The elite monsters of D&A had something called random difficulty.
The difficulty level consists of a total of 8 levels.
- Very easy.
- Easy.
- Normal.
- Hard.
- Very hard.
- Master.
- Nightmare.
- Hell.
Up to level 5, which is very difficult, titles like ‘Burning’ or ‘Frozen’ or ‘Shining’ are attached based on randomly assigned attributes.
But from level 6 onwards, appropriate modifiers are attached to it.
Like 「Master Mermaid – Maid Mermaid」.
If there is an elite monster with the name 「Nightmare Empress Ant – Kucl’kan」, it means it’s the second strongest monster individual in the most difficult level.
That fellow was sitting on a throne-like thing made of animal bones and leaves, looking down at me.
“I’m always ready for a challenge.”
The Empress Ant said.
Although she said Empress Ant, she looked no different from a human with two arms and two legs.
In her black and solid exoskeleton, she looked like a cool-designed battle suit or robot.
Pretty cool.
“But before that, it would be nice if you showed respect to the owner of this jungle, I, Kucl’kan. Everyone kneel and show respect to me.”
Pa-aat-!
As the Empress Ant stood up, a strange ripple-like thing waved through the air.
It was enough to make knees tremble with a tingling sensation in the neck.
“…M-my body is moving on its own.”
Victoria knelt down on one knee.
At the same time, Enio standing beside her also murmured, “Like a demon…”, and knelt down on one knee.
Only Nike and I were unaffected.
Even though I activated my quirk 《Steel》 and nullified the strange sense of intimidation, I was quite surprised that Nike, who seemed weak, was fine in this turmoil.
“Victor, that one, is the owner of this jungle! It feels like she could be called the forest owner! Deep forests or jungles, there are owners like this!”
It seemed like Nike was quite familiar with such situations.
Suddenly, I recalled rumors of terrifying monsters in the Leshgad Forest where Nike grew up.
But before thinking about that further, the Empress Ant laughed.
“You didn’t bow to my authority. Strange kids. It’s enough to be worthy opponents of the Empress.”
As the one who stood up moved her legs, the ants waiting around her moved restlessly, creating stairs.
She approached quite close.
Her physique was similar to mine.
“Normally, the duel with elite warriors would come first. But just standing still is boring, isn’t it? I want to test the new power I have gained. I’ll give you challengers a chance to oppose me.”
Normally, queen ants or female ants just make buzzing noises. Their appearance is just like large ants.
But Empress Ants are different.
She talks and looks like a human.
I’ve never seen such a thing.
The elite difficulty level given is 7, inferring the modifier ‘Nightmare’.
Then, what level should the stats originally be for this strategy?
It won’t exceed 300 no matter what, right?
Curiosity rises.
New monsters.
New achievements!
What kind of technique will she use?
Most of all, being an empress sounds cool.
But there was something to do before fighting.
“Victoria, Enio. Get a grip.”
“That… was it an attack of status ailments?”
“…I feel sick. I might throw up.”
Victoria and Enio staggered as they got up.
They adjust their posture and prepare for battle.
“Victoria, first is the flash.”
“I’ll do it even if you don’t say it!”
The tip of Victoria’s staff glowed.
Simultaneously, a bright light burst out.
“It’s like the sun!”
The Empress Ant, hit by the flash, grabbed her face with her strong claw-like hands and staggered. Not missing the opportunity, Enio shouted.
“Darken, 《Shadow Pierce》!”
As Enio struck the ground with both hands, a black shadow rushed like a snake.
Ssssss-!
The shadow stopped in front of the Empress Ant and sprang towards the ground like a spear, grazing the tough armor of the ant.
Kang-!
“What…!?”
Enio was confused.
Since Shadow Pierce, which deals 75% damage proportional to the basic attack coefficient, didn’t even scratch the empress’ armor.
She’s sturdy.
Do I have to draw my sword to deal damage to her?
Swoosh.
I draw Tyrfing again.
At the same time, I dashed forward.
Closing the distance to his waist in an instant, I traced the trajectory of the flash from left to right.
“Cutting the light.”
I had to bring her down while Victoria’s Flash was still affecting her.
Skills like crowd control, such as Flash or Shadow Bind, worked well initially, but as resistance built up, the success rate decreased.
Swoosh!
Tyrfing, a cursed sword, smoothly cut through the air.
It would slice through her body.
Clang!
However, it only managed to nick the side of the black creature.
It felt more like a rock or even a lump of iron than an ant. The sturdy exoskeleton didn’t seem like just for show. Could this be it?
“…Aargh!”
“But the attack went through. It was quite feasible to exploit it.”
She retreated, stumbling backward.
Purple blood dripped from the shattered exoskeleton.
The creature, shaking its head vigorously, spoke, seemingly free from the effects of the flash.
“Pain. How long had it been since I felt it…!”
It soon emitted a loud sound as wings fluttered on its back like a cloak.
Possibly gaining momentum from its wing flaps, it rushed towards me, swinging its scythe-like forelegs wildly.
Thunk, clang, thunk!
Though I managed to block some attacks with Victor’s peculiar reflex nerves, even one hit from them would likely be a severe blow.
Pa-aat!
When its claws tore through thick palm trees, Enio shouted.
“Victor, I’ll help! Shadow─.”
“Don’t interfere, girl! It’s a perfect moment! Swarm!”
Winged ants flew from all directions.
━Buzz buzz buzz.
━Buzz buzz buzz. Sizzle buzz!
It was a pattern where boss monsters summoned smaller minions.
Thanks to that, Enio and Victoria had to focus on dealing with the swarming ants from all sides.
“Get these creatures away! Don’t touch my staff! Disgusting bugs!”
“Victoria, I really didn’t want to say this, but let’s focus on teamwork for now!”
“You can’t rely on these women’s help.”
“…”
“Even trees are torn like paper by my grip. You have quite a remarkable sword that blocked multiple attacks. But how many more swings could you withstand? Ten? No, five?”
It was an unexpectedly smart creature for an ant.
It seemed to have noticed that its HP was depleting even as it maintained its defense.
“Because of that sword, you will fall on your own without me having to fight. But that doesn’t make it any fun. I will show you the power that was given to me by the gods and the dignity that allowed me to rule as Empress.”
Whooooong.
The Empress Ant’s wing flapping, hovering about 10cm above the ground, intensified even more.
I didn’t know what she was trying to do, but typically after such a big preparatory move, a finishing move or an equivalent pattern followed.
In D&A, there’s usually time between one turn and the next to prepare for or cancel a pattern.
Though this Ludens isn’t a turn-based game but a real-time reflection of reality, regardless of how many seconds had passed, there was a definite moment when a gap appeared.
Now, it was for real.
“I could swing five more times. It seemed difficult to bring you down within that time. But that was without doping.”
“Doping?”
It was common sense to take a health potion when your HP was critical.
But since you didn’t know what pattern the first meeting with a monster would bring, it was better to boost HP for now.
So, I took out a water bottle hanging from my waist.
Inside it was lukewarm stew.
But the effect was the same.
Gulp gulp,
Feeling the energy surging through my body, I put the sword back into its sheath.
“W-what is that…!”
The Empress Ant seemed puzzled, but soon regained its composure.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but it’s too late!”
Whoooooong!
The creature’s body, hovering in the air, fell towards me like a missile.
“Take this, my 《Bird Missile》!”
…An ant launching bird missiles?
For a moment, I was bewildered.
But even if I weren’t, I wouldn’t be able to avoid the creature’s attack crashing down to the ground in an instant.
“Pierce through!”
Pa-a-a-a-aat!!
Clang clang clang clang!
A powerful impact struck my body.
Perhaps this is how painful it would have been if Earth had collided with an asteroid.
A sensation where bones fractured and brains rattled.
But.
I endured without a single groan.
After doping, my HP was at full 283.
Quite impressive.
“Whew…, Haa…. It’s quite painful.”
I couldn’t know the exact number, but I felt that I had around 75 HP left.
Fortunately, it seemed that Enio and Victoria, who were fighting on the other side, were unaffected.
The Empress Ant’s ultimate move wasn’t an area-of-effect attack but a single instant-death pattern.
Yet, I didn’t die.
My body felt heavy, and blood gushed from my mouth, but I was still alive.
The ant seemed unable to accept that fact.
“My blow that even pierces rocks… A blow heavier than any boulder…”
“Lighter than 200 million in debt.”
“W-What are you saying…! This monstrous creature…! Feed it once more, and it’s over…!!!”
Whoooooong!
It seemed like it was about to flap its wings and fly away.
But the reason it couldn’t escape into the sky was that strange roots were entwined around its feet.
“What─!? What are these roots!”
Nike shouted in extreme anger towards the struggling Empress Ant.
“Victor’s enemy…!”
…No, I’m not dead.
Wasn’t being a Druid something she wanted to hide?
The Empress Ant shouted.
“Strange girl…! Weren’t you someone who couldn’t do anything…!”
There were many unexpected variables, but now was the time to end it.
“Nike, keep holding.”
With Tyrfing in hand and my health badly depleted, now was the time.
Tyrfing had an additional ability that increased damage based on lost health.
I lost about 200 HP from the Bird Missile.
Victor’s unarmed attack power was 29.
With Tyrfing, the added attack power was another 50.
Total 279.
If we multiply 75% of the ‘Cutting the Light’ coefficient of the Arkwright Style 1 by the attack power of 279, the damage would be roughly around 209.
With that, I could deal enough damage to take down most episode bosses in one hit.
“Arkwright Style 1.”
“Let go! I’m the Empress! I’m, I’m the ruler of this jungle! I’m! Endowed with opportunities and…! Abilities from the gods, the Named Kucl’kan─.”
“No, you’re just an ant.”
“What…?”
I had some expectations since it was a newly added boss.
But in the end, was the difficulty level just slightly higher than the Empress Ant?
Still, the appearance alone was impressive.
Swish-.
