Chapter 74 - Back To The Dungeon

[Level 20 Royal Giant Head Ant]

Upon entering the Ant Queen Lair, Aldrin did the same thing as before. Let his Dimensional Clones lead the way, while he would only occasionally join in their fight, maximizing their current efficiency.

This time around, he limited his use of Shadow Clones or any of his Concepts. Furthermore, the slightly damaged Battlesuits were once again worn by his clones.

Although Battlesuit was marketed as a self-repairing armor for Energy Refiners, it's not instant. Otherwise, the industry where it belonged would easily crumble due to an immediate lack of customers.

In time, he needed to buy a new set for his Clones when the Battlesuits got worn out so much that its defensive capabilities became nil.

"So, it's a Giant Head Ant. The only difference from the one outside is that its body appeared thicker." Aldrin observed the rows of ants blocking his way.

From behind, he could see a bigger ant, pulsating as it continued to lay more ant eggs. Worker Ants picked those eggs up and brought them towards another room where they store those eggs until they hatched.

[Level 10 Ant Queen]

"And it's a different Ant Queen than what my Shadow Clones scouted before. This one looked uglier and way bigger." Aldrin was slightly disgusted. "Anyway, it has a low level compared to those Ant Queens. Is it intentionally lowered or...?"

As he wondered about that, his three Dimensional Clones charged towards the Giant Head Ants.

Compared to the Guardian Ant that went past the threshold, the Giant Head Ants were seemingly feeble and needlessly big against the three.

Striker immediately went to the nearest one, unleashing Ripple from one of its sabers that snaked through the grounds, leaving behind cracks.

That Giant Head Ant's aground legs quivered violently before exploding into countless pieces.

As soon as its balance crumbled, Tank charged in and activated Shield Blast to its other aground leg.

And to keep the other Giant Head Ants from coming to its rescue, Hitter flicked its bowstring, unleashing a barrage of arrows.

Obviously, the Giant Head Ant who lost its legs used its other leg to save himself from tumbling down. Furthermore, it found the chance to counterattack when Tank didn't retreat immediately.

With its iconic Giant Head, its mandibles created clamping sounds as it aimed to bite off the Dimensional Clone's head.

BONK!

Unfortunately, Tank just jumped and used its hammer to hit its head.

On the corner of Aldrin's eyesight, the notification about the Giant Head Ant being stunned appeared.

"These three could now be considered veterans. However, it's still not enough to topple down a 'Champion'." Aldrin commented as he also entered the range of the seemingly programmed Royal Ants.

They're like the Guardian Ant from before. They would only react at a certain range.

Counting eight of the same Giant Head Ants with menacing mandibles, Aldrin still felt that it's too low for a '2nd and final area' of a Dungeon.

"If I'm not wrong then, there's another stronger ant that will appear once these eight Giant Head Ants are defeated... That or the Queen isn't as weak as it seemed to be."

With those Giant Heads blocking his way, he could only see the tireless queen and Worker Ants busying themselves to the eggs.

"There's no other way around. I have to finish this and just be vigilant of what's going to happen next."

After saying that, two Shadow Clones appeared and ran alongside him. He passed two of the cheapest swords in the Idle Shopping to the two as they split up to deal with different Giant Head Ants.

Regrettably, compared to the Dimensional Clones, Shadow Clones produced from his Concept cannot equip a Battlesuit, making them a lot weaker than the former.

Even so, with those Clones able to partially use his other Concepts with 'Shadow' prefix, their combat ability was slightly compensated.

Holding his sword tightly, he jumped from where he was. With his Battlesuit a tier higher than the ones worn by his Dimensional Clone, its bonus attributes and amplification were higher. Furthermore, he had the sixth piece which allowed him to hover longer in the air.

Aiming directly to the big head of the ant, his refined energy seemingly gathered to the saber in his left hand to form the Shadow Blade Concept while the sparkling energy particles gathered on his sword for the activation of Ripple Skill.

SLASH!

Like a passing deadly breeze, Shadow Blade and Ripple beheaded the Giant Head Ant he targeted before continuing to cut through its body, preventing it from flailing around.

By the time his feet created a loud thud from landing to the ground, the corpse was already transferred to the Idle Storage.

"Huh? One hit? I only tried if it was enough... With the multipliers in place, I am already stronger than a peak Ordinary Rank Rift Monster or even an early Stage 2 Energy Refiner."

Aldrin waved his sword and saber, removing the insect juices from it.

From behind him, Striker and Tank finally took down the first Giant Head Ant. They then split up to help the two clones that were doing their best to avoid the ant's large mandibles.

Ah. No. One of them had already lost one arm, it got bitten off easily.

With one arm off, its balance tilted to one side, making its move clunky. It kept on using Shadow Steps but like him, its uses aren't unlimited.

Fortunately for it, Tank arrived at its rescue, hammer and shield ready to bash the Giant Head Ant.

As for Hitter, it kept on shooting its bow and finally took the attention of the remaining four Giant Head Ants.

Aldrin immediately ordered it to retreat just outside their range as he targeted the four.

"This is only the first of the seven lairs. And there's still the spider's side. Even though it sounds impossible, I want to at least come close to conquering this Dimension before the conclusion of Metadome Lessons." 

He had a guess that once he got sent inside the maintained Dimensional Rift, IDLE Database would either disable Idle Adventure or pause his conquest of the Small Insect Colony.

He's steadily earning IDLE Points and he could clearly feel the result of the converted Dimensional Energy. In his estimate, if not an increase in level then he was at least halfway of it.

"Oi big heads! Over here!" Aldrin shouted, taking the attention of the confused Giant Head Ants. Even though Hitter was still in front of them, just outside their supposed 'Detection Range', the four treated it as invisible.

After taking their attention, his Battlesuit whirled mechanically as steam ejected from it. Following that, he jumped back.

A few seconds later, something appeared in his hand.

The Essence Grenade!

"Let's see how strong this is! Fire in the hole!" After seeing the four Giant Heads all homing to him and judging that he's far enough from them, he hurled the 100 Essences-worth grenade.

Whooosh!

As he watched it gradually drop and right in the middle of the four, he reflexively covered his eyes.

HISSSS!

BOOM!

After a hissing sound as if a firework had just been lit, a deafening explosion ensued followed by a bright flash of light that engulfed the whole Ant Queen Lair.

By the time Aldrin opened his eyes, a crater replaced the ground where the Essence Grenade landed.

Although the four Giant Head Ants were still alive, they got blasted in four different directions, half their bodies either scorched black or destroyed.