Nearby in the tunnel, Ben walked beside one of the Krell scouts.
His plan was to act as a third faction that wanted to work with the ant queen to attack Elvira.
He could not say that directly.
It would sound too strange.
So they made a plan.
Ben would approach the nest and let Elvira attack him.
She would then retreat, leaving Ben alone to negotiate with the ant queen.
After that, Alex would try to lure part of the ant army into the trap they had prepared.
But things did not follow the plan.
As soon as Ben reached the ant queen's territory, a dozen ant soldiers watched him in silence.
They did not rush forward.
They did not even twitch.
They just stood there like statues.
"Am I in the right place?
This should be near the entrance," he thought.
Ben motioned for the Krell scout to move closer.
The scout slowly inched forward, but the ants still did not react.
They should have attacked by now so they could move to the next step of the plan.
Curious, Ben picked up a stone block and dropped it on top of one ant.
Bam.
The stone smashed down and crushed the ant's head.
[You get 10x biomass]
"They are still not moving even after that?" Ben thought.
He was curious, but there was no way he would waste this chance.
He looked around and counted.
"1, 2, 3...
26 ants."
Twenty-six stone blocks appeared above the unmoving ants.
Pulled by gravity, they fell like heavy blades over each target.
Ben's lips curled into a grin.
With this much biomass, he should be able to create a few more scouts.
His smile faded at once.
Through the Krell sense, he felt something dangerous coming.
A projectile flew at supersonic speed.
It was even faster than a bullet from his old world.
Bam.
It punched through his chest and left a hole.
Sharp pain spread out from the wound, but Ben ignored it.
His flesh already started to move.
The wound closed and healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Ben kicked off the ground and leaped to the side.
Several more projectiles flew past and struck the cavern walls.
He narrowed his eyes and focused.
The projectiles were pieces of chitin.
"That looks like it was torn from an ant," he thought.
Before he could study it more, the ground began to shake.
From the tunnel entrance, a group of ants poured out.
Ben quickly turned away.
He pulled out a pickaxe and began to dig a new tunnel.
With his enhanced strength, he swung the tool fast.
For the moment, he stayed ahead of the pursuing ants.
His mind raced while he ran.
"Should I lead them to the trap?
Or try something else?
But what can I actually do?" he thought.
Meanwhile, Elvira already knew what was happening.
The other Krell scout stood with her and had relayed the information.
"This is troublesome," she said.
"With that kind of power, it is probably the king."
Based on her knowledge, the king's next move would be to take control of the nest and devour the remaining ants to finish his evolution.
Then he would choose four princesses and turn them into his new queens.
After that, a new breeding cycle would begin.
The king would provide the nutrients, and the queens would give birth to ant generals.
Those generals would be sent out to hunt for more nutrients.
At the same time, the ant queens would start producing ant soldiers nonstop.
The colony would then expand in an aggressive way.
"Seems I have no choice, just in case," she thought.
Her finger started to glow blue.
She made a series of gestures in the air, activating some kind of spell.
Back with Ben, his luck turned worse.
Instead of digging a tunnel far away from his enemies, he broke through and fell into the queen's chamber.
In front of him stood the ant king.
The king's appearance reminded Ben of Elvira.
The upper body was humanoid, but the lower body was fully that of an ant.
Even with a human-like torso and two arms, the creature still looked close to an insect.
Its jaws were still chewing on some flesh.
In one hand it held a sharp object.
Ben focused and recognized it.
It was a piece of chitin armor torn from one of the ants.
Swoosh.
The king hurled it again.
This time, Ben tilted his head and avoided the flying shard.
As he moved, he sharpened his senses and spread them through the chamber.
He checked the number and type of enemies.
"Three ant princesses.
One monstrous ant, probably the king.
No soldiers.
That half-eaten big corpse is probably the ant queen, but she is dead," he thought.
He glanced toward the main entrance and the hole in the top of the dome.
"Krell scout, buy me time," Ben ordered.
The Krell obeyed at once.
It leaped toward the ant king.
Its fist clenched and drove a punch at the king's head.
The ant king watched the attack with interest.
He did not even move.
The punch landed on his face and a loud boom echoed in the chamber.
Using the recoil, the Krell scout kicked out once more, then used the force to push itself away from the king and create distance.
At the same time, Ben jumped upward.
He pulled out a stone wall from his storage, this one modified so the far side was covered in spikes.
"Build a spiked stone wall," he ordered.
The wall appeared in midair and blocked the opening in the dome.
Ben created a few more layers behind it to reinforce the barrier.
Looking down, he took out another spiked stone wall, this one angled so the sharp points faced the ant king.
He summoned many such walls and dropped them, filling almost the entire room with falling stone and spikes.
[Chitinous Shield]
[Metamorphosis]
He activated the two skills.
His body started to change.
Jet-black chitin armor spread and covered him from head to toe.
One of his hands transformed into an ant claw.
With the other, he took out a weapon he had crafted earlier.
It was a bronze spear.
He hurled it toward the Krell scout.
Back when they had escaped before, Ben had put the spear into his inventory.
It had not been practical to carry a long weapon while running through narrow tunnels.
The ant king looked up at the falling walls.
His jaws opened wide and he let out a powerful scream.
If Ben were still human, that sound would have killed him.
His eardrums would have burst at once.
Thanks to [Metamorphosis], Ben could alter his body.
He quickly removed his hearing.
All the stone walls shattered under the impact of that single scream.
They broke apart into small fragments and dust.
The Krell scout, who was too close to the king, was also hit.
It was stunned on the spot and its chitin armor cracked.
The bronze spear dropped and landed beside the Krell.
A rain of stone fragments followed right after.
Ben used the falling debris as temporary platforms.
He stepped and jumped from one to another, moving straight toward the ant king.