Ken tightened his grip on the mace as he followed the pheromone trails deeper into the colony. The tunnels sloped downward, twisting and narrowing until even the Everlasting Lantern's steady light felt like a feeble candle against the dark.
"This should be it," Ken muttered. "The Queen should be close."
The pheromone signatures were denser than anywhere else so far. It felt like walking toward the heart of a storm. The air grew warmer and thicker, the walls gleaming with sticky resin. The sour stench burned at the back of Ken's throat.
Esme walked just behind him, hands clasped behind her back like a tourist on a guided tour. "Well, judging by the pheromone density, yeah. We're either near the Queen's room, or-"
A sound cut through her words.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Ken froze. He'd grown used to the dog-sized ants, to their scattered chatter and their frantic movements.
He stepped closer, lantern held high. 'This is different.' Ken thought instantly.
The tunnel widened abruptly into a massive chamber.
Ken had expected to see the bloated corpse of the Queen lying in the center. Instead, his jaw clenched.
They were everywhere.
The floor writhed with movement. A dozen ants crowded the chamber. But they weren't like the ones he'd fought before. Their carapaces were darker, thicker, with faint crimson streaks running along their thoraxes. Their mandibles were jagged, their bodies larger.
Pheromone signatures stabbed through his Pest Sense like hot needles that caused his nose to sting. These ants weren't random workers.
"Huh," Ken muttered under his breath. "The Queen's bodyguards."
"The Queen's Guardis, yes," Esme confirmed with a nod. "Their job is to protect the Queen and the heart of the colony. They're smarter, faster, and tougher than regular ants."
"Of course they are." Ken raised his mace.
As he walked closer, the Guards turned toward him in eerie unison, their antennae twitching in the same rhythm. A wave of pheromone signals washed over him like an aggressive, focused pulse that made the hair on his arms stand up.
The next second, more Guards walked through the tunnels on the walls and ceiling to enter the chambers. Quickly, Ken and Esme were surrounded.
"Esme," Ken muttered, taking a step back. "Get behind me!"
"Got it!" Esme skipped backward and stood behind him, hands on her hips.
The ants charged forward, and Ken braced himself.
'What…?!'
The closest were those who had appeared from behind him.
Every single one of them swerved around Esme like she wasn't even there. One brushed her skirt in passing, didn't even glance at her, and continued barreling toward Ken.
Ken stared at the scene, incredulous. "They're ignoring you."
"Well, yeah," Esme said matter-of-factly. "I'm supposed to be your System. A Skill of mine makes them unable to detect me. Their minds and eyes don't even register my existence." She crossed her arms proudly. "Even if an attack were to somehow be thrown my way, my Divine Protection Skill would activate and keep me out of harm's way.
Ken slowly turned his head toward her, expression deadpan. "You could've mentioned that earlier."
She shrugged innocently. "It never came up."
"Here I thought I was protecting you by telling you to get behind me."
"That's entirely unnecessary." Esme nodded.
"Yeah, well-"
The first ant lunged. Ken ducked and swung the mace upward like a sledgehammer.
CRACK!
Green ichor splattered across the resin floor.
'At least my strength is still enough to injure them!'
The rest of the Guards did not hesitate.
They swarmed in coordinated waves, their movements sharper than any ants he'd fought so far. Two came from the left, three from the right, one from above, climbing down the wall like a centipede.
Ken backed up quickly, spraying mist with his left hand. The green cloud spread, but the ants were faster, leaping clear of the spray. Even those caught in it were only partially and temporarily dazed. The effects of the mist, as one might expect, depend on the strength of what is being sprayed. One of the Guards slammed into him head-on like a bull, sending Ken stumbling back into a pillar.
"Okay," He grunted, shaking his head. "These guys aren't playing around."
Esme hovered off to the side, perfectly untouched as the swarm flowed around her like water splitting around a rock.
And that's when it hit Ken.
He looked at Esme, at the charging ants, then looked back at Esme.
A terrible, wonderful idea had formed in his mind.
"What is it?" Esme asked, tilting her head. "You really should focus here. Under no circumstances am I supposed to help-"
Ken suddenly grabbed her by the waist.
"KEN!!" Esme screamed as he hoisted her up in front of him like a medieval knight with his shield. "No," Esme shouted. "Put me down!" She dangled, kicking her legs as he held her.
The ants' advance faltered. Several veered sideways, confused. None attacked her. They could sense him, but not her.
Ken grinned. "Divine Shield!"
"This is not what a System is for!! You're cheating!! You can't do this!!" Esme screeched.
"I can and I am! If they don't attack you, that makes you the perfect mobile shield. This is perfectly legit and isn't cheating at all!" Ken shouted as he swung the mace around her dangling body like some unhinged knight. He charged forward, carrying her like a battering ram. Ants swerved instinctively, not wanting to run into her aura of nothingness, and Ken used the gaps in their formations to strike.
SMASH! One ant's head burst like a grape.
CRACK! Another went down with a shattered thorax.
Esme flailed in his grip. "This is undignified!! I'm supposed to be your interface, not your meat shield! Put me down"
"You're doing great!" Ken barked, ducking under a snapping mandible and swinging upward to crush another.
Esme was just about to get hit, when a barrier of light suddenly appeared over her shoulder, knocking the ant's limb away.
"I'm telling you, this is not-"
"Not a System's role, I got that! Now just fulfill the role you've been assigned!"
The elite ants were tougher. Even direct hits didn't always kill them instantly. Some staggered, chittering angrily, before coming again. Ken used Esme like a movable wall, weaving through the swarm while bashing any exposed flanks. The spray canister hissed intermittently, slowing down a few who strayed too far from their formation.
One massive ant leapt from the wall, aiming for his back. Ken twisted at the last second, turning Esme toward it. The creature was repelled in mid-air by the barrier and landed awkwardly, before getting its skull smashed in.
"This is working way too well," Ken muttered between breaths.
"I hate this," Esme groaned, her fists continually knocking on Ken's back as he swung her around. "I hate this so much!"
Five minutes of brutal fighting followed. Ken's breath was ragged, his mace slick with ichor. Ant corpses piled around him. The remaining ants hesitated, their formations faltering without pheromone reinforcement.
Ken lowered Esme slowly, resting her on her feet again. She crossed her arms and stared like a cat drenched in water.
"Never do that again," she said through gritted teeth.
Ken wiped green goo from his cheek and grinned. "I'll try. Still, you gotta admit that it worked well. I was giving a Skills, Items, and a System… I'm only using them the best way I can."
She looked away and sighed. "You have a point."
The chamber was silent except for Ken's breathing and the faint twitching of ant legs. He leaned on his mace, scanning the room. This wasn't the Queen's chamber, but it was the guard post.
"They were protecting something," he said slowly. "The Queen's chamber must be next, whatever lies in there."
Esme hovered beside him again, less indignant now. "Yeah. The pheromone density ahead is even stronger. That means…"
Ken raised the lantern toward a massive tunnel at the far end. Resin dripped from its walls like wax. The pheromone signals from there were overwhelming. It felt like a living storm waited deeper in the dark.
"The real chamber is down there," Ken pointed.
"Yup." Esme glanced at the corpses around them.
Ken cracked his neck. "And I should probably expect something worse."
He adjusted his grip on the mace and lantern, took a deep breath, and stepped forward.
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]