Chapter 318: Chapter 318: The worm invasion!
Getting the partially tamed beasts to evolve didn’t complete any of the requirements, making Theo realize that things might be a lot tougher than he had realized before.
It seemed the partially tamed category was not counted as untamed or tamed. It was a new category altogether, one Theo could not use.
He used the basilisk organs and made the ants eat each one of them to see if any would get an evolution, and a group did at what seemed like the intestines.
These ants were called Acidspawn Worker Ants, their very beings surrounded by spitting lethal acid at their enemies.
When Theo made them spit it on one of the branches nearby, it started to sizzle due to the acid, and that was it. It kept sizzling and then stopped, giving off a smoky texture, but the branch was still there.
But the same problem persisted with the new evolution too.
It happened to the smaller ones, and no matter how much Theo tried to get the spiked ones or the two reinforced varieties to evolve, it just felt impossibly hard.
And these acid-spitting ants were just as big as his fingernail, making them just another supporting type meant to perch on the bigger ones’ backs.
Theo made all of the smaller ones evolve into this type, as it was better than having them remain as normal smaller ones.
Theo needed to evolve the mantis in order to complete one of the simpler requirements, but finding a path for it seemed really hard, as it had already evolved many times.
Yet when the ants kept increasing in numbers, they finally faced a bigger problem.
It seemed the bigger crawlers had finally noticed the ants and started moving toward them.
"It’s any time now. Are you all prepared?" the baron asked in a domineering voice, making everyone roar with a ’YES’. They had anticipated this moment many times.
"Three will come from this side, and two from here. All seem to be targeting me and the ant colony, but I have a way to call them here," he spoke again, making a shiver go down Theo’s spine.
"Five gigantic crawlers? Can we really handle them?" Elias spoke while looking at Theo. He seemed more worried about him than himself.
"Ah, it’s no biggie. I will get rid of the three, but you need to defeat two, or all that training was just not worth it," the baron spoke casually while looking at the ground.
"You three, stand there," the baron spoke and pointed into the distance, making the trio move into formation.
The boar and the pup were ahead of them, with the ape alongside them and Chip perched on its head.
Theo was right behind them with his sword out. The crimson-colored mantis perched on his shoulder, looking at the ground too, as if it could detect something.
Soon, Theo started feeling the vibrations beneath his feet, and with every second, those vibrations became more and more intense.
Both Clara and Elias were ready with their support weapons, their eyes fixed on the ground to know where they were coming from.
"NOW! Move away from this spot! At least a few big steps!" the baron roared, making Theo instinctively move from his spot, and so did the others.
In the next five seconds, the ground split apart, and three gigantic worms came out of it, their bodies tangling with each other.
One of the worms moved toward their direction right away, but instead of attacking them, it curved and got entangled with the other two.
"THEY CAN’T ATTACK NOW! PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE THEY FALL BACK INTO THE GROUND AND FIGHT!" the baron roared, making every one of them get to work right away.
Theo took a few steps forward and realized that he was supposed to stop, his strength not being good enough to do any damage.
’Ant queen, are the preparations complete? If they are, send them for the attack,’ Theo asked through the mental command and got a small nod through emotions, making him focus on the mantis now.
The mantis had already become a white blurring light as it moved forward, and Theo could tell the distance it could travel with the ability now was a lot more than before, showing just how much prowess in an ability and leveling up helped fully unlock its potential.
The boar and the pup moved forward in unison, and as soon as they were close to one of the big worm’s bodies.
The tusks of the boar became thick red as it rammed tusk-first into the slimy body of the worm, covered in dirt.
The tusks went in right away, and blood poured out like a water tap had been opened, making the pup proficiently make cuts with its ability, using its claws to elongate the holes the boar’s tusks had made.
The worm opened completely from one point, and it was then that it started getting a lot more entangled with the others.
The ape made crazy chimp noises and jumped with a roar before plunging the sword in its hands deep into the worm’s body.
It came back down to the ground while tearing a long gash into another worm’s body, making the trio cheer at what was happening.
The mantis was nowhere to be found, but Theo was sure it was doing well on its own.
The worms panicked as their bodies became entangled with each other, making their fall slower, almost as if they were resisting each other.
Two of the three worms’ bodies were already opened like water taps, and blood kept coming out, painting the ground crimson red this time rather than being absorbed by the moss and soil.
There was just too much.
And then Theo finally saw the mantis when he noticed a white light above his vision.
The mantis had just burst out of the worm’s body with its ability, making the worm bleed out completely.
’Awesome,’ Theo spoke through the bond.
When finally, a distress signal came from the ant queen, making Theo look toward the big hole.