Chapter 186 - Besieged
Zorbek and the palace guards drew their swords in response to the cry for help, but someone else responded even quicker.
Leon's black spear flew past them from low altitude before suddenly curving up and shot straight through the soldier ant's eyes and crushed its brain.
The ant went limp before the palace guard was able to free himself, tossing the ant to the side.
The surrounding palace guards became alarmed when the carcass continued twitching and movement after landing on the ground.
"It's still alive!"
The palace guards gripped their swords and made several slashes, chopping off the head and even the legs.
Zorbek looked at this scene and felt something was not right. The ant didn't try fight back at all.
"Stop! It's just reacting to stimulus! It's already been killed under his Highness's spear!"
"What? It's dead?"
Startled and confused, the palace guards halted their attacks as ordered with perplexed expressions.
Sure enough, the carcass became motionless after a short moment.
"This… this wasn't part of the information we were provided…"
The palace guards gawked with embarrassment. They had overreacted and made a fool out of themselves.
"A body that still moves even after its death... That's so creepy." Lilith said.
Her comment received many rigorous nods in agreement. Right, right? They were in the middle of enemy territory. It was normal for them to try and kill anything that moves besides them.
"Be careful of the acidic blood." Leon shook his head and reminded.
His kill was very clean, but now it became a mess with blood was spilt everywhere due to their panic attacks.
He made a grabbing gesture and the black spear flew back into his grasp.
Zorbek and palace guards looked back at the prince with surprise. The prince had been very quick and decisive in his actions.
They also noticed dissipating grey glow from the use of [Spirit Eyes] again.
The palace guards thought that by having the prince accompany them, the prince would just drag them down. But now, they were ashamed to have such thoughts initially.
He was more qualified for this expedition than any of them. He would have still made this trip, with or without them.
After being dropped into cave filled with spiders, he knew exactly how dangerous it could get if the ants start swarming them. He had to execute the ant before its cry for help.
"Your Highness, how many times can you use [Spirit Eyes]?" Captain Zorbek asked curiously.
"As many times as I want, technically." Leon answered, before proceeding to ask, "Why?"
After reaching Energy Condensation Realm, auxiliary spirit arts like [Spirit Eyes], which augments the bodily functions and not exert force outside, would not expend his energy reserve.
He's only concern in the usage of [Spirit Eyes] was the burden placed on his eyes by the weight of his own energy.
"Is that right?"
Zorbek was taken aback. Evidently, he was very surprised. It came to his attention that the prince's divine cultivation was very advanced. Perhaps, the prince wasn't really a one-star ranked awakener, but an equivalent divine practitioner.
This shouldn't have been a surprise as the breathing technique currently being practiced by the mass were provided by the prince. But with the scarceness of spirit energy, he had no idea how the prince cultivated to such heights.
"It seems that I won't be able to use it more than a few times. It decreases my divine cultivation progress with each usage." Zorbek answered with creased brows, before asking, "Is there a way to prevent my loss of spirit energy, your Highness?"
Practitioners from the Divine Realm would have answered his question sarcastically with, "You can try not using it?"
Stupid questions will always receive stupid answers. How could a mere Body Tempering Realm practitioner dream of using spirit arts without paying the adequate price?
However, this was not the Divine Realm, so Zorbek was spared the sneers of contempt from fellow practitioners.
Instead, Captain Zorbek's question immediately raised Lilith interest. She was also curious about [Spirit Eyes] and divine cultivation. This was news to her. She perked her ears, ready to listen in on their conversation.
However, she became frustrated when Leon responded with, "Oh? You succeeded in using [Spirit Eyes] on your first try?"
Selective hearing!
Her parents were not amicable and were always seen arguing with one another. Back then, she never understood why her mother would always suddenly become angry when talking to her father, but now she was slowly beginning to understand her mother's frustration. Men only hear what they want to hear!
Unaware of Lilith's frustration, Leon continued speaking to Zorbek.
"I'm surprised you would spend time in practicing that breathing technique, but it's still too early for you to use [Spirit Eyes] without paying the price."
"Alright, enough wasting time. Let's enter."
Leon ended the conversation without much explanation.
Zorbek nodded without complaint. They were on a mission.
Learning there were ants in the building, the group began entering with heightened vigilance. Inside, there were several more ants roaming the top floor they were on.
They quickly made quick work of the ants with clean kills through the eyes. However, some blood still manages to spill on floor with a 'Psh' sound. Some time-worn papers on the floor were dissolved as a result.
"Increase the lighting. It should be safer inside."
"Yes, Captain."
With the light sources brightening, a clearer picture of the building interior. Several objects and points of interest were revealed. There were runes and high-tech equipment but none of which the usage could be discerned. Few books and papers lied scattered along the dusty floor.
Leon picked up one such book without much hope of reading, but his eyes widened in surprise at the language. It was the universal language of the Divine Realm. This… This was something he could read.
His surprise only lasted a split second, before he recovered and began flipping through the book with fake nonchalance.
"There's some crystals here!" A palace guard exclaimed excitedly. The discovery of more crystal was good news.
However…
Some shuffled movements that appeared to be coming from below them soon followed.
"What was that?"
The group immediately became tensed.
"There may be more ants below."
"We need to kill them quickly before they call for more." Leon said. He closed his book with a frown. There was no time to read.
"Yes, your Highness."
The staircase and an elevator were quickly spotted. The palace guards immediately chose the staircase without hesitation. Forget about knowing how to operate something in a language they didn't understand, it might not even work!
As they headed down, the ants were found rushing up towards them.
"Kill!" Zorbek issued the order.
However, not long after the order was issued, did he notice a big problem. The staircase only allowed for two people to walk side by side comfortable, three if they squeeze together. The staircase was too narrow for them to fight effectively!
Even if the palace guard at the forefront could kill the ants by himself, with so many rushing at them, they would be quickly pinned down like the previous victim.
Furthermore, his senses were picking up several dozens of ants. This was too disadvantageous for them.
"Not good! Retreat! We can't fight here!"
The palace guard immediately retreated.
Just as the last palace guard was about to make it back up the ants weren't so lucky and had his waist area caught by its mandibles. The steel armor creaked and started bending under the sheer force of the ant's bite.
"Ah! Help!"
Being caught in his blind spot, he couldn't kill the ant with his sword. The other palace guards began hesitant as their comrade dangled randomly in front of them. They couldn't kill the ant when their comrade was being used as a shield.
"Ahhh!" The palace guard cried in pain as the ant continue to exert force on its bite, crushing the palace guard.
It was at this moment, Leon's black spear shot past. It curved around the palace guard and struck the ant dead under his metal manipulation.
"Grab him!"
The palace guard dropped to the ground as two other palace guards grabbed his arms and dragged him to safety, while the others fought off the rest.
Being in open space, it was much easier for them to fight. They fell an ant with each slash with anger burning in their eyes and the carcasses began to pile up around the start of the staircase one after the other.
"Let me have a look at him!"
Making his way over, Leon saw the crushed armor. The palace guard survived, thanks to the armor protecting him. But now, it was applying pressure on his ribs and organs.
Leon used his metal manipulation to bend the armor back into shape and free the poor palace guard from the crushing feeling.
"How is he?" Zorbek asked with concern. He wore a terrible expression. This was a result of his poor command.
"He is fine." Leon said as he gestured for the black spear to fly back into his grasp. He noticed Zorbek's expression and patted him on the shoulder with his other hand. "Don't be hard on yourself. This one was on me. It could have been worse if not for your quick judgement.
Zorbek nodded silently.
Soon, the ants were all killed, and their acidic blood began pervading the area. Lilith pinched her nose with a frown began to complain. "It's started to smell now."
Suddenly, the floor began to shake with trembling noises. The group did not get to rest before they became alarmed once more. The trembling filled them with dread and trepidation.
"What is going on now?"
"This trembling is coming from outside…?"
"Could it be an army of ants rushing towards our location!?
"What! How is that possible? The information said these ants rely on their sight. We've been inside this building for some time now and the lighting doesn't make it outside!"
"It's smell!" Leon quickly recalled Lilith's complaint, before continuing, "These ants attracted by the blood of their kind!"
Leon peered outside with his [Spirit Eyes] and his expression quickly turned heavy. A large army of ants just entered his field of vision.
"We've been surrounded! It's too late to retreat!"
"Shit! What do we do!?" The palace guards began to despair at the news. Nothing seemed to be going right since their got here.
Zorbek's mind spun for a solution, as did Leon.
"Use the ant's carcasses to barricade the hole!" Leon quickly ordered.
"This…"
The palace guards hesitated. Shouldn't they try to break through and escape back the first floor? How will they leave if they trap themselves inside here?
"Do as his Highness say!" Zorbek barked angrily. They didn't have the luxury to be wasting time!
The angry roar jolted the palace guards into action.. The heavy carcasses brought over to fill the hole one after another. They were quick, but not quick enough! Battle was inevitable!