At this moment, deep within the cave, a vast plaza had gathered thousands upon thousands of flesheating ants scurrying about.
These ants bore an appearance characterized by bizarre red and black patterns.
Their mandibles resembled massive pincers lined with sharp serrations and corrosive green saliva dripped from their mouths, merging with the earth below.
Their antenny quivered, seemingly transmitting some form of communication, followed by the clattering of their formidable jaws.
On the fringes of this expansive subterranean square lay two caverns, one large and one small, serving as the abodess of the ant king and ant queen.
Aware of the impending threat, the ant king was rallying troops alongside the ant queen.
Although the purpose of the newly hatched flesheating ants remained unclear, the worker ants diligently tended to the freshly laid eggs, transporting them to the incubation chambers.
In addition to the swarm of flesheating ants, a balding middle-aged man was present.
He was both a traitor and a free man.
The flesheating ants lacked the concept of subjugation, and thus the balding man was not initially recognized as a traitor.
The only being of notable intelligence among them was the ant king, who relied on the balding man's council and strategies for the advancement of their species.
This alliance preserved the balding man's life, ultimately leading him to become the military strategist of the flesh-eating ant kingdom.
With the wisdom of humanity combined with the inherent abilities of the flesheating ants, their hunting expeditions consistently yielded bountiful returns with minimal casualties.
The colony flourished and grew ever stronger.
As the balding man gained the ant king's favor, his status within the colony rose considerably.
When the opportunity arose to become a free man, he decisively relinquished his castle and army.
Before arriving on this magical continent, the balding man had been a beggar wandering the streets devoid of hope for life.
Upon his arrival, he had contemplated ending his existence.
Yet, a twist of fate awaited him.
The Ant King, capable of rudimentary communication and possessing the intellect of a young child, was intrigued by the balding man's presence.
After their initial exchanges, the Ant King was soon swayed by the balding man's persuasion, and to his surprise, the latter's methods proved effective, assisting the ant king significantly.
From that point forward, the spoils of their hunts, aside from those consumed by the ant queen, were always first tasted by him.
Embracing his new identity, he resolved to live as an ant, dwelling within the subterranean confines of the cave.
Indeed, he was not originally bald.
It was only after prolonged consumption of food tainted with the corrosive essence of the demon ants that he lost his hair.
Regarding this ant king, who relishes in overwhelming force, the bald figure refrained from excessive commentary, interpreting it as a manifestation of primal instinct.
His greater concern lay with the adversaries at hand.
Having dwelled in the pitch black subterranean depths for an extended period, he had long since developed an aptitude for navigating darkness.
Standing at the entrance of the ant king's lair.
His gaze was fixed intently upon the northern caverns.
A chilling mist emanated forth, exuding an eerie white vapor as by you and her siblings soared forth, illuminating the entire underground realm with a respplendant golden light.
Following closely, distinct forms of the undead began to emerge from other openings with a shadowy figure leading the charge, only to dissipate at that very moment.
The legions of the undead settled before by you, their eyes fixated upon the swarm of demon ants, glowing with an otherworldly blue flame.
In an instant, thousands of demon antenny quivered wildly, all directed towards these foreign foes.
Bayou, however, took a moment to survey her surroundings, displaying no trace of anxiety, but rather a sense of wonder.
She marveled at the unexpected vastness of this space.
Realizing that even ants have an affinity for grand expanses.
Chapter 3:16.
The Grim Reaper's Guardian annihilates the battlefield.
A myriad of ravenous ants erupted in a translucent ripple, vanishing without a trace, and then with unwavering resolve launched an assault on the invading foes.
Bayou remained motionless as the 40 undead before him searched forward, unleashing a variety of domains.
Even their ability to cloak themselves proved feudal as they were relentlessly crushed by the power of these domains.
Chinfong and Chinua, witnessing the spectacle, also charged into the fray, for this was a golden opportunity for experience points.
Should all the glory be claimed by the undead? How could they hope to level up? Countless ravenous ants fell in an instant, their shattered remains materializing, only to be summoned as undead by the necromancer lurking behind.
Within less than a minute of combat, the original 40 undead transformed in a thousands, engaging in a fierce battle against the surrounding ravenous ants.
Though the undead could not see their targets, this only affected a handful of single target attackers.
For those with area of effect abilities, such as the soul master and the cursed knight, stealth was utterly inconsequential.
With a resounding crack, a skeletal warrior was shattered by a ravenous ant ambush.
Yet the ants soon discovered that their corrosive acid was utterly ineffective against the white bones.
The skeletal remains began to stir, reassembling, and the skeletal warrior rose once more, charging towards the hidden adversaries.
The liches invoked their bone magic, resurrecting every slain ravenous ant within their domains as skeletal archers.
The arrows, imbued with a haunting blue glow, were swiftly unleashed, transforming the air into a torrential downpour of projectiles akin to blue meteors tracing arcs through the dark cavern.
The ravenous ants, densely clustered, soon found numerous hidden brethren struck by the spectral arrows of the skeletal archers.
A single arrow was sufficient to extinguish their feeble souls.
Increasing numbers of undead crawled forth from the carcasses of the ravenous ants.
And at that moment, the number of undead had become comparable to that of their adversaries.
The ant king within the cavern finally ceized its reckless deployment of troops.
Believing its army had vanquished the enemy.
However, upon emerging from the cave to survey its spoils, it was met with the sight of the undead army nearly at its entrance.
The instinct of survival warned it of the formidable foe, and its dark compound eyes quickly fixated on the leisurely figure of a white-haired individual playing with their hair at the rear of the undead ranks.
It recognized this figure as the leader of the enemy, a human, much like the bald one.
It concluded that the bald one must have lured her here.
Not my kind.
Their heart must be malign.
In a fit of fury, the ant king turned to settle the score with the bald one.
At that moment, the bald individual was paralyzed with fear, having never witnessed such a terrifying tableau.
Had the overlord truly attained such power, as the ant king approached him, he clung to a glimmer of hope, believing that if he could persuade the ant king to flee, there was a chance of escape.
with so many ants preoccupying the enemy.
Yet being human, he lacked the ability to discern the ant king intentions and his own weakness rendered him oblivious to the palpable malice emanating from the creature, mistakenly assuming the ant king sought his counsel.
All he saw was a massive mandible rapidly enlarging in his field of vision before darkness enveloped him with a resounding crack.
The sound of bones shattering echoed as the ant king consumed its prey entirely.
Almost immediately, a radiant green light enveloped its being.
And in that moment, after devouring the bald-headed creature, it underwent a peculiar transformation.
The ant king, originally a six-legged crawler, began to experience the regression of its middle limbs, while its hind legs grew immensely powerful, and its fourlegs became slender and distinctly articulated.
Its once massive abdomen shrank, resulting in a body that appeared increasingly harmonious and proportionate.
Ultimately, the ant king astonishingly rose to stand upright on its hind legs, its forlims morphing into limbs resembling those of a human.
It had evolved into a humanoid form.
The ant king gazed in bewilderment at its new physique.
Its face for the first time displaying a semblance of human expression, conveying profound confusion.
"Kill!" it roared, astonishingly articulating human speech.
Before it, a multitude of guards among the food devouring ants had sprouted wings, and they took flight into the air, rendering themselves invisible as they surged towards the army of the undead.
At that moment, Bayou was momentarily takenback.
She had certainly heard the ant king's furious roar.
Although she comprehended its meaning, she was certain that such a voice could not belong to a human.
By now, she had ascended into the sky.
Her gaze fixed upon the ant king, and she beheld the creature that had transformed into a humanoid form, a humanoid monster.
At that instant, Bayou could hardly discern that this was indeed the ant king.
But the ability to command those ants suggested that this being was far from ordinary.
Suddenly, Bou sense something a miss.
A wave of icy energy surged forth, instantaneously freezing all the airborne food devouring ants, causing them to plummet to the ground.
Eliminate that standing ant, Bayou commanded, for this swarm posed no threat to her.
Following her order, a shadowy figure ascended from below, hurtling towards the ant king.
Countless food devouring ants rushed to intercept the spectre, defending their sovereign.
In an instant, a scythe wreathed in black flames swung forth, manifesting as a blade of darkness that obliterated them in an instant.
Among the food devouring ants, a level one king-class ant was effortlessly dispatched by the spectre.
The king-class food devouring ant lacked a domain, rendering it inherently weaker than typical royalty, especially when faced with a level eight death knight.
The formidable presence of this spectre instilled a sense of fear even within the ant king.
Yet, also ignited a thrill of excitement.
Perhaps consuming such an entity would lead to extraordinary changes.
In the blink of an eye, the majority of the king-class ants engaged in battle with the army of the undead turned their attention towards the death knight in hopes of annihilating it.