Ant Monster
When Tigaro saw this scene, he immediately ran out.
"[Spirit Tail]!!"
The two magic tentacles that come out from his waist press hard against the ground, creating a pool of power.
The reaction from pushing it out threw his own body forward.
Tigaro made a clenched fist and thrust it towards the ant monster whose jaws were open and about to bite the residents.
The monster received a shock on the side of its abdomen as if it had been hit with a hammer, and it rolled over and over again on the ground.
The stopped monster's body was upside down, and it was trying to adjust its posture by moving its six legs.
Taking advantage of this big gap, Tigaro, who had been intervening between the monster and the residents, closed the distance to the monster.
Tigaro wrapped one of his [Spirit Tails] around his legs and swung his legs up, aiming for the joint between the monster's head and abdomen, and swung it down as hard as he could.
Tigaro's leg, which was protected by the [Spirit Tail] and assisted in strengthening his physical abilities, pierced the soft part between the monster's shell.
The feeling of tearing fibers was transmitted to Tigaro's heel.
Once the connecting parts connecting the monster's body were torn to pieces, Tigaro distanced himself.
The monster that had been hit in its vital point moved its body busily and struggled with its fangs clenching together, but after a while it stopped moving.
Apparently, it's completely dead.
"What's with this thing...?"
Tigaro murmured this while observing the monster that had stopped breathing.
Psyphro gets off the carriage and approaches the corpses of the ant monster.
"Tigaro. Is that the same monster you fought before?"
"No, brother. It's a different monster than back then..."
After saying that, Tigaro turned around and saw the residents of the royal capital who were screaming earlier.
Kenna was already waiting in front of the resident, and it seemed like she was guarding the resident in case Tigaro let the monster escape.
Tigaro asks the residents, who still haven't recovered from their shock, pointing at the ant monster.
"Do you know where this came from?"
"Ah, ah, um, from that direction..."
In the direction that the resident pointed with a trembling finger was a river that crossed the royal capital.
There are no other monster-like creatures in the river, and the fish and birds seem to have disappeared somewhere, but the crystal clear water still flows quietly.
Tigaro tilts his head at that.
Even though it was a monster, there was no way this gigantic ant would cross the river and suddenly appear in the royal capital.
Even if they were to cross the river, they would be spotted by the Holy Wind Knights who fly over the capital and the Holy Water Knights who observe the capital with their [Water Eyes].
What's more, because of the monster Eul had transformed into and the search for Eul herself, more members of the Knights' Order can be seen in the city than usual.
You're more likely to find more than usual.
So how did this monster get here?
That was when Tigaro tried to think about it.
He felt a slight vibration under his feet.
Then, a sound begins to be heard deep inside the hole in the river wall.
One of the holes, where the water had stopped flowing, suddenly cracked.
Before Tigaro could be surprised, the hole collapsed and something came out.
"What!?"
What Tigaro saw was a strange form that looked exactly like the ant monster that Tigaro had defeated earlier.
It overflowed in large quantities.
The ant monsters crawled all over the river wall like they were gushing out, and they didn't stop, and some of them climbed the wall and appeared on the ground.
Psyphro, who was next to Tigaro, was surprised by this, but it seemed like he was already in a fighting stance.
"Hmm. Perfect for getting rid of my worries."
After saying that, Psyphro started chanting.
"――[Spirit Sword]"
A special mana ――Odo gushes out from Psyphro's right hand.
Odo seemed to undulate for a moment, and the next moment it had formed a vertical shape.
The blade is a little wide and about as long as the upper half of a person's body.
The blade is sharp, and even though it's made with magic, Tigaro knows how sharp it is.
Psyphro's manifestation magic was in the form of a double-edged sword.
"Tigaro, I'll leave the right side to you."
With a sword modeled on Odo in one hand, Psyphro ran towards the river on the left side of the bridge.
Over there, similar ant monsters were overflowing from another hole where the water had stopped.
If you look closely, you'll see that ant monsters are springing up from the holes in the wall of the long river.
In particular, there seemed to be a much larger number of monsters coming out of the hole closest to Tigaro and the others, and Psyphro jumped into one of them.
While looking at Psyphro's back, Tigaro recovered from his surprise and headed to the right side of the bridge as instructed.
When the monsters climb up from the wall, he hits the vital point between its shells with fists and kicks wrapped around by [Spirit Tail].
Each one of them didn't seem to be that strong, and even though he was dealing with multiple monsters, Tigaro was able to avoid the monster's jaws and defeat them accurately.
After defeating a few monsters, he saw another monster climbing the wall on the other side.
Behind Tigaro, Tigaro opens his mouth to Kenna, who is fighting alongside him.
"Kenna! I'll take care of this! Kenna, protect the other side!!"
"I understand."
After giving instructions, Kenna uses the monsters as footholds to cross over to the other side with light movements.
While watching this, Tigaro kicked the monster below him into the river and looked around.
They tried to ask for help from the knights protecting the capital, but monsters seemed to be appearing over a wide area, and members of the Holy Wind Knights and Holy Water Knights were already fighting monsters all along the river.
Moreover, the shells of the ant monsters are hard, and it seems that it is impossible to land an effective blow unless you aim firmly at the gap, and some of the knights are unable to attack the walking monsters accurately.
Still, it seems like there are fewer monsters to deal with than where Tigaro and Psyphro are, and if there are mages who fight from a distance, they'll be able to defeat them eventually.
Fighting close to Tigaro, Psyphro uses his own manifestation magic [Spirit Sword] to weave between the monster's hard shell and cut off the monster's body.
Psyphro, who held the handle in both hands, shot a flash between the mouth of the monster that was about to bite.
He turned around and slashed at the monster approaching from behind, cutting through the gap in its neck that wasn't covered by its shell.
Psyphro's fighting style was completely different from Skrios' fighting style, which used powerful force, and was a technique that gave a sense of skill.
Then, Tigaro looks away and checks the opposite shore.
Kenna, who started fighting on the other side after he gave instructions earlier, seems to be able to easily deal with the monsters using martial arts and the superhuman strength unique to beastmen.
After making sure that everyone around him was fighting without any danger, Tigaro also thrust his fist into the ant monster that was crawling up.
Moving carefully so as not to touch its sharp, powerful fang-like jaws.
When attacking, avoiding the hard shell and aiming for the soft parts as much as possible to deal with it efficiently.
The ant monsters are not as strong as the monster Eul had changed into, and from the middle onwards, he only hit with the [Spirit Tail] attached to him. Even with normal attacks, he realized that if he could hit the enemy's vital points, he could defeat it.
Tigaro single-mindedly dealt with the countless ant monsters that sprang up.
As he did so, before he knew it, the ground around Tigaro was filled with corpses of monsters.
"Haa, haa… Even if we defeat them, there’s no end to it."
Tigaro muttered as he was out of breath.
There is still no end in sight to the horde of monsters coming out of the nearby hole.
If he subjugates many of them, he is sure they'll run out eventually, but he doesn't know if he'll have enough strength until then.
Feeling uneasy, Tigaro wiped his sweat and was about to kick another monster that had climbed up the wall.
"[Gale Arrow]!!"
A mass of wind shaped like an arrow pierces the monster.
The mass of wind that pierced between the monster's shell exploded, and the condensed wind cut through the monster's body.
The magic accurately hit the monster's vital points and instantly exploded the monster's body.
Tigaro looked back toward the direction it had come from, a little surprised.
Her hair is a glossy blue color as it blows in the wind.
Her breasts and buttocks are big enough to push up her clothes, and her eyes are sharp and dignified.
Her demeanor, which takes a strict look at the monsters that invade the kingdom, is truly worthy of the name of a kingdom knight.
"…Aifietouka-jou, why are you here?"
The childhood friend who caught Tigaro's attention was riding a stick-shaped magic tool in the sky.
In response to that question, Aifie looks at Tigaro sideways.
"My uncle was coming back to the capital, so I was in the middle of welcoming him."
Aifie's gaze turned to Tigaro for a moment as she quickly conveyed this, and then immediately returned to the monsters.
Aifie looked at the ant monsters with a serious expression, grasped the magic tool she was riding in her hand, and channeled mana into it.
"In a situation like this, don't tell me not to intervene."
It seemed that Tigaro was trying to keep Aifie in check based on the fact that he had previously prohibited Aifie from voluntarily getting involved with Eul and the monster that Eul had transformed into.
However, the ant monster that Tigaro is currently dealing with is less dangerous than the monster that Eul transformed into.
The ant monsters probably won't attack from long distances, so Aifie, who flies in the sky like the Holy Wind Knights, will be able to attack safely.
Hearing Aifie's words, Tigaro felt a little worried but nodded.
"...Yeah. But please don't get close to the monsters. They may look like insects, but it would be dangerous for a mage to be surrounded by this many."
"I know. ――[Water Barrier]"
Aifie's magic lifts a large amount of water flowing through the river.
Then, she built a wall of water over the monsters crawling on the river wall and caused it to collapse.
A large amount of water falls from above, and the monster, unable to support its body due to its mass, falls into the river.
The monsters collapsed and fell like an avalanche, and were sunk into the river one after another.
Tigaro shouted to Kenna, who was fighting on the other side, as he looked at Aifie, who was defeating monsters at a speed comparable to or faster than Tigaro and Kenna.
"Kenna, give priority to dealing with the monsters that approach Aifietouka-jou!"
Kenna, who didn't seem to be breathing hard, looked at Tigaro with her usual expressionless expression and nodded, then changed her position to be closer to Aifie, who was casting magic with priority on protecting the residents.
After seeing Kenna crushing the monster with light movements, Tigaro also turned his attention to the ant monsters that were crawling up.
---
After Aifie came, the speed at which the ant monsters were subdued increased significantly, and the number of monsters coming out of the hole gradually decreased.
Aifie, who could use magic better than most of the members of the Holy Water Knights and the Holy Wind Knights, was a great force.
She has the blood of not only the Asur family but also the Fonedao family, and by using wind and water magic, she was able to repel the invasion of a wide range of ant monsters.
Tigaro stabs the last one with his hand wrapped in [Spirit Tail].
Blood gushed from the monster's neck that had been pierced, and the ant monster twitched and eventually stopped moving.
Tigaro shook off the blood from his [Spirit Tail] and looked around.
There were no signs of monsters coming out of the other holes, and the knights who had been fighting elsewhere were only wary of the holes all over the river wall.
A large number of monster corpses are lying nearby.
It seems that most of it has been cleared up.
Tigaro let out a sigh of relief and smiled at Aifie, who had descended to the ground nearby and was also regulating her breathing.
"We were saved. You don't seem to be injured..."
Tigaro's smile was meant to be his usual thin smile.
However, because of his concern for Aifie, his words contain some of his true feelings, and his smile becomes a little awkward.
Seeing Tigaro's smile, Aifie crossed her arms and turned away.
"H-hmph. For someone who aims to become a kingdom knight, that's only natural."
She must have been tired since she used a lot of magic, but Aifie said so cheerfully without showing any signs of that.
Kenna took out a handkerchief from somewhere and wiped away the sweat that was dripping down Aifie's face.
"Oh, thank you."
Kenna bowed and had a calm expression on her face.
While watching the two of them, Tigaro was observing the dead body of the ant.
There are a lot of corpses of ant monsters lying around.
If Aifie hadn't come, there might have been more damage to the people living in the capital.
The number of monsters was so large that Tigaro felt that way.
It seems that the nearby residents had been evacuated by the Knights before they knew it, and now many members of the Holy Wind Knights and Holy Water Knights are observing the corpses of monsters along the river, just like Tigaro. They're looking at the hole where the monster came out.
Some of them had already begun to dismantle the bodies of the monsters, and it seemed that they were beginning to investigate these monsters.
While looking at it, Tigaro thought about this incident.
――Is this also related to Eul?
The defense of the royal capital, which had been protected for 400 years, was broken by the appearance of monsters twice.
Since something similar has happened in such a short period of time, there is almost no doubt that the two events are related.
There's no way that a swarm of monster ants just came in by accident.
However, the mastermind behind this incident and its intentions are unknown.
It would be strange for monsters alone to cause such an incident when attacking the kingdom.
If they are serious about attacking the kingdom, the mastermind itself should take some action.
Is this happening out of sight of Tigaro, or is there another purpose behind this incident?
As Tigaro checked his surroundings and sorted out the situation, he saw Psyphro nearby calling for his slaves.
These were the slaves who were driving the carriage earlier, and the slaves who were being made to lick Psyphro's p*nis.
Judging by the faces, it doesn't seem like any of the slaves used the recovery magic that Tigaro saw before.
Although they looked frightened, they seemed unable to resist their master, Psyphro, and approached him with trembling hands.
"……I feel great"
Psyphro said that and thrust the [Spirit Sword] in his hand towards the arm of one of his slaves.
"Igii!?"
The female slave rolls over while screaming in pain.
Psyphro's other slaves saw the scene, but none of them offered any help.
The slaves just hugged their trembling bodies and turned their horrified gazes toward Psyphro.
While receiving such a gaze, Psyphro's eyes were ruthless, but there was a hint of elation in his eyes.
Then, Psyphro gets back on top of his own slave, who has fallen, and stabs the slave again and again with the sword.
Blood spray rose and the screaming slave's body was dyed red.
That was Psyphro's bad habit.
Perhaps he was exhilarated by the battle, and he seemed to be releasing the excessive sadism and s*xual desire he had hidden in his chest, and was rubbing his own crotch, causing pain to the slave.
Tigaro felt deeply uncomfortable at the sight of a slave struggling and having no choice but to accept her master's actions.
However, there was nothing Tigaro could do as he had no power or position to condemn Psyphro's actions.
Next to Tigaro, Aifie, guided by Tigaro's gaze, turns in the same direction.
Then, her expression changed as she took in the misery that Psyphro was currently creating.
"――――!!"
In an instant, Aifie's face turned angry and she strode towards Psyphro.
Tigaro was shocked when he saw this.
Before Tigaro could stop Aifie, Aifie yelled at Psyphro.
"You, Tigaro’s older brother!!"
Psyphro, who was thrusting his sword into the slave with a cruel expression, stopped moving.
Then, he slowly turned his head towards Aifie.
"...So what?"
Psyphro replied, looking quite displeased.
Everyone could see that Psyphro was willing to let them see his slave hurt.
The slave's sad expression and Psyphro's indifferent attitude.
Aifie was angry about this and spoke to Psyphro.
"Stop abusing that child! She's in pain!!"
"…………"
Psyphro slowly stands up without saying a word.
Seeing this, Tigaro hurriedly took action.
While being careful not to hurt Aifie's body, he pulled her hand a little forcefully and made her stand behind him.
"W-wha!? H-hey, Tigaro!!"
Aifie protests as her view is obstructed.
However, Tigaro didn't take it seriously and gave a soothing smile to Psyphro.
"Brother, please wait."
Even after hearing Tigaro's restraints, Psyphro continues to cast a sharp and ruthless gaze towards Tigaro's back.
Tigaro could tell at a glance that the arrogant Psyphro was extremely angry, perhaps because Aifie's words had angered him.
"Tigaro, is she your slave? If not, step aside."
Even Tigaro was a little horrified by Psyphro's voice, which was so strong that it made him say nothing.
Although he was sweating internally, Tigaro did not follow Psyphro's instructions and did not retreat from the scene.
Even though Tigaro was thinking of hiding Aifie with his body and somehow diverting Psyphro's consciousness elsewhere, he couldn't think of anything to say to improve Psyphro's mood in this situation.
Psyphro stares deep into Tigaro with wide eyes and opens his mouth slightly.
"I will show you what will happen if someone like you goes against the next head of the Noros family."
Psyphro's sword, covered in blood, glittered.
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