“Looks like keeping their bodies intact is going to be difficult,” Ye Lian said calmly, watching the wave of soldier ants surging toward her.
She was still thinking about a very practical issue.
There were just too many of them.
It was hard not to damage their shells while killing them.
‘Still worried about something so trivial at a time like this…’
‘As expected of Master!’ Bai Xue glanced at Ye Lian and secretly marveled to herself.
Then, she watched as Ye Lian moved in a blur, spear in hand, and began slaughtering the ants.
The scene instantly turned into a bloody massacre.
Chitin fragments, sinew, and green blood sprayed in all directions.
On Bai Xue’s side, five soldier ants came charging at her.
It was her first time facing so many strong enemies at once, and the pressure was intense.
She dodged the first ant’s charging thrust and quickly raised her small shield in front of her.
The second ant slammed its thick, sharp mandibles into the shield the very next moment.
Strangely, Bai Xue didn’t feel a strong impact—it was as if the enemy’s attack had lost all force.
But the mandibles of another ant, embedded deep into a white stone wall behind her, proved otherwise.
Their attacks were strong enough to pierce solid stone!
‘It really is because of the shield!’ Bai Xue realized, and the pressure on her heart instantly eased by half.
She had been worried about getting knocked back and losing her balance.
Now that she no longer needed to worry, her confidence soared like a gust of wind.
‘Soldier ants? They’re nothing to be afraid of!’
She stepped to the side and thrust her sword forward, piercing through the ant’s mouth and driving the blade up, splitting its head open.
Without stopping, she leapt at the third ant and slashed her sword down.
The charging ant couldn’t react in time.
A crack split across its head, and green blood gushed out.
It collapsed, dead.
Bai Xue had dissected soldier ants before.
That’s when she realized just how sharp her black-and-white sword was—it could cut through steel like butter!
She didn’t even need to aim for the joints anymore.
Just slashing directly was enough to cause lethal damage!
The fourth ant opened its mandibles, ready to bite her as she landed.
But Bai Xue had no intention of giving it the chance.
With a rapid downward swing, she split its head in two.
She then swept sideways, striking down the fifth ant that had tried to flank her.
“Whew~” she let out a breath and wiped her forehead, though there was no sweat.
***
At that moment, the ant that had gotten stuck earlier had broken free and was charging toward her again.
Bai Xue didn’t dodge.
She sidestepped and thrust her sword forward, using its length to stab through the ant’s open mouth.
Then she turned and pulled the blade out in one smooth motion, retreating with ease.
The ant, carried by its own momentum, staggered forward two or three meters before collapsing to the ground, dead.
Having taken down five soldier ants with ease, Bai Xue looked over at Ye Lian—and couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth.
Ye Lian had already killed more than thirty!
And most of their shells were still intact.
Only the first few corpses were a bit broken.
Sensing an overwhelming threat, the Ant Queen finally joined the battle.
She opened her jaws and inhaled sharply, then sprayed a stream of green acid straight toward Ye Lian.
Ye Lian didn’t take it head-on.
With a light tap of her toe, she elegantly retreated a few meters away.
The green acid hit the ground with a hiss, emitting sizzling sounds and a plume of white smoke.
The remaining dozen or so soldier ants formed up in a battle formation and launched a fearless charge.
The enemy was hellbent on wiping out the hated intruder!
“Perfect timing.”
A flash of violet light glimmered in Ye Lian’s eyes as she swept her spear to the side.
A massive crescent-shaped wind blade shot out, slicing the charging soldier ants clean in half.
The remaining force landed directly on the Ant Queen, carving a deep gash into her body and spilling blood everywhere.
“Master, you’re amazing!” Bai Xue rushed over, her voice full of excitement.
Her expression resembled that of a fangirl meeting her idol, eyes sparkling with admiration.
“Careful. Something’s wrong,” Ye Lian said sharply, holding out her arm to stop Bai Xue.
Her tone was grave.
Bai Xue blinked in confusion and turned her gaze to the Ant Queen.
Despite the heavy injury, the creature remained motionless, staring at them with a chilling gaze.
“Run!” Ye Lian suddenly grabbed Bai Xue’s hand, as if realizing something was terribly wrong.
Just then, the Ant Queen opened her mouth wide and unleashed a strange psychic wave.
Her plump body began to swell rapidly like a balloon.
And then—with a loud bang—she exploded, flesh and blood bursting like a rain of shrapnel.
There was no time to dodge.
Ye Lian and Bai Xue had no choice but to defend with all their strength.
The Ant Queen’s self-detonation looked terrifying, but the damage it caused was negligible.
Neither of them even felt any pain.
“That was a shock,” Ye Lian muttered flatly, brushing off a chunk of meat from her shoulder.
“Ew! So gross, I’m covered in blood and meat!” Bai Xue grimaced in disgust.
“Didn’t expect it to self-destruct. That caught me off guard.”
Ye Lian retracted her spear and, with a thought, the blood and flesh stuck to her armor was ejected cleanly.
Her battle gear looked spotless again.
Bai Xue wasn’t so lucky.
She had to pick the bits off one by one, gagging from the stench and slime.
“I’m going to check for any loot. Keep an eye on the surroundings.”
Ye Lian gave the instruction calmly.
“Yes, Master,” Bai Xue nodded and held her sword at the ready, staying alert.
Ye Lian walked to the site of the explosion and found a palm-sized piece of white bone and some scattered debris on the ground.
“This bone didn’t shatter. Must be pretty sturdy.”
She crouched down and tapped it, clearly satisfied.
After putting the bone away, she looked around the area but couldn’t find anything else useful.
She returned, visibly disappointed.
“Master, did you find anything good?” Bai Xue asked.
“Just picked up a bone,” Ye Lian said with a frown.
“This Ant Queen didn’t even drop a single treasure? That’s surprising,” Bai Xue said as she sheathed her sword.
“Maybe all those fruits we looted earlier were her treasures.”
“Now that you mention it…” Bai Xue smiled, but her expression suddenly froze halfway through her sentence.
Her entire body began to burn with heat, and her head spun with dizziness.
It felt just like a severe fever—completely unbearable.
“What’s wrong?” Ye Lian immediately rushed to support her.
“You’re burning up—are you running a fever?”
“I think so,” Bai Xue whispered.
Her lips had turned dark, and her eyes were gradually tinting blood-red.
These symptoms were clearly more than just a fever.
Suddenly, something clicked in Ye Lian’s mind.
“Open your system panel and let me see!”
“Okay.”
Bai Xue obeyed and opened the panel.
Ye Lian glanced at her status and felt her heart skip a beat.
Bai Xue’s contamination level had reached 91!
No—wait—it was still rising.
In the blink of an eye, it hit 92!
“Could it be from the blood and flesh?” Ye Lian’s expression changed.
Before the Ant Queen exploded, Bai Xue had been completely fine.
But ever since the explosion, her contamination had been climbing rapidly.
There had to be a connection.
“Master… am I going to turn into a monster like Zhao Gang?” Bai Xue asked softly.
As her contamination increased, she felt not only the physical discomfort—but also a terrifying sense of her sanity slipping away.
After everything she’d endured to make it this far, ‘was it really going to end like this?’
She couldn’t accept it…
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.