The party members reacted quickly. With Silver Blade’s reminder fresh in their minds, no one dared to drop their vigilance. When the signs of a skill could be seen, everyone dodged without panicking.

Only Fortune felt a major headache. A pressure pressed on her brain. It was extremely difficult to cast while moving. But she didn’t dare to get interrupted.

Only her familiarity with the [Arcane Bolt] spell and her haste attribute, which was pretty high at 54 points, allowed her to pull through.

She barely managed to reach the red circle when two inconspicuous rocks appeared in midair. Suddenly they exploded, shooting pebbles fast like bullets in all directions.

Fortune took a deep breath seeing one of those projectiles aiming for her eyes and disappearing right in front of her. A drop of sweat ran down her neck.

Noticing that the mana running along her staff showed signs of instability she quickly refocused on casting.

Activating such destructive skills obviously took a toll on the queen attendants. They lowered their staffs, leaning against them in exhaustion.

Bloody Edge’s eyes lit up as he saw his chance. He appeared behind one of the attendants. A grey light played around his daggers as he used his skill.

Daggers flashed through the air. Bloody Edge moved smoother than ever before. His movements flowed like a dancer. [Deadly Light], normal attack, [Cut Throat].

[-857!]

[-750!]

[-857!]

One of the attendants dropped halfway through the barrage, curtesy of their low defense. But Bloody Edge wasn’t interrupted in his rhythm, turning his body beautifully and continuing his work on the other enemy.

[-448!]

[-1123!]

The others stared at the thief in shock.

“Beautiful work, Bloody Edge!”

“That’s what a thief of my level should do.”

The thief felt quite smug, knowing he just felled a lord.

But at this moment a chill ran down his back. He didn’t need to look, knowing that the queen’s eyes were focused on him.

The huge ant queen swayed her body. Originally, she was just about to cast an attack on Silver Blade when she watched one of her attendants dying to a sneaky thief.

The boss monster turned her head. A light flashed in her eyes.

Suddenly Bloody Edge’s panicked shout echoed in the cave:

“Guys! I can’t move! Help me, please!”

“What can we do?”, asked Final Fend, looking at his sister.

Everyone felt their stomachs sink, noticing a red circle appear below Bloody Edge.

“She is about to use a skill!”

“I can buy some time!”, shouted Watchful Eye.

The taciturn man didn’t hesitate long, instantly attacking the other attendant. One attack and one skill were enough to burn the ant to ashes.

The queen ant was interrupted in the cast of her skill once again. Its eyes now focused on Watchful Eye. The same fate was about to befall him.

But at this moment a crisp voice echoed in the cave:

“Let me!”

Balm wore a pleased smile. She swung her wand, using one of her skills called [Reflect].

A transparent barrier suddenly engulfed Watchful Eye just as the queen ant glanced at him.

Suddenly a puzzled expression appeared on the boss’s face as she found herself unable to move. Usually, boss monsters were difficult to stun, but since the attack came from itself, it faces much fewer obstacles.

“You’re the best, Balm!”, praised Final Fend happily.

“Hehe, thanks.”

Now only a single enemy was still able to move. The ant guard seemingly didn’t care for the fate of its companions, casually attacking Final Fend.

The young man was just about to dodge when Silver Blade stopped him:

“Let it hit you once! We need to gauge its strength!”

Final Fend wasn’t pleased but he complied, nevertheless.

[-324!]

“It’s not that bad, I can tank a few hits!”

Silver Blade nodded, processing the information.

“Since that’s the case, let’s change the plan! Focus on the queen!”

“Got it!”

Instantly, the party’s attacks focused on the immobile ant queen. Braag and Balm were the first to bombard the monster.

[-206!]

[-216!]

The party watched the low damage numbers solemnly. This was the result after half the damage was shared with the guards.

A second later Bloody Edge and Watchful Eye were ready to attack as well. They gathered strength in their legs, went to their knees, and pushed strongly.

Bloody Edge kicked out with his foot, using a protruding rock as leverage. Proving great strength and agility the monk and thief landed on the platform occupied by the ant queen.

The massive body emitted a threatening pressure, not giving the players much room to move. They could only scan it briefly, hoping to hit a weak spot.

“Aim for the joints!”, suggested Bloody Edge as he brandished his daggers.

With a flash they stabbed deeply into the ant’s body. Watchful Eye heeded his colleague’s advice as he swung his staff fiercely.

[-335!]

[-167!]

[-407!]

The party observed happily as the queen’s HP slowly trickled down. But at this moment the monster’s leg suddenly twitched.

“Careful! She is about to move!”

Listening to Silver Blade’s anxious warning, Bloody Edge gritted his teeth. He swung his hand, conjuring four blinding daggers out of thin air.

They stabbed into the queen’s body, attempting to hold the boss in place. It is unclear if Bloody Edge was lucky, or the queen simply had low resistance, but he actually succeeded.

Even Bloody Edge himself showed surprise as he didn’t expect to create a miracle. At this point his thoughts moved quickly. He decided to gamble even more.

He directly entered stealth. Usually, thieves wouldn’t use their stealth right in front of enemies. Even the most unintelligent enemy would be able to sound them out. But luckily the boss was unable to move.

Thus, Bloody Edge could proceed with his plan. He needed to be stealthed to activate his ultimate skill [Light’s Will].

Instantly brilliant rays of light filled the area before Bloody Edge. They appeared like a miniature sun burning all his enemies.

The queen ant scrunched her face in pain as she felt the rays of light falling on her carapace. Large parts of its resistance stats were burned away. At the same time visions filled its brain, leaving it dazed and confused.

“Attack guys! Quick!”

Bloody Edge urged his team members while flourishing his own daggers.

Naturally the others didn’t miss the chance. Bombs, magic attacks, and Watchful Eye’s staff caused deep injuries on the queen’s weakened carapace.

However, the good times were quickly over. An eerie cackling sound came out of the queen’s mouth, shaking the entire cave.

The party members had to cover their ears, their bodies getting covered in goosebumps.

Only Fortune gritted her teeth and held on. Her magic trembled dangerously but the cast wasn’t interrupted. The content creator showed a willpower she didn’t even deem possible herself.

But while the party froze for a moment, the queen ant finally showed some skills. Her rage-filled eyes landed on her two guards.

Suddenly their bodies began turning to stone. But the guards didn’t panic. For them it was an honor to serve their queen. Even when there was no sign of life left in them, their faces showed a hint of excitement.

But this didn’t last long as the ant statues quickly melted and fused into the shields handed out by the queen.

Next, those shields floated upwards, protecting the queen behind them.

A quick scan would show that they were back to 4500 HP.

Silver Blade’s expression hardened. She blamed herself for making the wrong judgement.

But now was not the time to apologize.

“Don’t worry guys! She has less than 1500HP left! End her quickly!”

Braag tried to encourage the group, sending the next wave of attacks.

He even sacrificed some silver to boost the damage of his [Triple Boom] skill.

However, to everyone’s horror the two heavy shields surrounding the queen moved quick as lightning, blocking all the bombs. None of the damage reached the queen at all.

“That’s a problem…”, murmured the dwarf quietly.

Of course, the others could see this as well. Bloody Edge took a deep breath. With the shields some distance away, he thought he could move quickly, stabbing the queen’s back.

But the game wasn’t this generous. One of the shields simply teleported back, not letting any harm befall the precious queen.

The same happened to Watchful Eye who attacked from the other side.

“Seems like we can only get rid of those shields!”, said Silver Blade with a heavy voice.

Protected by the two sturdy walls the queen regained her leisurely attitude. She swiped her gaze over the party, passing them and landing on the eggs at the side.

A cracking noise could be heard. The party felt their chests tighten as they notice cracks on four new eggs.

“Quick! We can’t let them hatch! Braag!”

“Haha! That’s the moment I waited for!”

The dwarf laughed excitedly, taking a few steps forward and raising his launcher.

An immense heat built up around his weapon, blurring the air. With a broad grin Braag activated his skill. A swath of searing flames burst out, spreading in a cone shape before him.

Plopping sounds continuously rang through the cave.