The light of day was now brilliant, allowing for a clear view of the entire emergence of the Queen Ant, and letting them scrutinize the visual effect of its ability to move freely through the earth.

On the creature’s left and right flanks, there were auditory organs, much like those found on a male cicada.

This apparatus could vibrate at extremely high frequencies to emit powerful resonance waves. These waves synchronized with the natural resonant frequency of the soil, allowing it to effortlessly pulverize the surrounding dirt into fine sand. Aided by its monstrous strength, it could naturally traverse the underground at will.

The Queen Ant's overall form resembled a hybrid of an ant and a cicada larva; it lacked the lean, taut physique of a standard ant. Instead, its bulk was as plump and massive as a golden cicada. Its foremost pair of limbs had mutated into formidable weapons, while the remaining six legs were slender like a spider's, yet its speed while crawling on the ground was in no way slow, evoking the image of a relentlessly charging tank.

When it moved above ground, it was like a locomotive spewing thick white steam, appearing ready to crush or plow through anything that stood in its path.

The quick-moving carapace covering its body, black and hard as alloyed steel, its sharp, even glinting claws, and the menacing mandibles that clicked shut incessantly—all clearly signaled that this was a powerfully formidable and utterly threatening monster.

In the blink of an eye, the Queen Ant plunged into the rocky terrain. The incredibly hard, wind-eroded stone crumbled beneath its claws with a continuous "crackling" sound, like freshly baked cheese crisps being crushed, sending up plumes of dust. Cracks spread outwards, and many pieces of rock were forcefully ejected at high speed, striking the adjacent cliff face and scattering sparks—a testament to the Queen Ant’s sheer brute force.

Like the other Monoceros Flying Ants, it possessed two pairs of transparent wings on its back. Although these wings, even when beating rapidly, could not generate enough thrust for this heavy, terrifying creature to achieve true flight, they did grant it exceptional agility and speed, enabling movements utterly incompatible with its cumbersome bulk.

To offer a fitting analogy: it was like an M1A2 heavy tank, weighing over sixty-seven tons, suddenly executing a drift maneuver, leaving observers utterly unable to anticipate its next move.

As the Queen Ant drew near, an intense, foul stench washed over Fang Senyan. He then noticed that its rear end also bore an obvious wound. As the creature moved, this injury constantly wept dark red entrails and other matter, with large clumps of thick, dark-green fluid dropping from the gash. This viscous discharge pooled on the ground, forming distinct mounds.

This was clearly the residual consequence of the Queen Ant severing its connection to the egg sac. Such a wound affected its internal organs, meaning its life force was rapidly draining away through the opening. Yet, just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the Queen Ant’s four transparent wings began to beat at an incredible speed. The violent contraction of its muscles squeezed even more fluid and viscera from the wound, but the massive body suddenly and abruptly accelerated and changed direction, charging towards Aldaris with unbelievable velocity!

This attack caught all three of them completely flat-footed! They had not remotely anticipated that the Queen Ant possessed such explosive power.

Aldaris, however, remained startled but not panicked. He took a deep breath, immediately staggered back a few steps, and extended both hands to grasp the arm of a nearby artificial human. He pulled the construct forward with sudden force to shield his body, simultaneously using the leverage to leap violently to the side.

With a deafening "Boom!" and a choking cloud of dust, the Queen Ant’s two monstrously sharp, mutated forelimbs plunged deep into the artificial human’s core. It then wrenched them apart with savage force, tearing the construct in half.

The hapless victim’s components scattered everywhere; its head rolled nearby before being immediately stomped flat by the Queen Ant's foot, spraying disgusting black-green ichor that pooled and bubbled on the ground. Yet, this gruesome spectacle failed to capture the attention of the other artificial humans. Aldaris’s remaining two constructs displayed placid expressions, apparently accustomed to being used as mere cannon fodder.

Aldaris tumbled awkwardly across the ground a few times before scrambling back up. His right arm now bore a long, bleeding gash, the wound rapidly turning black and swelling—a clear sign of poisoning.

Though he had dodged quickly, his arm had still been grazed by the Queen Ant’s mutated forelimb. That appendage was no mere decoration; it resembled both the mutated forelimbs of a cicada and the digging forelegs of a mole cricket. In terms of both power and sharpness, it was a true weapon, and now it seemed to carry a potent venom.

Fortunately, at this moment, Ramtas charged forward, emitting an enraged swine-like roar. He raised his staff high and brought it down upon the Queen Ant, the staff head glowing with a faint, spectral blue light—it had clearly been imbued with a powerful nature-attunement spell.

Furthermore, Paul had reinforced the head of the staff with copious amounts of metal; it resembled a giant morning star more than a traditional staff.

The Queen Ant thrust out a forelimb to block. A loud "Clang!" echoed as the metal tip of the staff collided with the creature's limb, spitting out several bright sparks. Although Ramtas’s strength had been greatly augmented by consuming the Monoceros Flying Ant's genes, he could not yet stand as an equal to the Queen Ant in a direct confrontation. He was driven back with heavy thuds, stumbling over a dozen steps until his back slammed against the rock face.

However, Ramtas’s attack did subject the Queen Ant to considerable jarring force, causing its entire heavy mass to momentarily halt. It was precisely at this instant that Fang Senyan, having sprinted up from the flank, lunged forward and leaped directly onto the Queen Ant’s back, his hands gripping the bases of its transparent wings tightly.

Fang Senyan understood clearly: the Queen Ant’s greatest threat at this moment was its astonishing capacity for sudden speed bursts, and the source of that velocity lay entirely in those two pairs of wings that, while incapable of true flight, provided the crucial momentum! He braced himself with one hand gripping the wing base for balance, while raising his +7 West high with the other!

In an instant, a powerful surge of qi metal flowed onto the gleaming blade of the +7 West, seemingly coating it in a brilliant, sharp sheen. Then, Fang Senyan exhaled sharply and drove the blade downwards with all his might toward the Queen Ant’s back.

With a soft schlurping sound, the +7 West pierced the gap between the creature's armored plates and sank into its flesh. Fang Senyan twisted violently! Ink-green fluid and chunks of tissue splattered out, and his exertion was so immense that as the blade sank, his entire hand and forearm were driven into the creature’s body, submerged up to his shoulder!

The Queen Ant instantly registered the abnormality on its back, not to mention the searing pain! It unleashed an astonishing burst of power, emitting a deep, muffled screech. It suddenly bucked upwards, and the remaining functional wings vibrated violently.

Fang Senyan immediately felt his footing vanish. If not for his long experience navigating the rolling decks of sea vessels, he might have been thrown clear. But the Queen Ant had no blind spot directly behind it; one of its rear legs twisted around at an impossible angle and lashed out, striking Fang Senyan’s back.

Fang Senyan knew he couldn't hang on any longer, but as he was thrown clear, the +7 West executed a strange half-turn, shifting its angle, and was violently dragged out.

Before the blade was fully withdrawn, Fang Senyan had viciously positioned it against several of the Queen Ant’s internal muscles. While removing Fang Senyan resolved the immediate threat on its back, the creature had inadvertently provided him with the leverage needed to violently sever those major tendons responsible for wing vibration. This meant the Queen Ant’s wings were now effectively crippled.

After being flung off, the agonizingly pained Queen Ant focused entirely on Fang Senyan and immediately dragged its heavy body forward to charge. Its instinct was to use its wings to augment the charge, but the short, deep, horrific gash on its back sent an immediate response—it flooded the area with copious amounts of dark-green fluid and intense pain, signaling that this was the wrong course of action.

Consequently, the Queen Ant’s charge lost its bearing, and it slammed directly into the adjacent rock face. Paul understood the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold," and immediately summoned his metallic war golem, Heracles. This powerful metal construct had rested in the ethereal plane for a time, and its injuries were visibly healing; over eighty percent of the magical arrays on its armor had been repaired.

As Heracles's massive siege hammer swung down from above, the Queen Ant still shrieked, intent on continuing its attack on Fang Senyan. It simultaneously lifted one mutated forelimb to stab at the metal golem's chest.

The Queen Ant's forelimb scraped across the massive metal creature’s chest, generating a long string of sparks, accompanied by an ear-grating sound as metallic shards sprayed out like fireworks. But Heracles, the tireless, pain-immune metal construct, swung its heavy siege hammer down hard onto the Queen Ant’s head.

It must be admitted that the tough chitinous shell covering the Queen Ant was exceptionally resilient, comparable to plate armor. However, while this shell provided formidable defense against cuts, slashes, and stabs, it was far less effective against heavy blunt force impact.

Heracles’s siege hammer, weighing four to five hundred kilograms, slammed down, creating a crisp sound, like an eggshell cracking, and a network of deep fissures immediately spread across the creature's carapace! (To be continued)