Chương 30: Queen

Ch 30 - Queen With the hypnotized Rockmaw leading the way, the team made rapid progress as they ventured deeper into the nest. They no longer had to fumble through the endless maze of interconnected tunnels carved beneath the mountains. Along the way, they encountered several more Rockmaws, each attacking on sight. They were dispatched with little effort. Aino trapped them within her barriers while Isabel's poison left them sluggish, allowing Reid and Karl to finish them off with ease.

Glancing at his wristwatch, Reid realized they had already spent several hours inside the nest. It was nearly evening, and night would soon fall outside.

"We might be cutting it a bit close. Should we find a place to hide for the night and continue tomorrow?" Reid asked. Alina was about to answer when Junhao cut in.

"There's no need. I doubt any of us wants to sleep inside a monster nest. Let's take care of the mutant now. If anything unexpected happens, I'll handle it." With the highest-ranked Awakener among them saying so, Alina and Reid could only nod. The team pressed onward until they reached another massive chamber. Concealed behind towering rock formations, they peered inside and spotted a gigantic Rockmaw feasting on the corpse of one of its own.

Even more disturbing, smaller Rockmaws were dragging additional bodies toward it.

"Eugh," Isabel muttered, her expression twisting in disgust.

"We'll need to stop the mutant's followers from interfering and protecting it," Karl said.

"Aino, do you think you can block that entrance?" There were two entrances to the chamber. They occupied one, while the other served as a steady route for Rockmaws carrying corpses to and from the mutant.

"I can try, but I'll probably need to use a mana stone," Aino said.

"Even then, it won't last long, especially if I need to support you during the fight."

"Think you can hold it for two minutes?" Isabel asked, placing a decently sized mana stone into Aino's palm. Examining the stone, Aino nodded.

"That should be enough."

"Before you go," Reid said, interrupting their discussion, "how about I heal you first before you face the mutant?" The three had suffered several minor wounds while leading the way through the nest. Karl glanced at Alina, who simply nodded. Seeing her approval, Isabel held out her hand. Reid smiled at her eagerness and channeled his Sacred Light, mending the cuts on her body.

"Thank you, mister," Isabel said, batting her eyelashes at him. Reid wondered if she had something in her eye, but he soon turned his attention to Aino and Karl, who also bore light wounds. Once all three had been fully healed, the Awakeners moved out to begin their plan. Aino crept along the chamber wall, using the tall stone pillars jutting from the ground as cover. Once she was close enough to the second entrance, she activated her skill and sealed it off completely.

A series of heavy thunks echoed through the chamber as the Rockmaws on the other side, carrying more food for the mutant, slammed into the invisible barrier. Confused clacking filled the air, and Karl and Isabel seized the opportunity, dashing toward the mutant while it remained focused on its feast. Karl cast his hypnosis on one of the worker Rockmaws, instantly turning it against its own kind and plunging the chamber into chaos. At the same time, Isabel exhaled a thick cloud of poison toward the mutant.

The creature paused mid-feast, its mandibles twitching as it sensed something amiss. In that same instant, Aino kept one hand raised to maintain the barrier sealing the entrance while using her free hand to erect a second barrier around the mutant, trapping it inside the poisonous cloud. The mutant's mandibles clacked furiously as it realized it was under attack. It hurled its massive body against the barrier, slashing with its claws in an attempt to tear through it.

Cracks quickly spread across Aino's barrier under the relentless assault. Karl and Isabel showed no sign of panic. Instead, they turned their full attention to the remaining Rockmaws inside the chamber, cutting them down one by one to prevent them from interfering with the fight against the mutant. Kshaanng! The barrier surrounding the mutant shattered. Isabel raised a hand, drawing the poisonous cloud back toward herself until it condensed into a dense orb.

She then ran her hand along the blade of her sword, channeling the poison into the steel until its edge was coated in a deadly sheen. Karl's purple eyes glowed as he activated his hypnosis once more, unleashing a powerful mental assault on the mutant. Unlike the worker Rockmaws, which had succumbed almost instantly, the mutant fought back. It released a piercing shriek that forced Karl to flinch, but he had already accomplished what he needed.

During that brief lapse, Isabel closed the distance in an instant, stopping mere centimeters from the mutant. She thrust her sword into the soft membrane between its head and thorax, driving the blade deep into its flesh. The mutant retaliated, swinging a massive claw at her. Isabel narrowly dodged the strike, but the force of the blow still caught her, sending her skidding backward across the ground.

"Heh, you're quite tough," Isabel said, wiping the blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. The mutant's wings buzzed furiously as it launched itself into the air. Folding them tight against its body, it dove toward Isabel at blinding speed. Just before it reached her, Aino erected another barrier. Instead of placing it directly in the mutant's path, she tilted it at an angle. The mutant slammed into the invisible wall, its trajectory thrown off as it ricocheted violently into the ground.

Before it could recover, Karl unleashed another wave of hypnosis, locking the mutant in place for a precious instant. Isabel didn't waste the opportunity. She closed the distance in a blur, drove her sword back into the wound she'd carved earlier, then twisted the blade. With one powerful swing, she severed the mutant's head. Shlk! The massive head spun through the air before crashing onto the stone floor with a heavy thunk, bouncing several times before coming to a stop.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Not taking any chances, Isabel plunged her sword into the exposed neck stump. Poison seeped from the blade, spreading rapidly through the mutant's body and eating away at its flesh from the inside. Only after the creature's body fell limp did Reid, Junhao, and Alina emerge from their hiding place and enter the chamber.

"We did it!" Isabel said, raising a thumbs-up as she pulled her sword free. Her grin quickly faded when she saw the stern look on Alina's face.

"Did you forget one of our objectives?" Alina asked.

"According to our contract, we're supposed to give the mutant's core to Mr. Whitfield as part of his payment," Karl replied helpfully.

"And now?" Alina prompted.

"And now the core's a dud because of my poison..." Isabel said. The mutant's core detached from its body and rolled pathetically across the floor. It was dull and lifeless instead of glowing brightly as it should have.

"I'll have to dock your points for that," Alina said.

"But, Ms. Seidel!" Isabel wailed, clutching her hair.

"Um... guys, not that I'm not happy the mutant's dead, but..." Aino said. Crack!

"I don't think I can hold off the Rockmaws much longer. And not only that... I think there are more of them." Junhao whistled.

"Woah! Look at that wave of monsters." Behind Aino's barrier, the Rockmaws piled atop one another until they formed a living wall of chitin and claws. Those at the bottom were crushed beneath the weight of their own kind, yet more continued crawling over their twitching bodies, heedless of the dead. Cracks began spreading across the barrier under the relentless pressure. Alina raised both arms, and thick vines burst from the ground, quickly weaving together to seal the entire entrance.

"That should buy us some time," Alina said.

"Should we run away now?" Aino asked as she hurried back to the group, her breath coming in wheezes. Keeping both barriers active had clearly taken a lot out of her.

"Nope, that won't do." Junhao shook his head.

"For one, it'd be lame to run away with our tails tucked between our legs. And secondly, Reid here still hasn't gotten his payment yet."

"Are you thinking of killing the queen, sir?" Alina asked.

"I wouldn't recommend it. The guild has decided to keep this Rockmaw queen alive due to its docile nature. If you kill it, the next queen might not be so peaceful."

"It's fine. I'll handle it if it comes to that." Junhao waved a hand dismissively.

"You all should back away. Alina, keep everyone safe while I deal with this." Seeing the grin on Junhao's face, Alina could only sigh before turning to the rest of the group.

"Please come closer. I'll create a barrier around us." Following her instructions, everyone huddled together as Alina summoned more thick vines, weaving them into a dome-like shelter around the group.

"Ms. Seidel, we can't see the fight like this," Isabel protested.

"You should leave a small gap so we can watch."

"And the enemies would use that gap to sneak in an attack," Alina replied.

"As if those mere Rockmaws could get past Mr. Chen," Isabel scoffed. Seeing the expectant looks on Isabel, Karl, and Aino's faces, Alina hesitated. She glanced at Reid, only to find him watching her with the same curious expression. Clicking her tongue in resignation, she finally relented and opened a small viewing slit. At that moment, the vine wall blocking the entrance was ripped apart as a tidal wave of Rockmaws surged into the chamber. Rrraack!

Despite the maddened horde charging straight at him, Junhao remained completely relaxed. He slipped past snapping mandibles and slashing claws, letting each attack pass within inches of him. But as more and more Rockmaws poured into the chamber, they stopped behaving like individual monsters and became a living avalanche. Climbing over one another, they rose into a towering mass before crashing down on Junhao, burying him beneath countless bodies. Silence fell over the chamber. Boom!

A devastating shockwave erupted from the center of the swarm, blasting the Rockmaws in every direction. Mangled bodies and shattered carapaces rained across the cavern.

"Alright, time for a proper warm-up!" Junhao grinned. He vanished. To everyone else, he became little more than a blur, streaking through the battlefield faster than the eye could follow. Every punch sent a Rockmaw flying, their bodies exploding apart as though struck by artillery. Hundreds charged him without pause, yet none could withstand a single blow.

"Wooow! So cool!" Isabel said, her eyes sparkling. Aino frowned.

"Hmm... Is it just me, or are the ones attacking Mr. Chen no longer the mutant's followers?" Karl nodded.

"Yeah. I think the queen has begun mobilizing the colony, not realizing the mutant is already dead."

"Ahahaha! Now they're the ones getting torn to shreds!" Isabel laughed, slapping her thigh. The chamber was now littered with more Rockmaw corpses than living ones. As the last of the swarm fell, an overwhelming presence swept through the cavern.

"Oh, there you are. Here I thought I'd have to chase you down," Junhao said with a grin.

"Good. I don't like wasting time." From the darkness of the tunnel emerged the Rockmaw Queen. She towered over the other Rockmaws, her massive frame nearly three times the size of a worker's. Thick plates of rock-like armor, resembling cracked stone fused to insect chitin, encased her body, each one larger and more rugged than those of her offspring. Her six colossal legs hammered against the cavern floor, and with every step, their hooked claws carved deep grooves into the stone.

Her enormous mandibles snapped together with a thunderous clack, powerful enough to shear through steel, while long antennae swept through the air. Then her tiny, bead-like crimson eyes settled on Junhao, blazing with fury as a deep hiss reverberated throughout the chamber.

"Hey, don't be mad at me. It's not my fault your children attacked me first. It was just self-defense," Junhao said. The Rockmaw Queen screeched in fury and unfurled her massive wings. Despite her enormous size, she shot into the air with astonishing speed. Gale-force winds whipped through the cavern as mana gathered around her, and she unleashed a barrage of wind blades. The razor-sharp crescents sliced toward Junhao from every direction, but none found their mark.

Instead, they tore through the cavern floor and walls, carving deep gouges into the stone.

"Stop flying around like that. It's annoying," Junhao said. With a single leap, he shot into the air and drove his foot into the queen's head. Boom! The impact sent her hurtling across the chamber before she slammed into the cavern wall with a deafening crash. The queen crawled out of the crater almost immediately and let out another enraged screech.

At her command, the remaining Rockmaw soldiers lunged at Junhao all at once, but he casually swatted them aside with a flurry of punches, each blow reducing another monster to a mangled corpse.

"Wait! Where did the queen go?" Isabel asked.

"It must've burrowed underground!" Aino said. Surrounded by the corpses of fallen Rockmaws, Junhao scanned the chamber, but found no sign of the queen. Crack! The ground beneath him exploded apart. The queen burst from below, wrapping all six of her limbs around Junhao in a crushing embrace. Her hooked claws dug into his body as she squeezed with all her might, intent on crushing every bone in his body.

"Sorry, but I'm not into insects," Junhao said. He drove a single elbow into her abdomen. The seemingly casual strike unleashed an overwhelming burst of force that blasted straight through the queen's midsection, tearing it apart in a shower of ichor and shattered chitin. Before the upper half of her body could fall away, Junhao grabbed her by the head and, using only one hand, ripped it clean from her body. He tossed it aside as if it were nothing more than a piece of trash.

"Oh geez, I think I need a bath," Junhao muttered, sniffing at his blood-soaked clothes.