(43)
Nestra reveled in the slaughter. She tore through soldier ants while they were stuck maneuvering to box her in. She knew how they fought. If the foe was fast, they would first try to position themselves better to come on from all directions. She knew it, and played with it, but they didn’t. They couldn’t learn. They lacked the reason that made fights with Fox Mask so fun. It was the second patrol now that didn’t require her to use momentum because they were just that predictable. The next acid ant aborted its attack rather than hitting its comrade, which let Nestra close in for the kill. She dodged the charge of a bulldozer ant before striking its abdomen. Blueish lymph exploded from the wound.
She wasn’t sure what to call those. They were the size of a minibus and armored at the front. Charger ants? Siege ants? Brute ants? Maybe charger ant was okay. She dodged its awkward mandible strike as she killed the last two warriors. Chargers really struggled with lateral attacks.
She dropped under another strike, then jumped on the beast's head. A downward execution destroyed its brain.
It fell dead with a loud thud. Once again, victory was hers. It wasn’t a very good one but that was fine. Delayed gratification!
“Now where was that scout?”
The deep jungle of Varang guild’s portal world buzzed with activity. The smells were all over the place, but at least the stifling heat didn’t bother her at all anymore. She batted a large red wasp to focus on her quest.
She needed herself some of that stinky pheromone for her master plan.
***
The hive was under attack. The ants knew it because of the many trails carrying the scent of alarm. Scents were their speech, and the words carried by many trails spoke of death. Many deaths. A few subtle touches spoke of a bipedal intruder with a very sharp tooth, who wielded magic. Other details were scarce.