Dungeon Maker

<Recapturing the Gold Mine #2>

The more he was rushed, the more cold-hearted he became.

Because of the additional effect that the mana potion gave, he didn’t feel any pain and instead, his senses became sharper.

Is it because of the demon’s blood?

Or was it Yong-Ho’s ability that’s been dormant all this time because he never got into a fight when he was in the human world?

It didn’t matter which side it was.

Even when groups of Crazy Ants started charging towards him, Yong-Ho remained calm.

When he grabbed Catalina by the waist, the ants were very close.

When he pulled Catalina into his chest, the ants were so close that he heard them breathing through their rake-like mouth.

Despite this, Yong-Ho kept on thinking. As he stabbed the ground with Aamon, the Crazy Ants started burning above him and he controlled his mana as he felt their weight.

He didn’t let it all go because he got excited.

The gold mine was a lot smaller than the room outside.

He only had one mana potion left and if he pushed himself with his mana again, then he couldn’t guarantee that he’ll be able to fight against the Queen Ant.

Like how one dodges the swords that are falling above them.

He released the mana. Aamon responded. He controlled the fire!

It looked like a Dragon Wind. The fire started from the ground and rose up as it enveloped Yong-Ho. The fiery whirlpool burned the Crazy Ants.

He couldn’t breathe. He controlled the fire. Instead of releasing the fire, he condensed it.

His senses were sharp. Catalina was crouched under him while breathing heavily and he was able to read her every move. It was as if the fire became one with her and her body felt it.

This entire process only lasted for a couple of seconds.

During this short time, Yong-Ho trusted his instincts again. The fire that was shooting out in one direction split into two and was released in both passageways.

Half of his mana was used. His mana became stronger many times because of the mana potion and it provided a similar effect to when his mana was maxed out.

The inside of the mine was burnt. The smell of Crazy Ants burning filled his nose. The fire must’ve burned the air because it was still difficult to breathe.

And in one second.

Yong-Ho raised his head. The Crazy Ants, who were near the center of the fire and fought against Yong-Ho turned to ashes. The ants that were near it didn’t turn to ashes, but were dead. The ones that kept their distance were alive, but weren’t in any condition to continue fighting.

Yong-Ho breathed out.

Catalina, who was within Yong-Ho’s arms, did the same. Instead of standing there absent-mindedly, she stepped out and looked around. She used her long ears to see if she could hear the enemy, but she couldn’t hear anything.

‘I can’t do it a second time.’

Not only did he have to release it, but he had to control it and the price for it was heavier than he thought. Mentally, he was extremely exhausted. If it wasn’t for Aamon, he wouldn’t have been able to get this far, but for Yong-Ho, Aamon was still too much.

With a frown on his face, Yong-Ho turned his attention to the inside of the mine. He used Aamon as a cane to support himself and brought up the dungeon map by waving his finger into the air.

It was just as he had expected. The mine wasn’t as deep as he thought. He couldn’t find out the tunnels that the ants dug, but Yong-Ho didn’t care. In the map, it showed the most important information right now.

“Queen Ant.”

Today’s target was located in the deepest part of the mine.

“The number of Crazy Ants within the mine has greatly decreased.”

“There aren’t that many Crazy Ants left where the Queen Ant is located.”

“It’s almost done. You’re so close!”

Yong-Ho had a bitter smile. There really weren’t a lot. Since his entire body was in pain, he couldn’t fight for a long time.

‘Now is not the time.’

Yong-Ho gritted his teeth and fixed his posture. He had no choice but to hurry, not only for himself, but for the salamander and Skull, who were guarding the entrance.

“I’ll lead.”

Catalina spoke quietly and took two steps in front of Yong-Ho and started leading. Yong-Ho didn’t say anything and followed behind Catalina.

“Because of the mana that the Queen Ant is releasing, I’m unable to check the situation in the deepest part of the room.”

“I’m not sure what they have planned, so please be careful.”

Yong-Ho nodded his head and looked at the dungeon map again. Other than the Queen Ant and the soldier ants, there wasn’t anything else for them to fight against.

In that case, the main fight will be with the Queen Ant.

Yong-Ho took a deep breath for the last time. The passageway that connected to the innermost part of the room had a slight slope and when he stood two meters away from the cave entrance, he couldn’t see if there was something inside.

Catalina’s ears flinched. She heard something crawling inside the cave. The entrance was quiet.

Yong-Ho and Catalina exchanged eye contact. When Yong-Ho nodded his head once, Catalina grabbed her sword with her left hand and grabbed a fiery short sword that she obtained from Kaiwan’s armory with right hand.

Catalina flew inside. Yong-Ho kicked off the ground and headed inside the cave.

A large space.

It was so large that people would be able to play volleyball in here.

The ceiling was high. The inside of the room was an irregular circle and all around the room, there were white eggs bunched up together and they were smaller than a human’s head.

In the deepest part of the room, there were two soldier ants and as they raised their head, they provoked Yong-Ho and Catalina. They were about 20 meters apart, but it was enough to catch their attention.

But Yong-Ho didn’t get buried this time. As soon as he entered the room, everything that he saw felt out of place.

Something had to be in this room.

He didn’t see the Queen Ant.

How?

Why?

“Kyahhhhhhhh!”

He heard the awful shriek coming from above him. Right when Yong-Ho looked up, Catalina jumped on him. They fell on the ground and rolled away.

Fwoosh!

10 icicles that were about one meter long fell on the spot that Yong-Ho was standing in. While rolling with Catalina, Yong-Ho looked at the ceiling.

It was a wall, not the ceiling. On the wall right above the entrance, he saw an enormous monster.

It was an enormous, blue ant that was four times bigger than a soldier ant.

Like a spider, their stomach was way bigger than their head and above its head, a woman who’s upper body was naked was sitting on top of it. Excluding the antennae that was on its forehead, the woman was beautiful. On top of that, they had long, blue hair.

“Kyahhhh!”

The woman and the ant’s head went towards Yong-Ho and Catalina at the same time. Behind the woman were sharp antennas that looked like a mantis’s legs and they extended outward.

Yong-Ho felt it.

‘Magic?!’

He focused on the mana. Blue mana was gathered at the end of the antennas. Yong-Ho didn’t wait any longer. Catalina quickly stood up and kicked off the ground right away.

Swoosh!

The icicles that were being formed in mid-air were targeting Yong-Ho and Catalina again.

Yong-Ho rolled on the ground again and Catalina dodged, but didn’t stop there. She used her agility and kicked off the wall. As she kicked off the wall, she threw her body into the air.

The Queen Ant was shocked by Catalina’s fast movements that they kept on moving their head. Catalina had already released an arrow before they moved.

Her aim was right on target. But the arrow didn’t pierce through the Queen Ant’s forehead. It was as if there was an invisible wall because it just bounced off and Catalina somersaulted in mid-air and landed on the ground.

“I feel a strong mana coming from the Queen Ant!”

He assumed it. They were an evil spirit that guarded the mine since the previous generations. On top of that, the Queen Ant had a strong mentality and was able to control all of the Crazy Ants.

Just from seeing that human “main body” on top of the hideous ant’s head, he could tell the Queen Ant was extraordinary.

‘Is it a defense magic?!’

Yong-Ho didn’t stand in one spot. He quickly stood up and tightened his grip on Aamon. The Queen Ant wasn’t the only monster that was here.

“Gahhhhhh!”

Two soldier ants charged towards Yong-Ho at the same time. Yong-Ho charged towards the one on the right. He aimed for their head with Aamon since that was the part he got into contact with first.

“Gahh!”

They tilted their head and dodged Aamon. Yong-Ho released a part of his mana and released a fireball and when it blew up beside their head, they released a bizarre sound and twisted their body.

And at that moment, Catalina jumped on top of the ant on the left and swung her sword. She completely cut off their head with one attack. She didn’t stop there and released an arrow that pierced through the ant that was on the right side.

“Kyahh!”

They were unable to balance themselves. Yong-Ho quickly grabbed Aamon and targeted their head again. When he felt Aamon in the ant’s head, he released some fire and burned the inside of their head.

It took them a couple of seconds to take down two soldier ants.

Yong-Ho didn’t have time to catch his breath and immediately looked at the Queen Ant. And he stopped without knowing.

The Queen Ant moved towards the ceiling and was looked towards him with spite. But it was just a body that was located on top of its head. The enormous ant was biting off a small girl.

It was gross and something he couldn’t understand.

Where did she come from? Why did the Queen Ant stop fighting and start eating the girl?

“She’s eating the Princess Ant and recovering her mana!”

As soon as the Spirit of the Dungeon shouted, the Queen Ant shot icicles again. Yong-Ho threw his body and dodged the icicles that were pouring down like rain. It wasn’t exactly the cleanest roll, but he was able to dodge them just in time.

But that wasn’t the end. The Queen Ant jumped off the wall. She targeted Yong-Ho, not Catalina.

She was extremely fast. He didn’t have the time to think, so as he rolled on the ground, he extended Aamon out in front of him. He poured out the remaining mana and created a fiery wave.

The wave crashed against the Queen Ant.

“Master!”

Catalina yelled. Yong-Ho saw it within Greed’s fiery wave. A defense magic was being created from her head and it pushed away the fire.

As soon as it landed on the ground, the Queen Ant released a scream and she started stabbing between the fire with her sharp antennas. The Queen Ant had the Princess Ant’s blood on their mouth and glared at Yong-Ho. There was another Princess Ant that was stretched out on the Queen Ant’s back, but they couldn’t even let out a scream.

Clash!

The Queen Ant’s mouth was like metal and it collided with Aamon. Yong-Ho managed to block it by placing Aamon in an upright position and released a painful groan. Even though he somehow blocked her, she was extremely strong.

“Kyahhhhh!”

The Queen Ant shrieked as she glared at him. She retracted the antennas and targeted Yong-Ho!

“Ahhhhh!”

Catalina screamed. She distracted the Queen Ant and released an arrow. After, she quickly jumped on the ant’s back.

The arrow bounced off the Queen Ant’s head again. But, Catalina didn’t stop. She couldn’t ignore Catalina anymore. Her antennas changed their target to Catalina.

She leaped. She leaped so high that she was able to avoid all of the antennas and she did a somersault in the air. As her head was falling towards the ground, she rotated her body like a spinning top and changed directions. With that, she fell towards the Queen Ant.

Silver.

The short sword targeted the top of the Queen Ant’s head. She wasn’t able to pierce through it because of the defense magic, but she was able to cut off a couple of her antennas. It was like cutting off a human’s limbs and the Queen Ant started screaming. Their head must’ve been affected too because they started writhing in pain.

Catalina didn’t land properly because she was too focused on attacking and she ended up rolling on the ground. Instead of looking at Catalina, Yong-Ho looked at the Queen Ant. When the Queen Ant’s mouth was no longer in front of him, he grabbed Aamon with his right hand.

He was out of mana.

He didn’t have enough time to drink the mana potion that was on his waist.

But there was still a way.

“I’m pouring the dungeon’s mana!”

The Spirit of the Dungeon poured the dungeon’s remaining mana into Yong-Ho. Yong-Ho gathered them all together again. As he poured all of his mana into Aamon, he threw Aamon towards the Queen Ant’s body.

Green fire, flame. Greed’s fiery wave!

They were three meters away and Aamon flew across. Aamon was enveloped in green flames, which made it look like a falling star.

It collided. The green flame became weaker, but it was strong enough to crush their defense magic and Aamon remained calm. The sharp blade pierced through the Queen Ant’s chest. It was as if the lance had a will of its own because it poured the remaining flame and it blew up within their body.

“Kyahhhh!”

The green flame escaped out of all the holes that the Queen Ant had.

Catalina gulped. Yong-Ho didn’t turn away and continued watching the Queen Ant.

Their death.

The Queen Ant’s body was stretched out. When one leg gave out, they immediately fell to the ground. The head that had a body attached to it fell the ground as well.

The Princess Ant, that looked like a girl, was still attached to their back, but they weren’t moving so he wasn’t sure if they died or just lost consciousness.