Chapter 115: Corrosive Glutton Ants

This chapter was written under this music:

Howard Shore - Gluttony

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 Nicholas glanced at Rona, who left for treatment.

 “That girl is very lucky… What bit her was just the ordinary ant from the scout group, as I assume. If it were one of the Ant-Generals that should be at 3rd rank in Darkness and Water element who bite her… Then the healing would be useless for her already since their poison is special. It's blocking any healing whatsoever at 1 rank above the ant's rank. It means that if she was bitten by the 3rd ranked Ant-General, then even the 4th ranked healers would be useless and only healers at the 5th rank will manage to help her. Cutting off the damaged part will also not help if you will miss the window at first 4-6 seconds after the bite. The poison is extremely aggressive. After 5 or so seconds, it will enter the bloodstream and spread to the entire body through it, and begin to corrode everything on its path. At that point, if there will be no 5th-ranked healer nearby, then… you can only pray that the god will descend to save you, other way, you're doomed,” Explained Nicholas, and then added something, “You also need to forget about saving that girl who is named Cassie since she is… 99.9% dead.”

 Nicholas looked into the forest and began to explain more history of what he knew about them.

 “They were named the “Corrosive glutton ants”… I saw those ants being mentioned once in one of the history books of our Lerin clan written by one of our elders who were very lucky to witness it personally and survive since he was rare in the elven race 3rd ranked Wind mage. It was more than 400 years ago. It was also the time when our Lerin clan rose to power. The main reason for it was because the previous great Kalun clan… vanished, due to those ants' arrival of what then was called the “Ant Calamity”. They suddenly appeared out of nowhere at the Kalun clan's territory. In one night, the great and mighty clan that had thousands of various magi within and that was led by the powerful 5th ranked magus… disappeared. The ants didn't leave a single body behind them, they took everyone they found and vanished as quickly as they came. Can you imagine how many ants need to accomplish such a thing?” said Nicholas as he sank into his memories.

 “I was only a 6 years old child back then when that happened…  After it, there was no mention of those ants for more than 400 years. They suddenly came, quickly took what they needed, and left before the royal guard even had a chance to respond,” said Nicholas with closed eyes and continued to remember the past.

 “The elven royal family and the council investigate this matter and conclude that they came from the underground world that we're not very knowledgeable about except that that place is… even bigger than the surface and has a population that is much stronger than on the surface… The only reason those black ants came should be searching for food since they took all bodies away. But why did they require them? Did the underground world decline in terms of food? Highly unlikely. They also conclude that the black ant's swarm should have a leader who was intelligent enough to plan something as big as that. He should be…” continued Nicholas, but suddenly, he was interrupted by one of the elves from his group that just arrived.

 “High Elder Nicholas! The corpses that were left after sir Vincent's massacre… they… they're all gone…” reported the elf worriedly after he caught his breath.

 He heard Nicholas' previous words and suddenly remembered the dismembered bodies that were left in an area not far away, so he quickly decided to check them…

 After he arrived at that place… he didn't find a single part of the flesh on the ground. The only thing that was left was some blood stains on the snow…

 Nicholas opened his eyes and narrowly looked at the man. He wanted this to be a joke.

 'This is too fast… Did those black ants that attacked the girls, were not scouts? But if they are not scouts, then the main swarm should be… somewhere nearby. If that is the case, then their ruler probably already knows about us…' 

 Nicholas's mind shook once again, but he was the leader and was the only one to make important decisions, so he needed to be calm to not give his people a reason to panic.

 He looked at his old friend Austin.

 “We are going back to the clan, immediately. We have to report this to the clan leader and royal family, and prepare our clan for the possible “Ant Calamity”,” said Nicholas calmly but urgently. He tried not to make his people scared.

 Austin looked at him weirdly.

 He knew Nicholas for a few hundred years, so he could tell when Nicholas was acting… And since he is acting like this… then the situation should be terrible.

 He turned to look at his son and then at Anna, who was Vincent's mother.

 “Luis, we're leaving, right now. Miss Anna, others, I'm sorry, but we can't stay here any longer. You should also leave this place. I hope to see you all at our Lerin clan soon, safe and sound. Please take care of my granddaughter and daughter-in-law,” said grandpa Austin.

 Luis glanced at the center of the chamber, where Vincent was.

 “Amina, Demi…” 

 “Don't worry, they should be safe. Even though we almost don't know him, but, something tells me that he can be trusted. Furthermore, the situation is such that we can't wait for him to ask him to bring Amina out. Moreover, you have Talia and Alaya to take care of right now. Look at them. They are scared after Nicholas' words. You need them,” said Austin and looked at Anna.

 Anna nodded, “We will wait a bit longer for our husband and will also leave this place. Take care of yourselves and see you soon,” said Anna quickly after she looked at her son, who was still inside a cocoon-like thing from massive healing spells, before turning to the a woman nearby.

 “Skylar, gather everyone here, we are leaving after Vincent's recovery will end. Annie, how is he?” said Anna to Skylar and then asked Annie.

 “Yes, I will bring everyone here right away. Selena, call others, quickly. I will contact Fiona and Flora,” said Skylar to Selena nearby and took her communication amulet that only elders in the sect had. She contacted Fiona and Flora, who were not with them at the moment.

 

 Annie blinked and then said.

 “He should still be recovering for around 40-50 seconds before finishing,” answered Annie as she still held her channeled healing spell on him. 

 Because of it, she can't move right now.

 

 “The temperature has fallen greatly inside, so let's go in and wait for him there,” said Emilia eagerly, and without waiting for others to answer, walked through one of the entrances at the outer row of the structure. 

 Even though she also became a 3rd ranked mage and was strong, right now, her only concern was her husband's safety and her own, since she believed that she was already holding his child inside her womb.

 “I agree. I want to be with him. I will never leave my husband, never,” said Bella with her hand on her belly and went after Emilia.

 Emma, Emily, didn't say anything and only quietly followed behind her mother.

 Anna placed her hand on Annie's shoulder.

 “Annie, cancel your spell and let go closer to Vincent,” said Anna calmly before entering the chamber after Emily.

 Annie blinked. 

 She felt exhausted, so if she cancels the spell now, she will not be able to use it for a while, but her husband is almost healed. 

 She wanted to heal him a bit more, so he will recover faster.

 Annie decided to hold the channel for a few more seconds and then cancel it.

 She looked at Anna, who already entered.

 'Just a few more seconds, then I… Huh? What was that? Am I imagining things or is the ground… shaking?' thought Annie as she felt a little, almost unnoticeable tremor under her foot for a brief moment before it completely disappeared? 

 It was as if her imagination were playing with her.

 'But… why? Why now…?' wondered Annie, and then…

 [Rumble!]

 The ground under her feet abruptly trembled…