novelraw Chapter 74: Queen of the Colony
Chapter 74: Queen of the Colony
Zakar stood still for a moment, his Tyrann Sword hanging at his side while his chest rose and fell in a slow but heavy rhythm. Sweat mixed with blood along his skin, and though his posture remained firm, the strain of the battle he just had, had begun to settle deeply into his muscles.
His fingers tightened slightly around the hilt of his blade, his expression hardening as he exhaled slowly.
"…Don't tell me," he muttered under his breath, already preparing himself for what was coming next.
The ground ruptured with violent force, splitting open in a massive line that tore across the desert as though the earth itself had been cleaved apart. Sand and debris collapsed inward, dragging the remains of the swarm and the shattered body of the Captain into the depths below as a deep, oppressive energy began to rise from beneath.
Zakar instinctively stepped back, his gaze locked on the expanding fissure as something enormous began to emerge, its presence alone warping the atmosphere around it. The heat intensified, the air grew heavier, and for the first time since entering the battlefield, Zakar felt something close to pressure bearing down on him—not fear, but the undeniable weight of something that stood far above everything he had faced so far.
Slowly, deliberately, the Queen began reveale her battle stance. Massive segments of hardened chitin rose from the depths, layered thickly like natural armor forged to withstand devastation. Its body stretched outward, colossal in scale, its limbs embedding into the ground as it anchored itself fully into the surface world. Its head lowered slightly, and its eight large eyes locked onto Zakar with an intelligence that far surpassed the swarm and the Captain combined.
There was no frenzy in its gaze, no wild aggression only control, awareness, and absolute dominance over its domain.
[Target Identified.]
[Rank: S Rank.]
[Type: Termite Queen.]
Zakar's grip tightened involuntarily, the faint smirk that usually lingered on his lips now gone entirely as he stared at the towering entity before him.
"…So this is your real self huh?," he muttered, his voice quieter now, not out of fear, but out of recognition.
This was no longer a test of skill alone. This was survival at its most brutal edge. His body tensed slightly, his stance lowering as he adjusted his footing on the unstable sand, preparing himself for a clean fight
The Queen moved without warning, and the battlefield transformed instantly. The ground beneath Zakar did not simply spike as it had before, it exploded outward in a wide radius.
Massive pillars of hardened earth erupting with terrifying speed and force, each one thick enough to crush him instantly if it connected. Zakar reacted on pure instinct, launching himself backward as one spike tore through the space he had just occupied, but there was no pause, no gap between attacks. The desert itself turned hostile, the terrain shifting violently as spikes, walls, and collapsing pits formed simultaneously, forcing him into constant motion just to survive.
He ran and his body pushed to its limit as he twisted, leapt, and slid through the chaos, barely avoiding one attack after another as the Queen manipulated the battlefield with absolute control.
The scale of its power was overwhelming, far beyond anything the Captain had displayed, and Zakar could feel it clearly now, this was not something he could casually overcome.
"Its too wide and too fast…" he muttered through clenched teeth, his breathing beginning to tighten as he forced his body to keep up with the relentless assault. But even as he moved, his mind worked, analyzing, adapting and searching for a flaw he could explore.
Then he made his decision, instead of continuing to evade, Zakar shifted direction and dashed forward, straight toward the Queen.
The response was immediate. One of its massive limbs rose high into the air before slamming down with devastating force, the impact shattering the ground and sending a shockwave outward that threatened to throw him off balance. But Zakar adjusted mid-run, stepping into the motion rather than away from it, slipping past the strike and closing the distance in a single, decisive push.
His Tyrann Sword rose, then fell with full force the blade struck the Queen's armored body directly and stopped.
Zakar's eyes narrowed sharply as the impact reverberated through his arms. The hit had landed cleanly, perfectly even, but the armor had absorbed it almost entirely.
The resistance was immense, far beyond anything he had cut before, and though a faint mark appeared, it was nowhere near enough.
"…You've got to be kidding me," he muttered under his breath.
The Queen did not give him time to adjust.
Another limb swung toward him with terrifying speed, far faster than something of its size should have been able to move. Zakar barely raised his blade in time to block, but the force behind the strike was overwhelming, crashing into him like a landslide.
BOOM!!!!
He was sent flying violently across the desert, his body slamming into the ground and rolling several times before finally coming to a stop. Pain shot through his entire frame as he struggled to push himself up, blood spilling from his mouth as his arms trembled under his own weight.
"Damn it...that… wasn't light…" he muttered, his voice strained but the Queen was already attacking again.
The ground beneath him hardened instantly, locking his movement for a brief but critical moment, and before he could fully react, a massive spike erupted upward. Zakar forced his body to move, tearing himself free at the last possible second, but not completely, its edge sliced into his side, tearing flesh and sending a sharp burst of pain through him.
"Gaahh—!"
He staggered backward, his breathing now uneven, his vision flickering slightly as fatigue and injury began to stack against him. His movements slowed down.
And the Queen did not slow at all.
Its attacks came relentlessly, one after another, each heavier, faster, more precise than the last. Zakar fought back, his Tyrann Sword moving again and again as he attempted to counter, to find even the smallest opening, but every strike he made was either deflected, absorbed, or rendered insignificant by the sheer durability of its armor.
He was being overwhelmed. Not by numbers but by power. His legs trembled slightly as he moved, his reactions lagging just enough to matter. A fraction too slow. A fraction too late. And in a battle like this that was everything.
The Queen raised both limbs once more and slammed them into the ground with overwhelming force, and this time, the entire battlefield responded. A massive surge of earth rose and crashed toward Zakar, too wide to dodge, too fast to escape.
He raised his blade and cut into it, breaking part of the attack but not all of it. The remaining force slammed into him, throwing him down violently as his body hit the ground with a heavy impact.
He didn't rise immediately. Blood spread beneath him, his grip on his sword loosening slightly as his chest rose weakly. His vision blurred, the edges darkening as his strength drained away faster than he could recover.
"…So this… is the gap…" he muttered faintly, his voice barely above a whisper.
The Queen loomed over him, its massive form casting a shadow that swallowed him entirely as it raised its limb high into the air, preparing to deliver the final strike.
Zakar tried to move.
His body didn't respond his strength had reached its limit.
"Tch… guess I die here..."
The limb came down, and just before impact—
[Time Limit Reached.]
Zakar's eyes widened slightly.
"What—?"
Before the strike could land, his body was engulfed in a sudden distortion, space wrapped violently around him as the desert shattered into fragments of light and darkness.
Everything vanished. The crushing pressure, the burning heat, the overwhelming presence all gone in an instant.
Zakar collapsed onto a cold, solid surface, his body hitting the ground with a dull thud as his vision slowly began to clear. The air was different cooler, quieter, empty.
He forced himself to breathe, his chest rising sharply as he stared upward. The desert was gone. The Queen was gone. He was back.
"…I lost," he muttered quietly, his fingers tightening weakly against the ground as the realization settled in not as defeat, but as truth.
And slowly a faint smile appeared on his blood-stained face.
"…Good."