Chapter 22 (1/2)

Set swooped down from the sky without any hesitation, Rei wielded the Death Scythe at the same time, pouring magic power into the Death Scythe while aiming at the large Queen Ant.

「Gigigigigigi!」

The Queen Ant opened its mouth, as if to shoot something……

「-!?　It’s dangerous, Set!」

「Gururu~!」

Feeling a sense of crisis, Rei shouted to Set. Set understood and with a great flap of his wings, forcibly moved to the right.

The next moment, liquid was shot from the mouth of the Queen Ant, passing through the place Set was previously in a blink of an eye.

The liquid that was avoided fell to the ground, Rei saw the surrounding soil melting away while giving off smoke. The real nature of the of the liquid was an acid……he judged that it was a kind of formic acid. TLN: Formic acid is a type of acid that ants can generate, typically not that powerful.

「Gigigigigi!」

Dissatisfied that its attack had missed, it raised a loud screech while attacking with its huge forelegs.

As Set escaped the blow, Rei wielded the Death Scythe against a foreleg as they passed through the sky.

Swinging the Death Scythe, it tore through the foreleg without any resistance, the foreleg flew off in a direction to the left with the momentum it had left from swinging down.

「Gyi~!」

Maybe it had developed a sense of pain unlike the Soldier Ants, the Queen Ant gave a short screech. Rei took advantage of this chance to jump from Set’s back.

As soon as Rei landed on the ground, he jumped up at once, raising a sound and leaving a cloud of dust. At the same time, one of the Queen Ant’s forelegs smashed the place Rei had landed.

He jumped continuously and took some distance from the Queen Ant. After doing that, Rei was finally able to observe the Queen Ant.

Its body length was much longer than the Soldier Ants, about 5m in length. It had an enlarged abdomen and a sharp spike grew from it like a stinger.

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

From the information Rei heard, the Soldier Ants were about 1m long. Because of that, even if it was larger, he had expected the Queen Ant to be about 3m in length. However, after coming in contact with the actual Queen Ant, its size was greatly larger than Rei’s expectations.

「But, well……」

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

「I have no choice but to do it!」

With a shout, Rei started running towards the Queen Ant. From the sky, the figure of Set could be seen continuously shooting water balls, trying to support Rei.

「Gigigi!」

Finding it annoying, the Queen Ant swung one of its hind legs, destroying a water ball. However, Set’s aim wasn’t to damage the Queen Ant with the water balls. It was to give Rei a chance to get close with his physical ability and attack with the Death Scythe.

And that purpose was achieved.

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

While chanting the incantation for spell that killed the Water Bear in the Forest of Magic, just like that time……no, this time with the blade, he swung the Death Scythe.

With only light resistance, the blade of the scythe went into the middle right leg of the Queen Ant……

『Dance Fire Snake!』

The magic was released. The fire snake crawled into the leg of the Queen Ant that the Death Scythe was stuck into.

「Gigigigigigigi!」

The giant ant in front of his eyes screeched in pain as its body was burned from the inside.

However, worthy of being called the Queen Ant, it wasn’t the end. While screeching, it tore off the leg that that the fire snake was moving around and burning.

「What!?」

Excessive, Rei was startled by the action. He immediately jumped backwards to create some distance between the Queen Ant.

At almost the same time he moved……the Queen Ant threw the leg, that the fire snake was burning, at his location.

「Gigigi!」

Angered, the Queen Ant spat formic acid from its mouth at the small man in front of it that had injured it. Brandishing its remaining legs, it looked for a chance to use its sharp mandibles.

Rei evaded most of the attacks or parried them with the Death Scythe.

「It’s tenacious!」

While evading the foreleg swinging down, he struck out with the Death Scythe. Cutting the remaining left foreleg, the only legs left was the middle leg on the left, the left hind leg and the right hind leg, three legs. However, the Queen Ant’s attacks were still fierce. The poisonous spike that grew from its abdomen pierced into a tree and it spat out formic acid, melting rocks.

While remembering the tenacity of a C rank monster with admiration, Rei brandished the Death Scythe to attract the Queen Ant’s attention while confirming the figure of Set in the sky.

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

While saying the incantation, a ball of fire about 30cm in diameter appeared in front of the blade of the Death Scythe. As Rei swung the Death Scythe……he triggered the magic.

『Fireball!』

The ball of flame, similar to the water ball that Set used, flew off at high speed towards the Queen Ant as the Death Scythe swung down.

However, the Queen Ant evaded by dropping to the ground instead of receiving the attack directly. It knew the power of the magic flame after having its body burned by the magical fire snake.

……But, it didn’t know that that was Rei’s aim.

It was lying on the ground. In other words, it was hard for it to make its next movement immediately. And Set, who was waiting in the sky for an opportunity to intervene, dived straight to ground. The Queen Ant watched out for Set at the beginning because of the threat of the water balls but then recognized Rei, who injured it, as the highest threat. So while fighting against Rei, the existence of Set had disappeared from its mind. Moreover, Set had waited for a chance without interfering as the fight between Rei and the Queen Ant intensified. All this for a chance to hit the Queen Ant with a decisive blow. Set did not overlook the rare opportunity that Rei had made.

「Gurururururu~!」

Raising a courageous cry, with his eagle like talons and matchless strength……and with the speed from his dive, he swung them at the Queen Ants head.

A gusha~ sound echoed into the surroundings. The head of the Queen Ant was shattered and pieces of flesh were scattered into the surroundings.

「Gururururu~!」

Set raised a cry of victory. It wasn’t a strange story. It normally isn’t a mistake to determine that it was a victory after the enemy’s head was crushed. However, Set had forgotten about what happened when they fought the Soldier Ants. With their vitality, they would keep moving for a little while even after their head was destroyed.

And the opponent that Rei and Set were fighting was a Queen Ant, a much more powerful existence than the Soldier Ant. Naturally, its vitality exceeded that of a Soldier Ant.

As if to show that, the Queen Ant that had lost half its legs and head raised one of its legs.

As Rei saw the scene in his eyes, he shouted at Set……

「Set, dodge!」

The moment he shouted, he dashed towards Set while raising the Death Scythe.

「Gururu~!」

When Set heard Rei’s shout, he reflexively kicked against the ground to flee to the sky. What was lucky this time was that the Queen Ant’s attack was not swinging down but from the side. Set flew into the sky to evade the attack. The Queen Ant attacked with a single blow, sweeping from the side. It was only a single moment after Set’s victory cry.