Chapter 1757 – Unstoppable

It was only ten minutes later when the ant finally broke through. Tons of rock fell away at once, a deafening collapse that sent dust and fungal spores billowing upward.

Zullz tensed, expecting a horde of menacing insects to burst through the gap, but instead, there was nothing.

Nothing, until a gigantic ant head poked through the gap. With gleaming jewels for eyes, the insect was covered in what appeared to be brilliantly faceted, purple diamond. Long, savage mandibles extended from its head while its antennae, tipped with some sort of crystal fibre, swung through the air.

For a moment, the Krath’sizz was stunned into stillness, as were the rest of the Krath. Zullz edged backwards, just a hair.

“Now!” Suzzil roared.

They were supposed to wait for the ant horde to materialise before springing the trap, but it appeared their leader was intimidated enough to call it already.

Zulls took no pleasure in being vindicated.

Before the ant could so much as twitch, cunningly concealed mechanisms over its head fell open, unleashing a deluge of lurid green mucus. Enriched with the most potent of goo-spores, this was amongst the most deadly forms of mucus the Krath could create in any sort of volume.

Seeing it coming, the ant did something Zulls did not expect. Rather than retreat and attempt to escape the toxic mess, it merely climbed up, as if ignoring the mucus entirely.

In an instant it was covered in the stuff. A horrific sizzling, so loud as to overwhelm any other sound, filled the air. Acrid clouds of intense steam billowed upwards as the acid ate through the creature’s carapace and attacked its joints.

“Hah!” Suzzil gurgled with satisfaction, yet Zullz didn’t feel quite so confident.

Why wouldn’t it try to dodge?

He got his answer a moment later. A massive insect leg extended out of the goop, followed by another. Soon, the body of the monster came into view, dripping lurid slime and smoking as if it were on fire.

As if mocking them, the creature slammed its mandibles together in a staccato rhythm.

Then it unleashed fire.

“Attack!” roared the Krath’sizz. “Bury it in acid, it’s already wounded!”

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Each of the Krath warriors obeyed, launching their most powerful acid, drawing on the potent slime they cultivated within themselves. The temperature of the chamber skyrocketed as searing hot fire blasted out from the ant, burning away the thick mucus that covered the walls, even turning the flame on itself to cleanse it of the acidic gunk.

Zullz could see sections of its carapace had become dull and pitted, eaten away by the trap, and did his best to aim for those openings, assuming the others saw what he saw. It didn’t seem to matter. The ant paid them no attention as it stomped forward, a searing jet of roaring flame bursting forth from between its mandibles.

This was no ordinary flame. Every time Zullz expected the heat to stop rising, it simply kept going, to the point his own skin began to dry out.