The inhabitants of this dungeon were odd to say the least, the amalgamations of monstrous flesh and purple crystals put most horror villains to shame. It was like their bodies were only vessels for a parasitic microscopic structure that extends in all directions.

Needless to say… “Why are they a fucking hive mind?!?!?!?”

Hecate was currently in the midst of a rather irritating battle, the first floor was littered with creatures that had an uncanny ability to push Hecate’s buttons. Her gelatinous arms hit like concrete as she whipped them at the fragile crystals that held the monsters together.

“Haha!!! Taste my newest technique! “Slime Raid (Deadly Percussion)!!”

The flailing of her arms more than doubled in speed as the creatures were decimated into dust. “38, 39, 40!”

[You’ve cleared the first floor, your efforts will be rewarded upon clearing the fourth.]

Hecate’s slaughter of the amalgamations continued well into the second floor- that is, until something stopped that progress. Rather than the smaller monsters this one stood at least ten feet tall, it had green leathery skin with tusks protruding from its bottom lip, it wore a ragged hood over its giant stature with the purple crystals growing throughout its arms.

This ones definitely different from the others, if this place is a cathedral then this thing must be the “bishop.”

Its glowing purple eyes shone as crystals began growing out of the walls, the crystalline spikes snapped sending shrapnel to do its worst to her body. The shrapnel dug into her flesh before suddenly stopping inside her stomach. “

“Oh? Are your crystals not working? How sad, you must be soooo disappointed.” Hecate mocked the bishop.

The creature responded with unintelligible shouts.

Hecate sneered, she planted her feet to the ground and stretched her arms back as far as she could before violently snapping her shoulders forward with enough force to snap a boulder in two.

“Slime Raid (Whiplash)” The air wavered and sound distorted as the appendages launched forward impacting the beasts torso, breaking its bones in the process.

“Orgyah krra numa do tlema kunakire'' the robed figure mumbled with a pale light coming from his palm, he pressed it to where Hecate’s bullet like appendages had struck him and began to heal.

“I won't let you!!” she shouted as she rushed forward with her left arm sharpened to a fine point, she thrust her arm forward impaling the monster's shoulder before pulling out and thrusting again.

Her thrusting speed increased as various holes appeared all over its body.

“Hoh? And here I thought you were a tough one, I must’ve been mistaken.” Hecate renewed her habit of mocking people mid battle.

The monstrosity roared in anger as it attempted to take the life of the girl in front of her to no avail.

“It’s about time you die!!!” Hecate shouted.

She pushed her strength into her legs before, “Woah!” she launched herself up and over the orc, grabbing its neck and using her relatively high strength stat to flip its body onto the ground.

‘This bad. This girl strong. Me can't die here or she'd be angry. Mistress me beg, give me power to defeat this heretic.’ The Orc thought as

“You are aware that your skin is changing color right?” Hecate rhetorically asked the figure in front of her.

“You… Kargalgan will decimate you.”

Hecate laughed uncomfortably for a moment, “This is rather unfortunate…”

The crystals on Kargalgan’s arms grew exponentially in size and enveloped the orcs' arms, “Me feels stronger!” he dragged his body forward at a surprisingly fast speed and swung his crystal covered arms forward. The first blow hit Hecate's shoulder, the following hit her chest- the speed at which he swung was enough to impact her abdomen and leave lasting damage. Blood came flying out of her mouth as her body was sent flying into the white marble behind her.

She let out a silent scream as the oxygen was forced out of her lungs.

Hecate forced strength into her legs before launching herself off the wall, the momentum carried her well over Kargalgans head onto the ground a few feet behind him.

Hecate planted her feet firmly into where she stood before preparing for an attack., “Spirit Skill: Inject Poison.” her arms filled with poison and her “hands” sharpened into an arrow-like shape, “I hope you enjoy hell you bishop bastard!!!”

“Makeshift Technique: Toxic Slime Raid (Whiplash Percussion)”

“!?” Kargalgan screamed as the arrow tipped appendages repeatedly dug into his flesh. The poison filled limbs struck repeatedly and without mercy, pumping poison into Kargalgans body with every strike..

Hecate didn't stop, she continued to hit Kargalgan until long after he had stopped moving.

[Notice: Proficiency of the skill (Double Strike) has explossively increased.]

[Notice: Bishop Kargalgan has entered a frenzy. All damage done to this monster will be halved and all damage taken will be doubled.]

“Shit.”

“How dare you… HERETIC!!!!!!!” he shouted in a blind rage, Crystals suddenly grew from all the visible surfaces before all rocketing towards Hecate. “I can’t dodge all of these!” she groaned as the unforeseen variables pierced her body and hit her internal organs.

“Cleanse” Kargalgan mumbled as his eyes closed.

[Notive: Kargalgan has begun recovering from your poison.]

“You're a real piece of work, you know.”

Hecate brought up her inventory before pulling out a small red ring, she hurriedly placed it onto her ring finger.

“What the hell is this feeling? This-This deep regret.”

[The King of the Ant’s final wish has been accepted. A new Personal Quest has been created.]

“What?” She questioned.

Similarly to when Hecate used Clairvoyance, the world around her began to slow, the color drained from the universe as everything came to a standstill.

[Teleportation to the realm of the ants has begun.]

A beam of light struck Hecate's chest, piercing her heart. “What the fuck.” before she could say anymore her body completely disappeared.

Next Chapter: The Ant Trials.