[ Eternal Fozen Apocalypse ]
The skill’s power wanted to explode in all directions.
It wanted to swallow the area, all the mushrooms, all the ants, and even Lian’s companions.
Lian clenched his teeth, forcefully kept the mana flow in a narrow path, and ice advanced from his hands in a straight tunnel.
The white wave moved through the moss, everything in its path froze.
A Worker running with open legs froze in place.
A Soldier that had raised its stinger remained motionless just like that.
The white roots turned into ice sculptures in the air, a massive mushroom turned white from the bottom to the top of its cap.
A moment later, the sound of cracking was heard from inside it, the stem collapsed.
The multi-ton mushroom cap fell to the ground with a loud sound and buried dozens of ants under it.
The ice wave went further.
The green and yellow hell of the forest turned into a white and silent corridor for a few seconds.
The spores no longer moved, the roots were frozen in place, the ants stood like fragile sculptures on both sides of the path.
Lian lifted his hands from the ground, his breathing was heavy, controlling the power had consumed more energy than releasing it.
[Warning! Your mana has reached emergency level!]
[Less than one percent of your mana remains!]
Of course, the cost was also high, and this freezing was not going to last forever.
In normal circumstances, because he had used the skill in a smaller area, his mana should not have reached such a critical and dangerous level.
But in the path he wanted to open, and right in front of them on that same path, there were a large number of plant monsters and a few ants.
And all of them were between levels 20 and 26, and freezing them required a huge amount of mana, which caused his mana to become almost completely drained.
The three siblings looked at the scene before them in shock... what they saw was something that could only come from the hands of legendary gods.
Was this Otherworldly a god...?
"Move!" Lian shouted.
Ravian ran first, Sera pulled Nemi along with her.
Lian moved behind them, every step they took on the ice layer made a cracking sound.
The frozen ants crumbled with the slightest contact, their bodies split into frozen pieces, the mushrooms on both sides of the tunnel were quietly cracking.
But the cold didn’t last forever, behind them, the ice on one of the roots broke.
A weak movement began inside it.
Lian increased his speed, the exit of the area could now be seen, a few dozen meters ahead, the colored mist was less, and a massive root opened the path toward another part of the forest.
"We’re almost there!" Ravian shouted.
The ground behind them trembled.
Lian immediately turned back, expecting something to come out of the darkness, but nothing appeared from behind, instead, a sound came from the center of the battlefield.
A very quiet crack, but clear in that frozen silence.
The Soldiers around the Queen’s egg stopped at the same time.
Those that were fighting the mushrooms separated their jaws from the roots, the Workers that were still running suddenly slowed down.
Thousands of antennae turned in one direction.
The Queen’s egg.
Another crack appeared on its white surface.
Then a third.
Something struck the shell from inside, not with the weak movement of an immature creature, but with calculated violence.
The dark veins on the egg contracted, the shell split from the center, and a thick black liquid spilled out from inside.
The nearby Soldiers didn’t step back, on the contrary, they got closer to the egg, the crack grew larger, thin legs came out from inside.
But those legs did not belong to an ant’s body, they were long and bony, their joints bent in unusual directions.
The tip of each leg was like a human finger, one of them grabbed the egg’s edge, then a second one came out.
Then several other legs.
A black and elongated creature crawled out of the Queen’s immature body.
It had no skin.
Its body surface was shiny and moist, as if it was made directly from raw meat.
Several legs had grown on both sides of its body, moving on the ground like long fingers.
It had no distinct head.
On the front of its body, there was only a vertical slit, the slit slowly opened, and inside it was absolute darkness.
The identification panel appeared before Lian’s view.
[Unknown Parasitic Lifeform]
[Level: ???]
[Detection Failed]
Lian kept his gaze fixed on the creature, the truth formed in his mind with cold clarity.
"How is such a thing possible?" No enemy had chased the colony.
The danger was from inside themselves, they were running from something that had grown inside the Queen.
Maybe they wanted to take her to a far point, maybe they intended to separate the infected Queen from the colony.
Or maybe they were only following a blind instinct that told them they had to move.
But it was too late.
The parasitic creature opened its vertical slit wider, no sound came out of it, however, Lian felt intense pressure in his ears.
"Ahhhhhhhh" as if a silent scream had exploded directly inside his skull.
The scream was so horrible that he felt his skull might shatter at any moment!
Ravian placed his hand on his head, Sera fell on one knee.
"Ahhhhhhh" Nemi let out a muffled scream.
Hundreds of ants trembled at the same time, first the nearby Workers, then the Soldiers, and then a wave of trembling spread through the entire colony.
The red eyes of the first ant went dark, their color turned to black, the second one also changed.
The third, and within seconds, hundreds of red points in the darkness went out and were replaced by black, lightless eyes.
The ants bowed toward the parasitic creature one after another, not like creatures paying respect to the Queen, but like limbs attaching to the main body.
The black creature raised one of its thin legs, and the entire colony turned at the same time.
This time, the antennae were pointed at Lian and his companions, there was no longer any aimless rush or escape in their movements.
Thousands of bodies lined up with perfect order.
Ravian looked at the sea of black-eyed ants, his voice truly trembled.
No... this wasn’t just a tremble, it was endless terror!
"It... is controlling all of them."
Sera stood up with difficulty, placing one hand on her wounded shoulder and wrapping the other around Nemi.
Nemi was still breathing with difficulty.
Lian stared at the parasitic creature, Predator’s Instincts was active.
And the danger warning was active at the highest possible level! The risk of death was almost certain!
At that same moment, the system’s light appeared before his eyes.
[Emergency Hidden Quest Generated.]
[Kill the Brood Parasite before full assimilation.]
[Time Remaining: 59:59]
[Failure Consequence: Birth of a New Colony-Type Calamity that can enter your world]
[This Quest was sent to all awakened ones present in the Special Area]
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( A/N : Hey guys, we finally reached Chapter 200 in less than two months!
Thank you so much for all your support so far, it has given me the motivation to write Chapters every day.
We have reached the final arc of Volume 2, although it might take a little while to finish.
I wanted to know your opinion about the final arc so far? Has the content been good? Has it been too slow paced? Should I make it faster?
I’m open to any criticism and suggestions you have. )