Chapter 186: Chapter 186 - The Haven(Part 15)

"Get behind me, you’re in no shape to fight after sparring with me," I warned Sinia, as one of the Drill Worms began rapidly slithering towards us.

"Grr, as much as I hate to admit it, you’re right about that, I would likely just get in the way in my current condition," She sighed in frustration, stepping back.

As the Drill Worm closed in on us, its drill head split open and it fired out a large blast of acid, I quickly formed a Light Attribute Spell barrier in the shape of a bowl, catching the acid in it before firing out a massive blast of wind to send the acid shooting back towards the Monster.

It let out a shrill screech as the acid splattered all over its body, melting it with a sharp sizzle, before I pointed my whip at it, stiffening and extending it rapidly, shooting right into its mouth before I swung my arm up, splitting its body open.

There are six more coming our way...I then heard a rustle in the bushes, before a small group of Demi-Humans emerged from behind us. They must have heard the Monsters and come to kill them too. But I can take care of this myself...

"Stay back, I’ve got this!" I called out to them, stopping them from rushing in ahead of me.

"Are you sure? There are a lot of them," Frowned Sinia warily, as they began to close in.

"Yeah, leave it to me...now, Elemental Flame: Dragon Fire Inferno!" I exclaimed, firing out a massive wave of blue flames at the Monsters, as some of them began to try and shoot acid at us.

The flames engulfed them rapidly, turning them to ash in a matter of seconds. The air around us was shimmering violently, immense waves of heat flowing out from the flames, sweat pouring down my face.

Initiate Skill: Magic Eater.

I quickly swallowed up the flames before they could spread too far, though a few bushes and tree trunks had been scorched. Maybe I should have used a smaller scale Spell, that was kinda overkill.

I still find myself underestimating the sheer destructive power of Dragon Fire from time to time. I should exercise a bit more caution in my use of it.

"That was an amazing flame Spell, you destroyed all of them in no time at all," Remarked Sinia, as a couple of the other Demi-Humans who had shown up, a pair of Dwarves, began making their way towards the holes that the Drill Worms had tunneled out through.

"Are they going to close those tunnels?" I inquired, as I put away my whip.

"Yeah, if and when more Monsters show up, we want to be alerted," Replied Sinia with a grimace.

"Makes sense...and that’s fine for now, but you guys really need to deal with this. I suggest we make a tunnel of our own, take a powerful group in there and wipe out the Monsters in there," I remarked objectively.

"Hm, you might be right. This problem has only been growing worse and worse, it would be best if we deal with it before it gets too out of hand. I can’t make the decision on my own though, I’ll have to bring it up with the other Elders," She responded after mulling it over.

"Sure, I’ll help out if you decide to go through with it," I replied with a thumbs up.

"That’s reassuring, your power is more than a little impressive," She smiled gratefully, before adding, "Now, then, since we’ve taken care of that...what do you say we get back to where we left off?"

"Hey, I’m all for that, but shouldn’t you go report to the other Elders about this and my suggestion?" I asked her.

"No, I’ll leave that to someone else," She smirked, before glancing at one of the other Demi-Humans who had come here, a Dark Elf girl, "Did you get all that? Go inform the others about the Monsters, as well as the proposal to tunnel our way through and, find where the Monsters are hiding out and destroy all of them."

"Understood, leave it to me, Elder Sinia," She replied affirmatively, before rushing off.

"Wow, you passed it on to someone else so that you can go slack off," I remarked with a wry smile.

"And I regret nothing," She grinned with a mischievous shrug, as we began heading back.

"By the way, has it only been Drill Worms that have been showing up, or have there been any other Monster species too?" I inquired curiously.

"Well, we don’t really have names for Monster species like humans do. But yes, we’ve had a few other types of Monsters appear. Oversized ants and moles, to be specific," She replied with a sigh.

"So, Antitans and Giant Moles, huh? They’re both of a similar danger level to the Drill Worms we faced," I remarked warily.

Individually, or even in small groups, such Monsters aren’t a threat, but if there’s, like, hundreds of them or something, this could be tough. Antitans multiply pretty rapidly too, only Goblins multiply at a more frequent rate.

"Yeah, they’re not that powerful, we’ve had a few injuries but we haven’t suffered any casualties during these Monster attacks," She informed me.

"There’s a problem though...if Antitans are present, it likely means that there’s a Queen Antitan too. It’s a pretty rare Monster that gives birth to dozens of Antitans at a time, and it’s a lot more powerful too," I replied with a grimace.

Queen Antitans are a rare evolution of regular Antitans, they’re considered Disastrous Grade Monsters, and on the higher end of that Threat Level, they’re comparable to Basilisks in terms of how dangerous they are.

But not that’s just because of how powerful they are...they are pretty formidable, but the biggest danger they pose is the army of Antitans they command, linked with a hive mind that the Queen controls.

If there really is a more powerful Monster out there that’s been driving all these weaker ones this way, then it has to be a Catastrophic Grade...or in the worst case scenario, a Demonic Grade.

Antitans usually attack their prey in large groups, and because of that, they have a special distinction...while individually they’re ranked as Intermediate Grades, when in groups of fifty or more, they’re considered Disastrous Grade threats.

However, the secret behind their coordination and hive mindset is their Queen Antitan...if the Queen that birthed them is killed, they lose their coordination and act like any other typical Monster.

Weaker Monsters can’t kill an Antitan Queen, and of the few other Disastrous Grades that are considered more powerful, none are species that reside underground. The best case scenario is that it’s a Catastrophic Grade...I just hope it isn’t something more powerful than that...

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