The Giga Ant closed the distance, looming within five meters of Phillip and Dona.
"Is this the end...?"
Phillip closed his eyes, resigning himself to the inevitable. But then—
Even through his closed lids, a brilliant light seared his vision. When he opened them again, he was met with an incredible sight.
The Giga Ant lay dead at his feet, its head pierced through by a clean hole.
Standing before him was a girl, holding a strangely designed magi-device.
"You're..."
She was the automata he had met before in Blue Land, within the Kingdom of Egerea.
"Reiko, was it?...You saved me. Thank you."
"Escape, quickly," Reiko said curtly, her eyes never leaving the front. The magi-device in her hand flashed again.
Two more Giga Ants that had been closing in collapsed, holes bored through their bodies, and ceased to move forever.
"I-Is that magic? Or a magic tool?"
"Master, now is not the time for questions..."
Reiko’s figure, standing firm against the swarm, gradually grew smaller in Phillip’s vision as he was ushered away.
Meanwhile, the members of the Kingdom 3rd Ritter Corps were frantically galloping their horses away. They were so consumed by their desperate flight that they lacked the composure to even check who had come to their rescue.
"...I suppose I can afford to stop holding back now."
Judging that what was happening would no longer be discernible to human eyes, Reiko increased the output of her laser gun.
With each shot, three or four Giga Ants standing in her line of fire were struck at once, holes punched through them as they were neutralized.
Sensing the threat, several Giga Ants spat corrosive acid at Reiko, but the spray splattered harmlessly against her solid barrier.
Reiko, meanwhile, continued to fire her laser gun—the only weapon capable of passing through the solid barrier from the inside.
In about ten minutes, nothing was left moving in her field of vision. However, she did not lower her guard. Being giant ants, there was every possibility they were lurking beneath the earth.
『Reiko, move toward the ruins. There are about ten of them left in that direction.』
Jin contacted her from above, where he was observing the battlefield. Maintaining her solid barrier, Reiko began to walk forward.
The barrier made walking somewhat cumbersome, but it was a necessary precaution. She arrived at the entrance of the ruins within minutes and swiftly dispatched the eleven remaining Giga Ants.
After confirming the area was clear of witnesses, Jin contacted Laojun.
"Laojun, send in the Land squad while we have the chance. I also want to collect some samples of these Giga Ants."
『Understood. Commencing deployment immediately.』
Within a minute, fifty Army Golems and forty Smith Golems were transported to the site.
The Land squad deployed their own solid barriers and began finishing off any scattered Giga Ants with their laser guns. Meanwhile, the Smith Golems carefully examined the specimens Reiko had already defeated.
Their first priority was investigating the properties of the corrosive fluid within the ants. It appeared to be a mixture of highly potent acidic liquids. Since it could dissolve even silicon-oxide rocks, it clearly possessed properties similar to hydrofluoric acid.
『It seems it can even dissolve metal. Iron is no exception.』
The five hundred golems originally stationed here had been made of iron. Most of the units left in front of the ruins had been melted or torn apart; not a single one remained unscathed.
『Though they are heavily damaged, shall we recover a few units that are in relatively good condition? They might prove useful for analysis.』
Laojun decided to recover some of the ruins' golems along with the ant samples. They would be analyzed at a later time.
『Furthermore, let us destroy the internal magi-devices so they cannot be misused by others.』
Though it felt inefficient and wasteful, they decided to break the magi-devices that could not be replicated with current technology—such as the ether converters—rendering them impossible to reverse-engineer. They had considered simply removing them, but since it would be immediately obvious that someone had salvaged the parts, they opted for destruction this time.
『Oh? What do we have here...?』
Something lay discarded on the ground. It was broken after being splashed by corrosive fluid, but it was the recording-side magi-device of a magi-monitor. It seemed someone had cast it aside in their panic to flee.
『Fortuitous as it may be, this should prevent the exact time of My Lord’s arrival from being determined...』
The fact that they could use transporters was a top-tier secret.
Up in the air, Jin searched for any remaining Giga Ants.
"Hmm. The precision and range don't need to be that high, so maybe I should install a magi-radar..."
Meanwhile, Reiko used her built-in magi-detector to sense the general direction of the monsters and continued her extermination. The Land squad handled the remaining stragglers.
It happened just after she had defeated twelve more Giga Ants.
Suddenly, a black shadow swooped down from above.
"!?"
Reiko dodged with plenty of room to spare, but her eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected sight.
The black shadow was a winged ant.
Wings had sprouted from the Giga Ant's back, allowing it to take to the skies. It also looked to be about two sizes larger than the workers.
"A Male Ant!?"
Among the knowledge Jin had shared with her, there was information regarding the ecology of ants. In nests built underground, there was a Queen who laid eggs. At certain intervals, new Queen Ants and Male Ants were born; they would leave the original nest to mate, and the Queen would then establish a nest in a new location...
"In that case, is there a Queen Ant nearby as well!?"
Her deduction was correct. In contrast to the other black ants, a silver individual was soaring above a higher vantage point.
"...There is no doubt. That is the Queen."
Jin and the others had confirmed the same thing from the airship. They reached the same conclusion.
"I see. Those five hundred golems inside the ruins... their purpose was to exterminate the new Queens during the breeding season."
"That is highly likely," Elsa agreed.
"But to think the worker ants would emerge in such numbers as well..."
Unlike honeybees, ants weren't known to swarm in this manner on Earth, but Jin figured that was simply a difference in this world’s biology. Or perhaps it was because the five hundred golems meant to keep them in check were gone.
Just as he was pondering this—
"Jin-nii, look out!"
Startled by Elsa's voice, Jin looked out the front window to see the silver winged ant closing in at high speed.
"It's going to crash into us!?"
＊ ＊ ＊
Reiko had been shooting down the Male Ants while flying with her force generator, but she noticed the Queen Ant was banking toward the Konron 2. She raised her laser gun to shoot it down, but—
"...Not from this angle!"
She realized the Konron 2 was directly in her line of fire. If she fired now, the laser beam that pierced the Queen Ant might continue onward and strike Jin’s ship.
"Then I'll use this!"
After a split-second of hesitation, Reiko tucked the laser gun into her apron pocket and drew her plasma sword instead.
Wielding a blade of light that extended five meters, Reiko successfully intercepted the Queen Ant from behind, slicing through it. But Reiko was not satisfied with a simple kill.
"This is the price for targeting my Father."
Not content with merely cutting it in half, Reiko swung the plasma sword again and again, shredding the Queen Ant into a dozen pieces. The silver monster plummeted toward the ground, spraying bodily fluids as it fell.
『Reiko, you saved us. Thanks.』
A communication came in from Jin.
"No, I am sure you would have found some way to deal with it yourself, Father."
Jin gave a wry smile at Reiko's humble response.
『Are there any signs of other survivors?』
"I do not sense any with my magi-detector at the moment."
『I see. Understood.』
Since Reiko couldn't sense any more threats, Jin lowered the altitude of the Konron 2.
"Reiko, what about the casualties?"
When Jin asked directly, Reiko shook her head.
"...There are no survivors among the soldiers here. They were all wiped out."
"I see."
The people lying on the ground below had all breathed their last.
"It can't be helped. As compensation for the trouble, let's have the golems recover anything that looks useful."
Land and the Smiths moved through the area, recovering equipment and samples.
Reiko searched the surrounding area for a while longer to ensure no Giga Ants remained, eventually judging that the crisis had passed.
"All that's left is the hole they emerged from."
It led deep into the ruins.
"First, we should investigate..."
Just as Jin was considering his next move, the Kingdom 3rd Ritter Corps returned.
"Oh! It really is Lord Jin Nidou! And Reiko-dono!"
It was Captain Paul.
"We are truly grateful to you for saving us from such a dire crisis."
Paul and the members of the Ritter Corps gave a formal salute. Once the formalities were over, the inevitable question followed.
"Why is Lord Jin here...?"
Jin had his cover story ready.
"I received a request from Lord Kelichdore, who spotted the danger via magi-monitor. I just happened to be in the Klein Kingdom for the unveiling of my new airship."
Jin pointed upward, where the Konron 2 was stationed.
"I see, what a magnificent vessel... Thank you once again!"
The knights looked up at the sky, filled with admiration. From among the crowd, Phillip Teefor and his automata, Dona, stepped forward.
"Lord Jin, it has been some time since we last met....Though I suppose you are a Magi Craft Meister now, so things have certainly changed."
The group, feeling a wave of relief after being freed from the grip of terror, engaged in idle chatter for a while. Jin recognized their need to decompress, so he didn't rush them and simply joined in the conversation.