The first to notice the strange change was Finn.
On the third level, there were three food storage pantries. Based on the direction from which the Killer Ants were appearing, they predicted the enemy base was near the eastern pantry. The elite members of the Loki Familia, plus Toki, moved forward steadily.
Despite being blocked repeatedly by waves of Killer Ants, they pressed on toward their objective. It was during this journey that something caught Finn's attention.
The frontline's movements seem off…?
They'd been on the third level for tens of minutes. The Killer Ants kept attacking relentlessly, and the frontline rotated their positions as they advanced.
The huge Killer Ants were estimated to be level 2. Their shells were tough, resistant to ordinary weapons. They charged indiscriminately, at the ceiling, the walls, so the fighters had to stay alert not just in front, but above and to the sides as well.
But these were veteran adventurers. At this level, the middle layer, monsters like these shouldn't wear them down. In fact, they were swiftly cutting down the advancing Killer Ants with ease. From the outside, everything seemed normal.
Yet Finn noticed something strange: the frontline's attacks were gradually missing the vital spots.
The corridors on this level weren't very wide, and the giant Killer Ants measured about three to four meters long. Leaving the bodies behind after defeating them would slow their progress and make further fighting difficult. So Finn instructed the frontline to target the monsters' magic stones instead.
Still, the attacks began to miss more often. Although the rear party was cleaning up the fallen, their speed couldn't keep up with the rate at which the ants were being felled.
Finn's thumb trembled slightly. This wasn't right. He opened his mouth to speak,
"Ah! What's that noise?!" shouted Bete, halting his movement.
"Huh? Noise?"
"I don't hear anything." said Ais and Tiona, who were fighting beside him.
"Come on! You don't hear that chirping from the back?"
"Nope, I don't hear anything either."
Bete's exasperated shout was met with Tiona teasing him, while Riveria gave a warning glance.
Finn was higher level than Bete, meaning his sensory enhancements from the Blessing were stronger. Although Finn was a Dwarf Pallum and Bete a Werewolf, their senses should still be comparable.
It was odd that Bete could hear something while Finn couldn't hear a thing.
"That leader… I've been hearing a whistle-like sound too." suggested Aki, the Catperson in the party.
"Really, Aki? You hear it but Finn doesn't?"
"Yeah."
Toki, who had just rotated to the rear, asked Finn, who nodded thoughtfully and then spoke:
"Could it be a dog whistle?"
"Wha, ?!" everyone exclaimed.
"Hey, snake guy, who said you're a dog?!" Bete snapped.
"No, I'm not calling Bete a dog, it's just that there really is such a thing as a dog whistle." Toki explained.
"A dog whistle? The kind used to train dogs or cats?" Raul asked, barely holding back laughter. Toki nodded.
Animals like dogs and cats can hear sounds beyond human range. Dog whistles emit those frequencies to train animals.
"But why does a dog whistle here…?"
There were no animals around, only the Killer Ants pushing forward and their own party.
"Bats…" Toki muttered.
"If I remember correctly, Soron used dog whistles to command bats too…"
"That's it!" Finn said sharply.
"Everyone, look for bats!"
"Bats?"
"They're probably disrupting our senses with sonic waves! They should be nearby!"
At the leader's command, the group strained their eyes, but couldn't spot anything.
The dungeon's dim lighting and the dense swarm of Killer Ants blocking their view made it impossible to get a clear sight.
"Lefiya!" Finn called.
"[Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree.]." the elf girl sang softly, recalling their last expedition at the 59th floor, when they fought a tainted spirit.
"[You are an expert of the bow. Shoot, sniper of the fairies. Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy]." she continued.
Because it was a strong enemy, she had learned and copied the technique, to stand beside her beloved Toki and admired Ais, and most of all, to rival her worthy opponent Bel.
"[Arcs Ray]!"
The beam of light cleared the Killer Ant swarm and stopped at the far end, the dead end.
"There!" Tiona shouted, pointing.
A bat clung to the ceiling there.
The bat took flight, trying to escape, but before it could get far, it was pierced and killed by a flying object.
"Well done, Tione." Finn praised.
The object was a knife thrown by Tione, who had spotted the bat almost simultaneously and struck it down.
Tione smiled at Finn's praise. Meanwhile, Toki spoke with Lefiya.
"That were quick reflexes, Tione." Toki said.
"Yeah." she agreed.
"Lefiya was amazing too. But seriously, how was her chant so fast? It was almost as quick as a normal short chant!"
Lefiya shook her head.
"Not quite. I can only do [Arcs Ray] so fast. I can't chant that quickly during parallel casting."
"That in itself is impressive."
The mood lightened slightly, until a rustling sound shattered it.
The source was the heavy footsteps of a giant Killer Ant.
"Ugh…"
"This is endless…"
The frontline groaned.
"Leader, Killer Ants are coming from behind too!" a party member reported.
Finn's face twitched.
Turning around, he saw the same scene unfolding behind them.
"Did we miss some?"
"No, I think it's a countermeasure for when the bats are taken out. They know it's almost impossible to beat us, so they're trying to wear us down mentally and escape once we're exhausted." Toki explained.
Even though Svartá's group specialized in fighting people, defeating high-level adventurers was nearly impossible. But mental fatigue would wear down the body as well. That's what they were counting on.
"We don't have time to kill them all. Ais, Bete, clear the enemies in front! We're running to the pantry! Tione, Tiona, cover the rear!" Finn ordered.
The young adventurers obeyed. Ais and Bete cut down the enemies with even greater speed, pushing the party forward. Tione and Tiona took down those chasing from behind.
𓂀═════════════𓂀
Minutes later, the group reached the eastern food storage pantry.
Instead of the towering quartz pillar, what first caught their eyes was a monster over 10 meters long guarding the entrance.
Its huge body surpassed even the floor boss Goliath's size and looked just like a Killer Ant, except it had massive wings on its back. From its abdomen, more Killer Ants were continuously born.
"A monster that births monsters…"
"Sounds like a Queen Killer Ant."
"Usually ants hatch from eggs, though." someone remarked.
The Queen Killer Ant killed about half the Killer Ants it gave birth to, devouring their magic stones. That indicated it was an 'Enhanced Species.'
"That's just… unfair."
"Exactly."
While the Loki Familia members watched the Queen Queen with fascination, Toki frowned.
Svartá and his group weren't here.
No one was inside the pantry except the Queen and the animals blessed by the Blessing.
The animals were diverse, dogs, cats, eagles, hawks, foxes, horses, all staring, no, glaring at them.
"They've already fled… or maybe this whole place is a decoy?"
Toki gritted his teeth in frustration, barely audible.
"Well done. Good guess." said a firm voice.
But Toki tilted his head. He didn't recognize the speaker.
Looking around again, there were still no people. No sign of anyone hiding.
"Where are you looking? Over here."
The voice came clearly from straight ahead.
"Eh!?" Tiona gasped suddenly.
"What is it?"
"That cat, "
She pointed at a black cat that looked old and ordinary at first glance.
"It spoke…!"
Her strained words froze the party for a moment.
"Kakkakka! I'm glad you called me that, young Amazon." the old cat said.
"Long time no see, Toki."
"…No way. Malar?"
"Yes."
Toki's expression was disbelief.
"If I remember correctly, Malar is over 20 years old now, right?"
"That's right."
"Seriously?"
The average cat lifespan was 10 to 16 years, roughly 54 to 78 in human years. Twenty cat years equaled about 94 human years.
"It seems cats can survive if they have the will. Thanks to that, I've become like this."
Malar wagged two tails.
"They call me a Nekomata. A type of monster from the Far East."
"…You really find everything over there, don't you?"
"I wasn't expecting this one either." Toki said, wiping cold sweat, scanning the surroundings.
Animals and Killer Ants surrounded them. The entrance was blocked by countless Killer Ants, making retreat difficult.
"We're done for."
"Yes, we are."
"Well, you'll be with us for a while."
Malar and the animals prepared for battle, and the adventurers raised their weapons in response.
"With those guys here, I doubt they'll slip away. What do you want to do?"
"I want to test a spell. Can you handle the girls?"
"Girls… ah, I see. Okay. Everyone agrees?"
Finn nodded at Toki's request, and the adventurers gave their consent. One looked away, though.
"Trying to run away? Not on my watch!" Malar's call sparked an all-out attack from the animals and Killer Ants. The giant Queen shrieked sharply.
Amid the chaos, a boy's song began:
"[Power that sleeps through eternal time,]"
==========
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