Chapter 19 – Down With The Queen.

Rusty positioned himself strategically, making sure he had a clear view of the ant queen and her chamber. With the light crystal emanating a faint glow, he waited for the perfect moment to initiate his plan. The drones seemed to be preoccupied with the queen as they were regurgitating something into her mouth. Considering that she couldn’t move from this place due to the large abdomen, it was probably food.

‘There it is, if it can only stay in that one spot then it shouldn’t be that hard to defeat…’

He needed that copper deposit that was sitting next to the monster’s enlarged rear end. Even now he could see white eggs coming out of it and getting carried to the side. It seemed that these things took some time to hatch and even now some of them were growing. The forces of the ants had been diminished but they still had a large group here.

‘Several of these tunnels connect to this main chamber. If this crystal does its job, then I should be able to do it…’

Despite being nothing more than a sentient piece of armor, Rusty experienced a peculiar sensation in his core – something akin to emotions. Emotions, both excitement and fear, coursed through him as he contemplated the impending battle, a battle that could potentially result in his final demise. Yet, he recognized the necessity of confronting the ant queen to strengthen himself and overcome the challenges of this insect-infested underground. Restoring his body was necessary for his future survival and he understood that this battle could not be avoided.

‘No way to go back now, if I wait, these ants will just come back in greater numbers! What if they eventually overrun those other insects?’

After pitting the two species against each other, it appeared that the ants were beginning to win. While the centipedes possessed larger and stronger bodies, their cooperation was more than lacking. It was likely that the ants would emerge victorious in the end. However, this victory could lead to a larger issue as he would be against even greater numbers than before, something that he would be incapable of handling.

‘Here it goes then… Come at me!’

It was time to start his plan and the first thing he did was to place the large light crystal on the ground. Next to it, he started stashing the other mana crystals and stopped after it was glowing gently. Then he started making some noise, while he was not capable of shouting, hitting his chest with his metallic gauntlet was enough to produce quite a ruckus.

The drones that had been busy feeding the queen and handling eggs instantly turned in the direction of the strange living armor. There was a small swarm of them in this chamber and he would certainly be defeated if he attacked the queen with all of them in there. Thus, he decided to lure them out and make himself a target.

‘Common, follow me!’

Just as he expected, the small drones tossed themselves at him the moment they saw him. They seemed angrier than usual, probably due to the fact that he had invaded their colony’s innermost sanctum where their queen resided. The large ant gave out a strange hissing noise in his general direction which seemed to call forth even more ants.

One ant tossed itself at him and he quickly cut off his head, its fluids falling on him just as he had planned. Soon after, he turned around and started to run while ensuring the drones followed him. He could hear the skittering of their legs behind him as he led them away from the queen’s chamber and deeper into the labyrinth-like tunnels of the ant colony.

Rusty knew he couldn’t afford to let any of them catch up to him, as a swarm of angry ants could easily overpower even his sturdy metal frame. However, he also didn’t want to actually flee to safety. The angry ants needed to be close enough to keep following him and the more the better.

After spending some time fighting these monsters he had memorized a few paths and also marked them for easy use. He continued to lead the ants on a wild goose chase through the tunnels and eventually, he made his way back to the chamber where his target resided, the ant queen. He had gone in circles to return to this place that was now a lot emptier than before.

‘Where is that crystal!’

With haste, he tossed himself at the magical crystal that he left to the side and now it was time to finish up his trap. He produced many smaller mana stones that he could store in his stash tab and with their addition to the other mana crystals, the light started to shine brightly. It encompassed almost half of this chamber and most importantly, the tunnels that he led the ant drones into.

‘Please work…’

While he had performed a few tests with the insects he wasn’t sure if this light was all that it took to keep them at bay. It worked in his own lair where there were many but he could only bring enough mana stones to make one of them shine brightly here. Luckily, the moment the radiance took over the ants stopped in their tracks and could not go any further.

‘Haha, I knew it would work!’

Rusty raised his arms up into the air and cheered again, something that he started doing whenever performing well. His plan had succeeded thus far and with the ants halted by the brilliant light emanating from the crystal, it was time for battle. The queen was still there along with a few leftover ant drones that had higher levels than the rest. It seemed to be her honor guard but it would not be enough to stop his charge.

‘Let’s finish this, come ants!’

Six drones remained in this egg-laying chamber, and they quickly charged at him with their mandibles clicking in agitation. With his sword at the ready, he faced them head-on. The first swing instantly decapitated one of them and soon after it plunged into the second one. Two of them were instantly down and he quickly retreated before the third one could pounce at his helmet.

‘Hah, I know all your attack patterns you silly ants, you’ll have to try harder than that to defeat me!’

Rusty danced between the attacking ants, using his superior agility and combat skills to outmaneuver them. With each precise strike of his sword, he managed to take down another drone to reduce their numbers even further. Despite their numerical advantage, the ants seemed unable to land a solid blow on him and even when they did, his armored frame proved too hard to bite through.

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