68. Great Wave (2)
He first infused the princess ant's Odd into the antennae. Soon, yellow Odd enveloped the seven-meter-long appendages.
Wayne began shaking the antennae clutched in both hands.
Crackle! Crackle!
The seven-meter antennae trembled violently, spreading Odd in all directions.
"Kigik!"
"Kekek!"
At the signal, Wayne's ants on either side swarmed forward, blocking the front.
'The formations are perfect now!'
"Kueeeek!"
At that moment, the princess ant hovering in the sky let out a roar, and the ant monsters charged toward Wayne en masse.
> [Young Lord Wayne, let me assist you!]
'Huh?'
Travis, commander of Grint Grand Territory's brigade, was rushing up from behind.
> [Why didn't you evacuate?]
> [How could I block all these monsters alone? Even if I die, it'll be less lonely together.]
> [Hah! Sorry, but I have no intention of dying yet.]
Travis pulled up beside Wayne.
But then.
> [Huh? Why are the ant monsters...?]
Travis doubted his own eyes. The ant monsters in front of Wayne weren't facing them—they were turned toward the ants charging from the front.
> [From now on, follow my orders!]
> [Y-yes, sir!]
Wayne directed his ant unit to attack the oncoming ants.
"Kekek!"
"Kieek!"
Wayne's ant unit clashed with the princess ant's forces.
Boom! Kwaboom! Boom!
Jaws snapped open to bite, and in an instant, hundreds from both sides shoved forward with brute force.
Wayne's ants numbered around 2,700, but the princess ant's force exceeded 4,000. They were outnumbered.
> [What in the world is going on, Young Lord Wayne? Why are the ants...?!]
> [Questions later—fall back a bit.]
> [Yes, sir!]
Wayne raised the right antenna and scattered Odd. The group of ants on the right began pulling back to the side.
He shook the left one, and the left group retreated sideways.
Finally, gathering the antennae in the center and shaking them made the middle ants fall back.
'What? Are the ants obeying Young Lord Wayne's commands?'
Travis stared in bewilderment.
Wayne's Predator fell back further, and Travis matched pace.
As the ants parted left and right and the center retreated, the enemy princess ant's unit surged into the gap.
Wayne shook both antennae, drawing them to the center.
"Kigigek!"
The flanking ant groups crashed into the enemy. The center ants charged forward.
Wayne's ant unit had encircled the princess ant's forces.
Wayne, sensing the ants' signals, grasped the terrain and the tactic fully. But Travis, watching from the side, was utterly baffled.
Though outnumbered, Wayne's ants pressed hard since the encircled princess ant's unit couldn't fight back effectively.
> [Travis, fall back more! It's about to take flight!]
"Kueeeek!"
Before Wayne finished speaking, the princess ant launched into the air.
Wayne retreated while biding his time.
As it passed the giant tree, he scattered red Odd.
'Now, Eleven!'
"Kraang!"
Eleven, lying in ambush, leaped at the princess ant.
Whoosh!
"Kueek?"
It was a tactic Wayne had used before, but this princess ant was caught off guard.
Eleven clamped onto one antenna, and it plummeted, unable to hold.
> [Now, Travis—that one's yours!]
> [M-me? Yes, sir!]
Travis's Gigant charged at the crashing princess ant.
Boom! Kwaboom!
The princess ant hit the ground. Eleven leaped into the underbrush just before impact, landing safely, then backed off in case Wayne followed with an electric strike.
But charging now was Travis's 2nd-class Gigant.
> [Yaaah! Die!]
Slash! Stab! Clang!
Travis's Gigant stabbed the dazed princess ant's belly, then severed its front legs.
An A-rank monster! In perfect condition, it wouldn't have taken hits so easily.
The princess ant recovered, gaping its massive jaws and lunging.
Clang! Screeech!
'Urk!'
The Gigant staggered back from the sharp jaw strike. It still had plenty of strength.
"Kraang!"
Eleven jumped onto its back and bit an antenna.
The princess ant thrashed its head to shake him off.
'Opening!'
Travis swung at a middle leg through the gap Eleven created.
Clang! Clang! Slice!
Another leg severed; it toppled sideways, off-balance.
> [Travis, go for the neck!]
> [Yes!]
Travis brought his sword down on the neck.
Crack!
But it was too tough—only a quarter penetrated.
Whirr! Thud! Thud!
Wayne's Predator arrived, mace raised.
> [Hold it tight!]
The Predator smashed the mace onto the sword.
Whoosh! Kwang!
"Kueeeek!"
The princess ant shrieked in agony as the sword sank halfway.
> [Once more!]
Kwang! Craaaack!
Three-quarters of its head severed, dangling. It was already dead.
Wayne popped the Predator's hatch and leaped down.
'Whew! What a waste of Odd.'
He grabbed the antennae with a sigh of relief.
> [What are you doing?]
"Cover me for a moment. It'll be quick!"
Wayne absorbed the dead princess ant's Odd over the next three minutes.
Without remounting the Predator, he scooped up the antennae from the ground and raised them high.
As they shook, Odd extended outward, calming the fiercely battling ants.
'Tch, no helping it.'
Wayne grimaced regretfully. The male ants in the center had already reported the princess ant's death to the queen ant.
"Take him out!"
The surrounding ants turned on the male ant en masse, shredding its limbs and antennae in seconds.
'Five thousand isn't bad...'
Fortunately, plenty of ants remained alive.
Whirr! Thud! Thud!
Travis's Gigant approached.
Screeech! Click!
> [Young Lord Wayne, what in the world just happened?]
Travis dismounted, eyes wide with shock.
Wayne briefly explained that he could control the ant unit with these antennae.
"Is something like this really possible?"
"You're seeing it with your own eyes."
"Then we could kill more princess ants like this and grow the ant monster force?"
"No! The queen already knows what's happening here. No more isolated units will move alone, and no lone princess ants will charge in like that."
"Ah! What a shame."
Travis smacked his lips in disappointment. Five thousand was no small number, but with tens of thousands of enemies, they'd need tens of thousands to make a dent.
"Then let's head back."
"One moment—help harvest the dead ants' antennae too."
"Antennae?"
At Wayne's command, Travis cut and gathered the antennae from the fallen ants.
[Westline Fortress]
"So you're saying there are that many ant monsters?"
Marquis Rob Stardem's stunned question drew a grim expression from Baron Felix.
"It wiped out every monster around the eastern Great Forest. The ambushers alone numbered thousands. Who knows how vast the queen's ant legion truly is."
The grand territory commanders' faces paled at the report.
"Commander! We must contact His Imperial Majesty immediately for reinforcements. Otherwise, Westline falls."
"Agreed. Mobilize every grand territory force. If this line breaks, the defense spreads across the entire empire."
They spoke in shock.
Marquis Rob Stardem swallowed dryly. "Baron Felix, is it that bad in your view?"
"Yes. This surpasses the Great Wave from ten years ago. It's a single unified army!"
"Heavens! A Great Wave?!"
"Shouldn't we pull forces from the Estel front?"
Ronsstock Grand Territory's Brigadier Perlong asked.
"Sudden retreat from the front would cost us dearly to Estel and Franso Kingdom counterattacks."
"If Westline breaks and the ant legion advances, it's the same."
"We hold here at all costs!"
Marquis Rob Stardem had no choice. Political repercussions later mattered less than minimizing imperial losses by holding Westline.
"Felix, go now. Report details to His Majesty and beg for aid."
"Yes, sir! I'll bring reinforcements as fast as possible."
Felix raced to the capital without delay. Grand territory messengers departed too.
Ronsstock's Brigadier Perlong and Kallung's Rakins entered the Dresden territory camp with heavy hearts. They'd survived, but had to report Young Lord Wayne and Travis's sacrifice to the ant legion.
They headed straight for the Dresden command tent.
"Young Lord Wayne held off the ant monsters to save us. He never returned."
Count Shuen tilted his head. "What? Young Lord Wayne returned two hours ago."
"Pardon?"
"Travis came back with him."
Their faces lit with shock. Surviving that hell seemed impossible.
"Where are they now?"
"Building the defensive line."
"Understood."
Westline Fortress city. A long urban strip stretched before the fortress walls—three kilometers long, over three hundred meters wide. Two hundred meters ahead, forces lined the plain.
This was where imperial troops had gathered during the Great Wave ten years prior. The difference: then it spanned over twenty kilometers; now, just three.
"Don't worry about other fortress gates! Just defend your front!"
Wayne and Pike toured other territory forces, briefing them on the ant monsters.
"Ants don't flank—they'll concentrate to break us."
"Got it. Leave the left flank to Ronsstock forces."
No one doubted the man who'd warned of the monster wave and ant legion.
Grand territory commanders now saw Wayne as frontline commander.
The two brigadiers approached as Wayne returned to camp.
"You saved our lives that day—thank you now!"
"Young Lord Wayne, we owe you."
"Ah! No big deal."
Wayne waved it off casually.
"We'll give formal thanks after stopping the ants."
"I'll visit again!"
"Survive first—then we can talk! Prepare well and live!"
"Yes, sir!"
They bowed and returned to their forces. Pike watched, puzzled.
"You saved them?"
"Saved Baron Felix too. That's why they're fighting the monsters so fiercely."
"Ha! You keep doing the unbelievable. Once this ends safely, we talk seriously."
"Sure! Anytime."
Wayne hurried to his troops.
"Ah! Lady Alicia! Commander Bowga!"
"Glad we weren't late."
"Perfect timing."
Alicia and Commander Bowga arrived with Lorenne's fourteen 3rd-class Gigants, nine priest Gigants, and infantry—ninety percent of their forces, as their barren land bordered the threat.
"Wayne, I'm here too."
"Good work. Lady Sabina!"
"Brought a 2nd-class Gigant from the territory as instructed."
"Well done."
Sabina had liaised with Lorenne per Wayne's orders and now led them personally.
"Can we stop the queen ant?"
"Everyone's ready. It'll go well. And we have a secret weapon."
"Secret weapon?"
Wayne smiled at Sabina's wide-eyed curiosity.
"Oh, and take this."
He handed her a worker ant antenna.
"What's this?"
"A sort of position tracker infused with my Odd."
"Position tracker?"
"All our territory forces have one—keep it on you."
Sabina looked baffled.
Absorbing the princess ant's Odd had granted Wayne a vital new ability: battlefield vision!
Red Odd detected heat signatures nearby. Combined with yellow Odd, it distinguished allies via antennae infused with his yellow Odd.
He'd distributed them to dwarves, orcs, subordinates, brigadiers, and Gigant pilots across territories.
This let him instantly separate friend from foe, overview his forces like the queen ant, and add red Odd for enemy positions—real-time battlefield intel.
'All preparations complete!'
Wayne eyed the approaching ant legion with red Odd, mentally rehearsing his plan to crush the queen ant.
'What ability will an S-rank monster's Odd give?'
He licked his lips unconsciously.