Alchemist In The Apocalypse: Rise Of A Legend!

[Third Person POV],

"How come it's still alive?" While maintaining his focus on the monster that was far away from him, the earth mage shouted in a low voice.

Ace watched the rat queen calmly, showing no emotion or response, in contrast to the earth mage who was already in a state of panic.

The rat queen was currently emerging from the hole that was made when the attack from the dragon phantom struck it, according to what Ace and the earth mage could see.

When Ace looked at it after the dragon phantom's initial assault, its body was just as damaged and deformed as he had previously seen it.

The fact that the rat queen appeared to be healing on her own, albeit slowly, was the only thing that caused Ace to consider the dragon phantom's continued existence more seriously.

The rat queen was still alive and appeared to have some strength, so this alone meant a lot in addition, the fact that it was healing indicated that it would return to a semi-full state sooner or later.

Perhaps Ace and the earth mage would have been unconcerned because if they left the den without alerting the rat queen and without leaving obvious traces before the rat queen had fully recovered, things would have been better, but the fact that the rat queen was currently looking in their direction meant that all of this was impossible.

They had already been noticed and presumably had been marked.

SQUEAK!!!!!

Another loud sound was given by the rat queen, which also acted as a wake-up call to jolt Ace out of his reverie.

"Let's go," Ace said to the earth mage beside him in quick breaths, to which the earth mage immediately responded.

"Move where?" The earth mage, who was also lost in his thoughts about the rat queen, unconsciously responded as Ace had just finished speaking.

"Of course, let's try to get to the surface. Or are you going to stay and fight that thing?" Ace asked the earth mage, and without waiting for a response, he began to move, his surroundings being illuminated by the glowing crystals on the walls.

The earth mage was astounded by Ace's words because he certainly wasn't born suicidal to even consider going up against something that could easily defeat his powerful king. When he noticed that Ace had already started moving without him, he quickly pushed all other thoughts out of his mind in order to concentrate on what lay in front of him.

"I have to get the king out of this goddamn place!" The earth mage thought as he hurriedly followed Ace, trying not to lose him.

Ace had other matters on his mind, in contrast to the earth mage who was primarily considering his king.

For one thing, even if the rat queen hadn't suddenly returned living, Ace would have wanted to leave the den as soon as possible to avoid being crushed to death by falling rocks. However, the rat queen's continued existence changed the situation.

Ace reasoned that, in addition to entering the rat queen's territory and subjecting it to the current state it was in, they had also taken what was likely the dragonheart, the rat queen's most prized possession. This is why Ace thought they had been marked by the rat queen.

Ace didn't know the full story of what transpired, but he assumed that the dragon heart was probably what gave the earth rats a second variation, and that if they had stolen anything of value from the rat queen, she would undoubtedly hunt them down and kill them.

Regardless of what was happening—the rat queen searching for them or the den collapsing—Ace had to leave the area quickly to avoid simply dying.

Since he already knew the tunnels he took to get here, Ace was confident he could still make it to the surface as quickly as his body could carry him, but he wasn't so sure he wouldn't be caught by the rat queen. In fact, Ace was more concerned about the rat queen than the den collapsing.

The only person in their group who could combat the rat queen was Andrew Dawn, who was presently dozing off on his back.

Their situation would not change even if he was conscious because his body would still be weak from using the berserk pill to acquire more strength.

If Ace had to protect Andrew Dawn in a particular circumstance, Andrew Dawn being awake might have made things worse; therefore, it was best for him to be asleep at the time. He might even turn out to be a burden.

These were Ace's thoughts up until he noticed something that made him realise his initial assumptions that the rat queen would be their primary issue were incorrect because there was now a blocked wall in the tunnel Ace was in.

The earth mage next to Ace continued to gaze behind him with a worried expression on his face and said, "It's blocked," to Ace.

Hearing this and seeing the behaviour of the earth mage, Ace opened his mouth to speak.

"Seems like the den has already started collapsing from the inside," Ace said as the earth mage's expression deepened as he was about to speak before Ace stopped him by speaking again.

"And don't worry about that rodent too much. It's healing, but the process is slow, and before it can bother with us, it has to worry about the falling rocks that will disrupt its healing process," Ace said as the earth mage's expression visibly relaxed, but before he could completely calm down, Ace spoke again, and the content of his words caused the earth mage's heart to skip multiple beats once more.

"But that doesn't mean we can relax because who knows if the rat queen is already behind us and just needs to pass through a few tunnels to reach us," Ace said, and immediately after saying this, he made his way back as he wanted to pass through the tunnels he had seen on the way before arriving here without waiting or the earth mage.

SQUEAK!!!!!

'Talk about perfect timing'