Thirty minutes after the surviving ants left the stone chamber.
“I’ve packed it all.”
At last, the stone chamber was empty.
I had put all fifty-three monster corpses that had been piled inside the chamber into the box.
“Cleaning up takes longer than killing them.”
Butchering them was out of the question; I had simply put them in the box.
Even so, it had taken several times longer than killing them.
“Though it was the traps that killed them all...”
It felt like a waste of time, but I couldn’t leave the corpses here.
I had a high-capacity box that no one else knew about.
I might not be able to use them right away, but there would surely come a time when I needed them, just as I had needed that monster corpse to hide myself.
After putting every monster corpse into the box, I shouldered the backpack containing it.
Lastly, I took up the spear whose head I had reattached, and looked toward the passage leading underground.
A sigh escaped me on its own.
“No matter how I look at it, this is madness.”
The ant monsters that had endured the lightning had all followed the advance party that fled toward the surface.
Until those ants returned, these ruins would be safer than before.
However, there were undoubtedly more ant monsters inside these ruins.
“Still, I have to go.”
Even without the voice tempting me, there was only one path I could take now.
If I headed to the surface, I would inevitably run into the ant monsters that had followed my group.
Instead of the gun, I ran my hand over the spear shaft, then started walking.
The passage leading underground was quiet.
It was a path I had taken twice already, so I didn’t have to struggle to find my way.
Holding a torch in my other hand, I hurried forward, almost running.
Thanks to my senses, I didn’t really need the torch, but walking alone through a passage where nothing could be seen required tremendous courage.
Even now, with the torch lighting the way, goosebumps had risen on my arms.
Ignoring my fear and continuing on, I finally arrived at the storage room where we had discovered the artifacts.
The storage room was no different from when we had fled.
It seemed the ant monsters hadn’t entered the storage room either.
Even after looking around again, I saw no intact artifacts.
All that remained were broken weapons and armor rolling across the floor.
“I don’t know if these will be of any use.”
Even as I tilted my head, I put the broken weapons and armor into the box.
Even after storing the items already inside, the fifty-odd ant monsters, and the broken weapons and armor, the box wasn’t even a quarter full.
‘A spherical space with a diameter of ten meters. Is that about the volume of fifteen standard containers?’
The interior of the box was far larger than I had expected.
“I need to keep this as secret as possible.”
My box carrier ability was more important than my senses, and more important than being able to carry more items than others when teleporting through space.
It was an ability on a completely different level from other box carriers.
“But is it only this box that’s different?”
Perhaps the other artifacts produced different effects when I used them too.
I took out the translation artifact I had tucked inside my chest.
I poured energy into it again and checked it with my senses.
No matter how I tested it, nothing had changed.
I put the artifact back.
It was a pity, but I couldn’t waste any more time.
The path ahead was one I had never taken before.
Even so, I began walking again.
Contrary to my initial worries, I was able to move comfortably.
The traps were broken, and there were no monsters in sight.
How many dozens of minutes had I walked like that?
Just as I was starting to feel tired, I stopped.
‘An ant.’
An ant monster had been caught by my senses.
I could only feel one, but the ant monster I detected was no ordinary one.
“A soldier ant? No, is it a little different?”
It felt similar to the ones I called soldier ants, yet different.
It seemed I would have to confirm exactly what it was with my own eyes.
“This is troublesome...”
I looked at my spear and pondered.
If it had been an ordinary ant monster, there would have been no need to hesitate.
Even if it were a soldier ant, I had thought I might be able to manage if there was only one.
After all, though the ant monster had been scorched by lightning, it was still something I had seen with my own eyes.
But the one up ahead was something I had never seen before.
“Still, there’s no helping it.”
I couldn’t turn back now.
At the very least, I had to test it.
The place where it stood was once again a stone chamber with branching paths.
I took a deep breath and quietly approached where it was.
I extinguished the torch I was holding and pushed the dark energy as deep into my body as I could.
‘I don’t know if it’ll be any use.’
I had no idea whether it was the kind of creature that could perceive energy like me.
Still, I had to do everything I could.
That was how I had survived all the wars and operations until now.
In the darkness, I advanced down the passage without a sound.
At some point, I spotted light.
Two small lights floating in the air.
A soft, beautiful glow, like fireflies or fairies hovering there.
I was not fooled.
Because I could feel a monster where those lights were floating.
When I moved a little closer and examined it more carefully with my senses, I realized what those lights were.
The lights that seemed to be floating in the air were actually hanging from the tips of antennae.
Absurdly, the ant monster that should have been beneath those antennae could not be seen.
The place where the monster should have been only appeared black, as if it were absorbing the light.
“So this time it’s a stealth monster...”
A stealth ant that lured enemies in with the light of its antennae.
This was a planet where even desert moles resembling stingrays existed.
It wasn’t strange for there to be another bizarre monster.
“Still, should I call this fortunate?”
Compared to the ability of the dead businessman, the monster up ahead wasn’t anything impressive.
At the very least, I could sense the monster.
However, if it had been people without senses like mine, they would have had no choice but to fall for it.
‘If it has a special ability, then its physical abilities should be weak.’
If it had a special ability and was physically powerful as well, it wouldn’t be standing there alone like that.
I couldn’t be certain, but I had no choice but to believe it.
Because from this moment on, I had to charge at it.
I couldn’t see it, so I couldn’t know its exact appearance.
But even without seeing it, I could tell roughly where its head was.
Those sparkling lights were the tips of its antennae, so its head had to be beneath them.
I raised my spear and aimed at the point where the antennae converged.
Then I gathered dark energy into the spear.
Though I couldn’t see it, I could feel energy collecting in the spear.
Once a certain amount had gathered, I stopped sending power into it.
I could have sent more, but if I did, the light flowing through the spear would become visible.
Since it was a monster that used light, it would surely be able to see light.
It was regrettable that I couldn’t fill it completely with energy, but there was no helping it if I wanted to launch a surprise attack.
As I pushed energy into the spear, I felt that strange sensation again.
‘It’s doing this again.’
A sensation as if the energy were correcting the movements of the spear and my muscles toward the point I was aiming at.
It was both fascinating and irritating, but in any case, it helped me.
And the moment the target and the spear tip aligned—
Fwoosh!
I threw the spear with all my strength.
The spear shot through the darkness.
I had approached close, but the distance was still over fifty meters.
The path the spear traveled was a not-so-wide passage with not a single light in it.
But the spear crossed the passage as if drawing a straight line.
Its destination was the monster’s head, where the two lights converged.
Thunk!
This time as well, the spear did not betray me.
It pierced straight through the ant monster’s head.
The ant monster’s head burst apart without even a scream.
This monster’s head was not as hard as a soldier ant’s.
Once the monster’s head burst, the light on its antennae vanished as well.
The stone chamber grew dark.
That was a relief.
It was not as difficult an enemy as I had thought.
I didn’t know how it would have been for someone else, but for me, it was an easier opponent than a soldier ant.
And just as I stepped into the stone chamber with a satisfied expression—
Screeeeech!
A sharp sound rang out.
It came from one side of the passage.
Not the passage I had entered from, nor the passage ahead, but a branching side passage. The sound came from that passage, which I had assumed would be blocked off like the others.
At the same time, I sensed new monsters.
At the far end of the passage where the sound had come from, I could feel dozens of monsters.
“It wasn’t blocked?”
If it had been blocked like the others, monsters wouldn’t be pouring out like that.
Either the ant monsters had built a nest there, or it was connected to an ant tunnel.
Right now, it didn’t matter which it was.
Because it seemed I was screwed either way.
“I thought I killed it too easily. It wasn’t a guard—it was an alarm.”
It wasn’t a monster that lured prey in to eat them, but one that sent signals to its comrades.
I quickly figured out what had happened, but that didn’t solve the problem.
‘What do I do now?’
Since the monsters had discovered me, retreating was the right answer.
But there were ant monsters behind me.
If I simply retreated, I would be surrounded from both sides.
That said, I couldn’t just charge farther inside without thinking either.
Having ant monsters on the surface side and having monsters chasing me from behind were two completely different matters.
The moment the path was blocked, I would have to fight the ant monsters rushing here.
It was difficult to make a decision, but now was not the time to hesitate.
“It’s regrettable, but let’s retreat.”
If both choices were dangerous, then at the very least, I needed to return to a place closer to the surface.
I made my decision and was just turning around.
[Inward. There is a path.]
A clear voice rang inside my head.
It was not the vague sound I had heard until now.
It was a distinct male voice.
It was a language I had never heard before, but thanks to the translation artifact, I immediately understood its meaning.
“Damn it! This had better not be nonsense.”
I spat out a curse and turned back around.
Then I began running deeper into the stone chamber.
Kraaaah!
From far away, the monsters’ roars began to echo.
The chase continued for nearly an hour.
That was because the speed at which I ran with all my strength and the speed at which the ants pursued me were similar.
Running at full speed for nearly an hour meant I had covered over thirty kilometers, and if my body hadn’t become stronger, the ants would have caught me long before then.
It was astonishing that my body had grown stronger than before, but the stamina of the ant monsters chasing me was terrifying.
The ant monsters neither tired nor stopped.
Even without a lure artifact, it felt like the monsters would chase me to the ends of this planet.
In the end, I was the first to grow exhausted.
Following that strange voice had been a mistake.
My running speed gradually slowed.
The distance between me and the monsters grew shorter and shorter.
There was no point in going any farther anyway.
At the very least, I had to leave myself enough strength to fight.
Biting my lip, I tried to stop.
At that moment, the voice rang out again.
[You’ve arrived. Stand beneath the place where the light shines.]
This time, along with the voice, I saw light far ahead on the ceiling.
A faintly glowing light.
It looked like light leaking from a broken lamp.
I had no time to check what kind of light it was.
I was so exhausted that even confirming it with my senses was difficult.
I decided to follow the voice just this once more.
And the moment I stood beneath that glowing ceiling—
Clank.
The ground beneath my feet opened wide.
“Don’t tell me, a trap?”
I fell down into the hole.