Chapter 126 : Ant King

TL:SummerPeanut

====================================

Clarice and Karen came back while Ellie was hugging me and they were followed by Margrave Isaac and Minerva.

I used Heal on Dominic covertly so that Margrave Isaac wouldn't notice and told him not to run into the killer ant while the margrave is here. Dominic turned to me and nodded, surprised that Ellie was holding on to me.

"You really go into heat as soon as I take my eyes off of you… both of you separate away please."

Clarice said to me and Ellie, and Ellie pulled away from me.

“I've obtained permission from Margrave Isaac to take down the queen ants. The only condition is that we collect the magic stones as you did in the morning.”

Hearing Karen’s words, Minerva was excited.

"Listen to me, Mars! I was so impressed when I saw the way Margrave Isaac used his chains... I'm going to work on my chains technique again!"

That's really good...Now there will be no more Minerva victims...and then the Margrave of Isaac said

“I never thought I would meet someone with a talent for chains. After all without dexterity, no amount of talent in chains technique will be sufficient to use it. Miss Minerva has motivation, talent, dexterity, and MP so I am looking forward to her future. I will teach her well while I'm here so please look forward to it. Mars, is that agreeable to you too? May I borrow Miss Minerva?"

Margrave Isaac asked happily.

“Yes. I will inform Baron, her party leader, later. Please take care of Minerva. Minerva, when you learned to use the chains technique properly, please teach it to me too. That’s why please do your best."

Minerva happily replied "Yes" to my words. As Margrave Isaac and Minerva returned to the fort, I asked Dominic again to charge toward the killer ant herd.

"Ellie, why don't you and Misha find out where these ants are springing from?"

The two nodded and immediately went in search of the ant's burrows. After a while, Dominic was getting very exhausted. Even though he was recovering with Heals, he soon began to experience shortness of breath.

“Dominic, is it getting hard for you? Want to take a break?"

I asked Dominic.

“No, I'll continue. I'm supposedly the weakest in Daybreak so I'm going to have to train harder than anyone else to catch up with everyone else. I definitely will to return this favor to you Mars! I will never forget what you did for my right arm at the Freshman Combat Tournament!"

With that, he plunged further into the center of the killer ant herd. Dominic is a good guy...but it's not good if you go in that far...and just as I'm thinking about that, Baron joined the fray.

“Dominic! I'll fight together with you! We've got to show them that Genesis is strong too!"

Yeah. The feeling of youth is good. Baron woke up and joined us, which means that all the Daybreak members except Minerva are here. Just when I was hoping that Ellie and Misha would find a nest, they both returned at the right time.

“Mars, I found it. About a kilometer to the west from here. The nest there is much bigger. Are we going?"

I was impressed that Ellie and Misha had even found a den.

"Ah! Let's quickly defeat the ants and go to the vicinity of the Forest of Death!”

As we approached the den both of them had found for us, the mother ants, perhaps sensing something wrong, swarmed in and attacked us. In front of the den, the killer ants were all over the place, trying to keep the Fire magic from being put into the den...even though it was useless...

Karen and Baron unleashed Fire on the swarm of killer ants and I use Wind magic to throw the burning killer ants into the den. These guys don't seem to understand that they themselves are igniters.

I left the mother ants to Clarice, Ellie, Misha, and Ryner, and I continued to use Wind magic to send air into the den so that the fire in the den would not die out. The ants broke through the ground and came out of the den, still burning. But they were already dying when they came out so Dominic and Baron earnestly continued to put an end to them.

Apparently, it was hell underground. The ants were jumping out from the ground to the ground. Even the higher species ants were no exception.

Seven queen ants came out at once. And all of them are level 40!

As expected, only myself, Clarice, Ellie, and Karen were able to defeat these queen ants.

Karen would also not be able to defeat the queen ants if their HP are at MAX state but the queen ants took a long time to surface to the ground because of their large size. Which also translated to the long time they were burned so they can be somehow defeated by her.

Clarice also seems to take a long time to defeat a queen ant if the HP is at MAX. However, Clarice's equipment is first class so she will not lose. While I was defeating four of them, the other three seemed to be able to defeat the rest one by one.

When I thought I had finished defeating most of them, I saw a big ant that was much bigger than the queen ant. It was different from the queen ant in appearance, and even though it was an ant, it had big magnificent horns. The length of its horns was almost the same as its body length.

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Hercules Ant

Threat: B

Condition: Good

Age: 38 years old

Level: 50

HP: 288/312

MP: 6/6

Strength: 78

Agility: 67

Magic: 1

Dexterity: 38

Durability: 95

Luck:  1

What is this ant... First of all, it has higher HP, strength, dexterity, and durability than the chimera, but its MP and magic power are lower. I guess it stops at a threat level of B because it has no special abilities at all...

But there was something more that struck me.

The name, the style, and the form...it’s basically a work of art! I'd love to have this as a stuffed animal! But still, is this even an ant? What's the definition of an ant...? Well, it doesn't matter.

“I-I'll take this guy down! Everyone be careful...please don't help me. I want to take him down with its state remaining as right now as much as possible!"

When I say this excitedly, the girls of Reimei rolled their eyes at me. ...I can feel their stares shouting how can I get so excited about this disgusting creature. But I can't lose here!

“Alright! I'll have this stuffed and made into an heirloom for my family-”

When I say this, Clarice interjected.

“Never!"

She shut me down. Well, I can't lose!

“I'll have this beautiful form of a stuffed hercules ant..."

After saying this much, and now Ellie whispered.

"...burned..."

...there are still only 2 against…so there's still a chance to win!

"I'll take this ant king that’s definitely not a bug king..."

After saying this much, Karen and Misha put their hands on my shoulders.

“Mars. Give it up. Is it more important than Clarice and Ellie?"

Misha followed after Karen.

“If we had this creepy thing in the house, no one would come in, okay? Are you going to live by yourself forever?"

I…have to give up a man's romance twice...but it certainly can't be more important than fiancées...

“I-, I understand...”

When I replied weakly, Karen added.

“I don't know if this is the right time to say this but...try to take it down so as not to damage the outer shell as much as possible. I just remembered that somewhere in the Fresvald's main residence there is a display like this so maybe your father will be pleased with it. That is, if you are willing to yield it..."

Ooo! Someone who understands!

“I get it! I'll take him down with as little harm as possible!"

Right when I'm getting enthusiastic, Misha…

"But these big male ants(?) are terrible, aren't they. They only had the females work and come out after everyone else has been killed."

Clarice nodded at Misha's words.

“I know right? It's unbelievable for a harem master not to work.”

They agreed on a point. Huh? This trend feels kind of bad. Why do I feel like the hercules ant is shrinking? Not good... I have something in common with these ants... but this is a battlefield. I have nothing against you but I will defeat you.

I raised the Thunder Sword to the sky and slowly the hercules ant touched the Thunder Sword with its horns. What's with this ant...do you think you've got a glove touch*1? When you reincarnate, be a human... then we can have a drink together and a good long talk.

After the glove touch, hercules ant also swung his horns with pride when I held up the Thunder Sword.

S-so cool...but it’s not I can just stare at it forever.

When it swung its horns up from below, I further pushed the horns from below with a Wind Impulse and the hercules ant flipped over. The flipped hercules ant is flailing about.

If it continues like this, the outer shell will be damaged so I stabbed with an enchanted Thunder Sword repeatedly into the hercules ant's belly and easily defeated it. I-it's weak... the stats itself is high but it was not able to make use of its outer shell and horns at all...

In the end, the hercules ant shriveled up as if a dying spider but its outer shell and magnificent horns remained intact.

After defeating the hercules ant, I burnt the ants in the burrow, then collected the magic stones and brought the carcass of the hercules ant back to the fort with Wind magic. Naturally, I had leveled up.

====================================

Author’s note:

I've never experienced harems but it looks tough.

<<Prev 

Next>> 

TL’s note: