OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 348: Riding Waves

The light from Judas's sun cast stark shadows, highlighting every contour of the battlefield. The chirping grew louder, almost deafening, as the ants became aware of their presence.

Each meter forward felt like plunging into the heart of a storm, where death lurked in every shadow.

But they didn't show any sign of fear.

As they sprung forth, foot on the pedal, revving their engines to the max, their collective roar continued to reverberate in their minds, alongside gunfire that drowned out their breaths.

Ratatatatatatatatat!

Emir led the charge with a lightly glowing assault rifle in each hand, his eyes scanning the undulating mass of ants while bullets continuously shot out of his two guns.

He could feel the mission's weight on his shoulders. He was trusted with making sure it was a success, but that wasn't what was so important to him.

It was the reward.

Amon knew he desired certain information that only Isaac had, so Emir was now doing his best to inch closer to getting said information, each bullet tearing through those under his sights, thinning them out before they got close.

The rest did the same, and the valley turned into a war zone as hundreds of bullets flew, making bloody swiss cheese out of the ants they touched.

They alternated fire at each reload, getting closer and closer to their target.

And eventually...

[BREACHING IN THREE!]

They were three seconds away from clashing against the sea of green.

Emir's roar was what warned them, and he continued the countdown while reloading his guns:

[TWO!]

Holding his breath, he aimed right at those that stood before them.

[ONE!]

His fingers pulled on the two triggers.

[FIRE!]

RATATATATATAATAT!

A symphony of destruction resounded as they cut a path through the ants. Parting it like Moses did the sea, an ancient and beautiful story within the archives of the Old World.

But there was nothing beautiful about this story. Their vehicles splattered green, while remnants of ants fell onto them and their compartments.

No other sound was heard except gunfire, the clinking of bullets, and the low chirping of dying ants.

[TRACKER ON!]

That wasn't for long however, as Ragnar announced himself to be ready. His motorbike was directly behind Emir's, his right hand holding a small tracker in the shape of a square, leaving his left on the hand clutch as he dodged and weaved those that managed to slip through the front.

[Initiate phase 2.]

[Roger!]

At Emir's call, the other six split into two groups, one heading left and the other right, creating separate paths through the ants.

In each group, the two at the front cleared the way, while the one at the back showered the ants in the middle with bullets, diverting their attention from the motorbike duo.

Their goal to bait the ants in the middle path into chasing after them was successful, as the sea began to form currents that headed in different directions, clashing with each other.

Meanwhile, allowed a few seconds to adjust, Emir put the guns back in the rucksack attached to his bike, then unsheathed his twin swords and slowed down slightly so that Ragnar would catch up and drive parallel to him.

[Rag, phase three.]

The War Queen's nest had a weak outer layer that grew stronger the deeper one entered, since the stronger the ant was, the closer the queen commanded it to be.

[Alright!]

This meant that they couldn't rely on their guns any longer.

They had to make direct contact, blade to antenna.

It would've been a slightly different story if Kalahari the Arcanist was with them. But it wouldn't be by much, the guns they were using already had been inscribed right out of the factory, making them rank above SS, reaching the limit of their potential, which was killing Fiends.

While Kalahari being present would allow them to cross that potential by a few sub-ranks, or in the case of monsters, sub-cores, her Aether would be spread too thin to be of use, making it only slightly stronger than what they were currently using.

In layman's terms, that bump up by leagues and bounds was only possible if she only inscribed one weapon.

After all, their guns' runes were absorbing Aether directly from the environment, but if an Arcanist had inscribed temporary runes, it was their Aether that would be used as fuel for the runes to work.

So the advantage was that it would be deadly in the hands of one, but not that much better than the minimum in the hands of many.

Either way, and unfortunately, like those who didn't come today, she had no time, so it wasn't happening regardless.

"BRACE!"

Emir roared once more as he created an Aether Construct in the shape of a ramp beneath them.

It pushed off the ants surrounding them, but they didn't go far, crawling back in a second,

their mandibles snapping in response to the delight of a self-invited prey.

[Your turn.]

[Yeah...]

They weren't surprised by that, however.

As Emir got low, preparing himself for the jump, Ragnar raised his left hand and punched out.

Screech!

The ants were pushed far away by his gravity, causing waves of them to crash into each other and giving the two a clear path forward.

Seeing that, Ragnar braced himself, and as a moment went by, their motorbikes flew high in

the air, above the sea.

But they didn't stay up for long, their motorbikes almost nosediving downwards, and it wasn't the valley they were returning to, but a ravine that spanned about a kilometer in width.

It was as if the very Earth was cut in one stroke, making a place for the War Queen's nest.

There, during the fall, they finally saw the nest for what it was.

It had a tunnel-like network with ants half their size stacked atop each other, forming cylindrical shapes that connected with the ones next to them, all leading to the nest's middle.

The War Queen's room.

'This'll be fun!'

A smiling Emir landed first, squashing an ant with his back wheel as he had imbued it with Aether using his Weaver's Veil Aspect, making his bike a weapon in and of itself.

"I'M LANDING!"

Ragnar didn't bother copying him, knowing that he wasn't skilled enough. Instead, he opted

to jump off his motorbike and crash his body into Emir, the rocket launcher, 'Fat Man,' twice his height held tight in his left hand.

Even though it was long, extremely heavy, and very difficult to hold steadily with one hand, Ragnar did it with ease, managing not to hit his brother with it, a natural result of his

Celestial prowess.

"YOU'RE FAT AS HELL!"

The motorbike sank for a second but sprang back up, somehow managing to carry the load as

Emir continued to abuse it, riding atop the ants' heads, killing them while driving straight

towards the queen.

"IT'S THE LAUNCHER, BESIDES, IT CAN HANDLE IT!"

Their one-sided banter ended as the ants began to retaliate.

Hundreds of them disconnected from the surrounding tunnels, forming a towering wave that

rushed towards them, covering the sky and landing them in shadow.

Chirp! Chirp!

Emir was about to swerve his motorbike away, but then suddenly the antennas of the ants

around and under them began to vibrate.

SCREECH!

They conjured a blast of sound that almost reached them in an instant, freezing them in place.

"Fuck."

"EMIIIIRRRR! DO SOMETHING!!"

His panic was valid as the motorbike they sat on kept moving, getting closer and closer to the wave that intended to swallow them up.

Emir immediately tried to drive using his neural network but failed as his and Ragnar's inner

systems were malfunctioning.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Then, out of nowhere... a scream resounded.

It was Ragnar's.

This was due to the pain he felt, as if a needle the size of Mars had pricked his brain.

Emir felt the same pain, yet his smile didn't falter, indicating that it was something planned.

And it was.

His neural network was what induced the pain, snapping them both off the stun and allowing

him to drive right, narrowly dodging the wave moments before impact.

"HAHAHAA! It's fine; you'll get used to it!"

Laughing out loud, Emir glanced back at Ragnar, seeing a face filled with horror.

"Fuck, I know, but it's just so much more than I expected!"

His gaze returned forward, and at that moment, they were a few meters away from falling off

the tunnel's top and into a ground filled with ants, their antennas ready to stun them to death.

If that happened, they would certainly survive by the skin of their teeth, yet that 'guarantee' wouldn't cover the motorbike, tracker, and two rocket launchers, which meant their mission would result in failure or at least inch closer to such an outcome.

But Ragnar had no such worry; Emir was the one driving.

"Hold!"

Using the back wheel as a hook, he pulled back, raising the front of the bike while drifting left,

away from the drop.

"HAHHAHA! HOLY SHIT!"

"I'M GOING TO FALL!!!"

Blood splattered all over as the body of a single ant sustained the motorbike's weight for a

moment, and they roughly dug into it, using whatever was left of its remains as a step to go

back into the tunnel's top.

"HAHAHAHA! LOOK AT THAT!"

"GAH! LETS GET THIS OVER WITH!"

If not for the augmented suit's force shield, their bodies would've been covered in blood like

the motorbike they sat on, cosplaying as maniacal serial killers, which, in truth, Ragnar wasn't far from becoming.

But in Emir's case, even without the blood, his unnaturally wide smile looked deserving of a

title far worse than that of a serial killer.

Ragnar shuddered when he glanced at him, quickly looking away, his eyes landing on the

second wave coming their way.

"Incoming!"

Raising his left hand, Emir aimed his pointing finger at them.

"I see them... Die."

And a torrent of Aether splurged out like lightning, destroying them entirely and leaving

nothing of them behind, killing them before they could even reach full speed.

"Don't waste your Aether! We need to save up in case shit goes tits up!"

Emir snickered at Ragnar's warning, revving the bike and accelerating as he neared the

tunnel's end.

"I know, I know, it was only ten percent."

"Whatever!"

A third wave formed before them, exactly where the tunnel they were on was connected to the

two tunnels on either side of it.

'We jump.'

It didn't take a second for Emir to decide what to do.

"HOLD!"

With a sharp turn, he drove in a straight line towards the edge on the right, intending to jump

over to the next tunnel.

"FUCCCCCK!"

A few heads were popped, and off they went, flying over the floor of ants and landing on top of

many, squashing them and spluttering out blood everywhere.

"See that?!"

This tunnel they reached led to the queen, which was directly in front of them, resting inside

her cocoon of ants, reaching many hundreds of meters in height and width, half the size of the Academy's football stadium.

"Yeah, fuck, remind me to never ride with you again."

Emir chuckled while his eyes scanned the cocoon.

"Sure, but save that for later. It's time." [Task one ended. Initiating task two.]