Chương 126: Chapter 123: Termite Hive

Thalion was flying behind the ships, occasionally casting a whirlwind to aid in his body-tempering. He had been reflecting on many things during the journey. One of these was the body-tempering technique he planned to purchase in a few days, which utilized gravity, similar to the golden mountain. Then there were his plans for eagly. Evolving the bird into a wyvern. Once he returned from this trip, he intended to fuse the whirlwind skill with lightning bolt, since he already possessed the superior lightning beam.

Two skills that practically demanded fusion were feather glide and tempest shroud. He had also considered merging eye of the storm with lightning bolt barrage. That combination would undoubtedly result in an immensely powerful skill. For eagly, his next goal was to create a crystal with pure light affinity and fuse it with one of the wind crystals to create a storm crystal.

Many beasts consumed such crystals for faster body-tempering, as the crystal's energy flowed through their bodies, amplifying the preferred affinity. Beasts could also draw on the crystal's power, making them much stronger and more dangerous. Creating a crystal with lightning affinity would be challenging. The only idea Thalion had so far involved blasting a wind crystal with lightning. He noticed that the skyships in the distance had stopped, and the first fighters began jumping down.

Before the system arrived, it would have been impossible to leap from a skyship hovering over two kilometers above the ground. Some landed on tall trees, while others hovered in the air—likely mages. Heavy warriors, on the other hand, crashed into the ground, seemingly unaffected. Well, all but one, whose foot twisted at an unnatural angle. Fortunately, a healer carrying a staff quickly mended the injury. Below them stood a massive hill built by the termites.

Termites were scattered throughout the area, screeching loudly as soon as they spotted the intruders in the trees. The battle began in earnest. Thalion sent a message to the group, asking to be notified whenever someone was close to killing a termite or had just done so. He wanted to gather as many souls with his amulet as possible. While he couldn't see the souls, he could feel them thanks to his title, which connected him to the world in a completely different way.

The fight below intensified as more termites emerged from the hill. Thalion dove down, transforming into his human form. He activated only the toughness and self-repair runes, as his fear-based abilities might have caused panic among his own fighters, rather than the termites. Drawing his legendary weapon, the blade of the blooded templar, which hummed with power, he stood on a high branch and unleashed a red slash at one of the termites.

Thanks to his connection to the outsider, he could channel far more power into his weapon without worrying about depleting his resources. The slash effortlessly cleaved a level-60 termite in half. Thalion jumped down, landing before the fallen termite. The amulet should now do its work. He felt something being drawn from the termite's body. Moments later, the amulet hummed with a faint surge of power. It wasn't much, and had he not been paying attention, he might have missed it. Not bad at all, Thalion thought.

He wondered how much stronger the amulet would feel after absorbing its first hundred souls. The battle raged on as termites poured out of the hill's holes. While some mages and warriors were forced to retreat due to the swelling number of insects, Thalion stood at the heart of the fight. He swung his sword relentlessly, and vines of the sanguine thorn shot from his free hand, aiming for the weak points of the armored insects. Not every warrior retreated.

The heavy warriors stood beside him, smashing termites with unyielding force. Meanwhile, mages positioned themselves above, raining down spells, while healers stationed between the mages and archers on the trees tended to the wounded. Thalion, however, required no healing. So far, no termite had pierced his armor or inflicted any harm. Even if they had, his natural regeneration, enhanced by his stolen connection to the outsider, was likely faster than any healing spell.

Additionally, the sanguine thorn stored reserves of blood for emergency healing. He was more than fine—his stamina and mana regenerated faster than he could expend them. The termites fell one after another. Thalion continued unleashing red slashes, cutting through them with ease. While he could have employed more of his blood-based abilities, he refrained, not wanting to reveal too many of his skills or his full power. The amulet grew stronger as it consumed the souls of fifty termites.

Everything was proceeding even better than expected. Thalion had half-anticipated the amulet to malfunction or even explode, but it worked flawlessly. The battle was going well; no humans had fallen so far, and Thalion allowed himself a small smile under his mask as he cut down another termite.

"Let's see what this amulet can truly do," he thought. A giant screech was heard from beneath them, and the ground burst open in multiple places as two giant termites, both level 79, emerged and began attacking. Thin, white threads were connected to them, trailing from the holes in the ground. The aura of these termites was completely different. In an instant, they shot multiple rock spikes from their shells, hitting several mages and archers perched in the trees.

One of the termites sprinted toward Thalion, almost teleporting, and bit down with its massive mandibles. Thalion spun aside in a fluid motion, slashing upward. A red arc of energy cleanly severed the monstrous insect's neck. If they attacked him so recklessly, without the support of other insects, he could easily dismember them, as he had no trouble targeting their small weak points. The soul of the beast, however, felt different. He sensed it like a candle being lit inside his amulet.

More of the massive termites began to emerge, and Thalion soon understood where the white threads originated. Weaker termites stood motionless, their threads connecting them to the larger defenders, buffing them to terrifying levels. It didn't take long for the first warrior to fall under the onslaught of one of these monsters. The wounds inflicted by the mages and archers did little damage and healed almost instantly. Normal attacks or skills couldn't even scratch these beasts. Their shells were simply too tough.

Devouring them as umbral predator without using the tendrils would undoubtedly be highly beneficial. Still, at the moment, retreat seemed inevitable as more and more of these giant termites poured from the hill's massive hole. The situation grew increasingly dire, and even with his new armor, speed, reflexes, and healing, Thalion wasn't certain if continuing the battle was wise. The termites were too powerful and too numerous.

"Retreat," Thalion transmitted through a token to everyone, dodging a spiked projectile by activating mistform. Above one of the termites, he materialized and fired a strong blood thorn at its abdomen, piercing the weaker defenses there. A battle of wills ensued as Thalion and the sanguine thorn struggled to absorb the termite's resources and let the thorn grow within its body.

Normally, this would have been easy, but it felt as though over fifty termites were supporting the larger one, and progress was painstakingly slow. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The other warriors were retreating, leaping into the trees to reach the skyships. The termites, however, anticipated this and tried to intercept them by firing rock spikes and boulders at the trees and fleeing fighters. Thalion remained on the ground, fighting.

He could escape easily with mistform if needed, so there was no rush to leave. Instead, he focused on collecting more souls and stashed the corpses of the larger termites in his spatial ring for later consumption. Eventually, the larger termites became too difficult to kill. Activating mistform, Thalion slipped between the legs of one and entered a tunnel packed with hundreds of smaller, stationary termites, their threads supporting the stronger defenders. He reappeared beside one and struck with precision.

Four vines extended from his back, slashing and skewering as many termites as possible. A message arrived from the others: most warriors were now on the skyships, while a few were fleeing through the jungle. Seven warriors had fallen, and five were badly injured but should recover quickly. Thalion was deeply troubled. These fighters were some of the strongest in his base, and he couldn't afford to lose them. He reassured the others, saying he was fine and would join them soon.

But before leaving, it was time to test the true limits of his armor. He unleashed his full aura, no longer concealing it, and a wave of fear rippled through the ten-meter-wide tunnels. The effect was immediate: most of the supporting termites severed their connections and began to shiver, paralyzed with terror. Thalion's armor and mask hummed with power fueled by the crystals imbedded in it. For a brief moment, it was a slaughter.

The larger termites hadn't yet joined the fray, and Thalion killed dozens of their smaller counterparts every second, utilizing all his abilities to their fullest. Blood drained from countless insects as they fell to him and the sanguine thorn. Red slashes from his sword tore through others, while his amulet hummed with increasing power, collecting the souls of the fallen insects. From time to time, larger termites descended from the surface after driving off the other fighters.

Even these couldn't hold out long against Thalion's relentless assault. They fell quickly, and Thalion decided to take a risk and delve even deeper. Within minutes, he had killed hundreds of insects and absorbed their souls. To his surprise, he discovered he could charge his armor with additional mana. A feature he hadn't known before. He needed to investigate this ability further, but for now, it was disastrous for the termites. Already unable to withstand his mental attacks, their resistance crumbled entirely.

Only the larger ones could hold out, and even they exhausted themselves in doing so, making them easy prey for Thalion. He wasn't expending significant resources and felt more alive than ever. But he hesitated—was it wise to venture further? What if the queens assigned him another cursed title, or worse, E-grade defenders appeared? The risk was palpable, but the allure of power urged him on. That could make things very dangerous, but so far, nothing in these tunnels could kill him.

Thalion kept slashing and drawing blood from the weaker termites, as it was the fastest and most effective way to kill them. Thalion fought his way through the tunnels until he entered a great hall, where over eight of the larger termites were waiting. Hell broke loose the moment he stepped inside, as all eight charged him at once. The smaller termites, which normally supported the larger ones, were unable to move due to the fear-inducing aura of his armor.

This was fortunate—if all eight had been boosted, defeating them would have been much more difficult. Thalion had already noticed an improvement in his reflexes through the stronger amulet, and it showed in how he handled their attacks. He easily dodged the earth spikes one of the larger termites launched at him during its charge, countering with a red slash. Then he shifted into mistform, materializing beside the termite on his left, and cleanly severed its head with an empowered slash.

The next moment, Thalion appeared between the stunned termites and unleashed blood harvest, drawing multiple rivers of blood toward himself at incredible speed. At the same time, the remaining seven large termites regrouped and charged again. Thalion fired several blood thorns and a condensed beam of fire at the approaching creatures. However, the blood thorns failed to hit any weak points, and the flames barely affected the termites.

Forced to act quickly, he telekinetically dashed to the side and slashed at a termite on the right. Though powerful, his attack missed a weak point and left only a deep wound rather than killing the insect outright. A moment later, he had to summon a mana barrier to block incoming earth spikes, but the barrier was ripped apart by their force. Thalion shifted into mistform again, dodging the spikes at the last second and reappearing at the termite's side, where he severed two of its legs and damaged its abdomen.

Despite the ferocity of the fight, Thalion noticed the termites were struggling more and more to keep up. His armor's passive effect seemed to be taking hold, instilling increasing fear in his enemies. Within a minute, all eight of the large termites lay dead at his feet. Thalion stored their corpses in his spatial ring while their souls were absorbed into his amulet. He knew he needed to find a way to fuel his skills with even more power.

For now, though, he had no trouble managing the costs due to his regeneration abilities. Even after using mistform multiple times, his mana barely dipped, and any reduction was restored in seconds. Stronger termites continued to emerge from the depths, as the colony remained on high alert. Yet, it made little difference. Thalion's full-power assaults and the mental effects of his armor incapacitated the weaker termites completely, leaving them unable to act.

The battle raged on for nearly an hour, and Thalion grew adept at killing termites efficiently, needing no more than a few strikes per foe. By the end, he had absorbed over a hundred souls from the larger termites and countless more from the smaller ones. His amulet thrummed with incredible power, its effects greatly amplified. Dodging multiple earth spikes and fighting several large termites simultaneously had become effortless for him.

Slowly but surely, he worked his way deeper into the tunnels, heading toward the queen's chamber. Termites fell one by one as he carved a path forward, his amulet growing stronger with every soul it absorbed. After two more hours of relentless fighting, Thalion finally entered what he believed to be the final chamber. Inside was a single queen—fat and massive and surrounded by four enormous guards. The queens legs were too tiny and didn't even reach the ground; it reminded him a bit of a stranded whale.

The chamber was vast, filled with hundreds of scattered eggs, far more than he had seen in the anthive. Before the guards could attack, Thalion raised his hand and used blood harvest to eliminate the workers. However, he immediately felt the queen's mental presence pushing back against his will. Even with the sanguine thorn and the amulet, it wasn't enough to overpower her. The queen let out a piercing screech, her entire body erupting with power, which buffed the workers and guards to incredible levels.

The guards didn't just glow with energy—they grew over two meters larger. Thalion needed to stop this transformation quickly. He fired an empowered blood thorn at the queen, but a formation beneath her lit up, shielding her effortlessly. The now-enlarged guards moved with shocking speed and power. Thalion barely dodged their strikes and launched a red slash at one of their necks. Normally, this would have been enough to kill such a creature, but it only inflicted a minor wound, which healed within moments.

Another guard lunged at him while a third conjured a massive stone spear. Realizing the situation was hopeless, Thalion activated mistform and shot back up the tunnel. All in all, it wasn't a bad outcome, as he had harvested countless souls and bodies. He decided that he would return in a week or so for another attempt if the termites had recovered and he could do a proper soul harvest.