170 - - Mystery Lord, End of World War II

If you think about it, you won't make it in time.

While measuring the distance of the approaching wing beats, Thor's body fluidly strikes an invisible blow to the base of the giant ant's neck.

For a brief moment, the giant shakes and slides into the slight gap that is created.

At that moment, a new black shadow flew in from right beside him, passing by the spot where Thor had just been.

Even though they have shed their outer shells, there is still a several-fold difference in size between Thor and the Black Vigilant Ant.

A mere snatch would easily take away some part of their body.

Thor quickly thrusts his blade into a point at the base of the chest leg while passing by the side of the huge body.

With a blow to the crystalline knot, the ant's middle leg is shattered at the base and falls off.

But before he can savor his small success, the black wing, like a thin blade cleaved horizontally, comes at Thor's neck.

A deafening vibration runs through his body, which unconsciously sinks to the very bottom of the ground, and there is only the violent impact of the protruding blade.

Thor takes in air into his lungs as he his sword, which has suffered a large edge loss at the cost of slicing through the wings.

Before he could relax, the last one charged forward, ignoring his companions.

The last one attacked from the side, circling in the sky and aiming overhead, as if it was trying to kill him.

The collision should have been unavoidable, but for some reason, the body of the giant ant slows down rapidly.

--

Then, with perfect timing, a warm force envelops Thor's entire body.

Thor, his strength restored by Rummella's healing spell, kicks the twisted giant ant in the face as hard as he can.

Thor's body, released from the curse of the earth, leaps lightly through the air, passing in mid-air the monster, which had already begun its descent.

For a brief moment.

But the swordsmanship of Thor, who has slaughtered many powerful enemies, was enough for just that moment.

The black blade flashes and a hard sound echoes beautifully in the hollow of the earth.

One after another, the blades pierce the knots in the crystals of his abdomen, and his body, having lost its point of attachment, disintegrates in midair.

The monster, having lost the lower half of its body, crashes to the ground, motionless.

As a reaction to slashing down an ant, Thor reaches the side wall.

In an instant, Thor's body decides where to go, and like an arrow, he kicks the wall and heads in a straight line for his prey.

The ants, however, are not so lucky.

They leap up as if they have been waiting for you, and open their sharp jaws from side to side.

Thor's body is in a position from which there is no escape, but the next moment, Thor's figure disappears, and he returns to his position on the wall as if nothing had happened.

The only sound that echoes through the air is the closing of his swinging jaws.

Thor was more than a match for the labyrinth masters who guarded the maze of miasma.

Normally, this would be a sight that would make anyone doubt their eyes, but there was a good reason for it.

The most important reason being the nullification of the curse.

Normally, the intruder would have been exhausted before reaching the deepest level.

However, the trap was used in the opposite way, and as a result, it was turned into a form that greatly assisted Thor and his team.

Secondly, the monster creation was not enough because of the great effort put into the curse mechanism.

At first glance, the treasure ants seem hard and troublesome, but their greatest drawback is their lack of recovery ability.

In addition, their movements are monotonous and their attacks are limited.

Once one gets used to them, they can be dealt with reasonably well at Thor's level.

This leads to the third point, that they exposed their hands too much.

Even though he had defeated them many times, he had given them an opportunity to observe his few means of attack.

In the case of Thor, the way he fought with Straccia in the first search and the fact that he crossed swords with her to buy time for his retreat were also significant.

After all, this situation had been expected to some extent at the time of the first search.

After a few blows, another one crawled on the ground.

The labyrinth master, the only one left, stood tall on his six legs.

Fragments of the corpses of his companions that had been lying on the ground began to collect on his body one after another.

In a flash, the black body, covered with countless pieces of debris, swells to more than double its size.

Thor, with his sword lowered, refuses to move as the ants reveal the last form they have been hiding.

The giant ant, its entire body covered in black spines, slowly lifts its hideous form.

Thor slips closer to it.

The master of the labyrinth almost flinches to crush him, but his head is pinned down and all movement is blocked.

His outstretched hand touches the shiny black jaw and .

The next moment, all the armor is stripped from the ant's body.

Then Thor steps forward.

A black blade is thrust soundlessly into a spot on his forehead.

A crack like a spider's web runs through the blade, centered on the sword point that pierced through the shell.

The cracks continue to spread throughout the monster's body, and the monster stops struggling.

Thor quietly pulled out his sword, and the huge body of the Black Vajra shattered into hundreds or thousands of pieces.

When Thor sees that nothing moves, he exhales deeply.

Then Thora came running up to him and jumped on his neck.

"Thor, that's great, that's great, that's great!　I won!"

Moo came running next, jumped on Thor's back, climbed up, straddled his neck and smacked him on the head.

"Good job, To-chan!"

They both touch Thor's face, who is still breathing a little hard.

Thor tried to hold back a little, but he couldn't stand it any longer and shook them off.

"Oh, Thor!

"To-chan!"

"Just get away from me!"

"What the hell are you doing? By the way, can I have a go?

"...... can I come too?"

Kugasse and Rummelera also approached quickly, but Thor's frown made them nod in resignation.

Stratchia, who had lent her shoulder to Ninessa, came up to her and silently offered her hand, as if she had recovered from her advanced martial arts training.

Thor nodded and placed the hilt of his borrowed sword in her hand.

"I have witnessed a great battle, brother.

"Thank you for your hard work, Thor."

"Yeah, I hope this is the end of it. ......"

Thor looked back over his shoulder and muttered to Ulir, who was walking at the end of the line.

There was a huge root that revealed a dark figure as if it were a condensed darkness.

As I had heard beforehand, it seemed that the miasma hole would not disappear just by defeating the true master of the labyrinth.

Shaking her head, Straccia walks toward the black pillar with the help of Ninessa.

In her hand, she holds a flame that has been burning in a glass jar for some time.

The red-haired swordsman comes within a few steps of the black pillar, and throws the flame carelessly into the mass of blackness.

The glass vial shatters loudly, and the flames burst into flames, engulfing the entire wall.

Not knowing what to expect, Thor steps out in front of Sora, Mu, and Yuril.

Before the blazing flames, there is an enchanted silence.

At that moment, it is Ninessa who makes her move.

She pushes her fiancé out of the way and tries to run.

But her legs were already sewn into the ground, pierced through the instep by the sword of the rotting dragon.

Ninessa's momentum is stopped, and she rolls on the ground.

While everyone stops moving due to the unexpected event, Straccia turns around and opens her hands happily.

"Let me correct the meaning of my name for a moment. Stratchia is not an ice-melter. My name comes from the one who knows no cold, a light for the people.　

With these words, the red-haired swordsman threw himself into the flames behind him.