That “evil” was already starting before Erio and Alicia received their Gifts.
Countless ants squirmed in underground. There a transparent silhouette was floating.
That silhouette was like a ghost. Its body jerked in surprise inside the nest before it airily approached a particularly large shadow. And then it finally found a promising specimen and a corner of its lips rose.
──You have the aptitude. But it will take you dozens of years to reach our level at this rate
──I’ll give you power and knowledge, and also a special intelligence
──Good girl. Looks like I won’t even need to spend too much energy and visit this den often, you’ll be able to grow on your own like that
──You’re going to forget about me immediately anyway but, grow well and do your best to exhaust this country okay?
The silhouette said that to the master of the den who was transformed by immense power.
The transparent shadow left behind a smile that was filled with malice and quietly vanished from the den.
.
When I arrived at the north gate, a lot of adventurers and the city’s knights were already gathering there.
Alicia and I were at the opposite side of the city when the announcement started, so we arrived late.
I found a familiar face among that crowd.
It was the guild master giving instructions to the people around him with rough voice.
He was also Sonya’s father, Goudo-san.
Goudo-san noticed us when he finished giving instructions for the moment.
「Eliol-kun! Great, so you two are also still in the city! It’s reassuring to have you here!」
「We’re staying in the city recently because of some circumstances……more importantly, is it true that an army type Armor Ants are approaching!?」
「Yeah, you can see it yourself.」
Goudo-san said that and pointed to the north of the city.
When I pushed through the crowd and looked to that direction, a hard to believe scene was spreading before me.
It was a swarm of Armor Ants that completely covered the plain.
Furthermore that swarm wasn’t just a disordered mob of Armor Ants.
There were the common Armor Ants (Equal to level 40)
Armor Ant Platoons that were commanding the small fries around them (Equal to level 80)
Armor Ant Fortresses that specialized in defense (Equal to level 90)
Armor Ant Cannons that had the ability to fire long range attack with acid (Equal to level 90)
Armor Ant Mages that could use earth magic (Equal to level 85)
And then, the Armor Ant General that was commanding all the ants (Equal to level 120)
This fortress city was built on top of a small hill. From here I could see clearly the lineup of the Armor Ants that were taking position around one kilometer from the city.
The ants that each had their own assigned role lined up in a formation like a real army on the plain.
There wasn’t any sign of them charging here recklessly like normal monster.
They were observing this city intently without breaking formation. I could feel a definite intelligence and control behind it.
「They’re really an army type……! But why so suddenly……!?」
An army type could only form when the Armor Ant’s nest had expanded greatly. The sign of it should be noticeable beforehand if the Armor Ants multiplied in attacking distance to human settlement like this. It should be impossible for this kind of army to get a drop on us like this.
A city getting attacked by the army type like this might be an even rarer occurrence than dungeon outbreak.
「We don’t know the cause of this at all. What’s certain right now is that this city will get devoured clean if we don’t do something about them.」
Goudo-san spoke with a grim expression.
I could feel just how pressing the situation was from his expression.
Our force that was gathering at the north gate right now was only around 200 knights and 200 adventurers.
If people who came late like Alicia and me also got included, we would surely be able to repel the enemy force.
These were people who answered the summon for fighting Armor Ants, so all of them must be more than level 40.
I thought that we would be evenly matched against the army of Armor Ants if it was based on just that.
But the most troublesome aspect of the enemy was their leadership.
It was said that Armor Ant could communicate with each other using a skill called Telepathy.
Especially the supreme commander Armor Ant General that was taking position at the central rear. I once read in a book that it had high intelligence and could perform advanced coordination.
In contrast half of our force consisted of adventurers who were gathered in haste.
Of course carrying out improvised teamwork between multiple parties was adventurer’s specialty, but it was difficult to claim that they were used to carry out tactic for fighting in 「war」.
Then suddenly. An intelligent and composed voice came from my side.
「It’s painful for our side that the ace adventurers are all elsewhere for investigating the abnormality of monster appearances. Although we have guild master, Eriol-kun, and also me here, it’ll still be very difficult. We’re also lacking information about this army type, we’ll need to be prepared to pay a high price to defeat them.」
It was the level 80 Herculean Warrior, Rainy Emerald-san.
She was wearing the expression of a veteran adventurer who had gone through many scene of carnage.
Coupled with the two huge clubs that she was carrying with her, she looked really reliable.
……But, umm, why is she touching my butt? Umm, Rainy-san?
Rainy-san!? Alicia is watching us with an excited gaze so please stop doing that!
「What the hell are you doing Rainy!」
*GON!* Goudo-san’s fist crashed on Rainy-san’s head. Rainy-san screamed 「Why are you hitting your own ally before the decisive battle that will decide the fate of the city!?」.
Goudo-san ignored that while,
「The situation is grim. But fortunately those ants are still observing how we will act. We’ll consolidate our chain of command using this time as much as possible. If we can adopt a simple plan of breaking through a single point that doesn’t need any complicated teamwork, our chance of victory will be──」
Big enough. Before Goudo-san could finish saying that.
「……!? Erio……there is something……below……!」
She must have been using Area Detection skill.
Alicia’s expression had turned tense before I realized and she opened her mouth. It was at that timing.
*BOGO! BOGOBOGOBOGO!*
The ground suddenly collapsed at several spots──Armor Ants showed up from there.
「「「GIIIIIIIIIH!」」」
「W-whaatt!?」
The adventurers and knights who were preparing to fight at the rear screamed from being caught completely off guard.
「Wha-!? These guys……!?」
「Don’t tell me, they circled from below using Armor Ant Mages’ digging magic……!?」
Goudo-san and Rainy-san already started moving while yelling.
They swiftly crushed the nearby ants in order to quickly calm down the panic among our force.
But the ants appeared simultaneously in a wide area. It was impossible to annihilate them quickly.
And then the enemies started moving within that short moments to press their advantage.
「「「「「GICHIGICHIGICHIGICHIGICHI!」」」」」
The ground rumbled.
The army of Armor Ants that were taking position on the plain started advancing all at once to accelerate our panic. The Fortresses that excelled in defense lined up at the front to form a sturdy charge.
「No good! Magic squad! Stop their advance! It’s fine even if it’s just for a bit!」
Goudo-san’s screamed his instruction. His voice shook the air.
And then a powerful magic bombardment that was centered around flame element was fired all at once.
But──*DOBYUUUUUUUUUUUUU!*
The magic was erased midair.
The ants spewed out their acids with tremendous force and shot down all the magic from our side.
Several of the magic attacks safely hit the target but, something like that was no different than a drop in the bucket.
The ants’ advance wouldn’t stop.
「Crap!」
Even I who didn’t have any experience in war understood.
Our side’s coordination was already shaky even before this, and if the ants rushed us in the middle of this panic then we wouldn’t be able to even put up a fight. We might even get exterminated in the worst case.
My body instantly started moving on its own.
「I’ll try disturbing their coordination! Goudo-san and others should rally back everyone as much as possible!」
「What!? Don’t go Eriol-kun! Even if you charge into there by yourself──wait, eh?」
Rainy-san’s voice that called to me to stop became faint in an instant.
The reason was because my body was already dashing through the plain with immense speed.
「……!? I didn’t notice until now because I matched my speed with Alicia but, this is my current fastest speed……!? If it’s with this physical ability……!」
I closed the distance with the ants in the blink of eye and pulled out my private part.
But it wasn’t in the shape of blade.
Using the power of the leveled up Penis Attribute Change, I skillfully change only the surface attribute into the hardest metal adamantite while the inside was a lump of heavy steel.
It was a huge metallic club that I created using Rainy-san’s iron club as reference.
.
Penis club.
.
I raised my new weapon high above my head. And then,
「GET BLOWN AWAYYYYYYYYYYY!!」
I sent multiple Armor Ant Fortresses at the forefront of the swarm flying in one go.
*BAGGYAAAAAAAN!*
「「「「「GIIIIIIIIIIIH!?」」」」」
Those ants were the largest and hardest like a lump of steel among the swarm.
Their body flew like bullet to the back and mowed down the ants behind them──making the enemy formation crumbling into a mess from the inside.
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