Clockwork

Kaede dashed to the junction where the tunnel ended and brought out the pouch of pheromone bombs given by Sir Finn.

"Let's see… where's the one with the longest thread?..."

As he rummaged into the bag, Kaede noticed a bomb with a different color and size than others.

"Huh? What's this?"

He fished the bomb out of the pouch and stared at it in curiosity.

The bomb was noticeably larger than the rest. It also had the longest wick in the lot but what made it catch Kaede's attention was its flaming red color since the normal ones were just plain black.

"What do we do with this, Sir Mikael? the number of bombs is correct though," Deon asked in direct message.

"Maybe Finn just ran out of black containers? Besides, I highly doubt that he'd put something in there by mistake… With him being the perfectionist that he is." Mikael replied telepathically.

"You're right. I'm sure there's a reason for this."

Although not fully convinced, Deon agreed with Mikael's opinion.

After all, they couldn't possibly postpone the operation just because of something so trivial.

In the end, Kaede just did his job and lit the bombs as he went back to the chamber's direction, planting them at set intervals.

But before he could finish setting up the lure, a loud explosion rang from the end of the tunnel.

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

"What? Why?" Kaede scratched the back of his head in confusion.

He was so sure that he properly set up the previous bombs so how could one explode prematurely?

Then, something peculiar happened…

Scrieee! Scrieee!!

Sounds of hurried steps immediately followed the explosion!

"Kid! Let's get out of here! They're coming!" said Mikael urgently, his tone grave.

"Huh? How's that possible? The other bombs haven't even exploded yet."

Indeed, the immediate response of the monsters shouldn't have happened had the bombs been normal. That was because Finn designed them to work only when all bombs fired off. That way, the runner would have enough time to return to the chamber.

Or so it should.

But the current situation was what it was.

"Let's just toss the remaining bombs and run!"

Mikael could hear it so clearly now…

The coming monster wave was way bigger than the first one!

'SH*T SH*T SH***T!!!' with trembling hands, Kaede lit up the three remaining pheromone bombs and chucked them down the tunnel.

BOOOM!

BOOOOOM!!

BOOOOOM!!!

Kaede hurriedly teleported just as the bombs successively went off.

Thanks to his special status condition, he could use the teleportation skill without limit!

Kaede moved like a glitching game character.

He appeared, running at one point, disappeared, and appeared again—until he reached the chamber where he shouted at the top of his lungs,

"STAND READY!! HUGE WAVE INCOMIIIING!!!"

The members were surprised!

The prince lured the monsters way too fast that they weren't mentally prepared yet.

However, when they saw the ants coming behind him at fast speeds, their bodies moved faster than their brains.

It was an instinct honed in such a terrible battlefield.

To act before they think is how they survived in this monster-infested colony.

Kaede jumped from the edge of the tunnel entrance.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!!" the members cried.

They thought the prince would dive into the pool just like the previous runner and they were afraid that the same mishap would repeat itself.

To their surprise, the prince vanished in the air and appeared right behind them.

Kaede's feet skid across the hard ground and like an aggressive base runner touching the home plate, he kicked the floor as he fell sideways.

Using his arm as a pivot, Kaede stood up and turned toward the people, "WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?! ATTACK!"

As the wave of minor workers endlessly poured from the tunnel and into the pool, the first attack unit used their prepared spells.

"Water Boa!"

"Spark!"

The double-wall of water and electric type Tier-1 mana circles shone simultaneously.

The blue mana circle released a thick jet of water shaped like an Anaconda.

The water snake passed through the yellow circle, taking with it sparks of electricity that danced along its glossy surface.

The smell of ozone permeated the air as the electrified snake crashed into the monster tide.

The snake tightly wrapped its sizzling body around a group of ants and strongly constricted.

Bzzzzzt!

Seizures jolted the tied ants as an intense electric shock instantly claimed their lives.

The combo attack was super effective!

"NEXT!" Kaede roared.

Without delay, another team performed the same combo spell.

The attack units were arranged in a hexagon around the lone island. This meant that there will always be two teams upfront who take turns in attacking.

These units move in a clockwise rotation every time a group finished their turn so they can prepare another volley immediately.

This was also part of Mikael's proposed tactic.

He had noticed in their first trial that their offensive execution was too slow. After exhausting the prepared spells, the melee fighters would desperately defend the Almagi as they drew—which led to numerous close calls with death.

But now, with the new and improved strategy, their assembly moved like clockwork!

With each unit composed of five members: three melee fighters guarding two Combat Almagi, their execution became more efficient.

When they are out of turn, the melee fighters slaughtered ants that managed to sneak inland…

However, with the abnormal size of the ant wave, it became increasingly harder to push them out of the island!

At first, it was just two…

Then another three…

five…

Until the island was already crawling with zombie-like monsters!

'SH*T! the formation won't hold up!' Mikael cursed when the hexagon slowly shrunk and distorted.

He glanced at the entrance tunnel, hoping to see the end of the wave…

But they continued to pour endlessly into the chamber.

"Kid, we might have to reveal another ability. Can we handle the consequences?"

Deon thought for a moment.

They'd been extremely careful not to show questionable abilities after seeing Finn and Nora's reaction to teleportation.

But right now, they had no other choice.

Deon grimly nodded,

"Let's do it, Sir. People's lives are more important than hiding our skills."

--Chapter end--