Ch.67Challenger

Deep in the forest. There stood a monster with a massive body and gleaming carapace that reflected the light.

KUUUUNG—!!!

CRAAACK—!

The creature was causing havoc in the forest, breaking and toppling the giant trees as if something had displeased it.

Click-click-click-click-click

The giant insect continued clicking its mandibles to express its dissatisfaction, as if its rage hadn’t subsided.

Around it were numerous white and silver ants, but the creature paid no attention to this fact as countless corpses piled up due to its rampage.

The giant insect pondered why its subordinates hadn’t returned.

They couldn’t betray it since they had been exposed to its pheromones, making them practically slaves.

It had exposed them to its pheromones every day.

For about 50 insects to not return at all meant…

Either the forest’s master had awakened from its long slumber, or the demonic beasts in the forest had banded together.

If the forest’s master had awakened, it would have noticed.

Which meant… the demonic beasts must have united.

If it could eat just a little, just a little bit more, it could molt and challenge the forest’s master to a battle…

The giant insect knew that if it ate the subordinates currently supplying it with food, their brainwashing would wear off and they would attack it, so it couldn’t consider eating them.

They were originally meant to be used in the final battle against the forest’s master, but…

Having no choice, the giant insect rose to its feet and sent out all of its ants.

A silver and white wave covered the forest as they advanced, followed by the giant insect with its glossy black sheen.

* * * * *

I was so happy to meet a fellow demonic beast that I asked all sorts of questions. Why it was living in the forest, whether it was originally so large, and various other things.

And Wraaw the Mad Bull answered everything diligently. He told me everything he knew.

As the two of us were engrossed in conversation, Mary, seemingly annoyed, kept tapping my head.

“Mmmerrr, mmuu—. (Oh, I almost forgot. This is Mary, my traveling partner.)”

“Hello! As I mentioned earlier, let me introduce myself again! I’m Khan’s companion who gave him his name! I’m his partner, unlike any other!”

Wraaw nodded at her introduction with a hearty laugh. And our conversation resumed.

Wraaw had also lost several of his kind in the forest, so despite standing, he seemed very glad to see me, who fell into the category of his kind.

Or perhaps it was thanks to my trait [Scent of Friendship].

As the two of us continued our conversation, Mary, seemingly sulking, kept tapping my head.

[May I join the conversation now?]

A voice suddenly echoed in my mind. It felt as if someone was speaking directly into my head, so I looked around.

A reindeer without antlers, different from the one I had saved earlier, was looking at us.

When I asked if it was indeed the one who had spoken to me, the antlerless reindeer nodded.

[I am Kamin, the leader of this demonic beast alliance. Thank you for saving my husband earlier. Thanks to you, many demonic beasts were able to survive. Some died, but thanks to you, we were able to defeat the enemies with minimal casualties.]

“Mmmerrr (That’s only natural.)”

[A significant number of enemies have been annihilated, and what remains are estimated to be ants… but their numbers are substantial. I’ve heard from small animals who witnessed the scene that the ants are swarming everywhere. So… if it’s alright with you, would you stand with our demonic beast alliance and fight?]

I nodded in response. After all, the reason I came here was to fight, and the numerical advantage I had just experienced was still something I couldn’t handle on my own.

[Thank you. Minky, who came with you, said she would fight if you joined, so I was honestly a bit worried.]

“Mmmerrr? Mmuuu. (Minky? That’s unexpected.)”

[Yes. Anyway, the enemy’s vanguard has been annihilated. Now there’s the main force and what’s presumed to be the leader… I heard it’s incredibly huge. About 10 times the size of a normal ant, they say.]

10 times. The ant I had crushed when saving Minky came up to my waist, so the leader must be a monster about 3 times my height.

[To defeat that thing, the forest’s master would need to step in… but the forest’s master has entered a sleep phase. Once it sleeps, it won’t wake up for 10 years unless disturbed, and it has the ferocity to attack fellow demonic beasts, so we can’t wake it up.]

“Mmmerrr (So we have to resolve this ourselves.)”

[Yes. Currently, there are thirty demonic beasts remaining. If we don’t join forces, they will take over this forest. Please stay with us until the end.]

I nodded to the antlerless reindeer, indicating that I understood, and she left.

“Let’s go to Minky too! She’s slow, so she won’t think to come here!”

“Mmmerrr (Alright. Wraaw, do you want to come along?)”

Wraaw shook his head. He said he needed to protect Kamin and followed after her.

We bid him farewell and went to find Minky.

“Mmerrr (Oh, before that. The insect I caught earlier had a really delicious scent. Let’s go check it out.)”

“Okay!”

Before going to Minky, we headed to where the snail I had killed while saving the reindeer husband was, intending to eat it…

GROOOWL!

There was Minky, head buried in the snail’s carcass, eating it with apparent delight.

* * * * *

After the battle, when night fell and the two moons in the sky shone brightly, illuminating the gathering place of the demonic beast alliance…

Grooowl…

“Khan… Minky says she’s sorry. Let’s forgive her, okay? She was very hungry after breathing out so much fire.”

Minky apologized, and Mary asked me to forgive her, but my anger didn’t subside easily.

That scent that spread across the battlefield was so enchanting!

I had restrained myself and helped the others, only to return and find Minky had delightfully eaten it all. Without thinking, I struck her spiky shell.

Startled, Minky looked at me, and upon seeing my face, she had been apologizing ever since.

I looked at Minky once, then at Mary, and with a sigh, accepted Minky’s apology.

GROOOWL!!

Delighted, Minky rubbed her head against my arm. I stroked her head.

“I’m glad you made up! You shouldn’t fight when you need to battle together!”

“Mmmerrr (I was too sensitive because I couldn’t eat something that looked delicious.)”

“Well, it’s partly Khan’s fault for leaving it on the battlefield, but Minky should have thought about sharing something so delicious! Don’t worry too much about it!”

“Mmuuu (Yeah. Let’s go to sleep now. We’ll probably have another battle tomorrow.)”

“Yes! You worked hard today, Khan!”

“Muu. (Mary too. You worked hard treating the others today.)”

* * * * * *

Beep… Beep…

KUHUUNG!!!!

Along with the magical alarm sound echoing in my head, the roar of a demonic beast reverberated through the forest.

“Mmmerrr! (Mary, Minky! Wake up quickly!)”

They were already awake without me having to say anything, but I roused them from their half-asleep state and grabbed my axe.

I thought we could sleep comfortably tonight since nocturnal animals from the demonic beast alliance had volunteered to keep watch…

The fact that the enemies had gathered again without even a day passing suggested that the leader was very angry about not being able to eat.

Once we regained our senses, we quickly traversed the forest.

Minky was following behind due to her slow pace, but I ran quickly toward the source of the roar with Mary on my head.

CRACK!

WOOOONG!

Along with the sound of a demonic beast smashing something, the roars continued to echo.

“They’re asking for help quickly! There are so many of them!”

At that sound, I wrapped lightning around my legs and ran at an even faster pace.

KRRRUNG—!!!

I became like a light cutting through darkness and shot forward.

I smashed or cut through any trees blocking my path with my arms or axe.

The sound of trees being destroyed was drowned out by the lightning surrounding me, and as I advanced toward the source of the roar…

Kuhuung…

I saw a black jaguar surrounded by ants, its neck being severed.

Some ants were carrying away the jaguar’s body, its neck severed by the ants’ jaws, while other ants continued to advance.

I moved behind them, snatched the jaguar’s body, and swung my axe.

CRAAASH!

Several ants were scattered into fragments along with green fluid, and the ants that responded to the sound turned around and rushed toward me.

I hoisted the jaguar’s body onto my shoulder and swept through the ants using my axe, legs, and lightning.

Each time the axe was swung, several ants were smashed, and the lightning surrounding the axe swept through the surroundings.

I had to keep moving my feet as if tap dancing to avoid the ants trying to bite my legs, and some ants didn’t die with a single blow from my axe, requiring multiple strikes.

KREEEEEK!

And while I was busy with axe swings and tap dancing, Storm Wing was the first to appear.

He spotted me, quickly descended, grabbed an ant with his large talons, and crushed it.

Then he rose back into the sky, only to dive down again, gradually reducing the number of ants.

KRRRUNG!!!

Starting with Storm Wing, a reindeer that used lightning appeared and swept the surroundings with electricity.

When a blue light swirled in the eyes of the antlerless reindeer, stones rose into the air, creating a vortex that tore the ants to shreds.

A giant gorilla jumped down from a tree, beat its chest, and smashed the ants with its two fists, while a Mad Bull charged at the ants with its horns, showing off its red fur.

More than a dozen other demonic beasts, including rabbits, chameleons, toads, owls, lizards, and tigers, joined the battle and began smashing the ants that gleamed in the moonlight.

KWAAANG—!!

Minky had also joined the battle, as a huge fireball flew in and incinerated dozens of ants.

After fighting for a while…

As dawn broke, the thousands of ants were all smashed by the dozens of demonic beasts.

MWOOOOO!!!

KUHUHUNG!!

KREEEEEK!!

GROOOWL!!!

Dozens of demonic beasts roared in victory simultaneously.

Although the jaguar, along with a bear and a wild boar, had met their deaths, considering they had faced thousands, losing only three was remarkable.

The three corpses had been mashed by the ants and were inedible, so they had to be burned.

While those who wanted to eat the insect corpses did so, and the rest were being burned by me, the reindeer, and Minky, who could breathe lightning and fire…

-You have satisfied the conditions for acquiring a trait. You have acquired the trait [Insect Slayer].

KUGUUUNG…

Along with the sudden notification of trait acquisition, in the distance, the sound of falling trees could be heard as something massive approached, reflecting the moonlight.