Thud, thud. Thud.
Piles of dirt fell down and some of it dropped on Lloyd’s eyelids. It made his eyelashes itch, yet he couldn’t raise his hand. He wanted to shake his head, but he also couldn’t.
‘Ah, this feeling is exactly the same as when I was tipsy. It’s not that bad.’
The whole world was spinning in his eyes. His vision was completely blurred. His dazed head was ringing.
Perhaps, that was why he was seeing random things with no filter.
‘What is this? This computer graphic that’s approaching me looks so realistic.’
Someone was coming closer to him. The dim light from the luminous mushrooms on the wall delicately illuminated his visage.
He wasn’t a human. No, Lloyd couldn’t regard him as a human. All because his visual was too unrealistically perfect to say that it belonged to a person of this world.
‘Super handsome.’
Grayish-silver hair and blue eyes. His eyes, mouth, nose, and ears were works of art. All the more so even if soot was smeared all over his face.
He still looked handsome even though sweat had flowed down and mixed with soot before it dried up. Rather, he seemed to exude a different magical charm that contrasted with his noble appearance.
‘Oh sh*t, looking at it made me feel annoyed.’
It was unfair for a person to be so handsome up to this degree. His very existence was a major disruption to the ecosystem.
So, that thing shouldn’t be a human. It was a CG. Let’s just believe it was a CG that eats, sleeps, and talks. Otherwise, Lloyd felt like his self-esteem would endlessly take a hit.
“…. oyd-nim. Are you alright?”
Don’t talk to me, CG. I feel light-headed right now. Feels like I’m going to vomit.
However the CG in front of him, no, Javier, didn’t know what was going on with Lloyd and raised his hand. Javier slapped Lloyd on his cheek abruptly.
Slap!
“Please wake up,” Javier said.
“…..”
Slap!
“You can’t close your eyes here.”
“…. Stop, that’s enough.”
Lloyd barely came to his senses. He then spoke in a hurry.
Javier, whose hand tried to slap Lloyd for the third time, stopped. It was only then that for the first time, a sense of relief showed on his face.
“Are you okay?”
“Um, I’m not okay. Because of you.”
“Pardon?”
“Just now, I knew you perfectly slapped my cheek.”
“Thank you.”
“Wow.”
“Can you stand?”
“I think it’s going to be a little difficult. Someone with a grudge just slapped my cheek.”
“I only did what was necessary.”
“Oh yes, I suppose you did.”
“Now, get up.”
Javier held out his hand. Lloyd couldn’t get help from this guy, though. The reason was simple. Javier was still sitting on the ground as well.
“Hey? You, did you hurt your leg?” asked Lloyd.
“Yes.”
“Where did it hurt?”
“I think I sprained my ankle.” Javier pointed to his ankle.
Is he in severe pain?
Lloyd was late to realize that the beads of sweat on Javier’s forehead were cold sweat.
“Is it very painful? To the point where you can’t get up?”
“Both of my legs are injured.”
“Aha, so the reason you held out your hand to me a while ago was to ask me for help?”
“Yes.”
“….”
What a shameless fellow.
“Am I your shuttle who’d help you move?”
“What is a shuttle?”
“There’s something like that. Anyway, hold on a second.”
Lloyd examined the condition of his party.
Javier had injured his legs. Bangul had fainted in his arms. He himself had no particular sprain nor serious injury. At best, there were only minor scratches or scrapes. Of course, the full-body bruise that made his body feel numb was still painful.
‘This is no joke.’
Every part of Lloyd’s body ached. There was no place that didn’t throb.
To some extent, it was similar to the morning after he went to the gym for the first time in his life and got rolled all day long by a large athletic trainer from hell. Or, it felt like being rolled all day long inside a washing machine and got dehydrated.
All of his muscles and bones literally hurt. Even his armpit hair felt stiff!
‘Even so, it’s a miracle that we’ve survived.’
Luminous mushrooms grew all over the surrounding passageways. The dim light it produced allowed Lloyd to look around.
The first thing he noticed was the ruined and collapsed passageway. He could also see the body of the queen ant, whose head and chest were left in tatters.
It wasn’t until now that he realized why he and Javier were saved from the explosion.
‘Unexpectedly, the Queen Ant Shield saved us.’
Methane gas exploded from the rear. However, there was the queen ant between where the explosion came from and where they were located, for the queen ant was chasing after them.
‘The queen ant is so enormous it almost fills the entire passageway. Despite that, that giant creature had saved us. Just like a cork stopper prevents the champagne from bursting.’
The humongous body of the ant queen that almost filled the passageway served as a cork. Seems like it had blocked the pressure from the methane gas explosion.
‘Thanks to it, most of the energy from the explosion had been dispersed through other passageways in different directions.’
And what if it doesn’t? Right now, they must be dead.
‘We’re lucky. It almost completely blocked the explosive power, but when I felt my whole body ache, I’m done talking.’
If they had been directly caught in the explosion, their bodies would never be found. The queen ant’s carcass that had been torn to fragments just like a piece of rag was the evidence.
‘It was perfectly fine when it got hit by the sword imbued with Javier’s power.’
How powerful was the explosion? He had goosebumps thinking about it.
Lloyd shook his head vigorously to shake off his goosebumps and said, “Let’s move right away. If we stayed here, we’d die.”
They were lucky enough to not get caught up in the explosion. Still, he couldn’t be relieved just yet. In fact, their situation was bleak.
“The ants on the opposite side, are they dead?” Javier asked. He looked around as he stood up with Lloyd’s help. The collapsed passageway was where his gaze was directed at.
Lloyd nodded. “Perhaps.”
In the direction of the path where the explosion took place, across the collapsed passageway, there would be a road from hell. The ant beasts that were swept away by the explosion certainly die an instant death.
And what about the others that had survived?
“Most of the passageways must’ve collapsed. They must’ve been crushed and buried alive by a huge amount of soil and sand. Then, what about the rest? It’s obvious. They’re going to choke to death.”
Layers of coal were embedded throughout the ant nest. The coal beds must’ve caught on fire. Toxic gas must’ve been produced in large quantities. They’ll suffocate to death because of the terrible heat and toxic gas.
“So, the ant beasts across the collapsed passageway can be considered annihilated.”
Explosions and fire inside underground tunnels were just as frightening. This was also the case in the modern world where technology was advanced. Even with the best facilities and safety systems, there would always be unfortunate victims each year.
That was why the ant beasts were no exception. With massive fire and a lot of combustion, they wouldn’t withstand such oxygen-deficient environment.
“By the way, let’s first stay away from it for now. Hup!”
Now, it was their turn to survive.
Lloyd put strength in his arms that supported Javier. He made the man whose legs were injured stand up forcibly. Then, he quickly turned around, showed his back to Javier, and bent down slightly.
“Get on my back.”
“Pardon?”
“Just get on my back.”
“Thank you.”
“Wow.”
Without a second thought, this guy climbed on his back. Javier even tilted his head while being on Lloyd’s back and said nonsense like this, “Lloyd-nim, by any chance?”
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