The Peerless Kobold - Chapter 221
“Archer, you can act as a vanguard too?”
“That was close, thanks for saving me!”
Ares and Riberto greeted me in a friendly tone as they noticed me coming to support the front lines, but apart from those who were paying attention to the enemies in front, Muriel had a cramped expression as she had watched the whole thing unfold before her.
(If I remember correctly, Ernesta did mention that he had gone home with the manuscript of that book…)
As the image of her close friend who is also a user of the grimoire “Herculean Crushing” unexpectedly came to mind, Muriel smiled wryly. However, the moment was short-lived as a chill ran through her spine when she saw another large, Imperial-type Valley Ant approach.
“Th-this is…!? Everyone, stand back!!”
“Wha– Area attack magic!?”
At about the same time as the rearguards who were skilled at detecting area attack magic warned us, I also sensed the magic spreading throughout the ground and jumped back while pulling Riberto by the collar as earthen spikes popped out from the ground in succession.
“O-oh right, I forgot these guys also have innate earth-type magic!!”
I heard from Muriel that these giant ants do not just rely on brute force when excavating to expand their nest, but they use magic to do so, but… For some reason, I just felt frustrated that these guys could also use the “Binding Fangs” that I specialized in.
(Up until now, I haven’t seen anyone else use it, so I guess it’s just a common type of non-human magic…)
However, it was still an effective area attack magic, and several adventurers who didn’t escape in time were unable to move since their legs were pierced by the earthen spikes.
“Guh, uuugghh…”
“Uwaaaah!”
As the screams of pain rose one by one, Muriel acted quickly and held her right hand up and cast a spell while interfering with the effective range of the earth-type magic.
“Return all creations to what they should be, Dispel!”
Her dignified voice rang out as she struck her evergreen staff on the ground and the earthen spikes crumbled and freed the immobilized adventurers. But this time, the giant ants came for them while their movements were slowed down by their injuries.
“S-stop, don’t come near me, UGYAAAAAAH”
“Hih, n-no, it hurts, uwaah… uu”
“S**t, just do whatever you damn bastards want!!”
I joined Ares, Riberto, and the other vanguards as they rushed to the rescue and when I spotted the large, Imperial Valley Ant in the vicinity. I smirked as I thrust my left hand to the ground.
“I’ll give you guys a taste of your own medicine! Devour them completely, Fangs of Greed!!”
“GII, GIAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
As the earthen spikes pierced the heads and thoraxes of the giant ants surrounding the Imperial one after another, I stepped on the head of the nearest soldier ant and used it as a foothold when I clad my legs in whirlwinds and leaped. Then, I vertically spun in the air to create momentum and used the centrifugal force to drive a right heel drop on the Imperial Valley Ant’s head!
“Gigiiiih!?”
The Air Burst spell I imbued into my leg activated as I directed it downwards and pushed down the giant ant’s head and stuck out my left hand directly over its exposed weak point.
“Tear it to pieces, Triple Wind Blade!!”
“Gii, gigiaaaa… aa…”
The Triple Wind Blade I fired at close range created a deep cut, and the giant head that lolled to the side after losing its support was torn into shreds.
I didn’t have time to admire my work since I used my wind magic to create a temporary updraft to extend my time in the air for a bit.
“There we go!”
And then, using the same method, I commanded the wind to adjust my fall and landed on the back of one of the giant ants who had been impaled by the earthen spikes and casually mowed it down with my scimitar.
After beheading the ant I landed on, I was safe for a while and watched as Edgar and the others were able to take down several more of the enemy as they hacked and slashed at the giant ants who became restless when the Imperial was taken down.
Additionally, it seems the soldiers had managed to slaughter the large Imperials while being led by Eldric and his squad of elite soldiers, and the giant ants who had lost both their commanders and their brethren began to withdraw without any hesitation.
“Look at them scurry…”
To be honest, the speed at which they went wasn’t something that we and the transport corps could catch up to. So at the end of the first phase of the battle, our subjugation team ended with 24 casualties, but we also managed to take out at least 83 Valley Ants after.
It’s not bad considering the kill vs. loss ratio, but… it’s too bad that most of the casualties were young and inexperienced, although this is a common occurrence on the battlefield.
