Crystal Hoarders II

BOOOOOM!!!

Leo and the rest of the soldiers reflectively stepped back a few feet as the water drop landed into the ground, creating a massive explosion upon impact. Before they could celebrate however, 5 ants rushed forwards to finish off the killing. Reacting quickly both Ash and Leo rushed forwards and stabbed into 2 of the ants separately from one another. 1 of the ants was beheaded by a Green grade soldier as he got lucky with a critical strike to its neck.

Leo then focused on the last 2 ants and fired off 2 water bullets, finishing them off. No one relaxed though as they all waited for more ants to come out of the smoke that Leo's water bomb had created.

They waited for 2 minutes, standing with their weapons drawn, in a tense stare down with the smoke. Finally, they all saw the smoke slowly disappear, and a huge crater now sitting in front of the cave entrance. There was rubble everywhere and ant corpses layed out to dry sitting upon every nook and cranny in the crater and the cave's entrance.

Leo was shocked that his idea had bore this much fruit, because that attack easily killed almost 30 ants by itself!

All the soldiers and Ash saw the devastation caused by Leo's attack and they all yelled out in fanatical worship and rushed to the lords side.

"Lord, that attack was amazing!"

"Lord, what is this new move of yours called?"

"Lord Leo, that was so cool!"

Leo stood there with a smile on his face, extremely glad that he was actually able to save their dire situation. Ash walked up to the soldiers and Leo and said,"Soldiers, form up once more and tally our dead and injured before we head into the cave proper."

Ash and Leo met up while the death and injured count was being tallied up. Ash with a confused look asked Leo,"How did you launch that attack my lord? It was absolutely amazing! I would have never even thought such an attack was even possible!"

Leo with a bashful expression responded,"Oh that, well while i was fighting I suddenly had the thought 'If only I had a bomb to explode these ants with, then they wouldn't be so much of a problem."

Ash, still looking confused said,"Bomb? What is a bomb, my lord?"

Leo then realized that this world had probably never had access to things like gunpowder so things like bullets, guns, and bombs most likely were never even concieved of in this world. Either that or they were a rare sight, like a unicorn or something.

Leo simply responded by saying,"It was a type of explosive advice I had in my old world, basically you would shoot a solid iron ball at the enemy and when it came into contact with the enemy or with the ground surrounding them, it would explode and cause massive damage."

Ash had a surprised face on him now and he excitedly said,"What a fantastic idea!" Then he started to rub his chin while furiously mumbling,"Imagine the things you could do with such a weapon, the potential for it is almost limitless!"

While Ash was still mumbling about the incalcuable military advantages of a bomb a Green grade soldier came rushing over and saluted to Leo.

The soldier then told him,"My Lord, General Ash, the dead and the injured have been tallied! 6 White grade units fell in the battle, and 6 units were injured, 2 White grade and 2 Green grade are heavily injured, while 2 of the other White grade units are injured but can still fight!"

Leo nodded his head and turned to Ash and said,"Send those 4 units that are heavily injured home so they may rest and become healed. The other 2 will follow us into the cave for the battles to come."

Ash nodded his head and responded,"I agree, Lord Leo"

Leo could tell that Ash was talking with him in a much more respectful tone than he was before. If Leo had to place his tone he would say it felt like reverence. Ash walked over to the 4 injured units and sent them home, to which they complained since they wanted to continue fighting with their lord, but they complied nonetheless and started the trek home to the Fallen Star City.

After the soldiers were formed up once more and had some bread and water to fill their stomachs for energy the group of soldiers, Ash and Leo entered the cave.

As soon as Leo walked into the cave he noticed all the webs that were strewn about the cave first. Then after some time getting used to the darkness of the cave he realized that in the webs were holding elemental crystals! Yet, what made Leo confused at of all of this was that some of the elemental crystal were still buried in the ground, sticking out of the walls and ceiling as well. They dotted the cave every few feet, and gave off a faint green glow, slightly illuminating the area.

Leo turned to Ash and said,"I thought these ants take all the crystals in cave into their nests, yet there seem to be more in the ground and walls, then in the actual nest themselves."

Ash seemed a little confused himself and responded,"My best guess would be that this was a newer colony, and that this cave, which would be classified as a medium size crystal cave, held so many crystals that they didn't have the room yet to pick them from the cave."

Leo nodded at his words, as they made sense. As the group walked further and further into the cave, Leo was starting to notice that they weren't running into any more ants. They had been slowly walking for about 15 minutes with tense bodies and the group hadn't run into any more ant monsters.

Leo turned and asked Ash,"Ash, Is this normal for no ants to be attacking us inside their own cave? I mean we were just ruthlessly ambushed for even approaching their cave earlier, so I am a bit lost right now."

Ash shook his head and replied,"Well, normally, the colony will react to any outside threat with extreme hostility, seeking to eliminate it at all costs. They are always trying to make sure that the Queen ant is safe and in no danger. If the ants are met with an overwhelming force, they will retreat into their caves, forcing whatever enemy they are facing into a close quarters combat, however that is normally."

Leo was a bit puzzled and asked,"Do you know what happened this time for it to not go by the usual script?"

Ash nodded his head while still looking forwards at the cave as they walked, responding,"That would be the attack that you launched that wiped almost all of them out at the same time. Those five ants that kept attacking afterwards most likely didn't realize that their brethren were all killed and chose to continue attacking us outside. So basically, you killed all of them before they could even choose to retreat."

Leo sucked in a sharp breath as he realized that he had just committed a massacre. He knew that he had to do this raid to survive, but he was just a normal person a few days ago, and now he was killing like there was no tomorrow.

However before Leo could process this grief they came upon another opening unlike the ones they had come across before on the walk here. This opening led into a huge open space room, where a giant ant almost 5 times the size of Leo stood in the center!

The giant ant apparently recognized that intruders had entered its sanctum and let out a loud screech.

Ash quickly gained his breaking and shouted,"That's the Queen! All units prepare for battle!" The troops immediately followed his command and formed up properly now that they were in a room large enough for their initial formation.

Leo decided that he would get this fight started and yelled out,"Water sharpen! Water bullet!" Leo shot out a giant bullet at the Queen ants head, but it dodged, making it graze past its abdomen, causing only light wounds.

Ash yelled out,"Charge! Kill!" and the soldiers rushed forwards, all yelling,"Kill!"

Leo watched the soldiers attack as he ran counterclockwise around the Queen, looking for an opening. Leo thought to himself,"The battle is so intense, just like before I can't find a place to squeeze myself in, but unlike like last time I can't launch the bomb into the sky."

The Queen ant reared its head and snapped down, its mandibles dissecting a Green grade solder in two pieces. Ash then filled the gap himself, striking the Queen's head, only lightly injuring its hard exoskeleton.

Leo's mind was once again at work, trying to find a quick solution to the problem, hoping to have insane inspiration like last time. Leo thought to himself,"I can't launch my attacks because I might injure my own soldiers. I need to figure out a way for my bullets to arc and cover the Queen ants back, that way the damage to my troops will be minimal."

As continued running around trying to think out the problem ahead of him, Ash barely avoided the Queen ant again, but it did get both of the 2 White grade soldiers after hitting them its giant head, flinging them across the room. The 2 White grade soldiers smashed into the wall to Leo's right, most definitely killing them instantly.

Leo looked at the soldiers who had died for him and he furiously thought to himself,"Come one brain! All your men are getting slaughtered around you! Think of something useful! It doesn't have to be pretty, as long it works!"

Leo stopped running and took a moment to collect himself, hoping that this short breath would help him concentrate. He thought to himself,"Let's think through this, when the people of my world wanted to hit a far away target or a target that was out of range of its troops, what would they create? What would a general or scientist create to make the impossible into a possibility! "

Leo was racking his brain, when suddenly he had a thought,"Wait, I already have the perfect weapon! Water bullet is perfect for this situation, but all I need to do is add a way for it to change direction. I've been making go in a straight line, like a bullet, but what if I made it track a target, like a missile?"

As another Green grade troops was killed in front of Leo, he decided that this ided was better than nothing and started his new spell. He focused on his magic and pointed his Shark Tooth Spear at the Queen. He yelled out,"Water missile! Homing!" and he shot out that missile.

Leo watched as the water missile arced above the ants body, and struck its backside, injuring it greatly in the process! Leo shouted out,"Yes! Success!"

Leo the started running around once more, avoiding the Queen who was now trying to target him as he continued casting his new spell. "Water missile! Water missile!"

Both of the missiles struck the middle of the ants body, barely missing its head, but still piercing through its body. The Queen was now bleeding!

Leo was starting to feel extremely tired, and so he shouted,"Water missile!" 3 more times, before he collapsed onto the ground, unable to get back up again. Leo watched as the first missile missed the Queen's head but struck its mandibles, cleaving them off. The second missile hit the Queen's front right leg, tearing it off completely! Then as Leo lay on the ground, completely immobilized, he saw they third missile strike the Queen directly in its head, piercing it and killing it in one shot!

Ash realized that Leo had killed it and shouted out,"The Queen is dead!" The soldiers that were still alive all let out a huge war cry that shook the cave.