Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Taylor POV.
This terrifying pressure emanating from the ant… there was no doubt, it was the damned monster Izumi had mentioned. Its mere presence had paralyzed the entire Korean group, including me.
We could only watch as it walked slowly toward us. I gritted my teeth; no, I wasn't going to accept it. This was nothing like what I had felt from All For One, even from a distance. I channeled all my energy into the few insects that remained alive and could feel my body, still trembling, finally beginning to respond.
I squeezed Shusui tightly and braced myself. To my surprise, the ant ignored us and continued on its way to the queen's severed head. Then the ant screamed once more. The scream shook us to our bones and paralyzed us once again.
My eyes could barely register its movements. The ant was behind Huntress Cha. I wouldn't arrive in time, but I still lunged toward it. The ant's arm slammed into Huntress Cha's side. I saw her arm bend at an awkward angle and heard her arm, and her ribs, crack under the force of the blow.
I spun around in the air and caught Huntress Cha mid-air, reducing the impact against the wall and cushioning some of the damage.
"Huntress Cha!" Huntress Ma shouted, turning her gaze in our direction. I gritted my teeth. I wanted to yell at her not to look away, to stay alert, but I wouldn't make it in time; the ant was already in front of her. The ant used its hand to destroy her shield, her aura, and her arm with extreme ease, then grabbed her other arm and tore it off as if it were paper.
I laid Huntress Cha on the ground, but in the time it took me to do that, the ant had already attacked Huntress Baek and Huntress Choi. My eyes darted around. I squeezed Shusui tightly and could only watch helplessly as the ant pummeled Huntress Lim.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. Huntress Min regenerated both of Huntress Ma's arms, imbuing them with Haki immediately, and attempted to strike the mutant ant. I glanced over; Huntress Min had become invisible. The only way I could tell where she was was by the small insects she had placed inside her clothing.
My eyes snapped open as the ant glanced in Huntress Ma's direction. I didn't even hesitate to move. Thunderclap and Flash. I didn't even try anything fancy, or even think about attacking the ant. No, I simply used my entire body and rammed into Huntress Min, knocking her out of the way, a split second before the ant's arm pierced the spot where we'd been standing.
I tried to get my bearings quickly and dropped to my knees, only to see the ant's leg right in front of my face. I didn't have time to defend myself before the blow knocked the wind out of me and sent me flying. I hit the ceiling and then landed sprawled on the floor. My aura cushioned most of the damage, but I felt like something snapped in my ribs.
Even so, I quickly stood up, ignoring the pain, Shusui still firmly in my hand. I looked up only to see the ant in front of me. A chill of fear ran through me as I slowly stood. The ant was completely still as it stared at me. Then, it began to snap its mandibles and hiss.
"ARE yOu the QUEen?" My eyes widened. It was communicating, not with words, but with clicks, hisses, and noises emanating from its mandibles, and I could understand it. No… I couldn't. I didn't look away, I couldn't look away from this monster. But the royal guard, still under my control, understood what the mutant ant was saying. "aRe YOU the queen?" the ant repeated. I swallowed audibly.
I needed to stay alive. I needed to buy time for Izumi to arrive. It wasn't something I could handle, even though it pained me to admit it, but this ant would kill me before I could do anything. I controlled the royal guard to approach slowly, but to my surprise, the mutant ant didn't seem to move; it just kept staring at me. I pushed out my aura with all my might. A beacon, a signal.
"What if I'm the queen?" I asked with mock bravery. The royal guard beside me clicked its mandibles and hissed, repeating the words in a way the mutant ant could understand.
"ThE qUeEn... was ATtAcKeD hErE... aLL oF you... aRe WEAK... yOu, ARE weak... BUT... you fEEl LiKe hEr... bUt YOU are a WEAK queen... YoU aRe NOT the QUEEN." The ant continued clicking slowly; they were barely words together, but I could understand what it was trying to say, and I swallowed audibly. I could feel myself sweating profusely, but even so, I gripped Shusui tightly and prepared to defend myself. To my relief, the ant glanced toward one of the tunnels. "OuTsIdE... OUT there... soMeONe STRonG..."
And with that final crack, the ant vanished from sight and flew out. I gasped for breath and felt my legs give way. I braced myself with the Royal Guard beside me and pulled off my mask. Between the broken rib, the adrenaline, and standing face-to-face with that ant, I almost felt like I couldn't breathe. The ant had only been there for a few seconds, but they felt like hours—long, agonizing hours. I needed some freedom; the mask was practically suffocating me.
My eyes caught something beneath my feet. Shadows bubbled slightly, and a wave of relief washed over me. After a few seconds, the bubbling stopped. I tried not to get discouraged. The mutant ant was gone; it had gone to find someone. Izumi had probably gone to find it.
"Skitter! Are you okay!? " asked Huntress Baek as she approached tremulously.
"You... saved me..." said Huntress Min in shock, I straightened up before looking at he.
"Don't worry... it's what I do... I'm a hero..." I said heavily while trying to smile, then I coughed and a mouthful of blood escaped from my mouth and I grabbed my ribs in pain.
"Give me a second!" said Huntress Min before healing me. I could finally breathe deeply and easily, and the pain finally disappeared. I sighed with relief.
"Huntress Cha," I said immediately. Huntress Min looked at me and nodded before running off to join the others. In no time, we were all fully healed, though Huntress Cha was still unconscious. I looked around; the atmosphere was thick with tension and a gloomy heaviness.
"Was the ant... talking to you?" Huntress Choi asked wearily. I just grimaced.
"She was communicating." I corrected her slightly. "The royal guard there understood it." I said honestly.
"You can tell us later, the ants are coming!" said Huntress Baek urgently. I looked at the insects.
"Stay close to me! Without the queen, I've fully regained control!" I should be able to control all the ants! " I said immediately. None of the hunters hesitated. They all moved instantly and came closer. They practically glued themselves to me.
It wasn't really necessary, my range was still a little less than 5 blocks, so it was impossible for them to get close enough.
"We need to leave this place before that ant returns," said huntress Baek urgently.
"It went to look for Goto," I said immediately. "I think it sensed my quirk. It mistook me for the queen, but it called me weak. Then it sensed someone strong outside the nest. The only strong person outside is—"
"-Goto." Huntress Choi finished immediately and I nodded.
"Almost certainly yes." Please confirm immediately.
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Izumi POV.
While we were inside my shadows, you could see the outside world if you got close enough to the 'surface'. It was… strange, my shadows had depth and directions, so you could 'swim' in them, for lack of a better word, so yes, to see the outside world, we had to get close to the surface, which we were already doing now.
We were watching from below Taylor, but the view was wide enough to see Ant King easily defeat the Korean hunters.
"Oi, oi, oi! What is that monster?! I couldn't even see it move! This is on a completely different level! " Shimizu said, completely shocked and scared.
"We need to leave quickly," Izawa said, frowning. "We must regroup, even if we don't want to. Goto is our best option." She said without hesitation, and I sighed.
"I'm not moving while Taylor's in danger," I said mockingly, ignoring her. My hands moved forcefully as I watched Taylor get kicked by Ant King, and I prepared to step out of the shadows.
I really wanted to go out and fight the damn ant, but I still had one last thing to do before confronting it so directly. Although this was the second time I'd been on the verge of acting.
The first was to prevent the death of Huntress Min, but Taylor had prevented it.
And now for the second one. I only stopped because Ant King seemed to stop in front of Taylor and start… clicking and hissing? It was communicating. Taylor seemed to understand it because it responded without hesitation.
"Is she... talking to the ant?" Tawata asked, frowning. I just glanced at Taylor and moved closer to the surface, ready to jump out at any moment. To my surprise, the ant simply looked to the side and walked away.
"It's gone?" Shimizu asked. "It's our moment! Grab the damn girl and let's go!" she exclaimed quickly. I just wrinkled my nose. That was a good plan, really, but there was a huge hole in it.
If I took the Koreans now, we could escape without hesitation, but… I wanted to fight Ant King.
I just smiled maniacally.
"There's no time, the ant is going after Goto." I lied easily before my giant toad swallowed us once again before the second one spat us out into Goto's shadows.
"Stop doing that!" Izawa said, shuddering.
"It's Goto!" Fujishima exclaimed, looking towards the surface. Goto and her group were running at high speed.
"Strange... we lost contact with all the teams." Ishida said, frowning.
"Was there a problem with the signals? Otherwise, there was no reason for them to cut off communication," Goto said, frowning. I felt their gazes and shrugged. Then I reached into my pockets and showed them their completely smashed communication devices. They all clutched their ears and their eyes widened in surprise. I sneered petulantly.
"President Matsumoto," Goto finally said, stopping in the middle of the forest. Everyone seemed to pay attention, but I acted quickly. I didn't even hesitate before grabbing a small device Nezu had given me and throwing it out of the shadows. A small wire was attached to my scroll. Then I quickly tapped my scroll.
"What are you doing?" Kei asked, frowning.
"Intercepting and recording the call." I said without hesitation.
"What's going on, Goto?" Matsumoto asked immediately. Her voice echoed through my Scroll now that the conversation had been intercepted. I sighed in relief. This was exactly what I had been waiting for.
"There are problems with communications or we suffered some casualties; I'm inclined to think it's the latter since we can communicate," Goto said without hesitation.
"So we ended up losing some of our own, huh?" Matsumoto asked dully. "We were supposed to fare better than the Koreans, not worse. Losing several of our own is a problem," Matsumoto grunted.
"It just means they were weak. There's no need to worry, ma'am," Goto said coldly.
""""What?!"""" I could see the shock on the faces of the other members of Draw Sword.
"You're quite a cold woman. Well, we just need you," Matsumoto said with the same coldness. "And the Korean team? They were fighting the queen, weren't they? " Matsumoto asked.
"Yes ma'am. A while ago, it seems there was a problem with the nullifier and all the ants ran towards the nest. After testing the strength of the Korean team, the probability of the current team surviving is 0%," Goto said without hesitation.
"Well, we can say the Japanese did their best to help, but due to the Korean team's losses and our own, we were forced to retreat," Matsumoto said with amusement. "Ryuma's chosen ones disappeared too?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am. Miyamura was alone with Tawata. If the other three-member groups couldn't hold out against the ants, then Tawata and Miyamura alone shouldn't be able to. And the girl is with the Koreans; sooner or later she'll die. Although, it's a shame I can't go and retrieve Shusui. I'll have to wait until we can properly clear Jeju before I go and get her back," Goto said matter-of-factly.
"Well, something good came of this. Our ultimate goal, the annihilation of Korea's S-Rank hunters, has been achieved. Withdraw." Matsumoto said matter-of-factly. I just wanted to snort. Just... why? Did these people not know about the subterfuge? To speak so openly, even if they think they're alone? It's as if they're begging to be caught.
"You... you were right." Tawata said, her eyes wide. I could see her fists clench tightly. I just hummed and quickly relayed everything to Nezu.
"We'll discuss it later," I said quickly, then moved. My hands surfaced and I grabbed Ishida and Hoshino's legs, and before they knew it, I pulled them under my shadows.
I saw Goto turn to speak to them both, only to look bewildered when they both disappeared. Then she became alert, raised her sword, and defended herself against Ant King.
"Hey... you're giving off a pretty scary vibe, Ant... you're the one who's been killing everyone else?" Goto asked, turning serious. Ant King stopped in front of Goto and began clicking her jaw and hissing.
Ant King seemed to grow furious at not receiving a response, so she unleashed a terrifying burst of pressure that put Goto on guard. I prepared to step out of the shadows only to stop when I saw something in the future.
Then I saw Goto barely dodge Ant King, coat her sword in Haki, and begin to counterattack. I blinked as I watched in amazement as Goto fought Ant King.
She was definitely not on her level, but she was holding her own. Observation Haki was saving Goto's skin, and the fact that she could move before Ant King even attacked allowed her to defend herself properly. Her Armament Haki was also strong enough to allow her to clash with Ant King without being completely torn apart.
That… was truly a surprise. The hundreds of exchanges that occurred in just a few seconds made Goto sweat. I could see the sweat running down her face, almost panicking. Unfortunately, her sword couldn't withstand the Ant King's onslaught, and Goto's defense was finally broken. Finally, I moved.
Ant King didn't even hesitate to rip off Goto's arm and was about to decapitate her, but I pulled Goto into my shadows, preventing her from killing her.
Ant King looked around, searching for the escaped prey. Finally, she screamed in fury and attacked the ground, the shadows, but she couldn't do any damage. Ant King continued attacking until she created a huge crater. Then her mandibles cracked with rage before she vanished and returned to her nest.
I looked at Goto, who was clutching her bleeding, pale arm, though she looked around until she found the rest of the Draw Sword Hunters. Surprised and very confused, she still frowned, even more so when most of them walked away from her with grimaces on their faces.
I just shook my head. I really didn't want to get involved in that conversation.
It was time for the final act.