A person panted heavily, their shoulders falling up and down along with my inhale and exhales.
It was under their feet, completely still for a few moments before it started to slightly squirm and moan.
The figure gripped the stone in their hand tightly, raising it over their head, and swung it down at full force.
CRACK!
That was it.
They looked at another figure sitting a few yards away from them on their left.
"It's over."
***
I plunged the red makeshift sword through the back of the ant larva's head. The ant went slack instantly while a third of it was still inside the nightmare creature it was eating.
[You have slain dormant beast Ironclad Larva!]
It surprised me knowing that the Ironclad larva, Ironclad Ant and Goliath worm were all the same rank and type. They all posed different levels of danger despite being graded the same by the Spell. So there were differences between every nightmare creature even if they were graded the same.
I was slightly hoping for a memory but not hearing it didn't disappoint me that much. Memories were rare after all. I was lucky I already had two of them. Though I did feel a bit relieved that I didn't have to waste the swings of [Moribund Sword] anymore. The spell whispering in my ear about how many swings were remaining caused more anxiety than I liked.
I separated the body of the larva from the nightmare creature it was eating. I laid the larva flat and stretched it to its full length. I then started the procedure of slitting its belly and gutting. I opened the larva revealing all of its internal organs, It also exposed a small glowing soul shard.
While I felt tempted to take it, I didn't know how to absorb them and carrying them now would only be a hindrance. After putting the soul shard away, I started to rip out the internal organs of the larva. I kept looking back and forth between the work I was doing and the entrance of the nursery room. I used the red makeshift sword to cut what I assumed to be the airway of the ant.
After some disgusting and stressful minutes, I had finally removed everything from the inside of the larva. It was now empty, practically an organic yellow body bag.
I gulped, knowing what the next step was going to be of my plan.
I slowly pulled open the larva and put my legs into the larva body bag. It was absolutely disgusting, but the unfortunate experience of being inside the Goliath Worm had somewhat prepared me for the vile situation.
Eventually, I was fully inside the larva body bag, I shuddered, hating the feeling of wearing the skin of something I just killed. But it was all a part of the plan.
My heartbeat once I heard the nurse ant step into the nursery room. I've only ever heard the larva make any sort of sound before, not the adult ants. Though they had their bursts of anger, they never truly vocalized. I almost thought they were mute despite possessing a mouth. So when I heard the nurse ant scream in anguish, It took all I had not to suddenly spasm from the ear-bursting sound.
I couldn't move while I was inside the larva, I had to make sure the nurse ant thought I was dead. The nurse paused after screaming, looking at what it supposed was the dead body of the larva for a few seconds. I couldn't blame its disbelief, their colony was at the verge of extermination and now their last larva was dead before it could even reach full maturity.
Despite its grief, the nurse ant did its job and carefully picked up the body of the larva with its dark thorny pincers. I tried my best to not flinch from the embrace of the pincers, I didn't even breathe, fearing that even the smallest puff of air could cause the pincers to clamp down on me and cut me in half. I placed all my bets on the feelings the Ironclad ants had for each other, and it was paying off.
After picking up the larva body bag, the nurse ant turned around towards the entrance of the nursery room. In a few seconds, we left the nursery room for what would probably be the last time for both me and the nurse ant. After we left, I paid a few respects to Klaus, the young warrior whose achievements allowed me to continue with my plan.
After entering the tunnels of the ant den, I prayed that the nurse ant would turn right and to my silent relief the nurse ant did. I felt elated, knowing my observations were spot on. During the time I spent in the nursery room, I watched the movements of the faint silhouettes of ants passing by. Though they had food in their mouth, they didn't go into the nursery room, instead they went further in. So, I guessed that something like a food storage was to the right of the nursery room.
Sometimes when the ant larva was eating the smaller pieces of the food the nurse ant had chopped up for the larva, it would take a few pieces in between its pincers and go to the right as well. It felt odd to me that the nurse ant took some pieces of food to the right when the larva was feeding. Maybe it was because the nurse ant was taking pieces for itself but I always saw that the nurse ant would eat along with the larva when the larva was finished. That meant that the smaller, chopped up pieces it took were given to another ant.
I was fully confident the ant larva I killed was the only one left, so who would the nurse ant give the food to? What sort of ant was weak and needed extra bits of food to recover from its injuries?
Finally after what felt like a few minutes, I suddenly felt the presence of something stronger. Its presence was more powerful compared to the rest of the Ironclad ants, but it also felt weaker.
I cut the underside of the larva body bag and I fell to the ground underneath the nurse ant. The nurse ant spun around, shocked by the sudden movement that had come from underneath it. It let go of the hollowed corpse of the ant larva and spread its pincers wide to slice whatever had escaped its grasp. But it suddenly stopped and stared at where I was. I had already used the [Essence of Dirt] on myself.
Without wasting time looking at the nurse ant's reaction—I sprinted towards the ant queen. The ant queen was a regal being. It was multiple times larger than the other Ironclad ants. It had black thorns surrounding its abdomen in a spiral pattern and its thorax was like a mace, long curling black thorns on its crimson armor that seemed to be able to pierce anything. Above the multitude of black bead eyes on its head was also a set of thorns that were shaped like a crown.
Though instead of standing straight, it was laying down, five of its six limbs were missing. Half of its thorax was also sliced off, revealing a pale gray inside that split into multiple sections. It was fatally injured, and now was the best time to kill it.
I summoned the [Moribund sword], bright sparks of light weaved the framework of a sword. The bright burst of light caused the ant queen to turn towards me. It screamed, but before its ear splitting voice could burst my eardrums, I plunged the red makeshift sword into its mouth.
The ant queen shook violently, as it tried to take out the ant leg that was inside its throat, conversely exposing the unprotected space between its head and abdomen.
I took one step forward and raised the Moribund sword over my head, I had seen Mongrel use this move plenty of times. It was probably one of the only moves Mongrel had that I could replicate to the best of my abilities. My knuckles turned white as I held the handle of the [Moribund sword], and drew an arc downward. The [Moribund Sword] whistled through the air, straight through the ant queen's neck cleanly. The cut was so clean that there were no traces of blood on the blade. Panting, I heard the voice of the spell.
Swings: [10/15]
[You have slain Dormant Terror IronClad Ant Queen!]
I let out a breath I held the entire time. The Ant Queen was a terror like I expected. I could barely imagine how powerful it would have been if it had been at its full strength. I once again paid much deserved respects to Klaus and his fellow warriors. I stood there over the corpse of the Ant Queen, waiting for the spell to send me back to the waking world. After all, the goal of the first trial must be killing the Ant Queen.
I waited for a moment, and then for a few seconds. I broke out of my trance when I saw the nurse ant swipe at me with its pincers. I jumped back, looking at the entrances of the tunnels that led to the ant queen room.
Ants were now piling into the room, though they were slowly coming since the tunnels could let in so many, they were still coming in like a horde.
What was happening? Why hadn't the spell said that I completed the first trial? I killed the ant queen, so the colony would soon die out! That should have been the condition of the spell!
While the raging Ironclad Ants poured into the royal room, my mind kept on moving at an uncontrollable rate. What? What had I missed?!
Then I realized it.
Who was I possessing in this nightmare? When people entered the nightmare they would replace someone who had already existed. Who would be in these tunnels? Who would have a sword with them? Who would have clothes that looked like they were shredded by something sharp and curved—perhaps thorny pincers?
I was obviously a surviving member of Klaus's team. How did I not realize until now?
I remember the entry from Klaus's journal.
"Our trial, as follows, The extinction of the red abominations…"
I was supposed to kill each and every ant. Every single ant…the ants now filled half of the room. There was less space and each of the ants didn't stop their forward march towards me. They were coming at me from all directions, I couldn't escape to any safe place. From all sides I was slashed at by damned black pincers.
While looking around, I suddenly felt my weight shift forward near my abdomen. Looking down at my stomach was a wet tangled mass, clustered like veiny blue and green snakes.
"So that's how my guts look like." I whispered. I was promptly rammed into by one of the Ironclad Ants. I fell against the floor on my side, my ears started to ring and I felt my brain shake from the impact.
I gasped, clenching my exposed and bleeding intestines. It felt as though my inside was going to empty itself like a waterfall. My pain was like a pendulum, numbing and explosive at the same time.
Despite all the pain, when I saw the pincers above my head, I rolled, and got up. One hand cradled my intestines while the other gripped the [Moribund Sword].
I could barely stand up and my blood pressure was dropping at an intense rate, I was standing in my own puddle of blood.
I was going to die. I was going to die-I was going to die.
Damn it.
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT.
My eyes went wide and I suddenly swung around in a circle with the [Moribund Sword]. The sudden slash through the air made the ants flinch, but only for a second.
Swings: [9/15]
That second was all I needed. I went up to an ant and ducked under its pincers. Again I used the move I did against the first ant I killed in this nightmare, I went under its head and stabbed the [Moribund Sword] through the underside of its neck.
Swings: [8/15]
[You have slain…]
I didn't even register the voice of the spell as I reached for one of the legs of the ant I killed. Grabbing it, I pulled with all my strength and it came out along with an exposed bone. Another ant was behind me, inches away from shredding me with its pincers.
I twisted my hips and threw the ant leg I had acquired down the throat of the charging ant. The swung its head back from the sudden leg inside its mouth. I swung the [Moribund Sword] again.
[You have slain..]
Swings: [7/15]
Again I took the legs of the ants I killed and stabbed the ants that were still alive in their mouth, their neck, their underside. Any and all weak points of the Ironclad Ants that I knew of, I stabbed those points with their own limbs. Again and again.
Swings: [6/15]
Again and again. Again and again.
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
The blood and fluid paints the ground and the corpses littered around.
Swings: [5/15]
Again and again. Again and again and again and again.
"Die-die-die-die." I muttered with each and every ant that fell. The corner of my lips curled up slightly.
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
Is this how Lord Mongrel feels? Fighting these abominations?
Swings: [4/15]
An ant had clasped my stray intestines inside its pincers. It jerked its head and pulled on them, greedily yanking them out. I cut my own guts before the ant could make me completely hollow. A fountain of blood sprayed out of the gash on my stomach.
The pain was now flashing through my entire body, so much that I couldn't even tell it apart from the flow of my blood. I could barely breathe properly, my thoughts all blurred together.
Swings:[2/15]
"Guh…"
"Agh…hwaaaa…."
Die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" I ROARED.
I vomited blood, I coughed, and gasped attempting to breathe in air but my throat kept on filling with blood. I was choking on the red fluid that was supposed to keep me alive. How ironic.
I fell to the ground on my knees, how had I ended up in this situation?
"YOU BLOODY BASTARDS—!!" I screamed with my entire being at the Ironclad ants. They didn't stop, even when so many of them were killed by me, they continued charging at me. They wanted to kill me. They wanted to kill me.
Why would they want to kill me? They were already going to die out without their queen.
"How pathetic! How utterly sad!" I said through bloody breaths. "THERE IS NO POINT TO THIS!"
The ants had trouble reaching me, surrounding me were circles of ant corpses that provided some sort of obstacle for me. Yet they still continued.
"WHY WHY WHY!?" I cried out. "You're all just apparitions created by the nightmare spell. You're nothing but the past. You're all going to die out eventually, THERE IS NO FUTURE FOR YOU!" Tears ran down the length of my face, and my body shuddered.
I was crying, sobbing.
"WE'RE ALL JUST SLAVES TO THE NIGHTMARE SPELL!! NONE OF US HAVE HOPE!!!" The ants still continued, inching closer and closer. Even though they were walking over the corpses of their comrades and family, they continued.
They continued despite them having no hope. Having no future. Their fate was death yet they continued. How stupid.
…
But weren't the humans doing this as well? We all had no hope, there was no future, most probably because of the nightmare spell. Yet we pushed on, fighting against fate itself.
I chuckled, feeling myself now at the doorstep of death. The ants were only one meter from me now. I suppose this was the end.
…
The ceiling shattered, as if it was hit by a bolt of thunder. A radiant light made its entrance, embracing the entirety of the dirt room in pure unfiltered sunlight.
The ants looked up, unbelieving the dirt ceiling, akin to a sky for them, was fractured so easily. While the ants looked up, a halo of small stars circled their heads. In an instant, the heads of the ants turned to ribbons and then to dust. Their headless bodies fell limp to the floor.
The small halo sparks then pooled themselves into the center of the lit dirt room, right under the crater which exposed the underground to the sunlight.
The sparks first formed the shape of a wolf before reforming themselves into a more humanoid shape.
The human that had been created by the sparks might have been the most beautiful person I've ever laid eyes on. The skin of the man was smooth and flawless like well chiseled marble. His black eyes, though darker than any black, glistened brighter than any star. His long dark silky hair fell down to his waist on his back and in the front, was separated in the middle of his face to reveal a symbol of a crescent moon.
Despite having clean and gentle features, his attire wasn't as refined. He wore a red robe that went down to his feet, tied around his waist, and shamelessly revealed one half of his lean but muscular torso.
He smiled, somehow pleasant and serene but also mischievous. He looked up at the sky and I saw a white teacup fall into his palm without spilling any of its contents outside. He took a sip, and smiled, almost as if the tea was the drink of the gods.
"Tea goes nice with my spring cleaning." He said, smiling. "But it seems like you beat me to it."
He looked around at the headless corpses of the Ironclad Ants.
"Oh! Wait—I meant the pests, not the tea. I assure you, no one in the kingdom of hope has their tea earlier—and more gracefully—than me."
I stared at him with my one working eye. A saint—I was in the presence of a saint.
The black-haired saint seemed to have confused my silence with confusion. "Have you perhaps not heard of me? Huh, well I suppose it isn't that bad, since I get to talk about myself. .."
I blinked and he was suddenly in front of me. He raised his teacup, as if raising a toast. "I am the immortal transcendent, a chain lord of the Kingdom of Hope, the best tea maker in the universe, and the maddest person you'll ever meet—!"
He smiled devilishly. "I am Noctis." He took a sip of his drink nonchalantly.
I stared at him, my mouth hanging open. Noctis smiled, clearly amused by my shock. As I tried to get up, I fell on my face. I tried to move my arms but they didn't listen to me.
Oh, I was dying.
The world started to glitch and shimmer as my vision became spotted with black. If Noctis noticed I was dying, he didn't make a move. He must have, but if he hasn't made a move yet to save me, that must mean its too late.
I look up at the mysterious and radiant saint to see his smile.
"It'll be okay." He said, it wasn't like his previous words. It contained no humor, only pure genuine feeling.
My body went slack and I stopped resisting the call of the darkness, letting myself fall unconscious. A few silent seconds passed before Noctis said a few words.
"Make sure to send that message to my past self as well."
[Wake up, Vincent! Your Nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal…]