“It’s already started, huh? My arms are itching for a fight.”
“Well, it’s against Monsters, so it’s not like it’s a coordinated battle. But this is something else.”
“This is a terrible situation. I wonder what we’ll be made to do.”
As Grams said, the battle had already begun by the time we arrived at the designated point.
Magic was being unleashed and arrows were flying across the wasteland.
It seemed somewhat orderly, as no ranged attacks were directed towards the center of the wasteland.
“Aah, should we just go home?”
“Isn’t it bad to just go home?”
We’re all hired by nobles, after all.
“I’ll explain the situation, so everyone gather around.”
The group of Adventurers hired by the nobles numbered roughly 80. We lost a few along the way, but it was still a sizable group.
“First, today we’ll be resting in the rear, or so it was planned. We’ve just arrived, after all. Camp out in the designated area. Sorry, but no hunting. We’ll provide extra rations instead.”
“So, they’re not letting us escape, huh?”
“No one’s gonna run away after coming this far.”
““““Gyahahahahaha!”””
A burst of laughter came from a group in the corner.
“…Well, that’s about it. Right now, Black Ants are sporadically descending into the wasteland, but they’ll stop at night. They return to their Nest. We’ll expand our positions in the wasteland during the night, heading from the Forest in front of us towards the Nest in the mountains. Soldiers will clear the path to the Nest, and Knights will escort them. The Adventurers will enter the Forest, head towards the Nest, and thin out the Monsters.”
It seems the Knights will create a path for the large group to head to the Nest. When we raided the Nest in the village, it was more of a free-for-all, so I’m impressed by how organized this is.
“You’re free to keep the Black Ant materials. Magic Stone purchases will be done at night, so feel free to use it if you need to.”
Soldier-class Ants yield C-rank Magic Stones, and Warrior-class yield B-rank. If you can gather enough, it could be a decent income.
“The location of the Nest is posted over there, so check it out later. Also, even if you reach the Nest, wait for the signal before entering. Some idiot jumped the gun, and now the Black Ants are on high alert, so we can’t just charge in.”
“Well, the basic strategy is to lure them out of the Nest before charging in.”
The Black Ants around the Nest are more cautious than usual.
“Even us uneducated Adventurers know that, so who’s the idiot?”
“Probably a fellow idiot in the same line of work?”
““““Sounds about right.”””
Sounds likely.
“Also, weapons will be lent out. For free. Borrow them if you need them.”
“Aye.”
“Got it.”
They expect many people’s weapons to be damaged since the enemies are tough this time. That’s probably why they’re offering this service.
“Nuun!”
With Grams’ spirited shout, a massive Spike Ball crushed a Black Ant!
“Haaah!”
Raise-san is fighting with her fists. And she seems to be using magic, as her fists are covered in flames. The Black Ants she punches have their faces blown off.
“Hmph!”
Brenda dances as she wields two Swords, bisecting her enemies. She lops off heads with a single strike and immediately retreats. Her skill in decapitating two enemies at once is truly impressive.
“Ugh, easy.”
Tonkakke’s Nata is surprisingly sharp for its appearance. Like Brenda, I’m cutting off the heads of enemies and moving on to the next, continuing to defeat them one after another.
“Can’t you slow down a bit? I can’t keep up with the collection!”
“You should tell that to the enemies!”
Mira-san is extracting the Magic Stones from the corpses we defeat, but there are too many enemies and she can’t keep up.
“Hey, you! Go around Mira-san!”
“No, that’s a bad idea!”
“Yeah, it’s better not to break this pace.”
“Nuun!”
There are more enemies than we expected, and the rate at which Black Ants are emerging from the Forest isn’t slowing down at all.
We were supposed to head into the Forest, but either we misjudged the enemy’s activity time, or there are simply too many of them. Either way, we’re now intercepting them in the wasteland.
Knights, soldiers, Adventurers, and nobles are all caught up in a massive brawl.
“Hard!? This is a Warrior-class!?”
“Can you handle it!?”
“Don’t underestimate me!”
Refusing Raise-san’s support, Brenda swings her Sword. As she said, she instantly decapitated the Warrior-class.
“They’re tougher than I thought. I wonder if my weapon will hold up.”
“Want to borrow one of my spare daggers? The length should be just right.”
“…It’s yours, right? I don’t need it.”
“Is that so? Tell me if you need it.”
My Nata is repaired even during combat, and it’s strong enough that it won’t chip against opponents like these.
“Warrior-class are still manageable. The Royal Guard-class must be even worse.”
“I don’t think they’ll appear in such a widespread battle, though!”
The Royal Guard-class’s job is to protect the Queen. I’ve heard they rarely participate in battles outside. Even during the battle in the village, I didn’t see them outside the Nest.
“Soldier, soldier, soldier, soldier, soldier, warrior…”
“Whoa, isn’t that pace too fast!?”
“Impressive.”
“…I can’t lose, nuun!”
They just happened to attack in a group!
“Nuun! Hmph!”
Grams swings his Spike Ball, wrapping several Black Ants in its chain and pulling them in to smash them.
“…This is getting annoying?”
“Well, aren’t you just trying to be efficient?”
“So strong.”
“Either way, the Magic Stones are probably ruined.”
Grams swings a Spike Flail that an ordinary person couldn’t even lift, mowing down enemies with its ball and chain. His surroundings have become a no-man’s-land as the metal mass whirls around him.
“Ugh, troublesome.”
And he periodically peels off the Black Ant corpses stuck to the Spike Ball. He used to fling them off by swinging, but he was warned after the corpses flew into people, so now he peels them off himself sometimes.
“Why don’t you slam it on the ground?”
“That would damage the weapon.”
“Well, aren’t the Ants tougher than the ground?”
“…Still, no.”
“What’s the difference between slamming it on the ground as an attack?”
“The weapon will sulk.”
““““Sulk!?”””
Does that even happen!?
“Hey, more importantly, that…”
Mira-san points in a direction, where a large cloud of dust can be seen rising from the depths of the Forest.
“Wurms, and a big one at that.”
“There are things like that here too? This Nest must be huge… I don’t know, though.”
“What is that?”
“A giant earthworm Monster.”
Wurms, either a Mount Wurm or a Stone Wurm. When Black Ants build their Nests, they sometimes run into Wurm Nests. The original relationship is that the Black Ant Soldier-class and Warrior-class become food for the Wurms, but when the Black Ants are overwhelmingly numerous, they can form a symbiotic relationship.
“This will be a rewarding hunt.”
What an evil smile.
“Be careful. The others are preparing magic.”
We don’t want to get caught up in friendly fire.
“As long as we don’t get hit directly, we can handle it. The problem is the small Ants.”
“Should we try to keep them away?”
“A vanguard, huh? Well, I guess we can do it. Mira!”
“Alright, I’ll retreat for now. Should I come back when that thing disappears?”
“Do that. I probably won’t have enough余裕 to protect you.”
“Are the Ants coming out with that big thing?”
That would certainly be troublesome.
As we were talking, the cloud of dust gradually grew larger.
And finally, blowing away the trees of the Forest, the Wurms danced their massive bodies into the wasteland.
Crushing everything on the ground with its body, regardless of friend or foe.
A simple yet powerful attack method. It’s the fighting style of an existence that knows its size and that its size is its strength.
The body itself is about ten meters tall, I guess. The length… I have no idea. After all, its entire body hasn’t emerged from the Forest yet.
“Nuoooooooooooooooooon!”
There was a man smiling and swinging his weapon at such an opponent. It was Grams.
As a human, the massive and muscular Grams was throwing the Spike Ball in his hand with all his might.
“Oh, the chain is extending more and more. So, it’s a magical weapon.”
“What are you admiring?”
With a sound that could be described as “Megyoh,” the Spike Ball slammed into the Wurm’s lower jaw.
“Hmph!”
And pulling on it, he dragged the Wurm’s raised face to the ground!
“Deeeeeeeeeiii!”
Then, pulling out the Spike Ball, he grabbed the chain joint and started hitting the Wurm.
“Gyogyaaaaaaa!”
The Wurm screamed from its mouth, and purple blood spurted from its brown and white body.
“Guess I have to follow up.”
“Huh? I can’t get close to that thing!”
“There are other ways to follow up, you know.”
I reach for the bow I had prepared but hadn’t used yet.
I nock an arrow, aim, and shoot down the Black Ant aiming at Grams.
“Eh? Instant kill!?”
“I’m aiming for the Magic Stone, after all.”
An arrow can’t sever the head, and this is the only way to aim for a fatal wound. As expected, being an insect, it still moves a bit, but thankfully it collapses before reaching Grams.
“It’s a bit of a waste, though.”
“No, it’s a good decision. Brenda! Let’s go too! Just take down anyone trying to get close! He can handle the rest himself. More importantly, watch out for friendly fire!”
“Got it!”
Long-range attacks like magic and arrows are fortunately targeting higher positions, like the Wurm’s body.
Some arrows flew near Grams, but apparently, his armor, or even his skin, can deflect them. Hmm, quite the inhuman feat.
“Haaaaah!”
In addition to that, five beams of light arrived on the battlefield. Those lights are… people. A group of Knights, it seems.
They’re channeling Magical Power into their weapons, which is why they’re glowing. Each of them slammed a powerful attack into the Wurms!
They relentlessly attacked, and Grams didn’t let up either. He just kept hitting! Hitting! Hitting!
Eventually, Grams stopped and called out to one of the Knights.
“Interference?”
“My apologies! But it’s first come, first served on the battlefield, right?”
“…Well, I suppose so.”
He stopped because the Wurms were already dead.
“I’m Brian Wales, Special Class Knight, and this is my Knight squad. Your efforts minimized our allies’ casualties. I thank you.”
“Grams. Rank 3 Adventurer. Hired by Count Flendra.”
“I see! You can take the materials! We’ll proceed ahead!”
“Understood, we’ll take them. Craf!”
Oh? A nomination?
“Yes, yes?”
“Can you dismantle it?”
“…I roughly know the location of the Magic Stone and materials, but it’s not very tasty, you know? This thing.”
“…You can’t eat it?”
“It’s not that you can’t eat it, but it’s troublesome.”
Wurms are big and conspicuous, but not very strong, so they easily become prey for other Monsters. Even when discovered in the village, they were mostly killed by other Monsters beforehand.
The village doesn’t scavenge dead meat, so if any remains, they just burn it.
Smaller ones have been defeated before, but they were mostly thrown away.
It’s quite the Monster that even that old woman called “troublesome.”
“Captain, Magic Stone.”
“Thank you. Here.”
“Hmm, sorry.”
“This looks like it’ll be a pain to clean up. It would be nice if we could eat it.”
“According to that boy, it’s difficult.”
“Is that so?”
“It’s got a bad smell… and it’s hard. And even if you go through the trouble of eating it, it’s not tasty.”
“…I see, let’s try to avoid it as much as possible.”
“Given the situation, the logistics guys will probably throw it in a stew.”
“They’ll use it if it’s not poisonous, I guess.”
That’s how you don’t get rid of the bad smell.
“Let’s at least collect the teeth before someone else does. They can be used as weapon materials, this thing is B-rank after all.”
“Got it, just pull them out, right?”
“Yeah. If you guys want them, feel free to take them. There are quite a few.”
“No, we don’t need them.”
“Captain, let’s confirm that first, just in case.”
I think that would be better too.
“We don’t have time for that. More importantly, you might want to avoid today’s rations. Anyway, we’re heading deeper into the Forest! Let’s go!”
“Hah!”
With that, the group of Knights headed into the Forest.
“You really can’t eat it?”
“If you really want to eat it, slice it thinly and grill it. I’ll tell you which meat you can eat.”
But I won’t eat it.