I believe the swarm was a eusocial colony of some kind. Eusocial insects are stuff like bees and ants. It’s somewhat accurate to call the swarm a single entity to an extent. It’s not exactly the same as what Amelia referred to earlier with the siphonophores.

Instead of a community of creatures joined forces to become something more complex, this was more a hive mind, where all the insects shared the same thoughts and goals.

Do keep in mind this is just pure conjecture. In the ants’ nest, there are a few different kinds of ants. There are the workers who carry food and defend the hive, and there are the males who have wings and breed with queens… and of course, there is the queen… and I think in some particular ant species there are more specialized types of warrior ants too. You learn plenty of fun facts about completely pointless things, when you have a lot of time to spend watching videos online.

As I looked into the swarm of horror undulating around us, there were distinctly different looking bugs mixed in. I saw those wasp-fly hybrid looking things Amelia had in her mouth. They looked almost like they were swimming in the gaseous, tinier insects. There were also curled up, slower looking things. They were like pitch-black prawns with rather fearsome looking mandibles, every now and then, they’d cough out a bunch of those black worms… from… one of their ends. I honestly couldn’t tell which one was the head or the tail, and I kind of didn’t really want to know either.

Considering I spent most of my life in a hospital, I never grew absolutely terrified of insects. In fact, I think a lot of them were gorgeous, and I wish I could have seen them in reality instead of just through a computer screen.

HOWEVER. These things can all go to hell for all I care. They were absolutely disgusting! Hairy, undulating bodies! Gnashing mandibles, not to mention their unnerving twitchy movement.

Everything about them was basically embodying the sentiment of ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’

“We need to pick up the pace. The fire is going out.” Amelia almost shouted over the buzzing.

            “Right!” I nodded and began running.

As soon as my first running step was taken, I realized something was wrong. My entire body felt like it was made of lead. Every step I took demanded immense mental effort to even get started. Amelia took note rapidly as my panting got heavier.

“Dammit…! I didn’t realize!!” She rushed to me, beginning to assist me as we ran.

“W-what’s happening to me?! My body feels like stone…!” I gasped throatily.

“You’re simply exhausted… If witch bodies are anything like us humans, you have probably been forcing your body to move with pure adrenaline for a while now.”

“Wha…!?”

“Yes. You’re at your absolute physical limits. Your body can’t take anymore. I’m sorry… this is all my fault for being such a burden.” The knight bit her lip.

“W-what do we do?!” I yelped as I collapsed on my knees as soon as Amelia and I reached a few wooden scraps we could use to keep the fire going.

Amelia grabbed my already died out torch off of my hands and tossed it somewhere into the swarm. She gave me her still burning torch, and hoisted me up over her shoulder.

“Gggrraahh…!” The paladin really was strong, but despite her obvious strength, she was also exhausted. I could tell from the way her body was trembling.

“N-no! Wait! I can still try to wwwwaaahhh!!” My complaints turned to squeals as the knight took off running.

The swarm followed suite. To our horror, the deeper we went, the less wooden scraps there were around. Thinking about it logically, it made perfect sense. As if anybody would survive this deep in.

It was impossible to hear anything at this point. The cacophony of the insect storm was too much. I had to scream with all of my strength just to make Amelia hear me.

I couldn’t hear a thing as Amelia suddenly began talking to herself about something.

“WHAAAT ISSS IIIIT!?” I shouted through the orchestration of death all around us.

            “E… sr… ed….” Amelia’s speech was still too quiet.

            “WHAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?” I shouted.

“WE ARE SCREEEEWEEEEDDD!!!” She screamed with all of her lungs. The roaring blast of desperation hit me like cold air.

“W-WHAAAT!??”

“THE PAAATH ENDEEEED!!” Amelia’s scream pierced through as she slammed one of her hands against the stone wall ahead of us.

In that instant, it was as if all sound died down for a moment. I stared ahead, and there was nothing but a stone wall. NOTHING.

Panicked, I began darting my head around. It was one of those square shaped rooms again. There were no exits except going back. This was most likely the… end of the dungeon.

What… what the hell?! What was this unfair nightmare?! THERE WAS NO EXIT?! It literally was just a trap. There was no point to it, there was no reward, and there was no boss monster.

It was basically a cruel grave. All the freedom we had left was the choice of where we die within the dungeon.

The fire was going out too.

Amelia collapsed to her knees. I slowly slid off of her back, gathering myself a bit, I rested my back against the wall of the room.

Somehow, despite the horrid noise, I feel I could hear Amelia clearly, just for a moment.

            “I hate this crap...” I chuckled to myself a bit as the fire dwindled.

            “Likewise…” Amelia murmured. “Damned dust cloud…”

“Hahah… Dust cloud indeed…” I looked into the swarm slowly closing in as the fire grew weaker. “You know. That gives me a really spiteful idea…”

“What do you have in mind?” Amelia smiled weakly.

“Well… If we’re gonna die anyways. How about we go out with a boom?” A sadistic twinge slowly spread on my face.

“H-hahah… I’m listening…”

“I think I know why they’re so afraid of fire…” I reached out into the mist a bit. “It’s a flammable creature so tiny, it’s basically dust, and we are in an enclosed space…” I coughed a bit. It all made sense.

“If we’re going to make something explode, please let me protect you. I’m rather proud of my sturdiness, and I still have my undershirt on.” Amelia spoke.

“You really don’t care about my feelings at all, do you?!” I laughed weakly.

“I understand… I understand you don’t like seeing me get hurt. During the time, I was infected by the insects… It was mostly a blur, but I still think I could hear your desperate cries somewhere in the distance.” She spoke with conviction.

“THEN WHY?!” I bumped my head against hers a bit.

“Because I also don’t want to see you get hurt…” She whispered quietly. How I heard it, I’ll never know. Maybe I imagined it all, but somehow… I really hoped it wasn’t just my imagination.

“You’re a pretty selfish person for a mother.” I complained.

“Being a mother and being selfish aren’t mutually exclusive. Please let me do this.” Amelia finally turned to me, gently pushing me down into a corner. She used her body to shield the most of me.

Having her there made me feel safe, like when you’re underneath the softest, fluffiest blanket. Amelia’s gentle smile and reassuring nod finally pushed through my defense.

            “Do your thing!” She whispered sharply, as the fire finally went out.

I reached for my finger with my mouth, biting the old wound open. With all the remaining strength in my body, I bit like there was no tomorrow.

The blood was used to shakily draw the sigil of fire on the somewhat charred wooden piece I had in my hand.

I threw it past Amelia’s shoulder, banking everything on this final stand. Honestly speaking, I didn’t even know if this would work in the first place. I had only tried activating the sigils as soon as they were made.

Remote detonation was a whole different story.

“BUUUUUUURRRRNNNNN!!!” I screamed and reached my hand out for the flying piece. A sparkle quietly emitting from my fingertips. The wooden piece began to glimmer… and then…

A shockwave of burning air hit us and Amelia was slammed on top of me by its force.

“GGGRRRRRHHHH!” Roaring in pain, the paladin somehow stood strong as a blinding fireball grew in size behind her.

The heat was unbearable, but short. A flare covering every inch of the dungeon traversed through, as if the tunnel were sighing deeply.

A dust explosion can happen, when a flammable dust is contained within an enclosed space.

The reason to why the insects were afraid of fire, was not to protect the individuals from dying. They were instinctively afraid of creating a fiery chain reaction if the dust-like swarm caught alight.

They were too simple to understand magic, so they didn’t have the opportunity to dodge the wooden piece that I lit up with magic remotely.

The fire left nothing but death behind.

A quiet rumbling noise filled the sudden ghastly silence as the wall in the room we had been left in began crumbling.

Amelia was still somehow covering me up even after all this. I didn’t know whether she was alive or not. I couldn’t see her face properly with all the smoke in the air, but I could feel her body weight on top of me as she slowly slumped down, limply.