Ch.53Lower Level (3)

Boom-

The queen revealed herself, emanating an overwhelming presence. Up close, her aura was nothing short of violent.

Kitsune and Kirara were already on the verge of fainting, and I wasn’t in much better shape with my trembling legs.

Only Lilly could properly prepare for battle while enduring the queen’s oppressive presence.

‘I thought she’d just engage in mind games with the others and leave…’

A clear miscalculation.

I never imagined she would take such a risk despite showing desire toward me.

Or perhaps this was the result of her confidence that she could easily capture someone like me and return safely.

Whatever the reason, I had no choice but to resolve this situation somehow.

Though I wondered where to begin, I decided to handle the most urgent matters first.

‘If I leave Kitsune and Kirara like this, they’ll die with 100% certainty.’

The aura emitted by a powerful being could itself be a weapon capable of killing opponents.

The two weren’t weak enough to die from mere aura, but the harsh environment was the bigger problem.

‘First, I need to lure the queen away.’

Since I couldn’t kill the queen to stop her from emitting this aura, separating her from the others was the best option.

And from beginning to end, I was the queen’s target. So if I moved away from my companions, she would naturally follow me.

“Lilly, please take care of those two.”

“Hey! Wait! Are you really that eager to die?!”

I heard Lilly trying to stop me from behind, but regardless, I immediately started moving.

In response, the queen’s massive body began to move slowly as well. If there was any silver lining, it was that the queen’s movements were extremely cautious.

She moved slowly and couldn’t apply her full strength, like someone carefully handling a delicate piece of craftsmanship.

Thanks to that, even in my exhausted state, I could easily avoid the queen’s grasp.

‘For now, I’ll maintain this situation without provoking her.’

Even if I launched an attack, it was questionable whether I could inflict proper damage. So it was wise to maintain this standoff until Lilly arrived.

Of course, even the queen’s cautious hands were dangerous to me in my exhausted state.

Thud-

Boom–

The queen’s leg barely grazed my hair before hitting the ground. If I hadn’t twisted my body quickly, I would have been caught.

Twitch- Twitch-

Commands mixed with the pressure emanating from the queen. Every single one was an order to surrender quietly.

“■■■■—“

My body momentarily twitched at that command as if being pulled, but it wasn’t enough to overpower me.

‘Is this the queen’s leadership ability? I’m not an ant, so I can handle this much.’

I was concerned about not having prepared mental defenses, but thanks to my charm responding to counter her leadership ability, there wasn’t a major problem.

Thud-!

Thud–!

“Getting angry because I won’t be caught easily, is that it?”

The queen’s legs stretching toward me were filled with force, as if to show her emotions.

As she struck the ground with her power-laden legs, the resulting dust clouds obscured my vision while indirectly revealing the queen’s emotions.

The queen’s speed continued to increase, and her ineffective leadership ability was still enough to give me a headache.

Throb- Throb-

“Sigh… I’m not an ant, so it won’t work on me.”

With the most composed expression I could manage, I gathered what little magic power I had left and heightened my charm.

It was an attempt to shake off the leadership ability trying to interfere with my mind by reaffirming my own value as a being.

However.

“Oh my, you’re a collection piece I’d like to personally preserve in my lair. With that excellent sword, you’d make a fine set.”

My excessive charm kept making things more complicated.

Looking at the woman with a pair of horns and red hair who had somehow appeared beside me, I couldn’t help but curse.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

“Since that comment doesn’t seem directed at me, I’ll let it slide just this once.”

“Yes, I’m most grateful.”

* * *

My original plan was quite simple.

To buy time by avoiding the queen’s grasp while Lilly moved the other two to safety.

Then, once Lilly returned, we would inflict critical damage with minimal expenditure and escape.

Since we still had things to do in the depths, I couldn’t completely waste the cheat card that was Lilly—that was my conclusion.

‘But now someone has arrived who can’t be handled even with that cheat card.’

Dragons, considered the strongest species. That was the identity of the woman before me.

More tense than when facing the queen, I carefully observed her actions, unsure of what she might do.

“I’ve been putting in great effort to quietly let this lower level die, yet it almost all went to waste.”

After making this meaningful statement, she began resolving the incident of the queen’s invasion of the lower level.

Having returned to her true form at some point, she sprayed a wide-ranging Dragon Fear from above. Its power was incomparable to the queen’s.

With just that, the other four boss monsters who had been watching us immediately closed their eyes and fell silent.

The Giant Ants and lower level monsters that had been fighting also entered a state of calm in an instant.

【Return to your daily routines.】

The ants and lower level monsters that had entered a calm state began returning to their positions as if they had forgotten they were fighting just moments ago, following the Draconic Tongue command.

Only one remained.

The queen of the ants.

Despite directly receiving the dragon’s fear and Draconic Tongue, the queen still hesitated to leave. The reason was, of course, me.

Even in a life-threatening situation facing a predator greater than herself, the queen’s gaze never left me.

Seeing this, the dragon, who had returned to human form, spoke as if amused:

“No matter how beautiful a flower is, I never expected insects to be so presumptuous.”

There was a smile on her lips, but her eyes weren’t smiling, and the atmosphere grew increasingly cold.

No, it was getting hotter. The temperature throughout the lower level was rapidly rising, as if reflecting her anger.

Sizzle-.

The queen still seemed able to endure, but I wasn’t. The heat of the lower level had already been dangerously close to my limit.

I could feel my pale skin gradually burning black.

In this state, what poured water on the heated situation was Lilly, who had returned after taking Kitsune and Kirara to safety.

Lilly stood between me and the dragon, emanating ominous magical power as she warily watched the dragon.

“You, get away from Frey.”

“Yes, yes, a beautiful flower should be surrounded by appropriate butterflies.”

I’m not sure if “pouring water” is the right expression, but at least the dragon seemed quite pleased. Lilly, however, appeared to find such attention merely unpleasant.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been looking at the dragon with an even more ominous expression than before.

“Neither Frey nor I are your sculptures.”

“Since I saved your lives, it wouldn’t be wrong to call you my sculptures from now on. It wouldn’t be so bad.”

“We would have managed just fine without your help…”

I opened my mouth to refute her words, but had to close it again at what followed.

“Even if I didn’t save you, you caused a disturbance in my territory. Because of that, I almost failed in my work.”

“I apologize for that. I never expected the queen would pursue me to this extent…”

Knowing the importance of her work and the consequences of failure, I could only be cautious.

And seeing me like this, Lilly sent me a look as if demanding an explanation.

“What kind of work could you possibly be doing in this dying world?”

“…Making it die quietly. If the balance collapses and killing accelerates, it becomes a kind of poison.”

A ritual of creating the strongest poison by placing numerous venomous insects in one jar. Whether intentional or not, something similar could happen in this lower level.

“If the dragon lady… I mean, if Lady Cecilia hadn’t intervened, the most terrible monster would have been born and risen to the surface.”

“Oh? You even know my name… You speak as if you’ve witnessed such things.”

Having explained for Lilly’s sake, I tried my best to avoid Cecilia’s gaze that was fixed on me. There was nothing wrong with what she said.

The catastrophe I mentioned was the disaster that occurred in the game when she was recruited as an ally by tempting her with various treasures.

‘And then the dwarves whose kingdom exploded pressed the destruction button like it was a seizure button, leading the game to a bad ending…’

The more I thought about it, the more this world seemed like a sunfish.

Avoiding Cecilia’s gaze that seemed to demand an answer from me, I looked toward the ant queen who still hadn’t left.

It was a choice made to divert the subject and avoid her gaze.

“Um… what should we do about that…?”

“Ah, I just had a wonderful idea.”

And judging by Cecilia’s sinister smile, this choice also seemed to be the wrong answer.