The next day. Theo continued hunting the ants.
After meeting the group, he didn't find a single human anymore, realizing the group had indeed taken the mission.
He felt relieved and terrible at the same time.
Although he didn't mind killing people, he wasn't someone who thoughtlessly murdered others just because he wanted something. So, if he didn't hunt in this mission, he wouldn't have to meet them.
However, he also felt relieved since he wasn't required to kill other people anymore. In fact, those people might have done the same thing to many others, considering the entire group didn't react to the leader's decision. It showed how much they had gotten used to this type of thing.
Theo ended up brushing the matter off with a long sigh and focused on the ants.
This was the time Theo started feeling the loss of Ava.
Usually, he would be able to get one or two levels a day due to Ava helping him. Despite defeating many monsters, Ava didn't really kill them. She only killed around a fourth of the monsters she beat.
After all, Ava and Theo had a symbiotic relationship.
Ava didn't kill the monsters so that Theo could get the EXP points. On the other hand, Theo didn't turn a fourth of the monsters he killed, so Ava could get stronger by eating them.
Because they helped each other, the fight could finish faster and felt easier.
When Theo fought a group of ants alone, he realized he needed to handle more than he imagined, resulting in him unnecessarily using his Magic Power.
It certainly increased the time it took to handle the monsters. This meant Theo required more time to level up, forcing him to reschedule his plan.
Luckily, he managed to reach his target in the previous expedition faster than he imagined, allowing him to have more time to finish this task.
In the end, Theo used twelve days to get nine levels instead of the predicted seven days. His speed decreased more than half, making the situation less optimistic.
To balance the loss, Theo had been looking around to find the Ant Queen and found her on the seventh day.
Instead of killing the ant queen, he chose to defeat the rest of her army first to avoid other ants from helping the queen.
On the twelfth day, Theo stood in the tunnel before the queen's room. Although he couldn't see it yet, he assumed the queen's chamber was far bigger than the other rooms in this ant nest.
He made sure about his strategy first and checked his body's condition, ensuring his safety. Only after that did he finally step inside the queen's chamber.
Unlike any other room, Theo was amazed by the chamber.
The room appeared to be a half-sphere. The length was around two hundred feet in radius.
White circular eggs were laid down on the ground, attached to the wall or hung on the ceiling. It was truly a majestic scene to behold.
'How many are they? Four hundred?' Theo narrowed his eyes, peeking. 'I have killed around six hundred ants in the past two weeks, so I guess it's going to be a growing nest later. No wonder it requires nest extermination. It's going to be a problem for many because they may die as soon as they enter this place due to the overwhelming number.' Theo nodded and looked at the ants inside the room.
'One, two, three…' Theo counted the ants that stood by inside this chamber, protecting the queen. "Seven normal ants and one general. I wonder if I can kill them. The number is too many, especially since I need to kill the queen.'
Theo contemplated his choice and searched for the queen, finding her two minutes later.
The queen had a larger body than any of them. Unlike other ants, the queen had a pair of wings that could be used to either escape or fight.
To ensure the queen couldn't escape, Theo searched for another exit, which luckily couldn't be found.
'I can defeat the queen alone, but I'm not sure whether my strength is strong enough to defeat the others.' Theo formulated the battle plan in his mind.
Before Theo made any plan, he found something shocking.
An egg on the wall suddenly cracked, and a red ant popped the egg wall, making its first appearance to the world.
"!!!" Theo widened his eyes and dropped his jaw.
Although the ant wasn't that big, he could feel a weird sensation from the ant.
He couldn't help but take another look with his Skylink, checking the monster's identity.
Name: Baby Blazing Ant
Level: ???
A newborn ant that just hatched and had yet to reach adulthood. The baby ant should have at least Level 100 strength, and depending on the food, it could grow stronger and reach adulthood faster. (Usually became a level 340 Ant upon reaching adulthood.)
'Seriously?' Theo made a weird smile because he realized something. 'If an ant hatch now, I do need to finish this quickly. After all, the other ants are going to be born after this. I need to defeat them now…'
Theo began to figure out the plan while watching the queen bringing the meat with her mouth and feeding the baby ant by transferring it to its mouth.
The baby then started eating it like crazy.
Seeing such a thing, Theo summoned his clone and handed his spear.
He took a deep breath and charged forward.
His footsteps echoed through the room, alarming all other ants. However, Theo used his fastest speed to reach the two nearest ants.
"Ha!" Both Theo and his clone used their Cannon Blast, Telekinesis and the others, using his strongest strike to kill the first two ants.
The ants didn't have the chance to turn around before its body shattered into pieces.
"With this, there would only be one queen, five other ants, and one baby ant. My clone should be able to handle the five other ants." Theo smiled. "Alright. Time to kill clear this mission."
******
Author's Note: Alea's Art is on the comment section.