I hurried to rectify my mistake, but it was already too late to do so. The boss notification appeared in front of me, affirming the fact that I was locked in here. For all my promises to Mark about how I’d not fight the boss, it appeared that now I wouldn’t be given a choice in the matter.

  Not that I was complaining.

  BOSS BATTLE

  ANT QUEEN MAJORICA

  RANK : RARE BOSS

  Level : 25

  Oh, this one ant has been naughty, hasn’t it? But no matter! We’ll give it a chance to rectify its mistakes!

  The ant queen’s life is usually a sad state of existence. Just alive to spawn more ants, protected at every step, whether she wants it or not. Quite tragic, isn’t it?

  That doesn’t go for this queen. Oh, no-no-no. She’s truly a fiend. Armed with crystalline armor, jaws that could pierce metal, and chemical equipment that would make World War I veterans shiver, among other things we’ll leave up as a surprise, she’s quite a marvel of biology!

  Her intelligence… We’ll leave that up to discussion. She chose to trust you with, according to her, ‘vital’ information, after all.

  Level 25? When was she going to tell me that? Not that I was afraid, of course, but 25? Come on! At least ask if I thought this was a fair fight! And she was even a rare boss at that!

  “Not looking good, Shrimpie!” Mark shouted.

  “You don’t have to tell me that! You see a way out?”

  “I’ll look!”

  Mark went to look at the walls, but I already knew what he’d find - nothing at all. I was locked in here, whether I liked it or not, and my only way out would be killing this thing. God, I’d kill for an upgrade of [Analyze] that could actually tell me what stats and abilities these things had.

  Looking at the Queen again, I could not help but shiver. It was a different thing talking to her as something like an equal, and something completely different looking at her as my enemy. The ant’s head, something I took as a face of someone I was having a nice conversation now seemed malicious, danger seeping from every point I could see. Her eyes blinked back to their black color for only a second, making her body remain in a tense position, before they went back to red again. She wouldn’t be able to overcome this.

  My legs moved as if on their own, making distance while I still could. The ant queen seemed to be looking me over, as if contemplating. Whatever happened to her now didn’t completely rid her of all intelligence then. Great. At least it would be a somewhat fair fight.

  “Any ideas, Mark?” I huffed, looking for any sudden movements.

  “Ideas? We’re fucked, Shrimpie! Royally fucked! It’s a rare boss!” His words came out in a short burst, completely panicked.

  “I’ve got this! Calm down!! Mark, think of any ideas on how to kill it.”

  “Kill it? I don’t-”

  “I either kill it or we are both dead, as you said. So you better think of some goddamned way to kill it! I don’t think [Bullet Strike] will help me much here, seeing that it’s got too many legs to destroy.” I tried looking for something to destroy, something that could help me in this fight, but there was no clear way forward. I felt overwhelmed, and I wouldn’t win this by standing and thinking. It was time for action.

  Mark went to say something again, but I could afford to listen to anything else. Trusting him as much as I ever did, I let him be, and dashed toward a wall. The ant queen moved, each step moving the ground under my feet, too fast for the sheer size its body would suggest. There was no running away then.

  Changing my direction, I headed straight forward, preparing my shields for the attack that would inevitably come. Obliterating just one leg would not serve me at all here, at least I did not think so, but just taking the attack didn’t seem like a good move, either.

  I watched the raised leg spear downward, right at me. Nope, not getting hit by that. I mentally commanded a skill to be used, and felt the air rustle my hair as [Dash] shoved me forward, right toward its left middle leg. The front left leg of the queen hit the ground with a thunderous boom; the mushroom floor torn to all sides, a small crater forming where the leg hit.

  I didn’t wait. Using the momentum that carried me forward still, I used every muscle in my body for one single smash, aiming right at the leg in front of me. My shield sank into the carapace, bending and cracking it. The queen screamed, unnatural and high pitched, and raised the leg. That was my full strength, yet the damn leg held. The HP of Majorica barely moved as well, much to my disdain.

  No matter. I sprinted forward once again, aiming to hit another leg, but just as quickly as I stepped forward, so did she. I felt searing pain in my back, hot blood running down a straight line, and my world shifted as I flew through the air.

  I crashed into one of the pillars, and then continued, though it greatly slowed my flight. The mushroom walls were not as soft as one would think, but my constitution stat was high enough for this much. I was a Mantis Shrimp. This much would not take me down.

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  This shit hurt. Finally coming out of my tumbling roll, I groggily stood up, reorienting myself, wiping the blood coming out of my mouth. Downing a healing potion to regain half of my max HP that I already lost, I dashed at it again.

  “Pillars, Shrimpie!”

  I did not turn to look at Mark, but I did listen. “What?!”

  “The pillars! It crashed when you flew through it! Get her under one of those and crash it on top of her!”

  I didn’t have a plan myself if it didn’t work, but it seemed as solid of a plan as any other that Mark came up with. “Got it!”

  Now the only question was how to get her there. The thing was too fast. Already it was aiming to swat me away once again, one of its front legs raised. Vibrant rage was down, so was dash. That left me with what? Bullet strike, battering ram and bubble flash? Not good enough. I seriously needed more skills, or at least somehow lower the time they took to use.

  No time to get lost in my thoughts. I connected both of my shields, taking the brunt of the attack, letting my whole body absorb the force trying to pierce me. My wrists struggled not to move to not let the attack reach my body. My muscles strained, the strength of the ant queen taking me to my knees. My legs started embedding in the ground, and yet I still held. Just one more moment. I cried out, screaming, letting some of the pressure out in the one way I knew how. The mushrooms cracked under my legs, but I held on. Just a little more.

  The pressure lifted off of my shields, and I moved. I quickly used [Bubble Flash], grabbing onto the leg that just attacked me moments ago. It lifted me upward, screeching, bringing the front legs to wipe its crimson eyes. She didn’t even see me hanging on her leg.

  I didn’t like attacking without my weapons, but letting go of the shields was just a no-go, and so I settled on trying something new. A new idea, a brilliant idea. My genius... it was frightening. These human legs allowed for some interesting abilities. The system said that [Bullet strike] required me to punch, but the name implied that maybe that wasn’t the case. I used the skill, and kicked out, aiming for the eye right in front of me.

  The eye cracked. Then shattered, sending liquid and blood everywhere, covering me completely. Her carapace continued cracking until half of her face exploded outward. But it didn’t destroy the head. She wasn’t dead yet. Instead, the hit pushed the queen, making her pivot to the side. And she hit the pillar, crashing to the ground with a deafening cry.

  I let go, finally low enough not to take damage from the fall, and sprinted toward the pillar from the other side. I had seconds before the damn queen started getting up, and I did not want to feel the anger she’d undoubtedly bring.

  My feet barely touched the ground as I ran, the adrenaline pushing me forward. I ran around it, and immediately went to action.

  I used the skill [Battering ram]. My hand glowed, the red and blue shining onto the white mushroom pillar. The five second charge-up seemed like eternity itself. Majorica was already getting up, and I had moments left. Now or never.

  My fist slammed into the pillar, and it crumbled into huge chunks, my shield reverberating at the bludgeoning damage. I watched the chunks lean onto the ant queen as she stood up. She looked up. And then they crashed on top of her, one after another. Those goddamn mushrooms were dense!

  There was no dust, no obscurity that would detract from my vision, even if I didn’t have the best vision of all the animals. I ran back around the pillar, my shields at the ready, and approached the head of the ant.

  She was squirming, more than ever, trying to get up yet failing. Pity. I felt pity for her, more than for any enemy I’ve fought. She just wanted to help me, and she’d have to pay for that with her life. I’d not let her sacrifice go to waste.

  But this moment of hesitation and pity cost me.

  “Watch out!” Mark shouted, his voice shrill.

  Too late. Majorice opened her maw, and white-blue liquid burst forth, splashing all over my body. I hadn't managed to get my shields up, not completely. Burning pain seared my whole body, the agony hot and overwhelming. I ground my teeth, trying to overcome it, using the pain to push me forward once again, screaming my lungs out to let out some of the pain. I punched, again, and again.

  The ray of acid never stopped. Smashing down on another healing potion, I continued punching, trying to break the carapace on its head completely. It was down to one third of its health, but the thing was just not going down fast enough. The health potion was still in effect, but my hp didn’t rise - the opposite, in fact. I couldn’t breathe, not unless I wanted to take more damage.

  Another punch, and I felt a chunk of my skin fall off my shoulder, leaving bloody red flesh behind, instantly seared by the acid. Another, and the potion stopped working, the pain coming even more intensely. I didn’t let up.

  “She’ll outlast you!” Mark shouted, panicked.

  My HP reached critical levels, going down fast. I could barely hear my own thoughts, I could barely stand from the pain. And yet I continued punching. As my HP neared complete bottom, I smashed on another skill. [Block].

  The shield shimmered around my body, relieving me from more acid, the acid reflecting onto the walls instead. The queen was almost dead. But so was I. If I wanted to win, I needed to win fast.

  And so I did. I punched again, each strike more desperate than the last. I felt the cracks forming, deepening with each strike. Again, again and again. And finally, the cracks in the head deepened, and the whole chrysalis shattered. I felt my arm sink into the head, the inside warm.

  I looked into the red eye, just to find it black again. I knew that ants could not smile, that they could not make any expressions at all. Yet I could swear that she did smile, right then and there.

  The announcement of the boss battle conclusion came just as my ability ran out, and I collapsed to the ground. I still couldn’t breathe. I could barely stay awake, not even stand. The acid on my body was not burning me anymore, but the damage had already been done.

  “You did it, Shrimpie! You won!”

  I would have replied, if only I could have found the strength to do so. All I wanted to do at that point was to lie down and sleep. But I knew that I would not wake up anymore if I did so.

  And that’s when the walls shook. The ants, surely. Angry, ready to avenge their queen. I didn’t want to fight them. They were… nice. Nicer than the people in the town I was supposed to protect.

  I punched my shield to the ground, using it to push myself to my feet, and failing miserably. The potion was still on cooldown, would probably still not be able ready before they broke in. I needed… to get up. God, why was I so sleepy. Dumb, weak human bodies.

  And that’s when I noticed an oddity on my map. There were player dots outside.

  “Fuck. Just when I needed a nap.”