, not at all. I knew they were at war, but how did the ants even get so far? Wouldn’t the bloodspawn have noticed?”

The bloodspawn had to have noticed, which meant that the ants had been pushing through their territory with sheer force.

He could only imagine how many deaths there’d been on both sides. While he wasn’t sure how large the forces on either side were, he knew it was probably in the thousands.

Then, as the ants poured out of the tunnels closest to them, more fungoid creatures began to pour out, charging towards the ant forces.

For a minute, the bloodspawn reinforcements kept coming, but soon, they began to peter out.

Rowan silently thanked the universe that he was where he was and not down where the bloodspawn were emerging from to reinforce their defensive lines.

He didn’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if he hadn’t decided to try and reach the surface when he had and was still on the other side of the cavern with the ants, either. There were just too many of the insects over there for him to reasonably survive.

“Hmm, we should probably leave now, no?” Henry asked, still staring at the bloodspawn. “We know what the source of the bloodspawn is.” He pointed at the broodmother.

Rowan almost nodded, but he stopped himself, looking at the cavern. With all of the bloodspawn busy fighting with the ants, there were barely any left to defend the broodmother.

The reinforcements had stopped coming, and even the high-level creatures that normally protected it had joined the fray, leaving only a few normal humanoids in their stead.

It was just too good an opportunity.

With a deep breath, he turned back to the group, who were all staring down at the raging battle. “Do you know the way back to the surface from here?”

Henry nodded. “Why?”

Ignoring his question, Rowan kept talking. “Pretty much all of the bloodspawn are already in the battle, so you’ll be fine on the way back. Can you tell me how to get to the surface from where we first met?”

“What are you…oh. You don’t actually intend to go down there, do you?” Eren spoke, voice full of concern.

“I do.” Rowan raised a hand before any of them could protest. “And I’m going to do it no matter what you say. So please, help me out and tell me the route to the surface from where I saved you from the bloodspawn.”

Eren and Henry glanced at each other for a moment before the bearded man sighed. “It’s not far from where you saved us. You just have to keep going up the same tunnel we were in. Don’t even have to take any turns.”

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“Alright, then. Thank you.”

Henry smiled. “I haven’t known you for long, but you’re a good guy. I can see that from how much Cynthia likes you; she doesn’t usually latch onto someone like she has with you. So try not to die, alright?”

“I’ll do my best,” Rowan said, smiling slightly in return.

“Good luck, Rowan. We’ll be ready for you near the cave mouth. Try not to make us wait too long, will you?” Eren nodded, turned, and walked over to Henry, opening her mouth to tell him something, but Rowan wasn’t paying attention to them. After all, Cynthia was running towards him.