135 - - The labyrinthine-gai, above-ground level. above-ground level

The flying dragon quickly lowered its altitude and easily climbed over the outer wall and entered the inner wall at once.

Aiming for a single point, it glides over the ruins with the wind cutting through the air.

Thor, feeling the pit of his stomach rise for the first time, did as he was instructed and got down and gripped the port side.

The view from between the boat and the dragon changes rapidly.

The wind whistling against his ears makes any other sounds inaudible.

The bottom of the boat, which is ripping through the air, keeps shaking in small increments.

And then, the ground gets closer and closer...

Just when you think you are about to collide with the ground, there is a violent gust of wind.

At the same time, Thor's body is pushed upward.

Through a glimpse of the gap between the two bodies, we see the brownish masses being blown away in all directions at once.

.

The power of the flying dragon's flap must have been increased by the magic technique to increase the generated wind.

This would allow them to land smoothly and safely.

"Okay, you can get off!

The red-haired man was the first to respond to the rider's unnerving signal.

He quickly jumped out of the flying dragon boat, drew his sword with his left hand, and stood guard around the boat.

Straccia, seeing no great danger, raised her free hand, followed by Kugase, who landed lightly on the ground.

"Well, it seems that even ants have the wisdom to keep their doors closed."

The brown-horned girl's gaze fell on the wreckage of a building whose entrance was covered with a large amount of stones.

The stones seemed to have been used for the building, but they were piled up so high and carelessly that it seemed impossible to easily enter the building.

This seemed to be the point of our last raid.

Thor finally landed on solid ground and looked around, feeling around under his feet.

Bossalia was already far from being what one would call a town.

There are no rectangular structures left, and most of them have lost their original shape and have turned into a pile of rubble.

However, the half-remnant walls that serve as shields have made it difficult to see where the monsters are and how many there are.

Beyond the desolate view, we could see some brownish pillars sticking out like trees.

According to our prior discussions, they were watchtowers built by ants.

The once strong border town had been overrun by countless ants and had long since been transformed into a fortress.

Furthermore, the ants have installed troublesome devices to protect the fortress.

The labyrinth of burrows spread out underground, but several dummies existed at the entrances to the labyrinth.

The reason for the large scale mobilization of the previous expedition was actually to determine the location of the real den.

When we went to the trouble of finding a hole leading underground and entered it, we found only ants waiting for us at the back of the dead-end den.

It is said that there were quite a few such incidents.

Moreover, it seems that the ants are connected to the watchtower, and when you try to exit through the false hole, a large number of ants are rushing outside.

After all these hardships, we finally found the entrance to the dungeon, and this time we were able to attack the dungeon with a small number of flying dragon boats.

The ants, however, were not so forgiving, and it seemed that the entrance had already been blocked.

However, it seemed that the A-ranked girls had already anticipated this situation.

Without any sign of impatience, Kugase put his hands on the ground and chanted a prayer in a flowing style.

"Bearers of the great tree of the earth, gather here to help me. I will manifest myself--.

At the same time as the somewhat suspicious command, the ground suddenly began to rise.

In the blink of an eye, the earth gathered and stretched beyond Thor's height.

The mass of earth branched off at the top and began to form arms and a head.

At the same time, the hips were constricted and the legs were split in two, forming a shape similar to that of Thor's. The earth was then gathered into a mass that exceeded his height.

A towering clay giant was summoned from the earth.

His upper body seems to be rather large and distorted in balance, but he seems to be stable, thanks to his short, thick legs.

The clay figure stepped forward slowly and lifted its right arm toward the sky.

He then swung his large fist straight down toward the obstacle, a pile of stones.

There is a tremendous sound, and the puppet's hand and the top of the rubble are blown off with a loud crash.

"That wasn't enough. One more time, please!　

At Kugase's command, the remaining hand was lifted, and the roar resounded again.

With a second smack, the top of the stone pile collapsed completely.

But then the ants that had just been blown away upon landing, as well as the ants that had noticed the sound, all rushed toward the area.

Two black glints crossed Thor's vision like a bolt of lightning.

Stratchia, with both swords drawn, was already moving.

The two swords in his hands are as black as his armor, absorbing the light.

Black lines run through the air in all directions, and the mutilated monsters fall to the ground in pieces.

The ants, however, seem unconcerned by the death of their brethren.

They come rushing in, one after another, trampling their comrades.

Kugase, who had been peering into the freshly made hole, turned around and stopped Thor as he gently put his hand on the hilt of his sword in a tone of dismay.

"You'll only lose money with a cheap sword like that. Just help me with that one, please.

I saw that Ninessa had already disembarked from the boat, but Rummella seemed to be having a hard time.

The distance from the ground was too great due to his height, and although he tried hard to reach his feet, he could not seem to reach them.

Thor made a foothold for her with his hand, and the girl gave a small sniff and stomped on him mercilessly.

"You're too thoughtful for a damsel in distress!"

As usual, the girl breathes a sigh of relief at the feel of the hard ground.

Then, perhaps noticing Thor's gaze, she turns her head to the side, her cheeks flushing red.

However, what she saw beyond her averted eyes was the cruel state of the city.

Biting her lip in frustration, Rummella stared at the monsters that were swarming around her.

The flying dragon slowly resumes flapping its wings as soon as everyone has disembarked.

The next one is scheduled for noon the day after tomorrow.

I would like to see them off properly, but the number of ants is increasing at once.

"It seems to be all right inside, and they'll be here soon.

At the sound of Kugase's voice from the other side of the hole, the group continues to throw themselves deeper into the rubble.

When Stratchia slips in at the end, a clay doll covers her body to stop the ants from pursuing her.

"See you later!"

The last thing that could be heard was the horseman's muffled farewells interspersed with the flapping of the flying dragons.