Over the past few days, Yong-Ho had been thinking a lot about fighting the Crazy Ants.
First, it was about the scale of them.
In the room of the entrance of the gold mine, there were dozens, if not hundreds of Crazy Ants.
They were all working ants. They were the ones that made up the bulk of the ant colony.
Yong-Ho thought about it again now.
He wondered how big the ant colony actually was.
Perhaps the entrance room was where a majority of the Crazy Ants were.
Deactivating a room wouldn't make the room itself disappear. It was just the dungeon's mana supply that was disconnected and the only thing that disappeared was the accessible entrance.
The Crazy Ants have been living inside the inactive room, which allowed Yong-Ho to activate the other rooms around it and hunt a few of the stray ants.
Furthermore, Yong-Ho had an additional thought.
Weren't the number of Crazy Ants crawling around too little?
If the size of the Crazy Ant colony did indeed count in its thousands, then why did barely any of them show up outside of the entrance room to the gold mine?
The scope of their activities was far smaller than what he had imagined.
Perhaps they expanded into the opposite direction of the throne room, but Yong-Ho believed that it wasn't really possible.
There were two reasons.
First, the records of Kaiwan, the King of Distortion.
The previous owner had given up on retaking the mine, but the owner from two generations ago had a lingering attachment.
According to the records of the previous owner and Kaiwan, the size of the mine wasn't as large as he first thought.
In the first place, the gold mine had been created inside the dungeon, due to the chaotic nature of the demon world. It was definitely different from the typical gold mines of Yong-Ho's homeworld, Earth.
The depth of the mine was tens of meters deep at best. Moreover, the amount of gold that could be mined was also different from ordinary gold mines. Lumps of gold, in the shapes of crystal balls, were embedded in various areas all over the mine.
In any case, according to records, the room was too small for thousands of ants to be living in. There was a good chance that they dug up additional space in the gold mine, but he didn't think they would have created a significantly large space. That rationale was connected to the second reason.
Second, the habits of the Crazy Ants.
According to the information given by the Dungeon Market to the Spirit of the Dungeon, the general size of a Crazy Ant colony ranged anywhere from dozens to hundreds. Considering the available amount of food and mana, there was a limit to how many of them could live in the mine.
A Queen Ant would control the entire colony and just like any other group of monsters or animals, the environmental conditions would dictate the size of the group.
'If the Crazy Ants in the entrance room of the mine were all of them.'
A rough estimate would probably be around two hundred ants.
With that number, they had a good chance of recapturing the mine. If Yong-Ho was alone, even with a lot of mana potions, he wouldn't have had a chance to do it himself, but now he had the Salamander.
Yong-Ho stopped in front of the room that was located in front of the gold mine's entrance room. Catalina, Skull, and the Salamander all adopted combat stances despite Yong-Ho not ordering them.
They had only faced up against nine Crazy Ants and Slimes on their way here.
It wasn't that much. It was hard to imagine that there would be hundreds of ants inside the gold mine.
Yong-Ho waved his fingers in the air. The Spirit of the Dungeon promptly answered.
[I'll activate the entrance room to the gold mine.]
[Good luck, master.]
Perhaps because the room had been activated quite recently, but the activation time was a lot shorter than before. A few seconds later, an ordinary door appeared, just like any other room in the dungeon.
There were a lot of Crazy Ants beyond this door. Yong-Ho thought he could hear the ants crawling around the room beyond, but he wasn't sure if it was just his instincts or not.
Yong-Ho tightened his grip on Aamon and stood on the right side of the door. The salamander stood on the left side, as he had previously instructed.
Catalina and Skull stepped forward and each grabbed a door handle.
And after exchanging eye contact, there was no further reason to delay. Catalina and Skull opened the door at the same time and Yong-Ho and the Salamander kicked off the ground.
It was dark again. As soon as they opened the door, the sound of hundreds of crawling Crazy Ants around the room filled their ears.
Yong-Ho only thought about a single thing. As soon as he stepped inside, he raised Aamon up into the air and released fire.
It was different from before. It wasn't just a single spark nor was it a wave of fire that would disappear into the air. This time, Yong-Ho wanted something that was akin to a flame thrower. He wanted the flames to shoot out like a pillar of light and light all of them ablaze!
Booooom!
Flames exploded forth. Aamon instantly consumed almost half of Yong-Ho's mana and released a torrent of green flames.
The flames lit up the dark room. The whole of Yong-Ho's view was filled with the light of green flames. The wave of fire extended out and enveloped the Crazy Ants and Slimes in front of him.
There were no screams. But, Yong-Ho could feel it. He raised Aamon towards the ceiling.
Fwooooosh!
The ceiling lit up in flames. Instead of expanding the fire, he decided to reduce the amount of power being released, however, the Slimes and Crazy Ants were still weak against fire, so this intensity of Aamon's flames was more than enough.
A foul smell filled the room. On the opposite side of the room, the Salamander spat out red flames that were burning everything in its perimeter.
The size and power of the Salamander's flames were higher. However, when compared to Yong-Ho's fire, it was more of a one-shot attack. After releasing a large amount of fire, the Salamander started gasping for air and Yong-Ho swung Aamon in the air once again. He felt the remainder of his mana being exhausted.
"Catalina!"
Yong-Ho yelled, and Catalina immediately reached for his belt and took out a mana potion. She quickly removed the cork and poured it into his mouth.
It tasted like a sports drink. Not long after the blue liquid slid down his throat, he felt a new power rising from somewhere deep within. Aamon's flames, which had been getting weaker, suddenly increased in strength again. They were bigger and stronger than before!
'The effects of a mana potion!'
It didn't stop at just refilling his mana level. It was temporary, but it actually raised the level of Yong-Ho's mana.
He couldn't tell by how much, but he was definitely sure that his mana had become stronger.
Aamon consumed a lot more mana. And released a stronger fire in response.
Once again, half of his mana disappeared within an instant. But, it was incredibly effective. Not only did it enveloped the Crazy Ants and Slimes, but it revealed the ceiling, and lit up the entire room. About twenty Crazy Ants died in an instant because of Yong-Ho's flames.
Yong-Ho looked around the room. The mine's entrance. Like before, soldier ants started to appear and they were at least three times bigger than the working ants.
"Run!"
Yong-Ho gave out a quick command and the Salamander, who was catching its breath, began to crawl at a fast pace.
Catalina opened another bottle of the mana potion and poured it into Yong-Ho's mouth, and as soon as his mana was recovered, Yong-Ho sheathed Aamon. The fire that filled the room disappeared, but the Crazy Ants didn't immediately react. The burnt smell not only filled Yong-Ho's nose but everyone else that was in the room.
"Skullllllll!"
Skull ran behind the Salamander. Yong-Ho and Catalina both ran towards the mine entrance and checked the number of the Crazy Ants that remained in the room.
Roughly two-thirds were left.
There were still quite a few ants left. Yong-Ho and the salamander's fire were pretty powerful, but the room itself was incredibly large.
Yong-Ho breathed in again. In just a few seconds, they had shortened the distance to the gold mine and soldier ants that were approaching them. Feeling a sudden sense of crisis, the Crazy Ants started to quickly crawl on the walls and ceiling.
And once again.
Catalina and Skull lowered their positions. Yong-Ho waved Aamon into the air and used the remainder of his mana on Aamon. If he didn't have the mana potions on hand, he wouldn't have even thought about doing this.
The large flames he produced surprised Yong-ho. The green flames of greed stretched out onto the ceiling, walls, and ground and it consumed the Crazy Ants before him once again. Not a single Crazy Ant was able to reach him.
The Red Lotus Demon Lance, Aamon.
One swing will burn the world and evaporate the seas!
It might've not been an exaggeration. Aamon's true strength could indeed be as strong as that.
It became stronger the more mana it consumed. It released a stronger fire.
How strong would the fire be if the King of Greed, Mammon, used it? What kind of fire would Aamon release after consuming the mana of a king that ruled a quarter of the demon world?
Yong-Ho clenched his teeth as the fire started to die. Catalina grabbed the third mana potion.
And the salamander widely opened its mouth. It released a huge column of fire towards the soldier ants in front of them.
The salamander annihilated the soldier ants and even broke through the entrance of the gold mine. Crazy Ants started to crawl out of it and were given a fair death.
Yong-Ho consumed the third mana potion. He was once again filled with mana. Furthermore, he could feel his mana temporarily becoming stronger from the additional effect of the potion.
'It's dangerous.'
But, it was helpful. Yong-Ho gritted his teeth and endured the pain in his body. It was harmful for him to repeatedly consume and refill his mana in a short span of time. Moreover, his mana was getting stronger, which acted as a double-edged blade that harmed him.
Yong-Ho kicked off the ground again. He ran towards the entrance of the mine.
Almost half of the Crazy Ants covering the room had died. There weren't a lot of Slimes left and the ones that had survived didn't dare attack Yong-Ho's party.
Yong-Ho knew that this situation would only last for a few more seconds. He only had one mana potion left.
The exhausted Salamander turned around towards the mine's entrance. Even though it was breathing heavily, it continued to spit out fire towards the ants. Skull grabbed his hammer and stood alongside the Salamander to protect it.
"Skulllll!"
Skull yelled at Catalina and Catalina responded with her eyes. Catalina and Yong-Ho ran past Skull and the Salamander and threw themselves into the mine.
Their goal was to kill or subjugate the Queen Ant, who was most likely located in the deepest part of the gold mine!
[Dungeon Facility: I'll try to activate the gold mine!]
The Spirit of the Dungeon hurriedly yelled. Yong-Ho looked to the front. Catalina's flashlight alone wasn't enough to drive out the darkness inside the mine. The sound of something crawling in the darkness slowly became louder and louder.
Yong-Ho calmed himself. He held himself back from sheathing Aamon and started to run. Yong-Ho couldn't see beyond the darkness, but Catalina was different. Having the characteristics of a Dark Elf, she was able to see through the dark.
Catalina remained calm. It was not the time to waste her mana in a moment of fear and anxiety.
A couple of seconds later. Though it was only for a short time, it felt endless.
[Dungeon Facility: Activation of the gold mine successful! Mana will now be supplied!"
The Spirit of the Dungeon cried out. A series of mana lights on the ceiling suddenly lit up thanks to the supply of mana.
At the same time, Yong-Ho waved his finger. He displayed the dungeon map to check if the gold mine was among the rooms that he was currently in control of.
"Master!"
During the short time, he was examining the map.
Catalina yelled. Yong-Ho reflexively pulled out Aamon. He looked to the front.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Alongside the sudden scream, the Crazy Ants started quickly moving around. They crawled all over the ceiling and walls, and some even rushed towards Yong-Ho and Catalina from behind. It was as if they were trying to crush them to death.
Yong-Ho didn't think about it. He quickly stretched out his hand and grabbed Catalina's waist and pulled her into his chest. The moment he was covered by the Crazy Ants, he struck Aamon into the ground.
The flames of greed soared.
Waves of fire swept throughout the mine.