Chapter 471: Queen Ant

「Kishaaaaa!」

「It’s so big.」

「Yes, so big.」

「And there are so many of them.」n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

We are in the deepest part of the Root of the Steel Tree, a vast place that’s different from the previous maze-like passage. We arrived at this place without much difficulty or trouble and were greeted by a huge queen ant that was so large that the word ‘ant’ would be questionable. Ants have a form that’s relatively bearable to see even among insects, but when they are the size of a building, I’d like to refrain from looking at them. I want to scream.

Furthermore, around the queen ant, there are a large number of nest holes like the one we came through, from which a large number of ants are overflowing one after another, trying to protect the queen. They are appearing one after another, covering the surface of the soil that made up the nest. There is no end to them. There must be a lot of eggs deep in the hole. If we don’t get rid of them all, this place may become a nest again. If possible, I don’t want to see them.

What happened to the roots, you ask? For some reason, they wrapped around the queen ant’s buttocks, which shine like a magic stone, as if to become armor. Or perhaps they have already become one, haven’t they?

「Seriously, the queen ant was supposed to be only about level 6 in power. The root that absorbed the strongest magic power would be as strong as that. I don’t know what kind of joke is that, but they are fusing and enhancing each other’s power. Now that queen is about level 7. It’s not the kind of monster that should be allowed to appear on the Jiba continent.」

「Somehow, I feel like it’s as strong as White Mountain-san that I fought in the snowy mountains!」

White Mountain? …… Oh, Haru is talking about the black mountain that she defeated, huh? I heard it was hard to handle because of its contaminated poison, but because of its size, I remember it was a good profit through Quitet. I hope this queen will show that kind of spirit and become a good profit.

「In the end, it’s just level 7, right? For me, this scene is more painful….」

「Oh, are you also not good with insects, Touko?」

「I thought I had a better tolerance than normal people, but this amount and size is just too much, ugh….」

「Well, that’s a natural reaction. Even I feel the same. What about you, Haru?」

「I’ve eaten honey ants before. They are sweet and very tasty!」

「No, I didn’t ask about that.」

Hey, you are not seeing these ants as food, are you? They don’t have sweet honey, you know? What they have is just a powerful formic acid that dissolves living things, you know?

「W-Well, let’s just say that Haru is fine with it. Now, how are you going to fight this swarm of ants? I’ve been rehabilitated enough, so you two go for it. Even though they are stronger, they are still a group of enemies that follow a big boss that’s inferior to you. I want you to do it efficiently with as few efforts as possible.」

「Efficiently with a few efforts…. I understand! Now is the time to make use of what I learned from Shishō!」

「Even I wasn’t just fascinated by Deris-danna. I’m a good woman who can make it work, even if it’s an idea that I just came up with!」

Currently, a barrier is deployed around us to ensure safety. Even as we speak, the ants continue to attack us from outside the barrier from all directions, spitting formic acid and biting with their vicious jaws. After entering the queen’s hall, I instructed the girls to fully observe the situation. Now that the two of them seem to be ready, I decided to remove the barrier and eliminate the safety area.

「Needless to say, the moment I remove it, the enemies and attacks will start raining down on us. My level 8 and 9 disciples, don’t do anything trivial like getting hurt!」

「「Okay!」」

Haru, who was holding her Doggan Staff, and Touko, who was clenching her fists, replied with confidence. Now, let’s see what you’ve got.

「Release.」

「「「「Kiiiiiii!」」」」

When I removed the barrier, the ants rushed at us. The first to make a move against these titanium ants, who bravely jumped in without regard for their own safety, was Touko.

「Sei!」

Touko concentrated all ki in her body into her right fist, and as if breaking tiles in Karate, she thrust her fist into the ground. Countless cracks run on the ground and spread in all directions like ripples. And with the impact of the fits, Touko’s ki was transmitted.

「Gii!?」

「Giiiii….!」

The ants that were running stopped immediately and began to tremble. They seemed to have no idea what was happening and could only let out a pained cry. After suffering for a while, the ants fell down.

I see. The impact and ki were transmitted through the ground and climbed up from the feet of the ants to their bodies, huh? Is it a kind of attack that destroys the body from the inside rather than inflicting external injuries? If she learns how to adjust it, she can use it to capture the enemies alive, and this technique is just right for fighting small fry.

「Gishaaa…!? KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!」

While I was observing the technique, Touko’s attack seemed to reach the queen. A loud scream echoed through the den.

「Ooh, it reached the queen ant in the back. This continuous damage with a more effective range than it looks, isn’t this a technique that Touko didn’t have before?」

「Yeah! I call it 『Pantile Breaking』! I can use it skillfully enough to identify the enemies and allies, so you can fight without minding about it, Haruna!」

That’s splendid. I was guarding the soles of my feet just in case, but she properly took care of that, huh?

However, the enemy army hasn’t been wiped out yet. It is true that the enemies in contact with the ground have been destroyed, but the queen is still alive, and there are also ants that have escaped by sticking to the walls and ceiling of the hall. The number of ants remaining is about half of the total. Now, what about Haru?

「Rosary Hole, tiny balls!」

When I looked at her, Haru was making a baseball-sized jet-black ball on her palm. Rosary Hole, the Abyss Magic I used to break through Maria’s barrier, can generate several black holes and manipulate their size and shape at will. This magic has a wide range of uses and can take many different forms depending on the user. That jet-black ball on her palm seems to be made up of a number of smaller black holes, but how is she going to use it?

「Magic is something you throw!」

――――Whooooosh!

What a tremendous wind noise. I couldn’t help but open my eyes to the act that Haru did. It was like a knock, yes, a baseball knock. It was a home run level knock, but Haru used her Doggan Staff as a bat and the gathered tiny black holes as a ball, and she knocked it at the ants.

The black holes were repelled by the hard hit of the Doggan Staff and were thrown to the enemy side while being scattered. And then, I noticed something. Each black hole was getting bigger and bigger as it moved forward. The black holes that were the size of a small bullet turned into the size of a baseball, then turned into the size of a basketball, and then turned again into the size of an iron ball for construction, and so on. They became larger in a twinkle. Moreover, their speed remained the same.

「Gi――」

「K――」

By the time they came into contact with the monsters, the black holes were the size of a meteorite. It was the arrival of a disaster that swallowed everything in its path, drowning out even the ants’ screams. Of course, the queen ant was also included…. Hmm, what a tragic sight.

「Shishō, what do you think!? I devised it while making the most of my characteristics!」

「…… I think it’s very good.」

Throwing? Is that throwing?