THE KALAH D'MITHRIUM
The Queen ant's antennae could sense air movements and vibrations. Those were her abilities that detected my presence and location. By cutting her antennae, the Queen ant couldn't detect me properly and was fighting against me blindly.
But despite such a handicap, I still had no clear way to kill the Queen Ant.
Before I could think of a solution to deal with the Queen ant, her antennas grew back again, and she could sense my presence again.
"Damnit, I must kill the Queen before her antennae grow back. It won't be easy to cut them again now that she knew I will do that", I told myself.
Soon, the Queen Ant's antennae regrew. She dashed toward me with her strongest mandible crush, hoping to kill me in a single move.
"Silver Mandible Crush"
"Arrrrghhhhhh"
Suddenly, the queen's mandibles caught and crushed my body.
"Why didn't you teleport away like last time? hahaha", the Queen ant asked me and laughed.
But I didn't plan to evade her because she was where I wanted her to be, right in front of me locking me with her mandibles.
"Because I need you right here", I replied to her in my mind.
"Sword of Malevolence"
I didn't know whether casting my Dark Angel sword was wise at this point because I hadn't absorbed all the ingredients that were needed by the Sword Monolith in my soul realm. The last time I cast my Sword of Malevolence prematurely, it caused me to lose my sword entirely.
But I was left with no other choice. The Sword of Malevolence was the only magic that could kill the Metallic Queen ant.
A long and wide sword was suddenly conjured from where I was locked by the ant queen's mandibles and the sword quickly pierced out like fabrics that could absorb the light around it.
The Ant Queen couldn't escape the thrust of my magical swords. My Sword of Malevolence grew longer and soon pierced into the Queen's thorax and then her abdomen.
Suddenly, the Queen Ant exploded in millions of light rays that shot out from her body.
My Sword of Malevolence consumed the Queen Ant in her entirety leaving nothing behind.
The magic battle dome around us disappeared as I fell to the ground. My Sword of Malevolence did not cease its killing intent. The fabrics of lightlessness from the sword transformed into magical claws that rushed to the ants.
With speed and efficiency, the claws of the Sword of Malevolence grabbed the ants, workers and soldiers alike, crushing them before devouring their magic, soul and even bones.
When I fell to the ground, I suddenly became unconscious.
----
I was transported into my soul realm unwittingly and the Monolith Sword Tower spoke to me again. This was the voice of the Dark Angel, a nascent soul that now resided here and his infant body was floating in the sky above us.
"You have done well Incarnate. You have captured the Kalah D'Mithrium", the voice said to me.
"What is the Kalah D'Mithrium?" I asked the voice.
"The Ant Queen that you just killed is the Kalah D'Mithrium and she is the source of Mithrium metals in the Ten-Kingdoms", the voice replied to me.
"Why do you need the Ant Queen? She isn't part of the ingredients that was prescribed to me for the construction of the Sword Monolith," I asked the voice.
"The Kalah D'Mithrium will satisfy all your Mithrium metal requirements. You do not need to take any more Mithrium to cast the Sword of Malevolence", the voice said to me.
"What is the deal with the Queen ant and the Mithrium?" I asked the Dark Angel.
"The Queen Ant whose real name is Kalah D'Mithrium is the originator of all Mithrium. When her ants consume humans or other magical beings with their poisonous venom, Mithrium will be formed in the body of the dead victim which would be absorbed by them", the voice explained to me.
"So, this is the apostle's Mithrium mine and it exists because of the Queen Ant?" I asked the Dark Angel.
"This chamber is the altar of the Kalah D'Mithrium, her sacrificial chamber. The apostles found this den of Kalah D'Mithrium and offers sacrifices to her, so that her minions would produce Mithrium.
Some of the Mithrium produced that are not consumed by them, would be left in the mine and the miners will mine those Mithrium", the Dark Angel told me about this Mithrium mine.
"So, the Vortex Beast appearing in this mine is due to the apostles. They brought them here to feed the Ant Queen?", I said to the voice and asked.
"Yes, and the miners too. If there are no suitable offerings, the miners' lives would be offered as sacrifices to the Mithrium ants", the voice explained to me.
"Damn those evil apostles, they brought the Temple prisoners here as sacrifice to offer to the Ant Queen", I complained to myself.
"I told you before, the Angels and I, we are both, neither good nor evil. We are just gods that determines the fate of men, when it suited us. You will become a part of us and become God of this world if you only choose to accept us", The soul of the Dark Angel told me.
"I still maintain my choice. I will not become you or a part of you although I can help you revive, if you help me grow stronger", I told the Dark Angel.
"You have all the strength and power at our disposal", the Dark Angel replied to me.
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"What happened to you?" Ratatouille asked me when I woke up.
"I killed that damn bitch queen", I replied to him.
"Yes, you did and all the Mithrium ants, workers and soldiers alike. Your Sword of Malevolence killed all of them. Hell, they will kill me if I didn't hide inside your soul realm", he said to me.
"So, you heard my conversation with the Dark Angel?" I asked him.
"Yes, surely. Your soul realm is not a big place, and the Dark Angel is not resistant to my presence. I am once one of his greatest generals", Ratatouille told me.
"So, this is really the Mithrium mine that the apostles send the Solomon Temple worshippers to mine", I said to him.
"Yes, it seems to be it although the miners will never come so far down here. They usually mine in the higher areas probably", he told me.
"We should leave now", I said to Ratatouille.
"How should we leave? The entrance was destroyed by you earlier?" Ratatouille told me.
"We leave from the entrance to the Mithrium mine. While we are here, I might as well scout the mine and the prisons to prepare for our rescue", I told him.
Suddenly, two shining beings came toward us to our surprise.
I wasn't shocked by them because they were my Malevolent Slaves.
"What happened to the both of you, Alpha and Beta? Why are the both of you covered in Mithrium?" I asked both my Malevolent Slaves.
"Take many…many Mit..rium. now all body is Mit..rium", Alpha told me.
"Hell, they took too much liquid Mithrium that fuses to their souls, manifesting in a Mithrium form", Ratatouille said to me.
"So, they developed a Mithrium body after taking the ant's liquid Mithriums?" I asked.
"Yes, they are practically walking Mithrium armor and weapon too, now", Ratatouille said to me.
"Damn, watch what you eat next time," I said to Alpha and Beta and warned them.
Suddenly, another Mithrium formed Malevolent appeared before me.
"He all soul, join me", Alpha told me about the new Mithrium Malevolent that appeared before me.
"Your Malevolent gained a new recruit in this bloody mine", Ratatouille said to me.
"Whenever the Sword of Malevolence scours souls, there will be some souls who want to escape from them. These souls will rather become my Malevolent slaves than be devoured by Malevolence", I said to him about my theory.
"What will you call the new recruit?" Ratatouille asked me.
I have an unimaginative idea.
"We'll call him, Gamma", I said to them.
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"Oriese, you are safe. I was so worried, the school said you were lost inside the abandoned mine", Orol said to me when I returned home, with tears flowing from his eyes.
"What happened to the mine and the students? I left early for something and didn't finish the school test", I told him and asked.
"Thank goodness you left early", Orol said to me.
"All the students and teachers who went to the school test in the abandoned mine were all killed by monster ants that came out from the mine", Saye explained to me grimly about what just happened.
"Did they capture all the monster ants?" I asked her.
"The apostles arrived and captured all the ants but all the students who joined the school test besides you did not survive", she replied to me.
"Damn, Agrilla and the rest. I need time by myself to process this", I told them before I returned to my room.
Although I already knew what happened to all the students and teachers who went to the school test in the abandoned mine, it still caused me grief when I heard the news from them again.
I would spend time alone to mourn for their loss.
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