Note: This chapter contains graphic descriptions.
What crawled out of the ruins were giant insects; upon closer inspection, they were unmistakably ants. They swarmed out of the depths in a never-ending stream.
"Mega Ants!?"
They resembled the magical beasts known as Mega Ants that were occasionally found in mines. However, their size was on an entirely different scale.
A typical Mega Ant reached thirty centimeters in length at most. These monsters, however, were nearly two meters long.
"W-Waaaah!"
A scream tore through the air. Panicked, a soldier from the Celuroa Kingdom Frontier Corps slashed at one of the creatures, only to be sprayed by a liquid the monster spat out.
"Guaaaah! Aaaah! My eyes!"
the soldier thrashed on the ground. White smoke billowed from his face, hands, and body. It appeared the liquid was highly acidic. Even the sword he had been holding began to melt.
"Golems! Attack the monsters!"
Recognizing these creatures as a far greater threat than the Egerean golems, Trist Clarot redirected his forces. Paul Reid followed suit.
"Target the monsters! Ritter Corps, retreat thirty meters!"
Judging that the liquid spat by the Mega Ants was impossible for humans to withstand, Paul ordered the human members of his unit away from the front lines.
"Guaaaah! It burns! It burns!"
"Gyaaah! My arm! My arm is gone!"
Unfortunately, the soldiers of the Celuroa Kingdom Frontier Corps who had been ambushed from behind were too slow to retreat. Those drenched in the liquid spat by the Mega Ants had their flesh scorched and their bodies dissolved as they writhed in agony. Neither leather armor nor metal breastplates offered any protection against the acid.
A gruesome fate awaited the fallen soldiers: the Mega Ants began to feast. The death cries of men echoed through the air as their flesh was gouged and their bones were crushed by powerful mandibles. Even though they had been enemies just moments ago, the knights of the Kingdom of Egerea couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for them.
"Golems! Do something!" Trist shrieked.
Finally, a combat golem succeeded in killing a single Mega Ant, though it had taken four golems working in tandem to achieve the feat.
To their further horror, five or six other Mega Ants immediately swarmed their fallen comrade, devouring the carcass on the spot.
"These things... they even resort to cannibalism... What foul gluttony," Trist muttered, shuddering in spite of himself.
The entire scene was being observed back in the Kingdom of Egerea via a magi-monitor.
"Those five hundred golems... were they sealing those Mega Ants away? No, at this size, they are Giga Ants. Were they stationed there to keep those Giga Ants contained?"
Minister of Magic Kelichdore grimaced as he stared at the screen.
"The lack of Giga Ant remains despite the broken golems left behind earlier must be due to their cannibalistic nature..."
He organized his thoughts as he continued to watch the feed.
"However, what triggered their emergence? When our investigation team entered previously, nothing happened."
There was too little information to determine the cause. Yet, if they could solve that mystery, they might find a way to repel or drive the Giga Ants back.
"...One-way information is truly frustrating."
Regardless of the cause, this was a national crisis.
Just then, the Chancellor, Marquis Galueri, arrived. He had been summoned earlier when the skirmish with the Celuroa golems first broke out.
"Kelichdore, I heard there was a confrontation with the Celuroa Kingdom?"
"...No, something far more catastrophic has happened."
"What!?"
Kelichdore silently pointed at the magi-monitor. Following advice previously given by Jin, they had improved the polishing precision of the magi-crystals used for the camera lenses, which had significantly enhanced the image quality.
"Hmph. What in the world are those monsters?"
Kelichdore provided a concise explanation and shared his deductions. The Chancellor listened to the report in silence, his expression growing more grim by the second.
"...We have no choice but to ask for assistance," he said, his voice strained.
"Assistance? From whom?" Kelichdore asked, startled.
The Chancellor provided a name.
"The Lord of Kunlun... Lord Jin Nidou."
"I see."
Neither the Chancellor nor the Minister of Magic had forgotten the overwhelming power Reiko had displayed during the Golem Party. It was a sight burned into their memories.
"I hear he is currently in the Klein Kingdom for the unveiling of his new airship. He was scheduled to arrive here tomorrow, but given the emergency, it would not be unreasonable to ask him to move his schedule forward."
Setting aside the question of social grace, the current situation was too dire to overlook.
"It is not the scheduled contact time, but this is a crisis. I will attempt to reach him via manaphone."
Leaving it at that, the Chancellor hurried toward the Royal Palace.
"My, my, Jin, I am truly impressed!"
In the Klein Kingdom, Princess Lieschen was practically giddy aboard Jin’s new airship, the Konron 2.
The Konron 2 floated gracefully in the blue sky, the family crest of Jin—a circle with two horizontal bars—displayed prominently on its sides.
"The vibration is so minimal. This is a joy indeed."
In the princess's hands was the copy of the map Jin had gifted her. Possessing the Far-vision Magic Eye, she had begged Jin for this flight because she wanted to see her homeland from the sky while consulting the map.
"The accuracy of this map is astounding. Even with my eyes, I doubt I could produce a map so thorough that it captures every nook and cranny. I must take my hat off to you," Princess Lieschen said with a laugh.
"Your Highness, is it not time we returned?" asked Jessica Norton, the Captain of the Royal Female Ritter Corps, who had accompanied them as an escort.
"Jessica, surely a little longer is fine? The sun is still high in the sky."
"Sigh..."
Having served as Lieschen’s guard since the princess was a child, Jessica was soft on her. She had no defense against the girl’s pleading looks.
"Tell me, Jin, can we not fly over the Leonard Kingdom?"
"We can, but... we'll get a stern lecture for it, won't we?" Jin replied, glancing at Jessica, who was standing behind them with a troubled expression.
"Muu... I suppose it cannot be helped then."
"We'll be landing soon. I'll take you up again another time," Jin said with a wry smile, turning the Konron 2 back toward the Royal Castle.
"Muu, that is a promise, mind you."
Princess Lieschen nodded, pouting slightly. Then, as she turned her gaze back toward the Royal Castle, her expression suddenly shifted to one of shock.
"Jin! Something has happened!"
"Eh?"
"There is an uproar at the castle. We must return at once."
Sensing the urgency in Lieschen’s voice, Jin gave Reiko the order to increase speed.
"Reiko, get us back to the Royal Castle immediately."
"Understood, Father."
When high speeds were required, Reiko’s superior reaction time made her the better pilot. The Konron 2 surged toward the Royal Castle, hitting its normal maximum speed of 100 km/h.
"H-How fast!"
"...It certainly is fast, isn't it?"
On the way out, they had traveled at about 50 km/h; they were now moving twice as fast. Because the cabin was airtight, they felt no wind, but as they watched the Royal Castle rapidly growing larger, both women felt a flicker of anxiety that they might crash right into it.
In about five minutes, Jin and his party landed in the courtyard of the Royal Castle. A messenger knight came racing toward them.
"To use a knight as a messenger... it must be something grave indeed," Lieschen said, her face taut with tension.
The knight, breathless from his sprint, shouted at the top of his lungs.
"A request for emergency assistance for the Lord of Kunlun, Lord Jin Nidou!"