Chapter 166 – You Were Right To Run, But We’re Stopping You Right Here!!

The mages rearranged the spell as the battle situation changed and turned the spell “Down Burst” into a gentle downward blast of wind that stayed to protect the soldiers from the first platoon while still directing the white smoke inside the burrow entrance.

“I guess we’re somewhat safe for now… Finish off the queen ant! Fire!!”

Under the command of Eldric, who was also the 1st platoon’s commander, the soldiers who were lined up in the front row of the formation easily aimed at and shot a volley of arrows at the large Valley Ant queen that measured at least 4m in height and 12m in length to take her down, but…

“Gi, gigiiih!”

Because it had a tough exoskeleton that was far more developed than the other Valley Ant variants to support its huge frame, all the arrows that were shot at it merely bounced off and flew in the air in vain.

“Captain, the arrows can’t penetrate it!!”

“We’re just wasting our shots at this rate!”

Eldric understood the situation even without his subordinates telling him so and was a little frustrated while thinking about their next move.

“If that’s the case, then we’ll just have to reduce the numbers of her subordinates first! Prepare for the next volley, fire at the front!!”

“AYE!!”

The front and back rows quickly changed, and while the second shot was being fired at the giant ants in front, the soldiers who had fired the first volley were already preparing for the next shot, and the two rows smoothly fired continuously with few interruptions.

“GIAAAAA, AAA… A…”

“GI, GIIIIIIIIIIIIH, IIIH”

About a dozen or so ordinary ants who were hit by multiple arrows screamed in pain and fell on the ground, but the pile of ant carcasses blocked the archers’ line of sight and became meat shields.

“Kuh, prepare for a high-angle volley!!”

As soon as the soldiers were instructed to hold their bows at an angle, the queen ant who turned about and looked in all directions turned away from the first platoon and shook off the 2nd platoon and Edgard’s unit who were giving chase and began to move along with her colony.

“Hah, so it decided to run away rather than die an honorable death! That makes sense!!”

“Geez, Archer, this is no laughing matter!”

I couldn’t help but crack a smile at the queen ant’s reasonable decision.

In the first place, it was unnecessary to forcibly fight back in their current situation where they were smoked out from the burrow they were holed up in and were forced into an unfavorable position. Besides, the Valley Ants could move quicker than the strike forces, so it was the best option for them.

“Oh no, they’re getting away!?”

“Tsk, no way!”

Muriel whined and Ares agreed with her, but… The battle wasn’t going to just end there. The rearguard mages who hadn’t been very active earlier were already moving and building up another high-powered magic attack, and as the vanguards who responded to their call ducked and bent on one knee, they brandished their staves and fired off their spell!

Meanwhile, the rearguards from Grace’s squad who were stationed at another entry point did the same, and numerous wind blades, flame bullets, and thunderbolts were jointly fired at the queen ant who was their priority target.

“Giaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

As the queen ant roared, its huge body was bathed in a magical light and the phosphorescence that covered her exoskeleton dampened the power of the numerous magical attacks aimed at her and even the intermediate spell, Ex F. Bullet, which was cast by Muriel, didn’t even scratch it.

In addition, the high-angle volley that the first platoon rained down on the giant ants around the giant queen to stop them did not have enough firepower and only managed to scratch their exoskeletons or make minor dents in it.

“Uu, neither arrows nor magic has any effect on them, I even used the strongest fire magic I had…”

“Don’t worry, we’re not yet done.”

Just as the unique phosphorescence that significantly dampened the power of magic attacks faded from the queen ant, I assumed a defensive stance, thrust my palms out, and prepared for a counter-attack by activating the condensed attribute magic and creating a horizontal tornado!

“O roaring storm, take the enemy down!!”

“G-GIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?”

The queen ant shrieked as her huge body tilted to the side when the storm attack hit her, and three wind blades whose power had increased due to the strong wind, made cuts on her sharp sickle-like legs which weren’t deep enough to sever her limbs, but enough to make walking difficult for her.

Perhaps having the same thought at the same time, Miss Grace also fired Burning Bullet a moment later which burned another one of the queen ant’s legs and made it smoke.

“Did it work…?”

A short while passed while everyone watched with bated breath as the huge body of the queen ant, who had 3 injured legs, shook and toppled to the ground with a heavy thud.

“Gih, GISHAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

Even if it tried to get up right away, I could see its bodily fluids spewing everywhere, so there was no chance that it would be running anytime soon.

“They can’t run anymore, let’s work with the soldiers to take the queen ant down!!”

“UOOOOOOOOOH!!”

“Don’t fall behind, Grace! We’ll be attacking too!!”

“Yes, Sir Edgar!!”

As they kept up with the soldiers’ pace while urging everyone on, Edgar and Grace’s teams seemed to join forces as they closed in on the swarm of giant ants led by the queen ant that had stopped moving.

In contrast, the enemy took a defensive stance as the large Imperials surrounded the queen, while the soldiers with the large mandibles and tough exoskeletons stepped forward and the ordinary giant ants similarly occupied the rear and filled in some of the gaps.

Although both sides were evenly matched in terms of numbers, it was undeniable that the momentum was on the subjugation team’s side, while the Valley Ants, whose queen was injured in their failed retreat, were visibly upset.

“GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

However, as if to turn the tides, the magic-laced Queen Ant’s Roar reverberated and inspired the giant ants to overcome their fear and regain control and morale.

“Tsk, they even have a similar skill!?”

I hadn’t been aware of it when I was a mercenary, but do most monsters ruling a group of monsters from the same species usually have a roar skill that affects their kind? Come to think of it, it also seemed like the large Goblin who shot me in the shoulder with a breath of light also had a similar skill…

I quickly snapped out of it after the scar from that wound tingled for a moment and held my weapon alongside Muriel to support our companions while maintaining a distance that would allow me to coordinate with the other adventurers including Zachs and Eina.