Soul Devourer Chapter 2 Episode 17 — Forest of Towering Anthills

The moment I passed through the dungeon entrance, the scene opened up into a field dotted everywhere with massive, dome-shaped earthen structures, each riddled with gigantic holes so deep that their ends were impossible to see.

From those enormous holes emerged jet-black ants the size of large trucks, some already locked in battle with other Hunters.

While some Hunters dismantled the giant ants they had slain and pushed them back toward the entrance on specialized carts, the giant ants themselves devoured one or two fallen Hunters and dragged the rest into the massive holes.

In other words, this entire field seemed to be the ants’ nest.

However, they didn’t dig upward to ambush from underground. It appeared they only entered and exited through those enormous holes.

Once I had a rough grasp of the situation, I began looking for ants that weren’t already engaged with other Hunters.

I looked up at the ant-type monster I encountered — a Soldier Ant — and it truly was massive. Its height reached around three to five meters, with a total length close to ten meters.

It had huge mandibles that looked capable of crushing anything, a hard exoskeleton that even high-quality weapons seemed unable to damage, and three pairs of legs.

Even just looking at its skills, it had high resistance to both physical and magical attacks.

Under normal circumstances, defeating one would take a considerable amount of time.

Dodging the Soldier Ant’s charge and its mandible-based predation attack, I closed the distance while gripping《Balmung》.

The moment the Soldier Ant slightly raised its head, it scattered formic acid in all directions.

I leapt backward instinctively, and the spot where I’d been standing moments earlier had melted into a sticky, bubbling mess, smoke rising from it.

Worse still, the acid was sprayed over a wide area. For frontline tanks and attackers, avoiding it would be nearly impossible.

If hit, not only weapons and armor but even the skin beneath would melt, potentially resulting in fatal injuries. That was why the movements of the backline were crucial here.

Without missing the telltale signs of the spraying motion, they needed to order the frontline to retreat, erect defensive walls with【Earth Magic】or【Ice Magic】, and buy time.

If someone still got hit by the acid, they’d have to be healed immediately with【Holy Magic】.

Well, for Hunters skilled enough to reach B-rank or A-rank, that was probably standard practice.

I sprinted forward again to close the distance. The instant the Soldier Ant began its spraying motion, I activated【Warp】and teleported above its head.

Following the segments of its exoskeleton, I brought《Balmung》 down in a clean arc and neatly severed its head.

『Magic Power +16』

『Strength +16』

『Endurance +31』

『Agility +16』

『Intelligence +16』

『Spirit +29』

『Dexterity +18』

『Luck +18』

『Skill Acquired【Corrosion Resistance】Lv.6』

『Skill Acquired【Night Vision】Lv.6』

I stored the cleanly defeated Soldier Ant’s corpse into the《Magic Pouch》and stood there for a moment.

Normally, the entrance to the boss room would be somewhere ahead in the field, but what about this place?

Ahead? Or underground?

Either was possible. I’d start with whichever was closer.

And so, without particularly bracing myself, I stepped into one of the enormous nest holes whose depths could not be seen.

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Current Status

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E/N:

Back to exploring dungeons! Now we exploring lower level dungeons with quirky monsters!

Also, Happy (belated) Christmas y'all and Happy Holidays. I know, it's a bit late but…

Some things happened at home and… well, not to rant but parents had a fight, it got physical and all… Christmas wasn't really good for me.

Yeah, I know this isn't the place to trauma-dump, sorry guys and gals! Anyway…

Stay tuned!

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Check out my other translation -

Konbini Ossan

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