BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM-Chapter 1290: The bugs (16)
Erik studied the cave entrance. There were around a hundred worker bugs standing guard, two dozen warriors, and ten leaders at the mouth of the cave.
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Their mandibles clicked as they communicated with each other, but Erik knew that was surely not their only means of communication, as pheromones must have been involved somehow, given the high level of coordination and threat response these things showed.
Besides, what Amber and the others told him about their intelligence wouldn't make sense. It wasn't just about what he saw.
<The more I know about Mur, the worse this place looks…>
The real problem was in the surrounding area. There were more than five thousand bug-like thaids swarming across the battlefield, scavenging the corpses of the dead creatures.
Possibly even more. The sheer number of creatures made any attempt at stealth impossible.
"There are too many," Erik said, keeping his voice low. "As soon as they spot us, every single one will converge on our position."
It wasn't like they couldn't kill them. Erik alone was enough, but they would need to spend mana, and that would mean they would have to make their way through the cavern to reach the queen. That would make them waste more mana and more time, and the queen might even run away.
June crouched beside Erik. "Maybe we can lure them away."
"I don't think they will leave the entrance. They are too smart. Besides, there are too many corpses to feast on and to bring to the queen, and they need to keep the competition away. They won't leave," Erik said.
He sighed.
"We need to clear a path." He turned to face the group. There wasn't much he could do aside from entering himself.
"I'm going to blast the guards at the entrance. Once they're down, we run straight inside."
The plan was as good as it was bad. Blasting the entrance, Erik would still alert the other bugs, but at least he would avoid facing those outside.
<Well, at least I would kill quite a few of them.>
Amber frowned. "Wait. Wouldn't it be better if I just warped us all inside? We could avoid the fight entirely."
"That would be ideal," Erik said, "but we have no idea what the situation is inside. The bug queen might have concentrated her forces at the entrance, but even if she didn't, I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of the fuckers inside. If we warp in and find ourselves surrounded by thousands more, we'd be trapped. I would have problems using my powers there, since I might end up killing us all with the bugs."
"I can get us out," Amber said. "My warping brain—"
"Could save our lives," Erik interrupted her, "which is exactly why I want to keep it as our last resort." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "If things go bad in there, you're the only one who can extract everyone, including the clones."
Amber crossed her arms. "I can handle it."
"Can you? Can you bring everyone in and eventually out again if needed?" Erik asked. "Do you have enough mana reserves to warp so many people twice?"
Amber opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. Her shoulders slumped slightly. As much as she wanted, she couldn't do it.
Her mana was simply not enough. The only way for Amber to do that was if she increased the number of neural links more, but she didn't even have the time to train since coming to Mur.
At best, she could warp the entire group once—either in or out, but not both.
"I thought so," Erik said. "We need your ability as our escape plan. If we're overwhelmed inside, you'll need every drop of mana to get us all out safely, or use your corrosive fog."
Amber remained silent. Then Erik turned to face the others. "Is everyone ready?"
Emily nodded. Mira tightened her grip on her bow while June shapeshifted into a bug. The Chimaeric Demons simply went into a running stance.
"Good," Erik said. He moved to a position with a clear view of the cave entrance and began channeling his mana.
The air around his hands shimmered with heat as he concentrated. His plan was straightforward—create a massive fireball that would not only eliminate the guards but also consume the oxygen at the entrance.
Any surviving creatures would be weakened, gasping for air, making them easier targets once they were inside.
Sweat beaded on Erik's forehead as the fireball grew and the temperature rose. It started as a small orange sphere hovering above his palm, then expanded rapidly.
The fire spun around and turned from orange to blue, getting hotter and hotter. The fireball grew as big as a large boulder, and it was so hot that everyone had to back away from it.
"Stand ready," Erik said. Small tendrils of flame licked out of the sphere as if eager to be released.
Erik thrust his arms forward, sending the fireball hurtling toward the cave entrance. It streaked through the air like a miniature sun, leaving a trail of super-heated air in its wake.
The bugs at the entrance had only a moment to feel the heat before it became too scorching. Their antennae twitched before the fireball crashed into them, but only for a fraction of a second.
The explosion was deafening. A tremendous wall of flame erupted, engulfing the entire entrance. The blast wave rippled outward, burning and flattening the vegetation and sending smaller thaids tumbling through the air. The heat was so intense that rocks cracked and the nearest trees ignited instantly.
The bugs caught in the direct path of the fireball disintegrated; their bodies got reduced to ash in fractions of a second.
Those at the edges fared a little better—their exoskeletons blackened and cracked, internal organs burned within their shells.
The flames rushed into the cave mouth, consuming every molecule of oxygen in their path. The fire roared with hunger, leaving behind a vacuum that pulled more air inward to feed its insatiable appetite.
When the initial blast subsided, the entrance stood clear but scorched. Charred bug corpses littered the ground, some still twitching as their brains failed. Black smoke billowed upward, forming a dark column against the sky.
"Let's go!" Erik said, already running toward the entrance. The others followed.
