Nickie watched her strongest attack streak past the defending ants. Her team had done perfectly and intercepted any attempts by the guardian ants to stop it. They knew they had bitten off more than they could chew. Things would have been bad if the Demon hadn't shown up when he did. They would have to share their loot, at least the ones he killed. But that wouldn't matter. If they killed the boss monster now then it would be all theirs. Who cares if he got some of the other ant's cores and mutagen?
Despite appearances, they had come fully prepared. The only reason they were having difficulty with the ants was that she had been holding back the entire time. Her Dandelion staff had the unique ability to passively change a single channeled spell. It greatly limited their ability, allowing them only a few spells to be cast or they risked stopping the process and losing all the work put into it. They had been charging their strongest spell since before they even entered the hive. Relying on just their teammates to do all the fighting. But all of them were B ranks.
The idea of moving on to the next area hadn't been one they wanted. To go from being top dogs to bottom of the barrel again? No way. Not while they could easily farm boss monsters. They were the most likely to drop skills, which with the huge decline in attribute gains were more important at their ranks.
The trio had thought themselves quite clever in not rushing to the next stage like most that hit B rank.
But even with their high attributes and solid teamwork, the hive had turned out to be more than they expected. They were debating on retreating when the sudden appearance of Jake had turned the tides. Now they just wanted to make sure they got the boss kill.
That dense sphere of wind blades screamed as it entered the dark room. So full of power it glowed a silvery light, illuminating the darkness. Nickie had aimed not for the head of the monster. It might be a weakness but the hard carapace was actually a bad match for the cutting damage of their attack. Instead, she aimed for the soft bloated abdomen of the monster. It wasn't armored like the rest and would allow the full damage potential of her attack to do its job.
It hit right below where the hardened carapace ended. Countless blades sharper than any razor and harder than steel erupted in an endless barrage from the point of impact. Rubbery veined flesh parted easily and gushed out fountains of ichor. Maturing eggs were shredded and developing pupa filled the air with insect viscera as the attack drove deeper while spreading out wide. The Queen shrieked so loudly that the walls shook and all but Jake's eardrums began to bleed. Only he with his full visor was protected enough to prevent it. Still, it left his brain rattled. Even the warrior ants seemed dazed, swaying and stumbling around while their antennae twitching frantically.
As Nickie's spell finally used up the last of its power and faded away. In the dying light of the spell, they could see the horrifying damage it had wrought. That building sized abdomen was hollowed out, like a giant dripping cavern of gore. Countless unlaid eggs were destroyed and the entire floor of the hatchery was covered in a pool of visceral slime. It pooled around the yet unhatched eggs. Warrior ants rushed the group as the queen shrieked out in pain and anger.
Jake lunged forward his oversized fist smashing into the face of the leading ant. Its slashing blades scissored in on him as the insect's head exploded in a spray of chitin and ichor. Tech faction armor had the benefit of working with the player's body. Utilizing the unique energy of every organic lifeform able to safely transverse the wasteland that was once Earth to produce a physical damage barrier or shield around them. Jake's unique armor also had the ability to do the same for elemental or magical damage, just like the magic factions equipment. It was the work of the legendary crafter, the Artist. None could deny it was a powerful piece of equipment, but one that nearly killed him to equipt. Only his passive skill Survivor's Fury which essentially gave him an extra life once every twelve hours allowed him to survive the process.
Now those razor sharp bladed limbs that could easily cleave through hardened steel bounced harmlessly off of him. It did drain a good portion of his defense's power, represented by a glowing blue haze that covered the bottom half of his health bar.
Even though the ant's head was destroyed the body refused to die. Flailing about as both it and Jake hit the ground. Ignoring the slashing blades he instead grabbed one of the arms by the base and then grunted as he swung the entire ant like a club. His clawed feet dug into the stone floor that shattered under their combined weight before he let go, launching the body of the ant like a missile at another charging enemy.
Several warrior ants crashed down on him only to find the space he had been in empty. Instead, he appeared out of thin air to intercept another as it tried to ambush the trio. One oversized fist smashed down into the segment between the ant's thorax and abdomen from above. The force of his blow nearly tore the ant in half as it crashed to the ground behind the trio.
"Isn't he supposed to be D ranked?" The plasma gunner spoke as she gasped for breath. All the joins in her hands and arm were sore from the constant recoil. Plasma guns unlike pure energy rifles had recoil similar to their ballistic cousins. It might not be as high but the recoil from sustained fire combined with the one off special attacks were starting to hurt. Their magical companions were running on fumes now too. Fire spells were powerfully destructive but consumed a great deal of power to utilize. Air spells were more efficient but a bad match up against the armored ants. Worse, they had used up most of their power in the big attack against the queen.
"Loot the boss then let's get out of here." Blaze the fire mage added, coming to the same conclusion as the rest.
As one the trio turned towards the hatchery planning on entering it when another world shaking shriek emerged from it. Blaze pointed her staff, one made of glowing metal, at the hatchery entrance and fired off a small blast of fire even as they gritted their teeth in pain. It was less an attack and more simply to see what was going on inside the room.
The Queen wasn't dead.
That slender armored upper body was flailing around in a frenzy. Those enormous bladed limbs dug into the stone walls and with a sickening squelching sound, it pulled free of the destroyed abdomen. Ichor and gore gushed out as it did. As the flame died down the trio glanced around expecting warrior ants to be closing in. Instead, the remaining warrior ants were scrambling out of the chamber.
Nickie turned back towards the hatchery just in time to see another bladed limb rushing towards their face. This one was large enough that it was going to cleave off the heads of all three at once in a single swipe. For a second time in a hand full of minutes, a blade stopped right in front of them, another gush of wind washing over them. This one with enough force that it almost knocked them over.
Again, the Demon was there in front of them. Gripping the claw with just their oversized left hand. Both their armored and clawed feet had been planted halfway to their knees into the stone floor from the impact but other than that they stood perfectly still. They raised their right arm and cocked it back. The trio could see the vortex web design on the back of their hand begin spinning in a dizzying display. Their body twisted and their left arm went back pulling the ant towards them as they swung their right fist forward. With a sound like a bomb going off that oversized fist smashed into the chest of the Queen. The gargantuan sized insect was a blur as they were launched back towards the hatchery. Half their body hit the edge of the entrance and the stone broke apart as they now spun into the room to slam into the far wall.
It had all happened in the span of a single heartbeat. That Queen had been fast. Too fast. They hadn't even seen it move. All three realized at that moment this was a foe beyond them.
"Damn it." The deep robotic voice growled as they glared at their right fist. "This stupid upgrade doesn't do anything." Before anyone could react the Queen was back. Seeming to appear out of nowhere both arms slashed down again. Both blades cut deep into the ground right where Jake had been standing. He appeared in the air right above the creature's head, both fist raised above his head as he brought them down. Unlike the others, the queen didn't explode under the terrifying blow. Instead, they crashed down into the already damaged floor. Rolling away from the impact the floor shattered in a wave outwards, nearly toppling the trio over.
Jake landed before the insect. The moment he touched down he spun on spot and sent it flying back into the hatchery with a kick. "I don't have time for this. I have somewhere else to be. This was supposed to be a quick stop for more cores." His robotic voice sounded annoyed as he walked toward the hatchery. With his hud's enhanced vision he could see the queen inside flailing around. His kick had destroyed one of the multifaceted eyes, caving it in. Ichor and fragments of the eye dripped down its giant head.
"You three get out of here. I don't want to accidentally kill anyone else." He left the dim light of the glow moss in the outer chamber, fading into the darkness of the hatchery. Despite his warning, the three remained frozen as they strained their eyes into that darkness. Then a strange sound came from the hatchery. Although soft and low they could somehow hear it over the high shrill cries of the Hive Queen. It was the crackle and pop of wood in a fire. Tiny specs of orange light bloomed in the darkness and then multiplied rapidly. Soon they formed the outline of two huge fists and arms. Like smoldering embers, Jake's gauntlets started glowing from his fist all the way up to his shoulders. The harsh light illuminated the enraged Hive Queen as its one remaining eye focused on the source of their anger. This time the trio saw it move, its legs a blur, its clawed hands slashing through the stone as it streaked towards Jake. The glow of embers brightened as the first bit of flames licked at his limbs. Rising up like two dancing serpents of flame on either side of him as he stood perfectly still, arms hanging at his side. Darkness returned as the flaming visage vanished. Then reappeared above the ant that had just buried their bladed limbs once again into the ground where Jake had been standing. Those arms bathed in flame flared up, pushing back the darkness in an instant.
Blaze's eyes went wide and they pointed their staff towards the hatchery and brought up a wall of flame directly in front of the entrance. The plasma gunner, Harlie, cried out in surprise as the waves of heat washed over them. Their tech armor providing them no defense against the flames, unlike their two companions. Their cry of shock turned into one of pure terror as the heat rose even higher. The world turned into a blinding sea of fire for a searing instance as Blaze's wall of flame collapsed.