[ Chapter XI (11): "PEACEFUL TIME IS OVER, THERE'S A SWARM OF ANTS ON THE WAY!" ]
[ "Damn... This is really nice..." ]
Alastor never felt so calm before, except for now... Laying on the itchy grass below, most of his back was exposed to the elements which he doesn't seem to be bothered by...
On his lap laid the heads of his 2 Undead Ants, purring in turn as they get head pats from their newfound master. One palm for the right, and one palm for the left...
Something which they easily grew to love... Head pats.
That is also something that Alastor grew to love, giving head pats to get closer to his terrifying newfound friends...
And primarily because their heads are just that soft, covered by moss, that feels like a red carpet for his hands. Now before he knows it, his hands are now moving on their own.
Alastor and the 2 friendly Undead Ants have been at this for about minutes now, and there could be no sign in stopping it... As the former wants to get a breather from all the torture he experienced, and the latter meanwhile wants head pats... A good deal.
Turning to the side, Alastor could see his sword, shield, and last potion on standby, just within arms reach layer besides a tree trunk... Feeling safe, he closed his eyes, amidst the purring of his big sized friends...
[ "I could get used to this." ]
Getting a shut eye after roaming around the dense forest for what he could assume as half an hour, felt great... With his safety assured, Alastor didn't need to wield his sword, or even his shield, or worry about getting poisoned again...
As he tries his best to rest...
Which gets broken by a loud thud not so far away, followed by loud morbid laughter of some wolves; something he grew to memorize in having encountered them...
It was then followed by shrieking of some mossy ants, or creatures similar to that... As there are multiple shrieking noises similar to that of a swarm, just closely behind those wolves laughter... Confused, he opened his eyes wide.
[ "The fuck is this... now-" ]
Feeling the air sucked down his throat, Alastor amidst the thick green smoke of the forest could see past the trees a group of Ridens Viridis Lupus, their usual jolly distorted laughter now having a trace of panic in them... Similar to when he kills one.
Squinting his eyes closely, he could see that this group is being chased by another group... In this case Formica Musco, big mossy ants for short, and that's not good.
As the group of wolves are numbered around 5, some if not all are wounded, their blood spilling as they run... He fears that, even though he has this title buff on him— the Wolf-Hunter that makes all of them fear him...
That is because the group that is chasing them outnumber them more than x5, and that is a loose counting, because there is plausibly more than that from where he couldn't see.
[ "Th-this is bad...!" ] Really bad, he'll either get gobbled down by the wolves as a snack, or trampled on, or become the new target of those hunter-like group of ants...
All of the above options working against his favor, not a great thing if you were to ask him, Alastor who just wants to survive and die another day... At least not in some unknown forest.
[ "Q-quick let's go!" ]
Grabbing his equipment, Alastor urged the 2 Undead Ants to get up, so they did as they then stood guard against the threat of wolves, and at the threat of the swarm...
With no preservation of life, or whatsoever the Undead Ant on Alastor's right was about to dive in and charge against the group. This was then about to be followed by the Undead Ant on Alastor's left... [ "Stop, what the hell are y-you 2 doing!!" ]
This was immediately stopped by Alastor, who's panicking inside, not wanting to face any of that, or even let his companions get into any of that; in fear that they might forever die.
He isn't that Sung Jin- whoever guy, you know, the protagonist of Solo Leveling. He doesn't know the extent of his power yet, if worse comes to worse, then his Undead will forever perish; leaving him alone, vulnerable, and worse of it all— lonely.
Something he doesn't want to feel again, especially when friends are rare to come by in this weird ass reverse narnia-like place... [ "Let's run away, n-now!" ]
Looking at the panicked and sweating face of their master, the 2 Undead Ants did what they were told and followed closely behind him... In fear that they might not get head pats anymore.
[ "This is bad...!" ]
Alastor looked at the direction wherein the wolves are running, and realized that they would pass closely where he and the Undeads are occupying...
Not a great sign, and also because behind them are dozens of dozens of dog-sized ants; hunger and anger in their eyes.. Who would want to collide with that?!!
About to pass closely by them, the green-wolves noticed Alastor gripping his sword staring down at them... And they immediately felt scared. More so when they noticed 2 weird-looking threatening ants standing beside the weird creature...
Which in turn made the wolves unanimously agree to take a sharp turn, avoiding any and all ants if they could... And they did. Behind them about so-so feet are hungry-hungry ants.
Some were injured, some bloodied, some lost their antennas or had open wounds on them... But they didn't care and instead used what little eyesight they have to chase after the pack of wolves.
Some clumsily hit the trees headfirst due to the terrain which is either a slope or uneven. And also due to the trees which extend to one another, causing them to be an obstacle for some.
This is not at all a threat to the colony of Formica Musco, as their speed only slightly slowed down... Not enough for them to lose their dinner-lunch.
[ "Get out!" ]
[ "W-we need to get out of here!" ]
Alastor felt even more fearful in seeing that some of the ants noticed his presence and his stench-like smell, which is akin to that of a dying person...
So forcing his feet to move, Alastor ran away as fast as he could, in the opposite direction where the enemies are... Behind him are his Undead Ants on guard, and are ready to bite anything for their summoner, friend, and master.
Sadly, a small portion of the ants deviated from their original course and separate from the main group... Instead of turning to follow the wolves, they instead turn to follow a different aroma, a much stronger and tasty aroma compared to the wolves...
Slowly that small portion increased, until finally half of the group followed it... The aroma that they could smell, smelt twice as powerful, stronger, and attractive compared to the dying wolves...
[ "W-why are they chasing us!" ]
Perhaps he has forgotten it, perhaps Alastor really doesn't know... But the title of Wolf-Hunter did in fact have one single debuff, compared to the two buffs, he ignored it...
Who wouldn't? +2 buffs against threats are better than seemingly not that important at all -1 debuff...
This debuff is now the main reason why he is now being chased more strongly by those ants who smelt it...
Especially because these oversized type of ants have developed their sense of smell to better adapt with the cruel surroundings, for safety, for hunting, and for self preservation.
Turning around, he could see the ants growing more in quantity, and even in the distance as they all tried to catch up with him...
Occasionally he could see some ants salivating, saliva or a green substance akin to that dropping on the grass and dirt below, digging slight holes in it each time.
Alastor in seeing this widened his eyes, as he then looked at the Undead Ants running right beside him; [ "Y-you guys have-" ] He stopped mid-sentence, then ducked in realizing a heavy trunk was about to hit his head, before then continuing to look at his Undead... [ "A-acidic spits?!!" ]
He could have died... Multiple times, with ease... Now those head pat sessions don't seem that cute, doesn't it?
[ "I-I could h-have..." ]
Stuttering slightly, Alastor noticed the unfavorable terrain in front of him... Covered by trees that connect to one another, glowing bugs roaming the side, and some birds flapping away in noticing the thing behind Alastor.
Not wanting to die, he then focused his attention on running, putting more energy in his leg area even though he felt it losing strength as time went on...
Zigzagging pass the trees, pass the bushes, and pass some of the rocks that have formed in the middle of the forest... Even though with low visibility, Alastor with the help of whoever being is out there, he didn't trip, didn't get heavily bruised aside from some cuts, and he was able to finally see hope...
Panting slightly, he looked beside him at his Undead and noticed that they didn't seem to have any fatigue, or problems, no sweat, no-nothing as they tilted their heads looking at him in curiosity...
Curious about the chasing group, he turned around amidst the shrieking and weird noises the swarm of ants are giving... He then INSTANTLY regretted his choice, [ "O-oh god!" ]
As past the green fogs are hungry ants, much more monstrous than they already are... Hungry, angry, and relentless. The hell kind of combination is that, and why would you give that to a group of what... A group of 55 or-so x100+ sized ants!
Who can spit acid by the way, they can spit acid... That's broken, we need a rework, where's the debuff update when you need it!
[ "T-this is a joke." ]
Alastor paused momentarily when he realized his path was blocked, now he could only go to either the left path, or the right path. Both unknown, but that doesn't seem to matter...
There's also this behind path which would surely get him eaten in the span of seconds... [ "S-shit!" ]
Turning to the right, or to the left. Alastor doesn't know, but under the watchful eye of his Undead, and also the threat of the monsters that is gaining on them. He chose to go random, and pick right... When have the right path ever gone wrong?
[ "T-there, let's go!" ]
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[ 05/06/2025 ]
[ 05/07/2025 ]