The War Ant Legion Descends
The opening move of the War Ant Legion battle belonged to Ikelos. Jagged teeth formed from razor-sharp shards sank into the middle-aged man’s sword. The fragments spun at blinding speed, trying to tear the blade apart. An ordinary sword would have been shredded beyond repair the instant it was bitten, but this man’s weapon was anything but ordinary, and his skill matched it.
“Tsk. What a grotesque summon.”
He wrapped his blade in aura, neutralizing Ikelos’s attack, then split the creature cleanly in two with a horizontal slash before anyone could blink. Not satisfied, he followed up with several more strikes, carving the already-bisected summon into dozens of tiny pieces.
Goran, who had been watching, shouted a warning. “Careful! He’s on another level!”
The realization that a direct frontal assault would be suicide made everyone raise their guard against the middle-aged man. The summons, however, didn’t seem to care.
“Woof! Woof!”
“Grrrr!”
The countless Ikelos—each one a swirling mass of fragments—charged without the slightest fear. They might look like wolves, but their true nature was a colony of shards. As long as even a single piece survived, they could absorb my mana and regenerate. So they hurled themselves forward without hesitation. Even the one that had been chopped into dozens of fragments finished reforming and rejoined the fray. The middle-aged man’s brow tightened.
Having confirmed how troublesome these summons were, he gave new orders. “You lot deal with the other adventurers. I’ll kill the summoner myself.”
“What about the young lady?”
“Once her guards are dead, she’s worthless. Send the surviving pursuers to capture her.”
Their blatant scheming right in front of us made my face twist. I would have loved to knock that smug look off his face, but we were the weaker side. I swore to repay this humiliation later and exchanged glances with my companions.
“Of course the strongest one is gunning for me,” I muttered.
Ruin sighed. “I’d help if I could, but they’re not going to let us.”
“This is annoying. We’re at an absolute numerical disadvantage.”
Goran flicked his bowstring with a troubled expression, driving an arrow straight through one pursuer’s skull. Many had already fallen to the monsters, yet the number of pursuers still felt overwhelming. As more of them finished off the beasts and joined the fight, I could already tell this battle would be brutal.
Feeling the middle-aged man’s killing intent lock onto me, I let out a long breath. This is going to be rough. I slapped my cheeks to sharpen my focus and spoke to the others.
“Just focus on holding out. One of my Ikelos is in the middle of an incredible plan right now.”
Of course, we’d have to survive until the Ikelos I’d secretly kept in reserve returned. If we could endure until then, victory was ours. Ruin and Garan understood this and nodded.
“Holding the line isn’t hard,” Ruin said. “But you’re the one I’m worried about.”
“Don’t worry about us. We’ll protect the young lady as best we can.”
Both adventurers looked at me with genuine concern. Right now I had one Rune Golem and four Ikelos with me. Even if they tried to shield me, I would still need to send the Rune Golem and two of the Ikelos to keep the pursuers away from Alice. Which meant I had to face this middle-aged monster with only two Ikelos.
And he was stronger than both Ruin and Garan, who could already use aura.
Feeling that murderous gaze prickle across my skin, I smiled.
“It’s doable. So stop worrying about me and follow the plan.”
I twirled my sword lightly, projecting easy confidence. If something like this could break me, I never would have become an adventurer in the first place. I had dumped every last experience point into unlocking a special skill, giving me more than enough confidence to survive any situation. All that remained was to pour everything I had into buying time.
Without hesitation, I kicked off the ground.
“While we’re at it, let’s test out the new technique!”
As I thrust my sword forward, the two Ikelos lost their shape and transformed into a storm of fragments that spun violently around the blade. Each shard was as sharp as a razor; together they created a technique whose power rivaled aura itself. When I swung it at the middle-aged man, aura and fragments ground against each other, spraying sparks in every direction.
Kagagagak!
“……!”
“Ahaha! The effect is killer, right?”
Seeing genuine surprise flash across his face, I broke into a wide grin. Just because I had the Argo Saga system didn’t mean I had to use it exactly like the game. The simple idea of twisting two fragment storms into a spiral produced far more power than I had imagined. The thrill of growing stronger hit me like a drug.
At the very least, I was now his equal in raw destructive force. The fight had become much more manageable.
“Let’s find out if my level works on an aura user too!”
I laughed aggressively and swung my sword. Trusting in the defensive power of the fiber threads, I only protected my vital points and ignored the rest of his attacks. I deflected the blade coming from the left, closed the distance, and stabbed toward his solar plexus. During the thrust, one Ikelos slipped free from the sword and dove down from above like a falling meteor, aiming for his face.
The middle-aged man calmly withdrew his sword, cut the Ikelos in half with a single stroke, and parried my thrust. Then he drove his knee into my now-exposed stomach. I simply smiled.
“Huh. Doesn’t even hurt.”
Even with an aura-infused knee buried in my gut, I moved freely and slashed at his side. His unstable posture slowed his dodge just enough for a thin line of blood to spill from his flank. He had avoided a fatal wound, but he hadn’t escaped completely unscathed.
The middle-aged man stared at the blood dripping down his side with open disbelief.
“How are you still standing after taking that hit?”
“Equipment carries hard.”
The fiber threads from the young Nepentula had absorbed most of the impact. On top of that, the golden patterns woven into my coat glowed brightly, proudly announcing their own contribution. The craftsmen of Edenberg truly deserved their reputation.
Looking at me, the middle-aged man spoke in a low, heavy voice.
“You really are dangerous. If I let you live here, you’ll become a major obstacle later.”
“Maybe. As long as you stop standing in my way, I don’t really care.”
“Ridiculous. You know you’re at a disadvantage in power, yet you keep resisting. What exactly are you trying to say?”
“……?”
I forgot we were still fighting and simply stared at him, dumbfounded. At first his words didn’t make sense. Then the meaning hit me and I let out a hollow laugh.
Ha. This guy is hilarious.
Was he seriously equating adventurers with Central Region mercenaries?
“Adventurers never abandon a request once they’ve accepted it.”
“Hm?”
“Even if it means throwing themselves into a deadly situation.”
My quiet rebuttal brought confusion to his face. I kindly explained it for him.
“Have you ever seen a village watch run away from monsters? Have you seen hunters refuse to teach their skills to children? Or city guards ignoring their duties to live in debauchery?”
I couldn’t speak for other regions, but at least not in the North.
“Northern adventurers are different from the idiots who abandon requests and flee when things get tough. If a request can’t be handled alone, we recruit more companions or ask for help from nearby forces.”
I had seen it countless times while working at the guild—adventurers who laughed as they charged into danger. The guild’s careful verification process kept accidents low, but unexpected situations on the field still claimed many lives. Most of them died protecting comrades, civilians, or villages.
The middle-aged man’s words were no different from spitting on their graves.
“And throwing ourselves into deadly situations is literally our job. There’s no reason to abandon a request just because you people are blocking the way.”
That was enough talk. The middle-aged man finally understood and tightened his grip on his sword.
“So in the end, you’re just moths flying into the flame. Then you will die like the rest.”
“Requests exist to be completed, you idiot.”
“You jumped into a deadly situation and you’re still talking like that? You die here.”
“Oh?”
I smiled at his absolute certainty. Of course I couldn’t win in a straight fight with my current summons. But I had known that from the beginning. That was exactly why I had dragged the conversation out for so long.
“Grrrr!”
“It’s here!”
The Ikelos that emerged from the bushes strode forward majestically. I retreated with light steps. Sensing something wrong, the middle-aged man tried to press the attack, but the creature it carried was faster.
“Kieeeeeeeeeeek!”
A pure, unfiltered scream of rage. The horrifying cry froze every battle around us. Even the rigorously trained pursuers clutched their ears in agony. The middle-aged man’s gaze dropped to the creature the Ikelos had brought.
“Kiiiiiiik!!”
It was an ant. Only the upper half remained; the lower body was gone. The human-sized insect clicked its mandibles furiously at the Ikelos above it, radiating pure hostility.
The middle-aged man’s face paled as an inexplicable anxiety gripped him. Even an aura user who normally scoffed at danger felt as though he had been lured into an inescapable trap. He lost his composure and roared.
“You bastard! What the hell have you done?!”
“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything.”
I had simply burst open the queen’s organs—provided by the guild—in front of the worker ants. Reading the pheromones, the workers mistakenly believed their queen was dead and had called the entire legion on their own.
I swallowed the rest of the explanation and waited. Just as expected, the enraged swarm approached.
Ddddddddd.
The ground trembled. Distant, faint screams grew louder.
Kieeeeeeeeeeek! Kiiiiik! Kkiek!!
The sound—like nails on a chalkboard—grew deafening. Even the ferocious monsters hid in terror of the advancing legion. Realizing what the sound meant, the middle-aged man’s face turned deathly white. He hurriedly crushed the ant, but it was already too late. The worker had sprayed pheromones until its final breath, informing the swarm that a terrible criminal who killed their queen was here.
Sensing the approaching horde, the middle-aged man shouted desperately.
“You! Do you plan to die with us?!”
“The shadowy force sure loves to talk. Thanks to you, I bought plenty of time without fighting.”
I pretended to clean out my ear in mockery. Veins bulged on the man’s forehead, but he could do nothing.
“Kieeeeeeeeeeek!”
The War Ants arrived first.
“Aaaagh!”
“Kuaaaaagh!”
“S-save me!”
Thousands of ants tore into the pursuers with razor-sharp mandibles. The pursuers smashed ant heads and fought back, but they couldn’t withstand the endless tide. When one man fell, dozens of ants swarmed him, ripping off limbs. Terrified, the pursuers began to retreat.
“Do not fall back! We must take the young lady at all costs!”
“I-it’s impossible! She’s already buried among the ants!”
“What?”
The middle-aged man looked at the swarm in disbelief. Sure enough, Alice was visible among the ants. The creatures completely ignored her, focusing solely on the pursuers. No—more precisely, they targeted only the pursuers and my summons. Everything else in the area was chewed, swallowed, and torn apart.
Finally understanding the incomprehensible scene, the middle-aged man bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and roared.
“Everyone retreat! Leave the injured behind!”
As soon as the order was given, the pursuers fled. The middle-aged man glared at me with eyes full of burning hatred.
“I don’t know what trick you used, but don’t think this is over. You have been marked as our enemy.”
“Talkative for a loser.”
I cheerfully ignored his warning and plunged into the swarm of War Ants. They sensed the pheromones of their own kind on my body and moved past me, seeking creatures without the scent. I had told my summons to rampage freely; they would earn experience until the end before being unsummoned. I offered them silent gratitude for their sacrifice and calmly approached Alice, who sat atop the Raptor.
The young lady stared blankly at the carnage, still unable to process what she was seeing. I answered her shock with a smile.
“Shall we go? These guys aren’t going to survive here.”
“Let’s escape before the command entity appears. They’ll realize our pheromones are fake soon enough.”
“Y-yes… Let’s do that.”
I signaled the Raptor to move. It nodded and dashed swiftly through the trees. We formed an escort formation around it and ran. The request had been successfully completed.