166 - - a six-story training center

"How's it going?"

"Yeah, it's still stuck deep in there."

Kugase proudly thrust the corner of his forehead toward Thor as he told him of the disappointing results.

The Chakaku are able to determine the hardness and density of soil and stone to some extent.

The girl who had demonstrated her abilities during the search the other day would not be lying.

"Is there another way?"

No, as far as I know, this is the last place.

Rummella answered calmly, putting her fingers to her temples to jog her memory.

The words of a girl who had never once shown him the wrong way were trustworthy enough.

"In that case..."

"Yes, all the side roads near the entrance are blocked."

The structure of the sixth layer was supposed to consist of a huge corridor where red jade ants and blue jade ants, which were smaller in size than the five-layer masters, strolled around, and a side passage leading to the steps running beside the corridor.

Last time, we had been able to reach the seventh level where the true master of the labyrinth was located by using the side path, but it seemed to have been blocked this time.

"As expected, the same method won't work three times, will it?

What do you want me to do?　Mr. Thor."

Thor scratched the bottom of his chin slowly as Ninessa asked quietly, "What do you want?

If the hole was blocked by the monstrous ants, it is possible to restore it with .

But if they are all filled up, as Kugase said, it would take a lot to make them passable.

This ant's nest has been rebuilt many times, and it takes time to decipher the history of the nest.

Even the near-universal is not infinite in its scope as long as Thor's perception is limited.

Although we have made remarkable progress in this area compared to the past.

"I guess we'll have to go to ......."

"I guess you're right."

They shrugged their shoulders and looked into the darkness, where many signs were stirring.

Now that the loophole has been closed, the only way to proceed is to break through this corridor head-on.

"But even so, there are so many of them!"

The sound of heavy pacing comes from the ground of the large passageway, and the constant rattling of feathers on the ceiling is deafening.

Perhaps if even one of them got their hands on the floor, they would attack us in droves.

"Moe, do you know how many there are?"

I'm on it, To-chan!

Moo, with little purple blasts of electricity shooting out from between his golden curls, opens the fingers of both hands prettily.

He starts to count the number of fingers, one by one, but it seems that he easily exceeds ten, and his hands become clenched fists.

He looked at his hands curiously for a while, but then looked up and thrust his hands out to Thor.

"Well, there are a lot of them."

"Well, I guess that means there are more than ten of them. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Thor and Moo looked at each other, but then the child started laughing and slapped Thor's thigh with a clenched fist.

Thor, who also lifted the edge of his lips, inserted his hands into Moe's sides and picked him up, and began to tickle him.

The child, whose flanks were stimulated, immediately writhed in the air and screamed happily.

Ninessa looked at the two of them in surprise, as if she had never seen them in the depths of a dangerous dungeon.

Then she gave a small shake of her head and looked at Straccia.

"My prince, lend me your light."

"No."

"Is there any other way?"

"I don't have a ............. If you promise to return it to me at the end, I will honor my oath."

"Then, by the red tail..."

Stratchia nodded and removed the black pouch from her waistband and presented it to Ninessa.

From inside the long, thin leather pouch appeared a transparent cylinder with a red flame inside.

"Wow, it's beautiful, Thor! But why doesn't it go out?

"Is that the one you used before? Are you sure?　It eats up a lot of magic stone, doesn't it?"

"Yes, don't worry about it."

The fire burning in this hermetically sealed glass container is the magical light that kept the ants away last time.

With it, the monsters will not come rushing in all at once.

Thor is relieved that a solution has been found, but behind him Yuril, who has witnessed the flames, quivers sharply at the tips of his ears.

The ash-eared woman, however, suppresses her agitation tightly and reaches out her hand to gently lift Moe up in her arms.

Then she whispered quietly into Thor's ear as their eyes met.

"...... I'd like to talk to you a little later."

Thor nodded silently, and Yuril stepped back with a beaming smile on his face.

He kept the child as far away from the flames as possible.

The light that Ninessa holds up shines brightly ahead.

The aisles are filled with deformed ants, many of them taller than a man.

Between the monsters, a white-armored figure in shining armor, clad in shadows like afterimages, runs through the aisle.

Dozens of red lights follow behind him.

After drawing them close enough, the red-haired swordsman draws his twin swords.

The beautifully arcing white blades cut down the light with ease.

The rest of them disappear along with the alter ego created by the shimmering flames.

Just as Straccia stops in her tracks, a series of wingbeats come flying in from overhead, shaking the air.

As if in anticipation, a layer of white, frozen air formed over the azure ants and the red-haired swordsman--the .

Unable to stop, several of them plunge into the air, changing direction and crashing into walls and the ground.

The twin swords emit a blinding light, and are swung at the monsters that plunge into the mist.

The blades of blazing fire easily cut through wings that would cut through steel.

The two off-balance creatures are each pierced by a flying mass of flame, a .

The ants, their insides consumed by the high temperatures, died silently.

Just as Straccia moved forward, Thor was closing in on the red jade ants.

He aimed at the red ball on the head, which had just emitted a red light, and slashed it away.

He closes the distance and slashes another one. And another!

Thor's body moves at an unbelievable speed, black blades swinging in all directions.

The ants have hard shells, but because of this, their regenerative ability is quite poor.

Their movements are also slow due to their sturdy bodies.

The red jade ants, blocked by the red light, are easily incapacitated.

Then, as if to replace them, Straccia turns back.

As they pass each other, the men's bodies touch, and instantly the fighting spirit fills Straccia's body once again.

A brilliant martial art is unleashed from the twin swords, and in a flash the ants, their shells carved into pieces, are on the ground.

Thor, who had stepped forward in his turn, was attacked without a moment's delay by red light and blue wings.

However, not even a single ray of the vicious ants' attacks touched Thor's body.

The man with the short sword and machete disappears without a single movement, even though he is surely at an impossible distance to avoid.

And then, just as he passes by, he suddenly reappears.

The ants, mis-timed by their unknown opponent, hit the ground one after another, or had their red balls cut in half.

A black shadow swelled up from the ground one after another, perhaps in an attempt to at least slow them down.

They were the obsidian ants that self-destructed, scattering sharp shards of debris.

However, the ants, who have swelled up like balloons, stop moving immediately.

Thor's blade slashes mercilessly at the heads of the monsters, which are pinned in place so that they cannot move.

"There's a lot of them out there, Sora-chan!"

Moe, who had been watching Thor and the others in the rear, suddenly pointed to the ground.

Disguised as golden-green ants, they were approaching before they knew it, using the other ants as bait.

The ants that had appeared rushed toward the defenseless Sora and the others, who had no shields.

The next moment, however, a mass of ice shot up from the ground with such ferocious force that it enveloped the monster's body and extended into a pillar of ice, piercing the ants around it.

One of the ants, having escaped from the situation, jumps at them, but before it can reach Sora and the other ants, its long jaws curl back with a loud clang.

The ant falls to the ground, and its head is crushed by Kugase's full force, killing it.

"Well, we're almost done here, aren't we? I'm surprised that everything is going so well.

"It's so much easier when you don't have curses and even characteristics. ......"

"Yes, all thanks to Thor and the others."

As Kugase and Ninessa spoke with stunned expressions on their faces, Rummella proudly stretched out her thin chest.

The hunt had already been going on for two hours in the corridor without a single dangerous moment.

The ants were clustered in groups of 30 to 40 ants, and because of Ninessa's light, the other groups did not come forward, so the battle did not go on and on.

They are a group of eight, but again, because of the special light, they don't seem to be gathering together.

Straccia and Thor return to the camp after confirming that there are no moving ants, and Rummelera applies to restore their strength.

At the same time, Kugase applies a series of , and next to him, Mu activates .

Thor's fills Stratchia's fighting spirit sufficiently, and the rear guard, whose magic has been depleted, is back to normal.

The group, now reinforced, begins to move forward again.