The layer of sand surrounding the anthills was structured in such a way that it all fell to the bottom. That was to prevent the ants from getting out.
To get out, Junhyuk had to teleport. Once out of the anthill, he looked down below. The hill slanted down for approximately forty meters, and there might come a time where he would have to teleport twice.
Junhyuk ran with all his might up the hill for another twenty meters, and he was barely able to get out of clearing.
He stared at Gongon and said, “You didn’t have to kick me.”
“We don’t have much time. If you feel bad about it, have one of these.”
Gongon threw something at him, and Junhyuk’s eyes beamed. It was a piece of Andes Tribe candy, valued at 20G each.
“Why do you like it so much?”
Gongon popped one into his mouth.
“The taste makes dragons go crazy.”
Junhyuk shook his head. Modern humans were used to MSG and spices. Would the taste be able to satisfy his palate? However, since it was given to him for free, he couldn’t refuse it.
He popped the candy into his mouth. It was delicious and it tasted like peppermint. It was also soft. The taste was very sweet.
He felt the candy with all of his senses, and his senses were pushed to the limit.
Junhyuk tasted the sweetness like he was falling into it, so he closed his eyes and enjoyed the taste. When the sweetness started fading, he started feeling refreshed.
The feeling came from his mouth, and he slowly opened his eyes. Until the very last moment, the taste of the candy was extremely satisfying.
Junhyuk looked at the hatchling, who was snickering.
“Does it taste good?”
“How is this taste even possible?”
Gongon shrugged.
“The merchant has all sorts of things from all dimensions, but this is the only candy it carries. Just think about that!”
Bebe didn’t just sell any item. It cost 20G just to appease one’s sweet tooth. Thinking of it, that candy had to be something else. To earn 20G, one had to kill twenty minions. That didn’t feel like much to him now, but twenty souls were needed to taste the candy.
Sarang looked at Gongon and asked, “Can I have one too?”
Gongon nodded.
“If you stop hugging me while still giving me piggyback rides, I’ll give you one.”
She laughed and replied, “I’ll just buy one myself later.”
“Do that.”
Gongon turned to him and added, “Hurry.”
“Right.”
Junhyuk was feeling better, so he got up and looked down at the anthills.
“You guys can’t give me support.”
Gongon nodded.
“We are out of range.”
The forty-meter downhill to get inside put everyone outside out of range.
Sarang said, “I can cast Thunderstorm.”
“Can you do it this time?”
She nodded. He was going at it again, and it felt like he was getting sucked into the hill, even though he was standing still. He was standing at the center of the clearing again, and that’s when he saw another thousand-year-old centipede.
The centipede lifted its body up, and that made things easier for the allies. Junhyuk gave Sarang a signal, and she put her orb forward. Suddenly, lightning stuck down on the centipede. There was not a drop of rain around.
Craaack!
The attack landed just right, and the centipede roared loudly.
“RAAAARRR!”
Junhyuk frowned. The Spatial Slash had killed the last one because it had gone into the centipede’s mouth.
“The thousand-year-old centipede has magic resistance! It only received half of the damage!” Sarang shouted from far away.
Junhyuk looked at the centipede as it raised his head, rushing toward him. Then, he used the Spatial Slash when the centipede opened its mouth.
Slash!
The strike generated a red shockwave, and the thousand-year-old centipede lost its life. However, its body was still heading toward him, so he dove to the side and rolled out of the way.
Boom!
The thousand-year-old centipede fell, and Junhyuk was astonished by its size. It had to have been extremely angry to dash at full force, and it was fifteen meters long from head to tail.
Junhyuk sighed, got up and teleported twice to get out of the clearing. Looking at the others, he said, “We have to attack them from the outside somehow.”
“I think you’ll have to kill the thousand-year-old centipede, and when the ten-thousand-year-old one shows up, we’ll all attack it,” Gongon said.
Junhyuk stared at the centipede he had just killed. The reason why he had managed to kill it was that his Spatial Slash was a high-ranking power, and it had hit for a critical.
He wondered if the enemy champions would be able to bring it down. Kraken would tackle it head on in a monster fight, but Nid and Kilraden would have a hard time against it.
Junhyuk shook his had and said, “I agree. If we anger the ten-thousand-year-old centipede and make it leave the anthill, we’ll all be able to attack it.”
While stretching, he added, “When my powers are off cooldown, I’ll kill the next one.”
Gongon threw a piece of candy at him and said, “I will give you some candy each time you kill one.”
Smiling, Junhyuk placed the candy inside his mouth. Sarang was looking at him with envy, but Junhyuk didn’t want to give her a piece because it was really addictive. The taste was good enough to make you spend your entire savings on it.
After lying on the ground to enjoy the candy, Junhyuk got up once it was done and said, “Then, shall I kill the next one?”
He went into a hole, and down in the paths below, something showed up. However, Junhyuk already knew the centipede’s attack patterns.
He was relying on the Spatial Slash too much, and there had to be another way to hunt the centipedes, but he had gotten used to his tactics.
After killing it, Junhyuk teleported back to the surface, and Gongon threw him another piece of candy. Junhyuk unwrapped it and, when he was about to eat it, he saw Sarang staring at him with envy. So, he threw the candy toward her, and when she caught it, he said, “Don’t get addicted to it.”
“It’s only candy. It won’t happen.”
Junhyuk shrugged. Gongon had already said that dragons went crazy over the candy.
When Sarang placed the candy in her mouth, she shivered. He knew what she was experiencing, so he turned to Gongon. The dragon was eating his candy unconcerned.
“After you kill two more, we’ll fight the ten-thousand-year-old centipede together.”
“We’ll help you.”
Junhyuk nodded and looked away. The cooldown for his teleportation was almost over, so he stepped forward, and that’s when Sarang’s eyes shot wide open.
“This is so good!”
He shrugged.
“Well. It’s the best candy out of all dimensions.”
Sarang was astonished.
“It would be cool if we could sell it on Earth.”
“Probably not.”
“Why?”
“People would have to taste them first, and we can’t hand them out for free.”
She was about to say something, but she sighed.
“That is a problem.”
Junhyuk moved out while saying, “Just enjoy it on our own.”
Gongon ate it constantly, but they should enjoy the candy sparingly. The hatchling had tens of thousands of gold worth of candy.
Junhyuk entered the hole to hunt another centipede, but not because he wanted more Andes Tribe candy.
After Junhyuk killed the fifth centipede, he teleported outside. The ten-thousand-year-old centipede had not shown up yet.
Gongon gave him another piece of candy, and the ground started shaking. Junhyuk, Gongon, and Sarang looked toward the center of the clearing and saw the five anthills collapsing.
Once they were gone, a larger hill rose from the center. The distance to the hill’s mouth was of over a hundred meters. Junhyuk wouldn’t be able to teleport out of the new hill, and as they watched it rise, the spot where they were standing started to crumble.
They all moved back some as the sandbank surrounding the clearing started rushing toward the center to feed the newly formed anthill.
Looking at it, Junhyuk murmured, “This centipede will be very difficult to deal with!”
The hill was twice the size of the others, and looking at it, Gongon said, “You can kill it with a single attack.”
“It’ll be very nice if that’s true.”
Snickering, Gongon kicked him down into the clearing again. Junhyuk didn’t have a chance to protest before he started sliding down the sandbank, feeling like he was going extremely fast.
“Hey! You’re supposed to help me this time!”
Gongon looked at Sarang and asked, “Should we go as well?”
“Sure.”
They were both about to jump in when the center of the massive hill moved, and something very large appeared.
A centipede thirty meters long came out of the ground, roaring as it raised its body to about twelve stories high.
“Raaaaarrrr!”
The roar was extremely loud, and Junhyuk was afraid.
“Gongon!”
He quickly looked behind him to see the hatchling and Sarang standing at the same spot calmly.
“Do you want some candy?” Gongon asked her.
“Thanks!”
They were joking among themselves while Junhyuk was terrified. The two of them ate candy and waved at him.
“You’ll do fine!”
“Gongon!” he shouted, and the shout alerted the giant centipede. With its maw open, the centipede rushed toward him.
Instinctively, Junhyuk used his Spatial Slash against it. The attack went in its mouth, and Junhyuk thought he had killed it.
Cluck!
The shockwave extended within the centipedes body, but it was still rushing toward him. Its health was far above the previous ones.
Junhyuk teleported to the top of the centipede’s head, but he couldn’t deal with its size. At first he thought it was thirty meters long, but fifty meters of it had already come out of the hole. It was coming out specifically to attack him, so he stabbed down hard on its head.
Clang!
Its hide was too thick, and the sword bounced off of it. Junhyuk couldn’t believe it.
“What the hell is this?!”
The centipede swung its head, and Junhyuk lost his grip, falling down. At that point, the centipede slammed its body against him.
Boom!
Junhyuk lost 10 percent of his health and got launched away, landing next to Gongon and Sarang.
“Big brother! Are you OK?”
He looked at them eating candy and said, “Its hide is too thick.”
Wagging his tail, Gongon said, “You look tired. I’ll help you.”
Junhyuk scoffed at the dragon and replied, “Thanks.” Then, he got up and looked toward the centipede.
“Time to fight for real.”
