Chương 376: Voracious Ant Queen.

Marlius swung his scimitars and clashed with the hard mandibles of the ants in front of him. The sound of metal striking metal filled the cave as he moved agilely between the hundreds of ants attacking him and the others.

'Who knew…' Marlius bit his lip fiercely until it bled.

'Who knew that such a monster was silently growing in this isolated corner of the continent?' He quickly sidestepped a ray of fire that pierced through where his head was before. He glared in the direction of the powerful beam and saw the chilling existence pointing a finger at him with a smile.

'No… It wasn't silent. The armies that disappeared, the ridiculous fast growth and impossible victories… All the hints were there, but no one bothered piecing them together.' He rushed toward the Ant Queen and slashed forward with scimitars. The scimitars burned brightly as they streaked toward Ignatia's neck like a pair of scissors.

"DIE!" CLANG! CLANG! [-78, 055]! [-68, 500]!

'Huh?' Marlius' heart stopped for a moment. The sight before him was just too ridiculous. His swords sharpened to the point that injuring World Trees was more than possible, but they were now stuck in a humanoid creature's arms. The arms of the Ant Queen were wrapped by a ruby-like carapace that reflected light, and the pointy fingers, which looked like claws. Those claws tightly grabbed the swords, and regardless of how he pulled them, they wouldn't even budge.

The Ant Queen's smile widened beyond human limits, and as her mouth slowly opened, two powerful mandibles swiftly sprung forward. Marlius' entire body was swept with chills as he leaned backward with the agility of a feline. CHOMP! The sound of the mandibles snapping shut where he had his neck made his face turn a few shades paler. His foot quickly streaked forward, landing on the stomach of the Ant Queen. BANG! [-60, 550]!

'Ha!? Why is my damage so low!? The sword strikes or the kick, they should've done at least two or three cores worth of damage!

"Hahaha…" A female laugh reached him from the Humanoid Ant Queen. He grabbed his scimitars tightly and spat.

"You are a monster in human skin!" Ignaita's face-splitting grin didn't falter in the slightest.

"Marlius, I must thank you. Now that I am fighting you, I know how ridiculously strong I am when fighting in my big baby's domain~." Then, she took a step forward with all her strength. Ternary essences filled her muscles as they constricted, ready to burst forth with terrifying power. There were too many buffs on Ignatia at that moment: <Defender>, <Gratitude>, <World Tree Ant Queen>, <Born To Rule>, <Profound-Level Ant Physique (B- rank)>, and the most powerful one, <Ant Queen's Ire (C Rank)>.

In total, Ignatia's stats were boosted by nearly 85%. To call her a humanoid World Tree wouldn't be an exaggeration! Marlius' pupils shrunk and then, Ignatia lunged at him. Her speed was so high that she looked more like a red blur. BOOM! The ground shook like an earthquake! In less than the blink of an eye, the Ant Queen reduced the distance between them to the point that their noses were almost touching. Ignatia's grin widened even further.

Before Marlius could even react, the Ant Queen's punch landed in the middle of his stomach. The second the powerful blow landed, Marlius' eyes bulged, and his body curved into a half-moon shape. The Ant Queen spat with laughter.

"Fly." Whoosh! BANG! His body streaked through the battlefield and struck a distant wall. The strike made his entire body feel as if it was burning, and his eyesight flashed white and black. He didn't even know where he was, and then, a single bloody red number popped into his eyes. [-5, 450, 555]! Marlius vomited a mouthful of blood, clutching his stomach and unable to stand up. Almost a quarter of his entire Phoer Body Cores were sliced instantly!

Looking up with difficulty, he saw Ignatia walking toward him leisurely. Her steps were neither hurried nor slow, as if she was taking a stroll. The problem was that they were in the middle of the battlefield! However, each time someone wanted to approach Ignatia, several ants would swarm those people and bury them alive in their attacks. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The Ant Queen was untouchable in the nest!

Marlius stood up with difficulty, his eyes shining with a cruel light. Ignatia's insectoid eyes flashed, her compound vision observing each and every move. She could see some muscles of the arm tense and the pulsing of the blood. She could see a small piece of paper being retrieved from the pouch hanging at the side of his body. Everything happened slowly, and if Ignatia wanted, she could've stopped his movements. However, she didn't do so. This was her arrogance as the unbeatable monarch.

Marlius broke the paper and snarled at Ignatia.

"<Talisman: Soul Splitting Curse>! DIE!" A swift black lightning bolt rushed forward at a speed that made it unavoidable. Nevertheless, a large root sprouted from the ground faster than her reaction time. The gorgeous tree root had glowing blue energy veins that shone with purity and a slight sense of holiness. [Wisdom: <Curse Devouring>.] CRACKLE! The black lightning bolt struck the root, trying to destroy it.

However, even before a single point of damage appeared on her, a blue light engulfed the black lightning bolt and squeezed it into nothing. BOOM! A powerful wind gale burst outward, leaving an unscathed tree root behind. With that, as if nothing had happened, the tree root slowly sank into the ground once more. Ignatia glanced at Marlius' expression and almost laughed. He was looking at the root as if it was an alien creature that appeared out of nowhere.

"... That's impossible." Igantia asked, her lips arched in a sneer.

"Impossible? What can a little curse do to my baby? After dealing with Dark Aether Swamp's World Tree, your little tricks are nothing."

"LIES!" Marlius finally lost his cool.

"That's a high-level <Third Energy Cycle> curse! Even a Level 70 would be heavily injured by it! It can even threaten some <Fourth Energy Cycle> powerhouses!" His face, turning redder from shouting, twisted with incomprehension.

"What is that!? How can it resist a Level 70 Curse so easily!?" Ignatia finally reached in front of Marlius and stopped, looking down at the screaming man with a proud smile.

"That's my daughter and your objective: World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu."

"You bugs come to her like insects attracted to sugar. You think she is something that's easy to eat, something that's easy to take down as long as you decide to do so." Ignatia kicked Marlius' leg, making him fall onto his back, and then she stomped on his chest, fracturing some ribs.

"ARGH!" The Ant Queen looked down at the struggling man under her foot.

"Marlius, the only chance your Nexus had to kill Liu Shu for good was with you retreating the second that something felt wrong. Then, you should have gathered the forces attacking the north of the continent and crossed the Wall Forest to attack us." Ignatia smiled mockingly.

"However, the only thing you've done was give our armies a good boost. How much experience will 5000 <Third Energy Cycles> and over 60, 000 <Second Energy Cycles> give us?" Marlius' heart jumped and he looked at Ignatia with disbelief.

"You… Did you trap everyone in the illusion!? How is that even possible!?" Ignatia chuckled.

"Well, we don't have just one World Tree. Moreover, there is a little moth that's incredibly talented in our city~. Liu Shu's alter ego, Wisdom, together with Mariane, World Tree Fortuna, and a few other array formation and runic field experts were able to create a mass-effect illusion field. Then, when you were all feeling calm in the illusion, our World Trees slowly shifted the terrain and submerged all of you without any brusque movements~." Marlius' eyes widened.

If two World Trees cooperated, with one of them being a powerful soul manipulator, such a large illusion field was not impossible. The problem was that because everyone was somewhat linked, waking them with attacks would create a chain reaction. Hence, they couldn't really kill them straight away.

"Since we couldn't kill you…" Ignatia chuckled.

"15 minutes was all it took to spread you in small groups all around my nest. By now, the hunting groups must've cleared quite a few people. After all, we have 2 World Trees keeping an eye on us and guiding us. Any ambush people plan is nothing but a deathtrap for themselves." She added with an ominous tone, making Marlius pale further.

"Moreover, any stragglers~..." A root poked out of the ground and coiled around Marlius' waist. The meaning was clear: 'The World Trees swallowed all stragglers.'

"Still." Ignatia glanced at the stunned man with a dissatisfied gaze.

"You really disappointed me. I thought that I could have a decent fight with you. However, you are too weak." Ignatia was a B- Tier Ant Queen. Her stats were ridiculous, even higher than Liu Shu's or Ophion's. After all the buffs from the titles, to say that Ignatia had almost triple the <Physique> of Marlius was not an exaggeration at all. For the human powerhouse, Ignatia was like a steel mountain pressing down on him. The Queen, thereafter, lost interest and looked around.

"Hm… My children are not having trouble, but I see that a few have been heavily injured. I should join them now." Looking down at the man, she smiled.

"So, Marlius. Die for me." She raised her foot and stomped down. Marlius quickly rolled to the side, barely avoiding the stomp.

'I need to escape-!' BOOM! The power behind the Ant Queen's stomp made Marlius' body fly a few tens of meters, stunning all the people glancing there from side to side.

'A Level 60 can be thrown away with just a stomp!? What kind of power does that Ant Queen have!?' Ignatia glanced at the fleeing man and chased after him. How could Marlius escape when he was in Ignatia's nest? This place was confusing to traverse for him, but for the Ant Queen, it was like strolling her backyard garden! Ten seconds later, Igantia caught up to him and created a massive wall of fire in front of him. Marlius didn't care; he wouldn't stop for anything. After all, death was following right behind him.

Crossing his arms, Marlius lunged into the wall of fire. However, he didn't go through as he expected to. BOOM! Before he started crossing, the wall exploded, and the shockwave flung him back. Before he knew what happened, he was caught by a pair of slender but strong arms. Looking sideways, he saw Ignatia's black compound eyes glowing red from the flames around them.

"Goodbye, Marlius." The Ant Queen then bit his face off. CHOMP! Marlius' body convulsed in pain, but no sound came since Ignatia had torn half his face off from that one bite.

"Hm~. Nutritious~." CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP! … [Congratulations on defeating <Ceperet Human Level 64 (C Tier)>. You've gained 21, 329 Experience Points.]