The day after completing the Goblin subjugation request, the figures of Set and Rei could be seen on the main highway leading out of the city. However, instead of flying and landing wherever they pleased like before, they were simply walking along the road like normal travellers.

In truth, Rei wanted to fly to get around faster. However, Ranga had specifically asked him to stop having Set land so close to the city gates or directly on the busy highways. Apparently, a massive number of terrified merchants and travellers had filed complaints after Set swooped down from the sky and landed near them yesterday.

Deciding to give Ranga some face, Rei chose not to fly near the city and refrained from taking off or landing on the highway when he accepted his next request.

「Well, the request this time is a Soldier Ant subjugation……」

He recalled the contents of the request he had taken from the guild board.

Over the past few days, the appearance rate of Soldier Ants had drastically increased near the city, specifically within a few hours’ walking distance of the gates.

For the Soldier Ant subjugation request, the official proof of subjugation was the dagger-like protrusion growing on their backs. The reward for each protrusion was 5 copper coins, roughly double the payout for a Goblin ear.

According to the information Rei had gathered from the receptionist, there was likely a newly established nest nearby led by a Queen Ant, which meant the Queen Ant itself might eventually make an appearance. However, while standard Soldier Ants were only F rank monsters, a Queen Ant was a C rank monster. Because of the massive threat gap, she had strongly advised him not to mess with it if he happened to find the nest.

(Rank C. It turns out that Water Bear I killed in the forest was also a C rank monster. If I let Set or the Death Scythe absorb a C rank magic stone, acquiring a new skill is practically guaranteed. In that case, I’m definitely aiming for it.)

With that goal in mind, he advanced steadily down the highway with Set, keeping a sharp eye out for Soldier Ants.

Why aren’t we flying? Set gave a soft cry, as if asking the question aloud. Rei gently stroked his back to soothe him as they continued walking.

It should be noted that while they occasionally encountered other passersby on the road, the moment the travellers saw Set and Rei approaching, they would immediately give them a tremendously wide berth before sprinting at full speed towards the safety of Gilm’s walls.

「Gururururu~!」

They had walked along the highway for about an hour. Although Rei had been somewhat distracted by the peaceful scenery, he instantly switched into a combat-ready state the moment he heard Set growl a warning.

Gripping the Death Scythe, he spotted several black shapes scuttling out from the dense bushes lining the roadside.

「Here they come!」

They were massive black ants, the very Soldier Ants they had been tasked to subjugate. It seemed the monsters had spotted Rei as well. Snapping their threatening mandibles, which looked like huge pairs of jagged scissors, they made loud gachi~ gachi~ sounds to intimidate their prey.

「Gigigigigi!」

Aside from their sheer size and their disturbing cries, they looked exactly like normal ants. The only other major physical difference was the sharp, dagger-like protrusion growing prominently from their backs.

「Gigi!」

Raising a short shriek, a Soldier Ant broke from the pack and charged at them. Though it made a beeline straight for Rei, fully intending to bite and tear him apart with its sharp mandibles, its movement speed wasn’t particularly fast. Compared to the nimble Goblin rare species Rei had fought yesterday, it was a far less formidable enemy.

「Fu~!」

Just as the Soldier Ant opened its mandibles wide to bite him, it was cleanly cleaved in half by the magic-empowered blade of the Death Scythe.

Although it was a known fact that Soldier Ants could still function perfectly fine even if they lost a leg, surviving being sliced completely in half was impossible. Its severed legs twitched sporadically for a few seconds before all movement ceased.

「Gururu~!」

Even though he had easily taken down the vanguard, more ants rapidly poured out of the bushes. 1, 2, 3, 4……their numbers quickly swelled.

Rei unintentionally clicked his tongue in annoyance.

「Set, 『Fire Breath』!」
「Gururu~!」

Responding instantly to Rei’s command, Set gave a high-pitched cry and opened his beak. The next moment, a torrent of roaring flames spewed from his mouth. It was the newly acquired skill he had learned from the Goblin rare species’s magic stone yesterday. However, because the skill was still only Lv.1, the stream of fire was relatively narrow, and its effective range was limited to a mere two or three metres.

Still, the flames succeeded in dealing moderate damage to the front line of Soldier Ants. Even if the fire didn’t kill them outright, the intense heat severely dulled their movements.

Even though they held the numbers advantage, the moment the Soldier Ants’ movements slowed, they ceased to be a genuine threat to Rei. They were no longer monsters that needed to be fought, reduced to mere prey waiting to be slaughtered.

「Haaa!」

Pouring magic power into the Death Scythe, Rei swung the massive blade, cleanly severing their heads and bisecting their bodies. Using the blunt handle, he struck their armoured bodies to knock them into the air before splitting them in two with a rapid follow-up strike.

An ant was blasted apart by Set’s 『Water Ball』, while another was reduced to a charred husk by a concentrated blast of 『Fire Breath』. Set’s powerful beak effortlessly pierced through the tough exoskeletons, and he casually tore off their heads with his razor-sharp claws.

A few minutes after the fighting had begun, it was all over. Over thirty Soldier Ants had been massacred, their severed body parts and viscous fluids covering the dirt road.

「Gurururururu~!」

As Set raised a triumphant cry of victory, Rei remained wary, watching the bushes closely for reinforcements. However, after several tense minutes passed, the undergrowth remained perfectly quiet.

「That seems to be the whole group.」

Rei finally let out a sigh of relief after confirming the coast was clear.

Asking Set to keep watch over their surroundings, he moved to retrieve the magic stones and the required proof of subjugation.

However, he quickly realised it was impossible to harvest the magic stone or the back protrusion from the Soldier Ant Set had burned to a crisp, as the entire corpse had literally been turned into charcoal. It was equally impossible to retrieve the materials from the ant that had been blasted apart by the explosive impact of the 『Water Ball』.

(When an attack carries too much destructive power, it ruins the corpse and makes it impossible to collect the magic stone and the proof of subjugation. I’d better keep that in mind from now on.)

Making a mental note of the issue, he pulled the 『Beginner’s Guide to Dismantling Monsters』 from the Misty Ring and flipped to the section detailing Soldier Ants.

According to the guidebook, the primary materials that could be harvested from a Soldier Ant were the antennae, which were heavily used in alchemy and medicine, and the tough exoskeleton from the head and body, which was commonly used to craft lightweight armour.

The antennae were easy enough to cut off using a standard bronze knife, but processing the tough exoskeleton of the main body proved to be a problem.

Though his iron knife could technically cut through the softer joints between the armoured plating, manually separating the exoskeleton was incredibly difficult and tedious work for Rei. Though he eventually managed to strip the carapace off one of the Soldier Ants, the resulting material wasn’t in particularly good condition due to his amateur knife work.

Still, after taking his time, he successfully managed to remove the valuable exoskeletons and store them safely inside the Misty Ring.

「With this, we’ve secured way more than the minimum subjugation amount. Now we just have to find the Queen Ant……」

Rei looked around the battlefield, letting out a heavy sigh. The corpses of thirty Soldier Ants were scattered across the road. Judging by the numbers, this was likely just an advance scouting force. He couldn’t help but sigh when he thought about the sheer number of Soldier Ants they would inevitably have to carve through just to reach the Queen Ant’s inner sanctum.

The individual Soldier Ants weren’t particularly strong opponents. In fact, calling them ‘weak’ wouldn’t be an understatement. He and Set had effortlessly wiped out more than thirty of them in a matter of minutes, proving that fact beyond a doubt.

The real issue was the inevitable accumulation of fatigue. They hardly felt any strain after defeating thirty of them just now. But what if they had to fight that same number several times over? What if they had to repeat that exact battle dozens of times in a row?

Certainly, both Set and Rei possessed bodies that were vastly tougher and more resilient than normal humans or monsters. However, that didn’t mean they possessed infinite stamina. It was only natural for their movements to dull as fatigue set in, and the slower they moved, the more likely they were to take a lethal hit from a swarm. Even though their magically crafted bodies possessed eternal youth, they were by no means immortal.

Still, giving up and missing out on the C rank Queen Ant’s magic stone was simply too regretful.

「Well, what should we do?」

Muttering to himself as he casually thrust the blunt handle of the Death Scythe through the crushed body of a nearby Soldier Ant……he suddenly felt a strange sense of incongruity when he looked at its exoskeleton.

(What is it? Why does this exoskeleton look slightly off to me? The plating itself looks perfectly normal……aside from being larger than a normal ant, its overall appearance and structure are completely identical. There’s no mistake about that. However……!?)

Analysing the corpse closely in his mind, he finally pinpointed the source of his dissonance. In nature, ants that leave the colony to establish a new nest usually grow wings, so-called ‘alates’ or winged ants. However, there were absolutely no wings attached to the massive Soldier Ant lying dead before his eyes.

(In other words, maybe not all the giant ants in Elgin follow the biological habit of developing winged variants? Or perhaps these specific ants just haven’t left the main nest to become winged ants yet……either way, there’s a strong chance my assumption is wrong.)

Assuming that absolutely none of the ants controlled by the Queen Ant possessed wings to fly……that would be far too optimistic. However, the indisputable fact remained that the thirty Soldier Ants Rei and Set had just defeated were completely wingless and entirely ground-bound. In other words, Rei theorised that their chances of success would skyrocket if, instead of fighting a brutal war of attrition on the ground, they took to the sky and launched a direct aerial assault on the Queen Ant.

Fortunately or unfortunately, based on the information provided by the guild receptionist, if a Queen Ant was killed, the massive swarm it led would immediately lose its cohesive structure and scatter aimlessly into the surrounding area. While this meant the number of random Soldier Ant encounters near the city of Gilm would temporarily spike, dealing with disorganised stragglers was vastly preferable to fighting a highly coordinated swarm governed by a strategic Queen Ant.

「……Set.」
「Guru~……」

While keeping watch over their surroundings, Set, who had been casually pecking at the remains of the Soldier Ants, curiously tilted his head to look at Rei.

「Let’s try searching for the Queen Ant from the sky. Once we spot it, we’ll launch a surprise aerial attack and kill it before the swarm can react.」
「Guru~!」

Nodding enthusiastically at Rei’s proposal, Set crouched down low to the ground. Gripping the Death Scythe tightly, Rei quickly vaulted onto Set’s back.

「Gururu~!」

Raising a sharp cry, Set took a running start of a few steps before powerfully flapping his eagle-like wings. Rei’s cheeks unintentionally loosened into a grin as they steadily ascended into the sky, kicking off the air itself. Looking down, a cold smile floated onto his face, as he could clearly see a massive second wave of Soldier Ants rapidly swarming towards the exact spot they had just been standing. They had successfully evaded a massive second battle.

「Even though it took some time for reinforcements to arrive after we wiped out the first group, we definitely would have been trapped in a constant, grinding war of attrition if we had stayed on the ground. Deciding to take to the sky early was definitely the right call.」
「Guru~」

I agree, Set seemed to say as he gave a short chirp. While Rei patted his feathery neck, he looked down at the sprawling grassy plains and dense forests bordering the highway……it wasn’t easy to spot movement deep within the treeline from this altitude.

They flew steadily through the sky for about twenty minutes. Although they occasionally spotted the figure of a random monster passing through the brush below, there was absolutely no sign of the Queen Ant they were searching for.

「I suppose it’s not going to be that easy to find her after all.」
「Guru……Guruu~!」

Set raised a soft cry to comfort Rei, but it abruptly shifted into a sharp, aggressive shriek halfway through. It was a loud cry of warning.

The reason for Set’s sudden alarm immediately became clear. New enemies had suddenly burst from the forest canopy below. Because there wasn’t a good object nearby for scale, Rei couldn’t gauge their exact size, but they definitely looked significantly larger than the Soldier Ants they had fought earlier. Moreover, these creatures had large, translucent wings growing from their backs. They were flying rapidly through the sky, heading on a direct intercept course straight for Set. There were five of them in total.

「So they can fly through the sky after all. Not to mention, they’re even bigger than the Soldier Ants. Are these Imperial Ants? Well, an enemy is an enemy. Let’s go, Set!」
「Gururururu~!」

Flapping his wings powerfully and raising a courageous, challenging cry, Set flew straight towards the incoming Imperial Ants in a head-on collision course without the slightest hesitation.

The distance between the two sides closed rapidly……

「Gururururu~!」

A sphere of highly compressed water suddenly materialised right in front of Set’s face. With a sharp cry, Set fired the 『Water Ball』 directly into the formation of Imperial Ants.

「Gigigigi~!」

Though the Imperial Ant flying at the very front of the formation managed to narrowly avoid the high-speed projectile by aggressively tilting its body, the Imperial Ant flying directly behind it wasn’t so lucky. The 『Water Ball』 slammed directly into its face, detonating violently upon impact. The explosive force completely obliterated the upper half of its body, sending its ruined remains plummeting to the ground far below.

「Four remaining.」

Muttering coldly, Rei immediately began casting a spell.

『Flame, collect and gather. One for all. All for one. Appear at my command.』

As Rei finished the incantation, a massive sphere of superheated fire, roughly 1m in diameter, gathered at the very tip of the Death Scythe’s blade. Aiming directly at the scattered Imperial Ants, Rei swung the heavy scythe with all his strength. Following the arc of the blade, the massive fireball detached and flew straight towards the enemy.

However, its travel speed was only about half as fast as the 『Water Ball』 Set had fired earlier, noticeably lacking in pure velocity.

Realising the projectile was slow, the Imperial Ants quickly scattered in different directions, easily preparing to evade the incoming flames……

『Bloom Flames!』

Just as they moved to dodge, Rei forcefully triggered the spell’s secondary effect. The massive fireball detonated violently in mid-air, scattering a massive barrage of fist-sized flaming projectiles in every direction at blindingly high speeds.

「Gigigigigigi!」

It was a custom spell Rei had designed based on the image of a bursting firework. However, because the main fireball had fragmented, the individual power of the scattered flames wasn’t particularly high.

Still, the sheer volume of the shrapnel was more than enough to severely burn the fragile, translucent wings of the Imperial Ants. With their wings completely incinerated, two of the massive insects lost their ability to fly and began plummeting to the earth.

Falling completely out of control from a height of over thirty metres, surviving the impact was impossible.

Now, there were only two Imperial Ants remaining. But.

「Gururu~!」

One of them had its entire thorax completely crushed by Set’s razor-sharp claws as the Griffon swooped past.

「Haah!」

The final one was cleanly bisected by the lethal blade of the Death Scythe as Rei swung it with lethal precision.

「Alright, the next step is to locate the exact position of the Queen Ant……」

Just as Rei said that, a massive, deafening screech echoed from the forest directly below them.

「Gigigigigigigigigigyi~!」

The horrific sound was originating from a dense cluster of trees about thirty metres ahead of Set’s current position. Peering down through the foliage, Rei spotted the massive figure of a giant ant monster, one significantly larger than both the Soldier Ants and the winged Imperial Ants.

In other words.

「The Queen Ant.」
「Gururu~!」

Set gave a sharp, eager cry in agreement with Rei’s words. Rei gently stroked Set’s neck, smiling fiercely at his partner’s unwavering bravery.

「Right then……let’s go!」
「Gurururururu~!」

Giving a high-pitched, piercing cry in response to Rei’s command, Set folded his wings and entered a steep, blindingly fast dive, aiming straight for the Queen Ant on the ground.

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