Chapter 124 : Ants in the Forest of Death

TL:SummerPeanut

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“What kind of magic beasts are found in the Forest of Death?”

Right now we are marching toward the Forest of Death.

We were supposed to head for the Forest of Death right after we left Recca's tent. There are about 200 members of the Knights of the Arcane Fire. It seems that they are leaving about 20 of them behind to head for the Forest of Death. About half of the 20 are Knights resting from damage, and the remaining 10 are to be left behind as messengers. Recca answered my earlier question.

“We only deal with bugs-type magic beasts. If they enter the forest, they may be wiped out. The most common types are the ant and bee types, and I often fight snakes and the like.”

“By ant, do you mean killer ant, mother ant, queen ant, and so on?”

I asked.

“You know them well, don't you? Have you fought any of them?”

I should never have brought this up…

"Yes, I have. A little bit....”

And then Ellie said.

“Queen Ant... Named... Papa and Mars beat it."

Ellie said with a sad look on her face. I had been trying my best not to talk about the Ant family but it ended up exposing it...

“Ellie. I'm sorry..."

I said, and Ellie replied.

"I'm here now thanks to...Mars... it's not that bad...Mars....”

When Recca heard that.

"You beat a Named Queen Ant? No way... but if you're Lord Syrians... maybe there’s a chance to fight the Queen Ant. After all, those guys aren't in the Forest of Death."

“Why aren't they in the forest?”

"Oh. These ant types are not even at the bottom of the hierarchy in the forest. So they are trying to get into the forest by building nests on the ground outside the forest but the Forest of Death is not easy enough for ant-type magic beasts to get in. Even bee-type magic beasts can barely survive on the perimeter of the Forest of Death.”

Are the magic beasts fighting each other for territory…?

“I have one more thing to warn you about. There is a great fog in the Forest of Death but you should not make it dissipate too much with Wind magic. If you can see from inside, it means the magic beasts can too.”

If I don't think before using Wind magic, I'll end up in trouble huh.... I’ll just use Wind Cutter from Wind magic and try to defeat them in close combat as much as possible.

After walking for about an hour, I saw a fort-like building in front of me. If there is such a magnificent building, why don't they just fight in the fort instead of setting up a rear line...

I thought so, but when I got closer, I realized why they had set up a camp in the rear. The fort was under attack. By the killer ants I mentioned earlier. If they’re attacked this much, they wouldn't normally feel at ease so they don't fall back...

“Lady Recca! It seems the fort is under attack! Let us come quickly to their aid!"

Recca, laughing as she replied…

“It's always the same. If they're in any kind of trouble, they'll shoot magic into the sky so that means we're still in good shape. But still, how can you tell in this darkness... when I can't even see the fort yet from here?"

I wouldn't feel comfortable if this situation were to continue forever...

“May I build a few more forts? And to do so, I would like to destroy the surrounding magic beasts, is that alright?"

I asked, and Recca laughed again.

“Aah. Yes, that's fine. I would like to see the level of the first year S class of the Lister Imperial School.”

When you put it that way, I can't just let Genesis do the work...

“Clarice, Ellie, Misha! Let's go annihilate those killer ants!”

“You're not planning to rush into that swarm with just the four of you, are you?”

Recca asked with a slightly surprised look on her face, to which Karen replied.

“Exactly. Clarice and Ellie are also as strong as B-rank adventurers, and Misha is good at masking her presence anyway so she'll be absolutely fine.”

Nodding to my words, Clarice, Ellie, and Misha followed behind me.

“Try to not focus on defeating them and that you lure them all to one place. I don't think the killer ants would be enough to raise our level so we'll gather them all together later and have Minerva burn them to death.”

I gathered about 100 killer ants in one place in about 10 minutes and had Minerva burn them all to death.

When Recca saw me fighting, she said.

“Mars, weren't you a magician? You are acting as a vanguard now no matter how you look at it...?"

“Normally, I'm a rearguard but I can also do a bit of swordplay, thanks to the teachings of my teachers Ryner and others. Then I will build an extension to the fort. I will make a room for us Daybreak. Baron, help me. Baron is probably better at Earth magic."

I left Recca in disbelief and started building an extension to the fort. Originally, I was going to build a house made of encampment but I decided that it would be safer to assimilate it with the fort.

The fort was three stories high so it was necessary to build a three-story building here too. If the ends of the buildings were only single-story, they would be attacked intensively. It is not possible to build a three-story building with one round of MP. It's even more so because sturdiness is required.

Baron and I completed a three-story addition to the fort but the second and third floors are almost like paper-mâché. It was almost midnight and the girls, myself, and Baron decided to go to bed first.

We decided to sleep on the ground floor today as we had built the first floor strong enough. Ryner, Bram, and Dominic would try their best to stay awake until 6am. It helps to have men around at times like this. I can't exactly tell a woman to stay up late.

I really wanted to give my greetings to Margrave Isaac but I don't think I can do it now and so I'll say hello to him again at noon. I depleted my MP and went to sleep too.

15 September 2030, 3:00 am.

When I woke up, there was already a battle going on outside.

I had told Recca in advance that I was going to sleep so Recca herself is defending our upholstered fortress. The place that the Knights of the Arcane Fire should be defending is here because Karen is here and it's the safest place in this fortress.

Well, and we also have Ryner and Bram so there's no way we're going to fall behind from the killer ants. However, Dominic had received quite the damage and was exhausted. I still have to train Dominic and Minerva with top priority…

After healing Dominic, I made the fort extension more solid, with roof access from the third floor so the roof can be guarded. A bedroom on the third floor, a living/dining room and six tubs on the second floor, and a large reception room on the first floor for when someone comes to the house. The wall stone is compacted with Earth magic to a great extent, and the walls are one meter thick so they probably won't be destroyed by the slightest skirmishes.

I was already on the verge of depleting my MP but I joined in a bit of fighting outside and after eradicating them, I depleted my MP and went to bed.

15 September 2030, 7:00 am.

When I woke up, Ryner, Bram, and Dominic were already asleep, and the girls and Baron were eating dinner. I feel that Baron and Minerva are far away from each other in a non-physical distance sense. I guess they are still dragging that thing out...

“Good morning. Are the magic beasts gone?"

I asked, and everyone replied with "Good morning."

“According to the report from Teacher Ryner, the magic beasts have been attacking us all through the night. So we woke up and joined in right away, and it had calmed down just now. Karen and I got the bath ready and all three of us fell asleep straight away after we took a bath.”

“When you say there are so many of them, do you mean there's a stampede happening?”

I asked Karen.

“This is not a stampede of magic beasts. I think there are dozens of queen ants nesting somewhere. Probably in the ground between here and the Forest of Death...."

“Then let's just go and take out the ant enemies first, shall we? I've got a few ideas so after we eat, we'll go hunting for ants.”

I hurriedly ate my meal and got myself ready too. First, I went to Recca's place and asked her to guard the fort that I had extended. It would be pointless if I went hunting for ants and my base was destroyed in the meantime. Recca gladly accepted. Or rather, she said it was a matter of course.

The only thing she asked me to do was to make sure to collect the magic stone. Apparently, the Duke of Fresvald uses the Forest of Death as a major source of income. That's why they try not to kill too many queen ants.

But they won’t mind if I kill them. It is said that the queen ants can be revived as much as they want after a certain amount of time. How can they be revived in a place that is not a labyrinth I wonder...

The ant eradication was authorized so we walked a little from the fort towards the Forest of Death, killing the killer ants until we reached the point where killer ants were appearing.

“What are we going to do with them? I feel like no matter how many we kill, it's useless if we don't defeat the queen ants?"

Clarice was asking while slaughtering the killer ants.

“I know. So I have a few ideas. I have a plan to get the ants hiding underground to come out to the surface.”

I said and thrust my thunder sword into the ground.

“Everyone step back a little bit. I'm going to use lightning magic on the ground now. But I can't control it that well even after lowering the power so just in case of what might happen. Be careful."

After confirming that everyone backed up, I gradually enchanted the Lightning magic on the thunder sword, and the lightning transmitted slowly from the thunder sword to the ground became visible.

Then I saw the ground bobbing about 10 meters away. And along with a large number of killer ants, queen ants also came out of the ground. What was that? Was the Queen Ant this big again...?

Name: -

Title: -

Race: Queen Ant

Threat: B-

Condition: Electrocution (Slight)

Age: 20 years old

Level: 40

HP: 178/180

MP: 3/3

Strength: 55

Agility: 50

Magic:1

Dexterity: 12

Durability: 70

Luck: 1

A healthy and kicking 20-year-old ant! It is even level 40! Well, even at 40, it’s still an ant so the stats are low...

“Karen! Baron! Minerva! Keep firing fire magic at the hole they came out of! We'll turn the den into a huge firestorm and destroy them all at once!"

It was the start of the ant slaughter show.

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