Chapter 111: Ant King

Chapter 111: The Ant King

Boom!

Bred’s figure was sent flying over ten meters, crashing into the swarm of ants.

The ore exploded, shattering into nothingness.

In its place stood a crimson iron-eating ant.

This red iron-eater was even larger than a second-stage one—

two meters tall, six or seven meters long.

Of the four men who had been carrying ore, two lay dead, two wounded.

Bred vanished into the ant horde, fate unknown.

Rota, catching sight of the red ant, cried out in alarm: “The Ant King!”

Guzer instinctively turned to him. “How strong?”

Rota’s face twisted with bitterness. “Earlier, the Ant King must have been evolving—that’s why the swarm guarded it so fiercely. Now that its evolution is complete… it’s at least a third-rank magical beast!”

Hearing this, Guzer’s heart sank. Retreat was already forming in his mind.

A third-rank Ant King?

Far beyond his capabilities.

A second-rank iron-eater—he might still fight it, find a way.

But a third-rank Ant King? With his current strength, provoking it was suicide.

The Ant King turned toward the group, their reflections glinting in its eyes.

Then—in an instant—it became a streak of scarlet lightning, hurtling toward them.

Whoosh!

“Shield rebound!”

A second-rank knight raised his shield, attempting to block the charging Ant King and buy time for the others.

Boom!

The next moment, both knight and shield were flung over ten meters through the air.

The man slammed into the cavern wall; the shield embedded itself deep into stone.

The sheer power of the Ant King was terrifying.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

It plunged into the crowd, slaughtering swiftly—no one could resist.

Just as they had slaughtered the iron-eaters moments before.

“Too fast! I can’t even aim!”

Veld, the only second-rank mage present, spoke through clenched teeth.

Sweat beaded on his forehead. He sensed disaster.

The Ant King seemed to be coming straight for him.

Judging by what he’d seen, his second-rank magic barrier wouldn’t last a second against the Ant King.

Panic gripped his chest.

He screamed in terror: “Stop it! Stop it now!”

“Wall of Fire!”

In desperation, Veld cast a blazing wall before himself.

Boom!

The Ant King smashed through the flames, its body now alight, charging forward.

The fire painted its crimson form even more vivid—a living inferno.

“Swamp Spell!”

Plop!

Another mage cast nearby, trying to slow the beast.

The Ant King stepped into the mire—one second later, it wrenched free.

The swamp was too small. It couldn’t halt such relentless advance.

Before the Ant King’s monstrous strength, no obstacle stood firm.

Boom!

Veld was hurled backward, three glowing runes bursting from his body in rapid succession.

Every defensive charm he carried shattered—only then did they absorb the force of a single blow.

The Ant King whirled, sweeping its tail across the remaining fighters.

In moments, the group was scattered, broken.

Those farther away watched in horror—and relief. They hadn’t drawn near. They had survived.

Li Wei stared at the Ant King, silent, calculating.

Unlike the rock wyrm, this creature was far faster, more agile, stronger.

A charged fireball might kill it—but hitting it? Doubtful.

This was a true third-rank magical beast.

A third-rank powerhouse, without weakness.

Li Wei glanced at Guzer and the others fleeing the battlefield, then turned and vanished into the depths of the cave.

“Screech!”

The Ant King stood atop the carnage, roaring.

Humans lay strewn behind them, fleeing in disarray.

But the Ant King did not pursue.

Instead, it led the swarm of iron-eaters back into the Lake of Flowing Silver.

It had just broken through—now it needed time to stabilize its new rank.

Whoosh!

The golden ant-eater’s serpent head retracted, strands of iron-ants clinging to it, coiled around a stone.

Shadow Servant handed the stone to Li Wei.

Li Wei gestured for it to place the stone directly on the ground. The golden anteater’s tongue glistened with mucus and acid potent enough to corrode metal.

Li Wei dared not touch it.

The golden anteater set the stone down, extended its claws, crushed it into fragments, and from within tumbled a piece of deep, shimmering mithril ore.

Li Wei carefully picked it out.

Glancing left and right, he flicked a jet of flame from his fingertip, igniting the mithril stone.

Hiss, hiss, hiss!

The creature’s mucus and acid burned away completely.

Li Wei retrieved the ore.

Within the profound silver metal were specks of black and brown earth.

Mithril ore required refining before yielding high-purity mithril.

The higher the purity, the greater its worth.

Refining demanded skilled hands—alchemists, potion masters, or blacksmiths could all do it.

Li Wei weighed the ore in his palm; it wasn’t heavy—no more than three or four pounds.

The refined mithril would likely be meager.

Hardly enough to forge a proper magical weapon.

He slipped the stone into his cloak’s pocket.

“Let’s go.”

He had taken only a few steps when two figures leapt from ahead.

“Stop! Hand over the mithril ore!”

“Your summon may be powerful, but under these circumstances, you’d best surrender it quietly.”

An assassin materialized behind Li Wei, blade pressed against his throat.

The golden anteater twitched.

The men shouted in alarm: “Don’t move! Command your beast to lie still!”

The assassin tightened the dagger against Li Wei’s neck. “Behave yourself!”

Then—hesitation.

“Wait… what is this?”

The assassin felt something wrong through the blade.

This wasn’t the texture of skin.

Li Wei swept a cold gaze over them. “Kill them.”

Whoosh!

A crimson tongue lashed out like lightning, piercing the two men in front.

They tried to dodge, to resist—useless.

They couldn’t even see the tongue move.

The assassin realized something was amiss. Desperate, he unleashed his combat technique, aiming to drag Li Wei into death with him.

“Heart Piercer!”

Crack, crack, crack!

The dagger struck an invisible armor.

Snap!

One layer shattered.

Li Wei raised an eyebrow, almost impressed. “Not bad. Quite impressive.”

Hope flared in the assassin’s eyes as he roared, “Call it off! Or I’ll kill you!”

Li Wei sneered. “Have you mistaken something?”

The dagger slid across Li Wei’s back, meant as a threat.

Clang, clang!

Seeing it blocked, the assassin’s face twisted in shock.

“The magic shield was already broken—?!”

Li Wei replied calmly, “Apologies. I have many layers.”

Thud!

A long tongue erupted from behind, impaling the assassin, lifting him off his feet, hurling him away from Li Wei.

Boom!

The corpse crashed to the ground.

The assassin died with eyes wide open.

Li Wei glanced at the dead man.

His strength was no joke—his ultimate strike could wound even a second-rank warrior.

He’d managed to break one layer of Li Wei’s invisible armor.

For a first-rank assassin, that was remarkable.

Li Wei casually reinforced his invisible armor once more.

“Shadow Servant, clean the battlefield.”

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

All belongings on the corpses flew toward Li Wei.

He collected coin pouches and anything portable, tossing the rest to the golden anteater.

Crunch, crunch, crunch! A brittle, satisfying snap.

As it walked, the beast ate.

Its wounds had healed; the metallic scales on its body now gleamed thicker, harder.

(End of Chapter)