Chapter 416 - 416: Severing The Bond
Since he was a soul weapon, fueled by Michael's spirit rather than spiritual energy, it made him outright invisible to the Monarch standing guard.
In other words, unless Devil chose to reveal himself, the alien would not notice his presence at all.
The interior of the ant's nest was disturbing. Unlike the dug-up passages the crew had traversed earlier, this one was properly shaped to the ants' liking.
A thin layer of a muscle-like substance that stuck to the skin covered the floor, walls, and ceiling.
"Disgusting." Devil spat in disdain.
Although he did not exude a normal presence due to his lack of spiritual energy, the ants who remained behind were still sensitive enough to detect an intruder in their nest.
Countless footsteps echoed across the overlapping tunnels before ants bearing the auras of Masters headed toward his figure.
Upon witnessing their numbers, Devil remained utterly unfazed. With a mocking tilt of his head, he said.
"Slow."
His claws blurred, ants toppling like puppets with their strings cut.
"Pathetic."
Since Devil was instructed to make haste, he didn't lose himself in breaking down the weak like he usually enjoyed.
Reaching staggering speed, he moved from one tunnel to the next. No ant was able to halt his charge.
Eventually, he noticed a pattern. The tunnels from which the most ants emerged were more often than not the correct route.
His kill count climbed shockingly fast. The clear blood the ants released upon their demise flowed from holes of the tower-like pillar, resembling a waterfall.
When four Royal Champions stopped his path, he knew he was on the right track.
Given that he was capable of battling even Lords, coupled with the fact that these mindless ants were not capable of inflicting fatal injuries, they soon joined their lesser counterparts in death.
"Finally, something entertaining!" Devil bellowed, taking a step into the queen's chamber.
Considering the Monarch was supposed to keep guard outside, coupled with the four Royal Champions guarding the queen's lair, Lord Eleanora had assumed that her spiritual beast, Alexia, was well protected.
"Who is…?" Alexia, the ant queen, was startled when she noticed a presence other than her minions or Eleanora.
Devil laughed. "Death!"
In typical Devil fashion, aiming to inflict the maximum amount of pain and suffering, he gazed at the recently laid larvae around the chamber.
He smiled menacingly.
Slash!
"!!!"
Naturally, when Alexia saw the Devil attacking what she considered her children, rage consumed her. Her mighty form surged to its feet, hell-bent on crushing him where he stood.
"Let me help you slim down!" Devil replied with a grin, accelerating his movements.
He was too fast for the queen to catch. Not to mention, even in the rare instance she did land a hit, the wound she inflicted would be healed in a heartbeat.
ROOOOAAAR!
With her strength fading, Alexia released a powerful roar before collapsing to the ground, large chunks of her body missing, carved away by Devil's claws.
"You sure like to screech." Devil murmured, stomping her head until it turned to mush, ensuring the kill.
Abruptly, the structure of the pillar began to tremble unevenly, almost like an earthquake.
Contented, Devil brushed his hands together, using the opening of the queen's chamber to gaze at the Monarch, who had already regained the full extent of its senses.
"Job's done." Devil proclaimed before entering Michael's soul.
One advantage of being a soul weapon was that reaching his master by entering his soul was instantaneous, regardless of physical distance.
Outside, the battle hadn't exactly been going in Michael's favor. Eleanora's melody was weakening the crew.
Victoria's face twisted into a grimace, her flames slowly faltering under the pressure.
"Breathe, Victoria. Focus on your breathing. Ignore the noise." She told herself.
Ava slammed her hammer down. "This is so much worse than I expected!"
The altitude of Claire's mech lowered.
"The sound is capable of passing through sound isolation?" She gritted her teeth.
Before her mech could spiral out of control, Cyberfang's voice echoed.
[Leave the piloting to me. Focus on keeping yourself stable.]
Richard was hit particularly hard, coughing out a mouthful of blood.
"Boss stands, so will I!" He declared with unwavering determination.
Although the battle was turning toward the ants' favor, Eleanora's grimace made it clear she wasn't the least bit content.
Clearly, her soul weapon was working, causing instability in everybody's souls… Yet for some reason, Ruby, a feline of all things, didn't seem the least bit affected.
Ruby shifted her attention to Michael, supporting his figure before he could fall.
"Michael?!" Her voice was laced with concern, sensing that the chaotic nature was back in his soul.
"How is the Feral Halfbreed still standing?!" Eleanora shouted in fury.
Michael glanced at Ruby, surprised by how unaffected she was by the sound.
"She is simply a good person who cares for those close to her." He reasoned.
"Your soul weapon can only exacerbate the instability within a person's soul. However, since Ruby has already embraced her origin, it has no effect on her, does it?"
His words wounded Eleanora's pride deeply.
"Even if that is the case, I am still superior to her! With a simple flick of my wrist, all will be over!"
Eleanora prepared to use her power as an Absolute Lord to end Ruby's life, only for her movement to come to a halt.
She felt it.
Her bond with Alexia… the ant queen, had just been severed.
The spiritual beast was dead.
Noticing her abrupt change of expression, Michael smirked. A few seconds later, Devil appeared in his soul, only to be summoned in his sword form.
"What's wrong?" He taunted mockingly. "Where did your confidence go?"
"YOU!" Eleanora grew enraged. "It's all ruined because of you! I will be taking your lives!"
The proclamation of the Absolute Lord was drowned out by the deafening roar of the Monarch, which had finally regained its senses.
Releasing the pillar it had clung to for so long, the Monarch's gaze fixed on the chaotic battlefield, where the one responsible for clouding its mind for so long now stood.
The kilometer-tall monster charged forward with full force, laying waste to everything in its path.