Chimaera's Conquest: The Legend Of The Devourer-Chapter 315: Ants Or Tanks?

Adrian cautiously followed the giant from a safe distance, hiding in the grass. But following the giant was easier said than done. Even though the guy was walking, it was taking every bit of Adrian’s strength and endurance to keep up with it.

He even got lost once or twice, but the Giant’s thunderous footsteps and massive stature helped him look for it. However, there were things that Adrian hadn’t accounted for and one of those threats was creeping up to him.

As he crept forward, his senses warned him about something. It was a subtle shift in the air, but that was enough to alert him. Adrian paused and slowly turned around. Forgetting about the giant, he focused his eyes on the grassy forest behind him. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Three enormous black ants were moving towards him. It would have been difficult to spot them in the dark, but their glossy bodies worked against them in the light and Adrian saw them.

Each ant was the size of a small car, with mandibles that clicked together menacingly as they advanced toward him. He had heard about the oversized insects on this floor, but seeing them up close was something else entirely.

’Fucking hell... what have they been feeding to these fuckers here?’

For a moment, Adrian considered hiding, but he quickly dismissed the idea. These ants didn’t rely solely on their eyesight; they had other ways of detecting prey.

Sure enough, the ants seemed to have noticed the foreign presence. Their antennae twitched as they picked up his scent. It was at that moment Adrian knew there was no escaping them.

"Great, just what I needed," Adrian muttered, pulling out his daggers.

Much like the ant’s exoskeleton, the blades also shone, giving away his position. Even though it put him at a disadvantage, Adrian had little time to spare. The longer he took to defeat them, the farther the giant would get.

The first ant lunged at him, its mandibles snapping shut with a loud crack as Adrian leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding the deadly bite.

He swung his dagger at the creature, aiming for its head, but the blade glanced off its thick exoskeleton. The ant barely flinched. After all, its body was immune to piercing strikes.

"Dammit," Adrian hissed, realising just how tough these creatures were.

The exoskeleton was like armour, and his daggers weren’t doing any damage. He needed to find a weak spot, and fast before the giant disappeared somewhere, he couldn’t find it.

Meanwhile, the ants regrouped and came at him again, this time more coordinated. Adrian dodged, trying to stay out of their reach, but they were fast. They moved as one as they boxed him in, leaving him no room to escape.

"Fucking hive mind."

One of the ants lunged again, and Adrian rolled under its body, slashing upward with his dagger as he passed beneath it. The blade scraped against the ant’s underbelly, and this time, it drew blood from the creature.

The ant let out a high-pitched screech. It wasn’t dead yet, but losing a couple of legs must have hurt it badly.

"There," Adrian thought. "Found a weak spot."

Even though he said that getting underneath the ants was easier said than done. They were massive and heavy, and they weren’t giving him any openings.

The other two ants closed in on him, their mandibles snapping at him from both sides. Adrian barely dodged and ran to make some distance and think about a plan.

The obvious plan was to get one of them alone where he could target its underbelly again. But the ants were relentless. They always attacked simultaneously, and that left him little room to manoeuvre.

Adrian took a deep breath, focusing on the ants’ movements. He couldn’t do much when they moved together. If he wanted to kill them, he had to disrupt that, to break their rhythm and create an opening. But how?

He backed away, leading the ants into a small clearing where the grass was sparse. It gave him a bit more room to move, but the ants closely followed him inside.

Their antennae twitched as they locked onto his scent again. They didn’t seem to care about the change in landscape. Their only focus was on killing the one who hurt their comrade.

As they closed in, Adrian suddenly darted to the side, sprinting towards a large tree at the edge of the clearing. The ants followed.

Just as they were about to reach him, Adrian jumped, kicking off the tree trunk and flipping over the farthest injured ant. He landed on its back, driving his dagger into the joint where its head met its body.

The ant screeched and thrashed, trying to throw him off, but Adrian held on, twisting the blade deeper into the weak spot. The other two ants turned to attack, but in the chaos, they got in each other’s way.

Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, Adrian leaped off the wounded ant, rolling across the ground and coming up behind the second one.

He slashed at its underbelly, aiming for the same weak point, but this time, the ant was ready. It twisted its body, knocking him aside with a powerful swipe of its leg.

Adrian hit the ground hard, but shrugged it off and rolled to his feet, ready to continue the fight. The first ant was still hurt from the injury, its movements slower and less coordinated.

The second and third ants, however, were coming at him with renewed aggression. It didn’t seem like they were fans of his antics before.

He knew he couldn’t keep this up forever. The ants were too strong and well-armoured. If he didn’t finish this quickly, the ants would overpower him.

"No more dodging," Adrian mumbled. "Creating distance won’t work. I need to find something else."

The second ant lunged at him again, and this time, Adrian didn’t dodge. Instead, he charged forward, sliding under its body and slashing upward with all his strength.

The blade pierced the soft flesh of the ant’s underbelly and it let out a horrible screech as it collapsed. Dead.

Adrian didn’t have time to celebrate. The third ant was already on him, its mandibles snapping shut around his leg. Pain shot through his body as the ant lifted him into the air, shaking him like a rag doll.

Desperation set in and Adrian slashed at the ant’s head, trying to free himself, but the thick exoskeleton deflected his blows.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Adrian twisted his body, using the momentum to drive his other dagger into the ant’s eye. The blade sank deep, and the ant let out a shrill cry, dropping him to the ground as it jumped back in agony.

Adrian hit the ground hard, but he didn’t stay down. He forced himself to his feet. Standing hurt, but the adrenaline helped him numb the pain somewhat while the troll’s blood healed him.

The first ant was still alive, but barely. It was stumbling, its movements sluggish. The second ant was down, but the third was injured, but it was still a threat.

"This is it," Adrian mumbled. "One more push."

Once the leg was good enough to stand on, Adrian charged at the third ant, aiming for its underbelly. The ant tried to retaliate, but its movements were slower, probably because of the lost eye.

Adrian ducked under its snapping mandibles and drove his dagger into its weak spot, twisting the blade until he felt the ant go limp.

The third ant collapsed, its body twitching as it died. Adrian jumped back to avoid being buried under the ant. He looked up and noticed the first ant staring at him, unable to move its legs.

"You’re already dead," Adrian mumbled, walking up to the ant and killing it.

He stood there for a moment, catching his breath. The ants were dead, but the giant was gone. Adrian needed to be quick to look for the giant, but first, organ absorption took priority.