The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family

The first wave of Vorathid Ants came pouring from the chamber entrance. Workers swarmed out in a tide of chitin, mandibles snapping, venom sacs swollen and ready to burst.

Reidar raised his wand. "Go!"

The bone militia, the spectral knights, and the primal packs all advanced in perfect formation, shields locked, spears lowered.

They hit the ant vanguard with the force of an avalanche. Chitin cracked under undead steel. Ichor sprayed in bursts.

The ants fought hard to push them back, but they could only slow the melee fighters, not stop them. Both sides had about the same number of creatures, but Reidar's summons were way stronger, as most were around level 80.

Lena didn't stay idle. She left Reidar's side and blurred past him. With her trait guiding her, she read the ants like tracks in the dirt—every twitch, every gap in their armor. In fact, now that he knew her trait, he understood Lena wasn't an assassin; she was a hunter.

Lena slipped through the gap between the bone militia and spectral knights like a shadow. Her blades flashed, slicing into the soft joints where the ant's armor didn't reach.

One ant snapped at her with its mandibles, but she was already moving, rolling under the bite and springing up behind it.

In one motion, she drove both knives deep into its eye clusters. It shuddered, legs buckling, as black fluid leaked from the wounds. She was already gone, vanishing into the next gap before it hit the ground.

[Soldier Vorathid Ant defeated.]

[You have gained 687 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]

[You have earned 202 Survival Points.]

[Soldier Vorathid Ant defeated.]

[Soldier Vorathid Ant defeated.]

[Soldier Vorathid Ant defeated.]

A spectral knight reached her, its shield intercepting another ant's lunge. The blade came down in a silvery arc, cleaving through the creature's neck. It collapsed in a spray of fluid.

Reidar channeled Fire Bolt, the condensed sphere erupting from his wand. It struck a cluster of workers, detonating in a bloom of flame that sent charred bodies tumbling.

[Your Fire Bolt strikes Worker Vorathid Ant for 892 fire damage.]

[Worker Vorathid Ant defeated.]

[Worker Vorathid Ant defeated.]

[Worker Vorathid Ant defeated.]

[Worker Vorathid Ant defeated.]

His Guardian Shade stood beside him, siphoning ambient mana and feeding it back to him through their bond. The flow kept his reserves stable despite the constant drain his skills demanded.

Soldier Vorathid Ants, larger and tougher than their worker counterparts, crashed into the spectral knights and skeletal formations.

Their chitinous plating deflected glancing blows, and their powerful mandibles crunched through bone.

A soldier ant ripped through a skeleton, tearing its torso apart. The fighter crumbled into ash—but just before it vanished, it burst. Acid sprayed out in a five-meter blast, eating through a dozen nearby Vorathid ants. Their chitin sizzled, flesh dissolved, and the floor underneath hissed and bubbled.

[Soldier Vorathid Ant defeated.]

[You have gained 612 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]

[You have earned 184 Survival Points.]

[Worker Vorathid Ant defeated.]

[Worker Vorathid Ant defeated.]

[Worker Vorathid Ant defeated.]

The notifications flashed in Reidar's eyes, stacking as his summoned creatures killed more and more of the wild monsters.

Another soldier ant leaped over a fallen knight, venom sac rupturing mid-air. Reidar pivoted, channeling Granite Shard. Jagged rock pierced its underbelly, exploding outward in a spray of gore.

[Soldier Vorathid Ant defeated.]

[You have gained 589 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]

[You have earned 177 Survival Points.]

Lena blurred past. She severed an ant's antennae, dodging its counter-strike with a twist and killing the beast seconds after.

Reidar's spectral knights reformed ranks whenever they got problems. They advanced, and the more they did, the louder were the queen's distant roars and screeches.

More soldiers poured from side tunnels, something Lena noticed. She looked back at Reidar; her face was smeared with ichor, which actually made it harder for him to see her.

"Push now!"

Reidar nodded, mana surging through him.

He adjusted his targeting. He no longer needed to worry about collateral damage to his army. He commanded his spectral knights and bone militia to charge deeper, creating more explosions. Reidar kept up his Fire Bolt barrage, seeking dense clusters of enemies to maximize the skill damage with his arcane leech.

Then they got to the queen's chamber. She didn't like the intrusion in her domain and started moving.

Reidar braced as the Queen Vorathid Ant uncoiled her massive ovipositor like a barbed whip.

It lashed out, spearing a dozen spectral knights in a single sweep. Acid drool hissed from her mandibles, splattering the ground and dissolving a wave of bone militia into ash.

Of course, some of them exploded, actually harming her and hundreds of her children, although most of her colossal body shielded the workers and soldiers.

She surged forward, her six tree-trunk legs slamming down and crushing a whole militia of skeletons and beasts. Bone cracked under her weight with earth-shaking force.

The Queen roared, and her minions went into a frenzy.

The soldiers barreled into the spectral knights, mandibles mowing shields, while workers ruptured sacs in corrosive sprays that melted ranks of summoned wolves and bears.

Hundreds fell in seconds. Reidar's army suffered under the onslaught. The Queen's ovipositor whipped again, impaling more monsters.

That wasn't a problem for the other summons that were calling forth more of their comrades in arms.

His army reformed faster than the queen could crush them. It was a tide destined to wear down her rage and bring her to death. She reared up, spraying venom in a sweeping arc. Acid cones melted through skeletons and seared the fur off summoned beasts. Then she charged, her massive body flattening creatures beneath her, pounding the cavern floor to dust.

Reidar held the line. The Queen's power staggered him. The cavern trembled, but his army pressed on, chipping at her colossal form one swing after the other.

[LEVEL UP! You have reached Level 80.]

[You have gained 0.5 attribute points to distribute.]

[LEVEL UP! You have reached Level 81.]

[You have gained 0.5 attribute points to distribute.]

[LEVEL UP! You have reached Level 82.]

[You have gained 0.5 attribute points to distribute.]

He grinned, both for the levels that were slowly coming and also because the Contuberniums hadn't acted yet. In fact, what Reidar needed to do was for the queen to get closer and more entangled with her children.

And now, as the time finally came, he gave an order.

"Flood her."