Chapter 64 - 60

'Is it dying?! Seriously?!' was my response upon seeing the Anties Queen’s status. And when I looked into the distance, I saw the Cerberus slaughtering thousands of those pitiful ants. 'So, he’s that powerful…'

At first glance, there was no denying the fact that the Cerberus was also wounded from their fight. So, from a third person’s perspective, it was clear that the Anties Queen had put up quite a good fight. In fact, using Assess on the monster had revealed that she was indeed wounded. But that was all. Wounded. Nothing more, nothing less. And to make matters worse for the Anties Queen…

'That guy is probably using Devour or something similar.'

Even from this distance, I could hear the loud crunching sounds as the Cerberus chewed a mouthful of ants. And after swallowing them in one go, I saw some wounds on the gigantic monster’s body healing on their own. 'Yep. That healing factor far surpassed the capabilities of Devour.' In a sense, the skill that the Cerberus was using might be the same as the skill that I had recently acquired. 'Gorge, huh?' But not only that, because from what I could tell, the Cerberus was also using another familiar skill.

'There is no mistaking it. That is without a doubt, Shadow Augment.' I observed in a flash.

By focusing my eyes on the Cerberus’ legs, I noticed in an instant that it was covered by a pitch-black cloud. And from what I knew, that pitch-black cloud was the resulting phenomenon whenever Shadow Augment was applied. In short, just like me, the Cerberus also possessed that Shadow Manipulation skill. But in comparison to what I have, the monster’s skill probably far surpassed mine in terms of rank. And this hypothesis was further proven by the fact that the Cerberus was somehow capable of conjuring some black spikes in its immediate vicinity. With this, it was pretty much confirmed that the Cerberus control and mastery over the skill was far beyond mine.

While I was gazing at the Cerberus in awe, I was then interrupted by an ear-piercing cry coming from the Anties Queen. To my surprise, I jumped back in haste only to be failed by my legs and tumbled on the ground. 'Damn it!' Whilst cursing myself for my carelessness, I pushed my body up in a snap. And upon looking at the Anties Queen, I saw a multitude of ants crawling towards their leader’s mouth.

'What the heck?! Is she planning to recover by using her people as the supplement?!' I asked in disgust.

Looking at it logically, what the Anties Queen was doing made a lot of sense. After all, the monster was just doing what she needed to do in order to survive. But in my personal opinion, there was just something wrong with sacrificing your own people for the sake of achieving your goal. That belief just didn’t sit well with me.

As if feeling that same disgust, I heard someone clicked their tongue. “Tsk!” A second after that, I noticed the Gigarillon standing on my right side while looking at the Anties Queen with squinted eyes.

'So, you knew from the very beginning that the Anties Queen doesn’t stand a chance, huh?'

'But seriously, how will we escape this place now?' I asked while shifting my gaze towards the exit. Or at least, what was supposed to be one.

From what I could see, it seemed like the opening towards the exit had completely collapsed. And since the Anties Queen crashed directly above that opening, all the crushed boulders both big and small were now piled up in that place. Furthermore, the Anties Queen’s body was also lying on that spot and it was being guarded by none other than the Anties King himself.

'In other words, it is now impossible to use that to escape… But man, that Anties King is really like a c.o.c.kroach, isn’t he? Like, when in the heck did you even get there?'

While I was there complaining about the absurdity of the Anties King, I noticed some change in the Anties Queen’s condition. First and foremost was its aura. Because unlike its weak and fragile presence from before, the monster was now able to release her fear-inducing malice.

'Okay, she’s pissed. Incredibly pissed.' Of course, using Assess on the monster told me that the Anties Queen was still fatally wounded. And probably because of that, the malice the monster was released wasn’t as overbearing as when it was still in full health. But in a sense, even such a desperate struggle could pose a different kind of threat. After all, a wounded and cornered beast has a huge tendency to charge at its enemy in reckless abandon.

Realizing that the Anties Queen was about to go on a rampage, I decided that it would be best to put some more distance between us. Though to be honest, it was kind of debatable whether it would be really possible to do so.

'Yeah, it will be much preferable to get the heck out of this place.'

Unfortunately, as I was about to turn around, the damnable Anties King chose that moment to turn towards us. 'Oh, boy.' Then with a screech, the Anties King called out to the other ants nearby before charging straight to us. And on its back, the remnants of the Anties Queen’s meal were following behind in a haphazard rush.

'You’ve got to be kidding me. Did they just give up on their Queen?!' But as if answering that question, the Anties Queen that has been resting up to now flapped her wings in a flurry and flew towards the Cerberus. 'Oh, so that guy simply recognized the fact that he can’t do anything against the Cerberus. Wait, this is not the time for that!!' After chastising myself for overanalyzing the ant’s actions, I turned towards the Gigarillon whilst thinking to myself; 'I will leave this guy behind if he doesn't agree to run.'

But as if reading my thoughts from afar, I saw the Gigarillon making a run for it before I could even start. 'Huh?!' I yelped in surprise. 'Oy!! Wait a damn minute you traitorous son of an ape!!'

Seeing that the ape had beaten me to the punch, I moved my legs and tried to follow behind. But since my body hasn’t fully recovered yet, the most I could do was only to jog and even that was proving to be quite a difficult task. “Huff... Huff… Huff…” While trying my best to supply my veins with oxygen, I continued to force my heavy legs in an attempt to catch up.

'D-damn it!' But try as I might, it seemed like the muscles on my legs were already at their limit, so I couldn't keep up. And to make matters worse, I was also starting to slow down. 'At this rate, those ants will catch up.'

In truth, I could probably push through this situation by using Shadow Augment on my legs. But since my condition has already reached this stage, further using enhancement would most likely have some detrimental effects. And more than that, I was also certain that I would need to fight later on. The problem was; 'it’s either I use that now or face these ants to death.'

Faced with such desperate choices, I couldn’t help but curse at my luck. 'Shit!' And so, left with no other option, I once again applied Shadow Augment, on my legs.

At that moment, I felt a painful sensation on my legs as the skill forced my muscles to tense and contract. “Grah!!” But in exchange for that pain, the strength on my legs had begun to come back, which of course helped me in further increasing my speed. Because of that, I managed to keep up with the Gigarillon while also keeping my distance from that gang of ants.

Of course, it wasn’t as if the pain in my legs was gone. In fact, it just kept on getting worse. “Guh!” But instead of letting that pain hinder me, I chose to swallow it down and followed behind the Gigarillon.

To my surprise, it seemed like the Gigarillon had a destination in mind. And not long after I had realized that fact, my eyes caught a glimpse of another exit in the far-off distance. 'So, that’s it!!' Upon seeing that, the two of us ran straight to that exit without even looking back.

Unfortunately, the Anties King was as stubborn as I had expected him to be so the monster didn’t even hesitate to follow us inside. 'This guy!' Peeling my attention away from that ant, I continued to follow the Gigarillon in every twist and turn of that path. After all, I couldn’t afford to be caught isolated in my state.

'Damn! It’s about to run out!' I cursed upon noticing the fading effects of Shadow Augment.

Accompanied by a banging sound, the entire area shook every time the ape slammed his fist into the wall. 'D-don’t tell me?' At that moment, I finally understood. 'This ape wants to collapse this path!!'