Seeing the giant ant queen emerge from the ball of giant ants that had hidden her massive frame only a few seconds earlier, the group of what Scaly perceived to be skilled adventurers finally reacted in a manner different from the calm they had caried themselves with so far, as a clear look of what could only be described as greed appeared within the eyes of some of the adventurers.
Scaly herself had never seen this kind of reaction from them before, but didn’t think too much about it, just guessing that they might be like her when it came to facing powerful monsters that would undoubtedly be able to increase her strength after killing them. A reaction Scaly felt was required for strong adventurers, as they would never have been able to get to their high level without having a desire for growth and strength like her. Especially the group that no clashed with the giant ants, as they were far beyond any adventurers she had seen so far when it came to combat.
After all, though she might have seen more devasting attacks from stronger adventurers, the combat techniques and methods of this group before her far surpassed that of any adventurer she had seen so far. Having reached a level that even made her fearful of engaging with them in battle.
Even if it was clear that she was stronger, the teamwork and coordination of the group made it so that they would be more than capable of taking down an opponent stronger than themselves.
The problem was, they weren’t just facing off against a single stronger opponent but were also facing off against a seemingly endless swarm of expe- giant spiders.
For this reason, though disappointing, it wasn’t hard for Scaly to understand their train of thought as they turned and began slowly making their way back towards the entrance to the very heart of the giant ant nest. Intent on escaping before they ended up being overwhelmed by what was clearly a force beyond anything they could handle. A decision even Scaly admired after the familiar look she saw in several of the skilled adventurers.
Keeping their greed for an increase in power was admirable and something she herself would find a hard time doing, but... She couldn’t exactly allow them to just leave because they wanted to. Having already killed so many of the giant ants that had originally been her prey, there was no way she was just going to let them leave for free.
Whoosh~
And so, while the unsuspecting members of the Red Dawn Legion began a slow retreat while the giant ant queen was still in the process of slowly moving towards them in a both comical and menacing manner, Scaly slipped out of her temporary hiding spot and made her way over to the entrance without being detected along the way. Placing herself directly next to the entrance before silently using her water magic to loosen the soil above the entrance, causing it to start showing signs of collapse.
Now would be the last opportunity for her to escape the giant ant nest unscratched, but Scaly ultimately decided against just running away. Instead, she dashed back towards her hiding spot before looking back towards the entrance where the dirt ceiling soon began to collapse thanks to her weakening the stability of the ceiling with her water magic.
Rumble~ Bang!
The commotion caused by this collapse being far larger than she had anticipated, as the entire underground space began shaking violently as more than just a small space around the entrance out of the heart of the giant ant nest ended up collapsing. Almost reaching the hiding spot of Scaly herself, who panicked a bit on the inside when the collapse of the ceiling spread far beyond the small area she had originally intended to collapse.
But there was not much she could do now that it had already been done outside of just silently observing the group of skilled adventurers who suddenly froze on the spot following the collapse of their escape path.
Scaly hoped that this would make them start a deadly life and death struggle against the giant ants and more specifically the gluttonous giant ant queen. Hoping that the two sides would exhaust each other completely before she could sweep in from the shadows and reap the benefits of killing both sides. Not just getting the satisfaction of finally killing the leader of the giant ants but also getting the chance to kill an S Rank Monster for the first time, something she was sure would grant her a lot of experience.
The adventurers and the rest of the giant ants weren’t that much of a concern to her compared to the gluttonous giant ant queen, as killing the latter felt like a special achievement of some kind that proved her strength had reached a certain level.
Weakened or not, she had wanted to kill an S Rank Monster or S Rank Adventurer ever since she had first learnt about their existence, as it had become clear to her from conversations between adventurers she had overheard, that S Rank Monsters and Adventurers were at the very top of the food chain... And as a dragon, it was only right that she could kill these S Rank Monsters or Adventurers that proclaimed to stand at the top of the food chain.
After all, dragons stood above all other lifeforms!
Smiling to herself as she thought about this, Scaly watched with anticipation as the group of skilled adventurers that had originally been retreating amidst constant attacks from giant ants, had come to a stop. Digging themselves into a defensive position by lining up against a rock wall that made it impossible for any of the giant ants to attack them from behind, while they waited for the gluttonous giant ant queen to reach them.
A glaringly obvious problem that hadn’t been clear so far, soon presented itself, as Scaly and the group of people from the Red Dawn Legion watched in silence as the gluttonous giant ant queen approached at a speed that was slower than that of a snail. Finally, making Scaly realize how such a massive and powerful monster could die without anyone around feeding it constantly.
Luckily, this problem didn’t last for more than a few minutes, as the gluttonous giant ant queen seemingly realized she wasn’t getting any closer and decided to have the giant ants that covered her completely earlier pick her up and carry her massive body towards the group from the Red Dawn Legion.
The poor giant ants tasked with carrying their queen were far from safe, as the weight of the giant ant queen was too much for some of the weaker royal guard giant ants, causing them to be squashed beneath the immense weight of their queen before a stronger one took their place.
The nature of this method of transport made Scaly wonder just how powerful this giant ant queen was in battle if she couldn’t move more than a few meters an hour without assistance, but soon enough these doubts were put to rest, as the gluttonous giant ant queen swung one of her forward legs down towards one of the people standing at the front with his shield already up to block the attack-
BAAANG-! Crack~
The sheer impact from the attack echoing throughout the underground space, as the towering shield that had remained intact without the slightest hint of damage even after having blocked hundreds- if not thousands of giant ants, began to crack.
Along with this, the person holding said shield was also thrown backwards at a terrifying speed before crashing into the rock wall at the back before sliding down to the ground unconscious. The single hit from the giant ant queen knocking him out.
Strong...
Watching this, even Scaly could not help narrowing her eyes in awe at the simple yet beautiful display of strength from the gluttonous giant ant queen.
Although they were enemies, Scaly couldn’t stop herself from appreciating such a pure and direct show of strength. Nothing fancy like her magic, just a single tap with a leg and the other party was blown away.
Though... This display of power did make her a bit worried about the group of skilled adventurers that she had originally been hoping would be able to weaken the gluttonous giant ant queen, as they wouldn’t be able to weaken it much if all of them ended up being simply knocked away by the giant ant queen.
"Impossible!"
"How can a giant ant queen that only recently reached the S Rank be this powerful...?"
"We need to retreat and wait for reinforcements!"
The words that finally came as a few within the group began talking in response to their friend creating a human shaped imprint in the cave wall, didn’t exactly fill her with confidence regarding their battle with the gluttonous giant ant queen. If anything, it made her reconsider whether to find a place to dig herself out of this deadly space she had ended up trapping herself in or try lending them a hand in killing the giant ant queen...