Chương 48: Broodmother (1)

The sound of hundreds of bloodspawn shrieking all at once rang throughout the cavern as they turned to face the ant. [Soldier Ant - Level 7] The ant's level was high compared to most of its kind that Rowan remembered fighting, but still, it stood no chance against the horde. Then, another ant stepped out from the tunnel beside it. Then, from the tunnel beside that one. One after another, they appeared, until ants had come from nearly a dozen different tunnels.

But it wasn't just a single ant from each of the entrances. No, more and more poured out, and though he couldn't see too well into any of the tunnels from where he was, he could still see enough faint glint of eyes and chitin to know there were many more insects waiting to enter. Then, both sides charged. Hundreds of beasts clashing as the bloodspawn tried to stop the ants from pushing further into the chamber. Turning towards him, Henry spoke.

"This ain't normal, is it?" Rowan shook his head.

"No, not at all. I knew they were at war, but how did the ants even get so far? Wouldn't the bloodspawn have noticed?" The bloodspawn had to have noticed, which meant that the ants had been pushing through their territory with sheer force. He could only imagine how many deaths there'd been on both sides. While he wasn't sure how large the forces on either side were, he knew it was probably in the thousands.

Then, as the ants poured out of the tunnels closest to them, more fungoid creatures began to pour out, charging towards the ant forces. For a minute, the bloodspawn reinforcements kept coming, but soon, they began to peter out. Rowan silently thanked the universe that he was where he was and not down where the bloodspawn were emerging from to reinforce their defensive lines.

He didn't even want to think about what would've happened if he hadn't decided to try and reach the surface when he had and was still on the other side of the cavern with the ants, either. There were just too many of the insects over there for him to reasonably survive.

"Hmm, we should probably leave now, no?" Henry asked, still staring at the bloodspawn.

"We know what the source of the bloodspawn is." He pointed at the broodmother. Rowan almost nodded, but he stopped himself, looking at the cavern. With all of the bloodspawn busy fighting with the ants, there were barely any left to defend the broodmother. The reinforcements had stopped coming, and even the high-level creatures that normally protected it had joined the fray, leaving only a few normal humanoids in their stead. It was just too good an opportunity.

With a deep breath, he turned back to the group, who were all staring down at the raging battle.

"Do you know the way back to the surface from here?" Henry nodded.

"Why?" Ignoring his question, Rowan kept talking.

"Pretty much all of the bloodspawn are already in the battle, so you'll be fine on the way back. Can you tell me how to get to the surface from where we first met?"

"What are you… oh. You don't actually intend to go down there, do you?" Eren spoke, voice full of concern.

"I do." Rowan raised a hand before any of them could protest.

"And I'm going to do it no matter what you say. So please, help me out and tell me the route to the surface from where I saved you from the bloodspawn." Eren and Henry glanced at each other for a moment before the bearded man sighed.

"It's not far from where you saved us. You just have to keep going up the same tunnel we were in. Don't even have to take any turns." You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Alright, then. Thank you." Henry smiled.

"I haven't known you for long, but you're a good guy. I can see that from how much Cynthia likes you; she doesn't usually latch onto someone like she has with you. So try not to die, alright?"

"I'll do my best," Rowan said, smiling slightly in return.

"Good luck, Rowan. We'll be ready for you near the cave mouth. Try not to make us wait too long, will you?" Eren nodded, turned, and walked over to Henry, opening her mouth to tell him something, but Rowan wasn't paying attention to them. After all, Cynthia was running towards him.

"Goodbye!" She practically shouted before wrapping her arms around him. He rustled her hair, and a few seconds later, she let go. As she stepped back, Rowan grimaced. There was quite a bit of dried blood on her arms and shirt. He waved goodbye to Lucas, who nodded, almost reluctantly, in return. The siblings, however, just looked at him as he waved. Then, they were off. As Rowan watched them leave, he sighed. It'd been nice to actually talk to someone for the first time in… he didn't know.

He should've asked how long it'd been, but the question had slipped his mind. Hopefully, though, he would see them again soon. As chains snaked around him, forming a makeshift layer of armor, Rowan formed two daggers. One blade in his hand, the other to be used as a projectile. He would've liked to dual-wield, but his right arm still just wasn't in good enough condition to fight. Assuming he didn't get even more injured in the fight, though, it wouldn't be long until he could use it.

Within him, he'd already condensed plenty of mana of both types. Rowan had even adjusted his mana cycling to be what he considered the most optimal. Rather than dozens of sections of alternating types of mana or just having all of the mana forced into two large sections, he found something in the middle. In total, there were eight medium-sized sections of alternating kinds of mana, covering both of the weaknesses.

Not only were there few enough moving pieces for him to easily keep track of them, but there would never be a time when an entire side of his body would be unable to access a certain type of energy. Before him, Rowan formed a dozen needles of mana. He wasn't sure how effective they would be, but a little variety didn't hurt. Walking to the very end of the tunnel, Rowan took a minute to look over the battle.

While the ants hadn't yet managed to gain much ground, they were making progress, their overwhelming numbers forcing every bloodspawn to fight with everything they had. But that didn't mean the ants weren't taking any losses. No, they were dying in droves. Massive bloodspawn brutes stood on the front lines, their hammer-like arms tearing through the insects by the dozen. Focusing on a single massive bloodspawn, Rowan watched as five soldier ants swarmed it, biting at its legs and trying to pull it over.

[Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 10] Immediately, one of the ants was pulled away by another bloodspawn, but the other four remained. Letting out a bellowing roar, the brute slammed its arm down onto the nearest soldier, ending its life with a single strike. Then, with its other, normal hand, it ripped one of the insects off of its body and threw it forward, sending it crashing into the ranks of soldier ants.

As it turned its attention to the final two creatures, another two appeared, aiding their brethren in taking down the giant. Taken by surprise as the ants all heaved in unison, the brute stumbled and fell to one knee. It slammed its hammer arm down onto one of the insects, smashing it to a pulp. But, sensing its weakness, even more ants began to pour towards it, swarming the massive beast.

They were intercepted by two armored bloodspawn who began to cut through the insects like butter, their armor protecting them from the ants' mandibles. Turning his attention back to the brute, Rowan watched as, with another bellow of rage, it slammed an insect away from it, sending it flying into another ant in the distance. Then, before the rest of the creatures could take it down, the brute stood back up. With more leverage, it began to crush the insects swarming it one after another.

Even when even more soldiers joined in, reinforcing their allies, they, too, were crushed. The beast stood up and let out a third roar, but this one was of victory. As he focused on it, a screen popped up. [Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 11] It'd gained a level. It made a lot of sense, but Rowan hadn't ever thought about it. After all, he never watched anything long enough to watch it level up; he killed them before they could.

As the brute finished roaring, it moved towards the nearest ant, only to find out it had celebrated too early. A massive ant, nearly the same size as the bloodspawn, slammed into it from the side, bowling it over. Before the brute could get up, the ant got onto its back and dug its mandibles into the beast's flesh. [Ironclad Ant - Level 11] Rowan's eyes widened in surprise. He'd nearly forgotten that the ironclad ants existed; it'd just been too long since his last and only encounter with one.

The brute tried to retaliate and force the truck-sized insect off of it, but it was too late. Realizing that one of the more powerful bloodspawn was down, a dozen soldier ants had swarmed it, joining their larger counterpart in taking the creature down. As the bloodspawn met its end, Rowan turned his attention away from the battle, focusing instead on the task ahead of him. It was time to kill a broodmother.