「Haaah~!」

Set swooped down from the sky without the slightest hesitation. At the same time, Rei poured magic power into the Death Scythe and swung, aiming directly at the massive Queen Ant.

「Gigigigigigi!」

The Queen Ant suddenly opened its mandibles wide, as if preparing to shoot something……

「!? Watch out, Set!」
「Gururu~!」

Sensing the immediate danger, Rei shouted a warning to Set. Understanding instantly, Set flapped his massive wings and forcefully banked to the right.

The very next moment, a stream of dark liquid shot from the Queen Ant’s mouth, passing through the exact space Set had occupied just a blink of an eye prior.

The liquid Set dodged splattered onto the ground. Rei watched as the surrounding soil rapidly melted away, giving off thick, acrid smoke. He instantly realised the true nature of the liquid……he judged it to be a highly corrosive form of formic acid.

「Gigigigigi!」

Clearly dissatisfied that its attack had missed, the Queen Ant raised a loud, chattering screech and lashed out with its massive, scythe-like forelegs.

As Set nimbly evaded the heavy blow, Rei swung the Death Scythe at the extended foreleg as they flew past.

The magical blade tore through the thick chitin of the foreleg without any resistance, cleanly severing the limb and sending it flying off to the left with the momentum of the strike.

「Gyi~!」

Perhaps it had developed a genuine sense of pain unlike the mindless Soldier Ants, as the Queen Ant gave a short, pained screech. Rei took advantage of the opening to leap off Set’s back.

The moment Rei landed heavily on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust, he immediately jumped again. A split second later, the Queen Ant’s remaining foreleg violently smashed into the exact spot where he had just landed.

Jumping continuously, Rei finally put some distance between himself and the Queen Ant. With some breathing room established, he was finally able to get a proper look at the monster.

Its overall body length was significantly longer than the Soldier Ants, measuring roughly 5m from head to abdomen. It possessed a massively enlarged, swollen abdomen, from which a long, incredibly sharp spike protruded like a deadly stinger.

(……It’s pretty big. I was actually shocked for a moment there.)

Based on the information Rei had gathered, standard Soldier Ants were about 1m long. Because of that, even taking its higher rank into account, he had fully expected the Queen Ant to be around 3m in length at most. However, actually seeing it in person, its true size vastly exceeded Rei’s expectations.

「But still……」

Directing a sharp, focused gaze at the Queen Ant, he readied the Death Scythe.

「I have no choice but to do this!」

With a loud shout, Rei sprinted straight towards the Queen Ant. High up in the sky, Set could be seen continuously firing 『Water Balls』, trying to support Rei’s assault.

「Gigigi!」

Finding the bombardment annoying, the Queen Ant casually swung one of its massive hind legs, effortlessly shattering an incoming 『Water Ball』. However, Set’s goal wasn’t to actually damage the Queen Ant with his magic. His sole purpose was to serve as a distraction, giving Rei the opening he needed to close the distance and strike with the Death Scythe.

And that purpose was perfectly achieved.

『Flame, you are a snake. Therefore, burn my enemy as I desire.』

Chanting the exact same incantation for the spell he had used to kill the Water Bear in the Forest of Monsters, he swung the Death Scythe just like he had back then……only this time, he led with the blade instead of the blunt handle.

Meeting only light resistance, the scythe’s blade bit deeply into the Queen Ant’s middle right leg……

『Dancing Fire Snakes!』

The magic was released. The conjured snake of roaring fire crawled directly from the blade of the Death Scythe and into the Queen Ant’s wounded leg.

「Gigigigigigigi!」

The giant ant screeched in sheer agony as its body began burning violently from the inside out.

However, proving itself worthy of the title ‘Queen Ant’, it wasn’t finished yet. Still screeching, it ruthlessly tore off its own burning leg to stop the fire snake from spreading further into its main body.

「What!?」

Rei was genuinely startled by the extreme, self-mutilating action. He immediately jumped backwards to re-establish distance from the Queen Ant.

Almost the exact moment he moved……the Queen Ant violently hurled its own severed, burning leg directly at his previous position.

「Gigigi!」

Enraged, the Queen Ant spat a stream of corrosive formic acid at the small human who had dared to injure it. Brandishing its remaining legs, it aggressively pushed forward, desperately looking for an opening to crush him with its jagged mandibles.

Rei nimbly evaded most of the frenzied attacks, parrying the rest with the sturdy handle of the Death Scythe.

「It’s incredibly tenacious!」

Evading a heavy downward strike from its remaining foreleg, Rei immediately countered with the Death Scythe. Cleanly severing the left foreleg, the Queen Ant was now left with only three legs, consisting of the middle left leg and both hind legs. However, despite losing half its mobility, its attacks only grew fiercer. The poisonous spike growing from its massive abdomen violently pierced through a nearby tree, and it continuously spat out globs of formic acid that literally melted the rocks on the ground.

While internally admiring the sheer tenacity of a C rank monster, Rei aggressively brandished the Death Scythe to keep the Queen Ant’s attention solely focused on him, quickly confirming Set’s position in the sky.

『Flame, burn the enemy according to my thoughts.』

While chanting the short incantation, a highly compressed ball of fire, roughly 30cm in diameter, manifested directly in front of the Death Scythe’s blade. As Rei swung the massive weapon forward……he triggered the magic.

『Fireball!』

The sphere of flame, structurally similar to the 『Water Ball』 Set used, shot out at high speed toward the Queen Ant, following the exact trajectory of the scythe’s swing.

However, having already experienced the terrifying power of Rei’s magical flames when its leg was burned from the inside out, the Queen Ant refused to take the attack head-on. Instead, it desperately dropped its massive body flat against the ground to evade the projectile.

……But it didn’t realise that forcing it to the ground was Rei’s true aim all along.

With its massive, heavy body lying flat on the ground, it was incredibly difficult for the Queen Ant to move or react quickly. And Set, who had been patiently waiting high in the sky for the perfect opportunity to intervene, immediately entered a blindingly fast dive.

Initially, the Queen Ant had been wary of Set due to the annoying bombardment of 『Water Balls』. However, once Rei inflicted severe physical damage, it had instinctively classified the human as the highest priority threat. Consumed by its brutal fight against Rei, the very existence of the Griffon had completely vanished from its primitive mind. Furthermore, Set had deliberately stopped interfering as the fight between Rei and the Queen Ant intensified, patiently waiting for a chance to deliver a decisive, lethal blow. Naturally, Set did not overlook the perfect opening Rei had just created for him.

「Gurururururu~!」

Raising a courageous, terrifying cry, Set descended with the crushing momentum of his dive. Using his eagle-like claws and the matchless physical strength of a lion……he violently smashed them directly into the Queen Ant’s head.

A sickening gusha~ sound echoed across the battlefield. The Queen Ant’s head was utterly obliterated, scattering chunks of shattered carapace and gore in every direction.

「Gururururu~!」

Set raised a loud cry of absolute victory. It wasn’t a strange reaction. Normally, determining that a battle is over after completely crushing the enemy’s head is the correct assumption. However, Set had momentarily forgotten what had happened when they fought the Soldier Ants earlier. Due to their absurd insectoid vitality, their bodies would continue to thrash and move for a little while even after their heads were destroyed.

And the opponent Rei and Set were fighting was a Queen Ant, an existence vastly more powerful and resilient than a mere Soldier Ant. Naturally, its raw vitality far exceeded that of its lesser kin.

As if to prove that fact, the headless Queen Ant suddenly raised one of its remaining heavy legs.

Seeing the movement, Rei desperately shouted at Set……

「Set, dodge!」

The very moment he shouted, Rei dashed toward Set, raising the Death Scythe high.

「Gururu~!」

Hearing Rei’s urgent warning, Set reflexively kicked off the ground, attempting to flee back into the sky. Fortunately, the Queen Ant’s dying attack wasn’t a downward smash, but a wide, horizontal sweep. By launching himself upward, Set managed to evade the blow. The headless Queen Ant lashed out with a single, desperate sweeping attack just a split second after Set had declared his victory.

Because the sweeping attack was just a fraction too slow, the heavy leg merely cut through the empty air without even scratching Set’s feathers.

Before the Queen Ant could retract the limb, Rei stepped perfectly into its guard.

「Die quietly!」

Swinging hard and fast, the Death Scythe cleanly severed the Queen Ant’s right hind leg and completely lopped off the venomous stinger on its abdomen.

「Haah!」

Reversing his grip, Rei cleanly severed the left hind leg and the final remaining middle leg with the blade’s returning arc. Now missing its head, all six of its legs, and its stinger, the Queen Ant’s massive body finally stopped moving for good.

「……」

Given what had just happened, Rei kept the Death Scythe at the ready, refusing to lower his guard for several minutes after the Queen Ant stopped moving. Finally, after absolutely confirming that it was truly dead, he let the tension bleed from his shoulders.

「Guru~……」

Set, who had been hovering nervously in the sky, landed gracefully. He gave a soft, apologetic cry and lowered his head, clearly reflecting on how his carelessness had put Rei in a dangerous position.

Gently stroking the Griffon’s head, Rei shook his own.

「Don’t worry about it. While being careless is definitely bad, it really hasn’t been that long since you were born. As long as you learn from it and don’t make the same mistake twice, it’s fine.」
「Guru~」
「Because I was standing a bit further away, I was able to notice the danger in time. But what if our positions were reversed? If that ever happens, I’ll need your help to cover my blind spots, Set.」
「Gururu~!」

Leave it to me! Set gave a confident, eager cry, having completely recovered his spirits.

Smiling at his partner’s enthusiasm, Rei walked over to the Queen Ant’s corpse, the Death Scythe resting easily on his shoulder.

「Well then……how exactly do I dismantle this thing……」

As usual, he pulled the 『Beginner’s Guide to Dismantling Monsters』 from the Misty Ring to consult it. However, while the book provided detailed dismantling instructions for Soldier Ants and Imperial Ants, there wasn’t a single entry listed for a Queen Ant.

「Honestly, those winged ants really were just called Imperial Ants?」

Isn’t that a bit too simple? Rei thought to himself, though he refrained from saying it aloud since the names of the magic spells he used were equally simplistic.

「In that case, I’ll hold off on fully dismantling it and just store the entire corpse in the Misty Ring……should I at least extract the magic stone now?」

Muttering to himself, he first stored the severed stinger and the amputated legs in the Misty Ring. He then pulled out an iron dagger and considered the best way to extract the magic stone from the massive carcass.

Having lost its head, legs, and stinger, only the massive central body remained. The problem was that the heavy corpse had collapsed flat, leaving its softer, unarmoured underbelly pressed firmly against the ground. He needed access to the belly to easily cut inside and retrieve the magic stone.

「Set, sorry to ask, but could you flip this thing over so its belly is facing up?」
「Guru~!」

Giving a short cry of acknowledgement, Set grabbed the massive carcass and effortlessly rolled the Queen Ant onto its back.

Watching the casual display of strength, Rei was absolutely convinced that Set’s raw physical power was far greater than the Queen Ant’s. Yet, if Set had fought the Queen Ant alone in a straightforward brawl, it would have been a very difficult fight to win. Why was that?

(It’s purely because of Set’s lack of combat experience. It hasn’t even been a full week since Set was born, whereas this Queen Ant has survived and thrived among the vicious wild monsters of Elgin for who knows how long. The exact same logic applies to me.)

Given their absurd physical specs and magical potential, it was actually strange that Rei and Set couldn’t easily slaughter a mere C rank monster like the Queen Ant without breaking a sweat. But that was only true if you looked strictly at raw numbers. In reality, Set had almost zero combat experience since he was only a week old. As for Rei, his only real combat experience came from the few skirmishes he’d had since arriving in Elgin, meaning his practical experience was exactly the same as Set’s. While the mental fusion with Zephyr’s soul had completely removed his natural human aversion to killing, this world simply wasn’t kind enough to let someone survive on raw potential and a lack of hesitation alone.

(I have to learn, and fast.)

Firming his resolve, he swung the cheap iron dagger at the Queen Ant’s exposed abdomen……

Kin~!

With a sharp metallic ping, the blade was violently repelled.

「It’s this tough even though this section isn’t fully covered by the main exoskeleton? ……Well, it can’t be helped.」

Tossing the useless iron dagger back into the Misty Ring, he drew the high-quality Mithril Knife. Channelling magic power directly into the blade, he drove it into the abdomen. As expected of an item forged from pristine mithril and empowered by Rei’s absurd magic, it pierced the Queen Ant’s tough belly without any resistance.

Rei then began searching through the Queen Ant’s internal organs.

「……Hmm? Does it actually have a heart?」

Biologically speaking, normal insects didn’t possess an organ that could strictly be called a heart, as they instead relied on a substitute structure called a dorsal vessel to circulate haemolymph. Rei had fully expected to have a hard time locating the magic stone because of this, but to his surprise, he found a distinct, small heart nestled deep within the Queen Ant’s body.

「Well, I suppose the fact that this monster is technically an overgrown insect doesn’t mean it strictly follows earthly biology. I wonder if the biology books here mention this?」

While pondering the anatomical differences, Rei successfully extracted the magic stone. This magic stone was roughly the size of Rei’s fist, making it almost identical in size to the one they had harvested from the Water Bear in the Forest of Monsters.

「Its structure shouldn’t be much different from the Goblin’s magic stone. The colour is yellow……does that mean it has an earth attribute? ……Well then.」

Holding the magic stone in one hand, Rei picked up the Death Scythe he had rested on the ground.

「Guru~?」
「Sorry, Set. I plan to let the Death Scythe absorb the Queen Ant’s magic stone this time.」
「Guru~」

I don’t mind at all, Set nodded agreeably. Smiling at his partner’s easy-going nature, Rei channelled magic power into the Death Scythe and tossed the large magic stone into the air.

The heavy blade sliced through the magic stone without the slightest resistance. A split second later, the two halves of the magic stone dissolved into smoke and vanished. This was the unique method the weapon used to absorb magic stones, and similar to Set swallowing them, the complete disappearance of the stone confirmed it had been successfully absorbed.

【Death Scythe has acquired the skill 『Corrosion Lv.1』】

The familiar system message announced the acquisition in his mind, exactly the same as it did for Set.

It seemed the mental announcement triggered regardless of whether Set or the Death Scythe absorbed a magic stone.

「Still, Corrosion? I suppose it makes sense given the Queen Ant’s use of highly corrosive formic acid, but it’s a bit of a subtle skill for a scythe.」

With a wry smile, Rei stored the massive, headless body of the Queen Ant in the Misty Ring and began the long walk back towards the city of Gilm.

It should be noted that, to avoid any complaints from Ranga, Rei deliberately hopped off Set a considerable distance away from the city gates and walked the rest of the way on foot.

Because they had hunted so efficiently, the total reward for the Soldier Ant magic stones and the harvested materials came to 7 silver coins, an absolutely exceptional payout for a mere G rank adventurer’s daily work.

—

【Set】
『Water Ball Lv.1』
『Fire Breath Lv.1』

【Death Scythe】
『Corrosion Lv.1』 (New)

Corrosion
Corrodes metal objects if they are struck by the blade multiple times. The number of consecutive strikes required to induce corrosion decreases as the skill level increases.

—

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