Upping The Ante

46. The Queen’s Circumstances, Part 2

Seeing that baleful magic flickering into existence, Queen Verita’s heart froze in her chest. In all her days, she hadn’t seen anything as horrific as this magic. The sound. The destruction. Everything it touched was simply… gone. Smashed to nothing as if consumed by a monstrous beast.

Even though it was her foes who were about to experience this horror, the queen held pity for them, feared for them, even. Who knows what gods would await them on the other side of that dreadful maw?

The little ant opened its mouth and the vortex of death howled into existence. The air inside the throne room pulled at everyone as it was sucked toward the purple ball racing through the air to impact against the shield of an enemy soldier in an instant.

Despite the horrific shriek of the wind, the soldiers didn’t panic, but calmly began to deploy their defensive skills. They didn’t believe this little monster would be capable of casting a spell strong enough to threaten them. How many monsters had they killed on training expeditions to the Dungeon? How many towering, powerful beasts had they faced down? To retreat in the face of this little thing would be an insult to their pride.

It would be their death instead.

As soon as it touched that shield, the dark purple, almost black, ball expanded, and the soldiers near the impact point vanished entirely. Those close to the edges had a split second in which their faces twisted with fear and shock before they too were pulled into the ball. Horror overtook every soldier in the room as the wind rose in pitch to a deafening howl. Soldiers tried to flee, tried to pull their comrades away from that sphere of death, but they could not resist it and nothing would sate it.

Even the ant who cast the spell backed away slightly before becoming still and watching its creation consume the enemy. The queen could only stare at the grisly spectacle before her. Seeing this magic employed against a gate was one thing. Seeing it make proud, trained soldiers vanish in an instant was another. Fear gripped her. What Level of mage would be required to defend against something like this?

It felt like a lifetime, but it was only a few seconds before the sphere vanished. A tight, dense ball of… something—The queen refused to think on it—dropped to the ground with a wet THUNK and rolled several times before coming to a stop.

Even the floor had not been spared. The lower half of the spell had carved a groove out of it. The stone slabs were simply… gone. Sliced away so precisely it could have been the work of a god.

Before the remaining shocked and demoralised soldiers could recover, the monster was already acting again. The spherical, purple domain flickered and expanded as the monster charged.

Queen Verita had seen the creature use this spell before. The powerful domain type spell that had brought the enemy to their knees. What was this purple Mana? What type of magic was this? She’d never heard of anything like it, capable of flinging people up into the air or crushing them flat into the ground.

It was hard to imagine that a monster, and one apparently quite young, could comprehend magic in the way this creature had. To cast the various types of spells like a human mage would take years to learn. It was terrifying.

Exactly how strong would this single ant become? Queen Verita narrowed her eyes. She didn’t think she wanted to find out.

No longer complacent, the soldiers wanted no part of this spell. Their morale was shattered, and fear was plastered over their faces. The proud soldiers of Andron broke ranks and fled before one ant. If the queen hadn’t seen it herself, she would have felt she’d lost her mind. Even though she witnessed the events, she almost couldn’t believe them.

The monster was relentless in chasing them down, no matter how they fled. And as soon as the spell took effect, they would no longer be able to run, only slaughter would await them. Though there was no visible change the moment the spell began to function, everyone watching could see it. The bodies of the soldiers sagged to the ground as if pressed down by a mountain. Those who were still able to keep their feet did so only by exerting extreme effort, their faces going red with the strain. The soldiers’ eyes were wild and filled with terror. What could possibly have prepared them for this?

There was no way they could resist what was to come.

The queen snapped back to alertness and turned to her stunned Guards.

“Aim your strikes at the enemy, but do not close the distance! Be sure to stay the hell out of that spell!” she ordered.

Loyal and disciplined, her Royal Guard leapt into action, their weapons raining strike after strike down on the trapped foes and those who continued to run, desperate to avoid becoming sealed in that zone.

The townspeople watched the spectacle unfold with rapt amazement, their eyes afire with deep emotions. They could not participate, as none had mastered the advanced weapon skill required to strike from a distance. But they could watch and silently praise.

As her force became battered by wave after wave of sword light, Corrin’s expression grew ugly. She could not believe her eyes. How could one piss weak ant, legendary for being the weakest individual monster in the Dungeon, be devastating the highly trained soldiers she brought with such efforts? How long had it taken her to weave this plot together? The months of preparation, the incredible effort needed to talk Andron into getting off their fat arses. It was disappearing before her eyes!

She turned to the Andron ambassador. “What the hell is happening, Regix? Your soldiers are worthless! Didn’t you promise me the best?”

The ambassador was pale faced and shaking. He was a diplomat, not a warrior! He’d never seen such bloodshed and violence. Watching his soldiers being torn apart rocked his mind. He could barely think, let alone speak.

The trembling Andronian continued to struggle to speak, and Corrin nearly screamed in frustration.

It had been so perfect. She had been so close. Wealth! A stupid amount of wealth! It was all slipping from her grasp in this moment and that feeling drove her berserk. If it wasn’t for that stupid monster! She’d played the queen like a damn fiddle, but this idiotic monster ruined everything!

Suddenly, her heart froze in her chest. Dread swept over her like a cold blanket and sweat erupted from her forehead. Turning slowly, she looked down at the monster to find it looking directly at her. The smooth dark glittering carapace, the cold lidless eyes, and the dripping jaws that glowed fiercely with purple light. No emotion or feeling emanated from that creature. In Corrin’s eyes, it was nothing less than an emotionless machine of death.

Corrin’s mind turned as if her thoughts drifted through molasses. When had those mandibles begun to glow?

The mandibles flared with light, and she flinched back, but it was no use.

How to describe it?

The floor simply wasn’t the floor anymore. Her feet slid along the ground as if it were suddenly a wall and she fell directly toward the monster. A scream rose and stuck in her throat as fear paralysed her mind. The only thing she could see was those mandibles as everything faded away. They grew larger and larger in her eyes as they opened wide.

Then they closed, and she knew no more.