"Baron! Big trouble, huge trouble!"
It was a bright noon.
One of the territory's private soldiers came rushing in, panting.
He burst into the baron's office, ignoring all etiquette and formality.
Moments later, the teacup the baron had been drinking from fell to the floor.
Clang!
"...What did you say?"
The baron's face turned pale.
"Say that again. What? Beast ants?"
"Yes, my lord. Beast ants have appeared. Inside the tunnel Master Lloyd was excavating."
"What about Lloyd?"
"The workers who were with him said he stayed behind. He shouted for everyone to escape quickly...."
"Alone?"
"No. Sir Asrahan stayed with him."
"...."
The soldier's face crumpled in despair after finishing his report.
Beast ants, dwelling beyond the Eastern Mountains.
They were terrifying creatures.
Each one was far stronger than a wolf.
And their numbers were overwhelming.
They knew no fear.
They were highly organized.
In short, once they targeted you, there was no escaping alive.
Especially if you encountered them underground—it was utterly hopeless.
"Sir Bayern has already assembled the soldiers as a priority. They're gathered at the tunnel entrance, ready to seal it off."
That was the best course of action.
What if the beast ants came up through the tunnel?
They would turn the hunting grounds into a wasteland.
The territory's people would be massacred.
Not just the humans here, but the livestock too—everything hunted down and turned into meat dumplings. If they were lucky, they'd be paralyzed alive and stockpiled in storage, or reduced to tasty fodder for the ant colony's larvae.
To prevent such a disaster, sealing the tunnel before it was too late was the right move.
But for some reason, the baron remained silent.
"...."
"My lord?"
"...."
"Sir Bayern insisted I get your command...."
The soldier timidly gauged his reaction.
The baron's silence continued.
Then, suddenly, the baron shot up from his seat. He opened the office wall cabinet and began donning the armor stored inside.
"M-my lord?"
But Baron Frontera still didn't respond.
The only sound in the office was the clanking of the baron arming himself.
Click, clank! Grind!
He donned the brigandine reinforced with iron plates.
He wrapped his knees in gleaming silver poleyns.
He put on demigreaves and a bascinet helmet.
He slung a steel-rimmed shield on his back and hung a well-worn longsword at his waist.
It was clearly the preparation for battle.
And the fact that the one doing it was the baron, who hadn't touched a sword in at least ten years, caught the soldier off guard.
"Uh, my lord? Right now...."
"Let's go."
"Pardon?"
"If you can't keep up, I'll leave you behind."
Bang!
The baron kicked open the office door almost violently and charged out.
He ran down the corridor, rushed to the stables, and mounted a horse.
"Hyah!"
He spurred the horse's flank.
All the while, only one thought filled the baron's mind.
'Lloyd, just hold on a little longer. Hang in there. Please!'
The baron urged his horse toward the mine, his heart growing more urgent.
♣
Thud thud thud! Whoosh!
Heavy footsteps pounded the ground.
Fierce sword strikes cleaved the air.
They slashed down vertically.
Crunch!
"Kee-eek!"
The downward longsword cleaved a beast ant's head straight in two.
It screamed as transparent fluids sprayed out.
But by then, the longsword had long been pulled free from its skull.
It now cast a calm, chilling gleam toward the next target.
Slash! Crack! Stab!
He slashed sideways while pivoting.
He swept low to block.
He thrust, withdrew, and uppercut.
No sooner had he uppercut than he surged forward like a gale.
'Left slash, right slash, diagonal overhead to side thrust, then downward strike?'
Racing through the narrow tunnel, Lloyd was left in awe.
He couldn't help it.
Just two steps ahead, Haviel charged forward.
Watching his swordplay, admiration welled up naturally.
'He's the real deal. That's what a true knight can do.'
It was leagues beyond Sir Neumann, whom he'd sparred with before.
There were no wasted movements.
It flowed as naturally as water.
Yet it was ferocious and unrelenting.
Moreover, between connected strikes were countless subtle feints—flashes too quick for the eye to follow, blending deadly attacks in a dazzling display.
In a word, Haviel's swordsmanship was art in itself.
Before those fluid, destructive strikes, the beast ants were literally shredded.
"...But! Aren't you getting tired?!"
Lloyd shouted as he followed behind.
Haviel glanced back while swinging his sword ahead.
"I am."
His breath steady, unflustered.
By voice alone, he didn't sound tired at all.
But Lloyd knew better.
'We don't have much time.'
No matter how strong Haviel was, he was human.
Humans had stamina limits.
He couldn't fight forever.
If he'd reached swordmaster level, endless mana circulation would free him from fatigue, but he hadn't yet.
For now, the Asrahan Heart Method merely delayed exhaustion.
Even that wouldn't last; the limit would come soon.
"That amazing method you mentioned, Master Lloyd—is it ready yet?"
Slash!
Haviel sliced a blocking ant into three pieces—head, thorax, abdomen—and asked.
Lloyd furrowed his brow.
"Not yet!"
"When will it be?"
"I don't know. I'm searching as fast as I can!"
"You're still searching...."
"Shut up and clear the path. The more ground we cover, the better the odds!"
Lloyd bellowed.
He wasn't exaggerating.
Even now, he was pushing his Intermediate Surveying skill to the max.
Using the skill's option, he continuously scanned the soil within a 5-meter radius of the ant tunnel.
And what he desperately sought?
A methane gas layer buried somewhere below the ant nest.
'It's here somewhere. This place is riddled with oil shale veins. So there has to be methane gas.'
Lloyd kept running.
Leading with Haviel, he dashed through every corner of the ant nest.
He conserved his surveying range as much as possible, probing all directions.
How long had he searched so frantically?
Finally, something caught Lloyd's eye.
'Found it!'
Five meters below in the bedrock.
A faint trace of methane gas lurked there.
Not the main body.
A tendril?
Something like that.
'But no way to reach it from here right now.'
Between his tunnel and the gas tendril: about five meters of soil and rock.
Too thick to dig through with a single shovel anytime soon.
The tunnel wasn't wide enough to enlarge Bangul either.
"Haviel! That way!"
Lloyd pointed down one passage.
The direction the gas tendril extended.
"From now on, only go where I point!"
"Understood. But—"
"But?"
"Can we get out?"
"...."
Haviel's calm gaze as he sliced ants.
Eyes already prepared for the end here.
Before that steady look, Lloyd couldn't help but chuckle.
"What? Scared?"
"Not scared, no."
"Then?"
"A bit resentful."
"Of dying here?"
"No."
"Then what, some naughty drawings under your bed you don't want found?"
"Of course not. To be honest—"
Haviel sighed deeply.
"It's dying alongside someone like you, Master Lloyd."
"Whoa."
"Call it a knight's ambition. Ideally, I'd lay down my life for someone more worthy, more respectable—that'd be the most honorable death for a knight."
"Heh, so you're bummed about holding hands with a guy like me and dying a dog's death all cozy?"
"Precisely summarized."
"Yeah? Gonna go full savage now?"
"We're dying together anyway."
"Showing your true colors to your fellow doomed soul, eh?"
"Figured spilling this much honesty might ease the resentment a tad."
Crack! Thud! Slash!
The ant swarm still charged at them.
A massive soldier beast ant blocked the front.
Each time, Haviel dashed on without pause, slashing the obstructing ants aside.
Of course, Lloyd followed breathlessly from behind.
He fended off the pursuing ants with torches in both hands and his steel shovel.
Thus, their bodies battled the ant horde.
Their mouths bickered.
"Ha! Fine! Since we're dying, let's have some yahta time?"
"What's yahta time?"
"Rip off the rank insignia and say whatever you want! Hup!"
"Sounds good. Hah!"
Clang! Slash!
They veered into the left passage.
Thrusting swords, raising torches, swinging shovels.
The banter continued.
"My turn first! You're a total buzzkill, human-wise!"
"Why's that?"
"Too damn handsome!"
"My face is natural-born."
"That's why you're a buzzkill!"
"Done talking?"
"What if not?"
"I'll take my turn anyway. Wouldn't want to just take it lying down."
"Oh ho. Saving time?"
"Exactly."
"Smart. Time is money, buddy. Though you've got none of the three!"
"...."
"Huh? Why just take the beating?"
"Suddenly feel sorry for you."
"Whoa, why?"
"Thinking about it, my nipples look handsomer than your face."
"Huh...."
A stronger counter than expected.
Lloyd gritted his teeth and fired back.
"Ha! But with that face, what've you been doing all this time—no girlfriend?"
"Devoted myself to sword training."
"Aha. Lifelong singleton then?"
"You're one too, Master Lloyd."
"What?"
"Far as I know. Plus, actually—"
"Actually?"
"I've gotten quite a few love letters."
"What? Love letters?"
"Yes."
Haviel fought on, swinging his sword.
A strange confidence gleamed in his eyes.
Lloyd blocked an ant's mandible with his steel shovel and yelled back.
"How many?"
"Hmm, roughly two boxes stashed in my quarters."
"Liar!"
"Truth."
"That make sense? Our territory's population? You'd need confessions from nearly every woman to fill two boxes!"
"Heh."
"Don't mock singletons!"
"Brush your teeth with Chit-Solo."
"...."
"Hello, nice to meet you. Do-Re-Mi-Fa Solo, right?"
"...."
"Planning another solo night tonight?"
"...You gorilla-stink bastard, stop right there!"
Lloyd bellowed.
Mouth losing?
No.
They'd reached the target spot at last.
Haviel, mid-banter, sensed it too—his eyes sharpened.
"Here?"
"Yeah."
Lloyd checked the ground.
Below, via the surveying skill.
A cavity about 1.5 meters down.
But not empty space.
'Methane gas layer. Huge one.'
The skill showed only a fraction of the full layer.
He'd found the motherlode proper.
Lloyd spoke quickly.
"Now I dig here. Protect me."
"Understood."
They'd come this far.
Only each other to rely on.
No room for doubt.
That's when it began.
Lloyd went mad digging into the tunnel floor with his shovel.
Haviel fended off ants charging from both sides, guarding him.
Then, the next moment.
"Quoooaaargh!"
A massive roar echoed from one passage.
Something enormous approached, shaking the entire tunnel with thuds.
A head twice the size of regular soldier beast ants.
A body filling the passage completely.
Mandibles longer and sharper than a longsword.
'Queen ant?'
Seemed like it.
But Lloyd ignored it.
'Queen ant's not the goal anyway!'
This wasn't a Romance of the Three Kingdoms game where beheading the lord wins.
Killing the queen wouldn't faze the rest of the colony.
Worst case, it'd enrage them further.
Best to stick to the plan.
"Hold them off proper! Till I dig this out!"
"Understood."
Haviel raised his longsword.
Blocking the queen ant's path.
Enraged, perhaps.
The queen charged.
"Kuaaaargh!"
Thud! Rumble rumble!
As if to crush the tunnel itself.
No, she actually smashed and widened the narrow walls as she barreled forward.
But Haviel didn't retreat.
"Hup."
He regulated his breath once.
A single breath stirred ambient mana. It roiled. Converged on him. Gathered in three triple circles. Amplified. Surged forth.
Swoosh! Clang!
Longsword infused with triple circle spin.
Monstrous strength in chitin mandibles.
The two weapons clashed, each vying to overpower the other.
First clash: a draw.
Grind grind!
"...!"
"Kuhk?"
Longsword and mandibles locked in equal force.
Eyes wide, Haviel glared across their weapons.
The queen ant's inner cilia bristled.
Dead even.
Both stunned by the other's unexpected power.
The queen moved first.
"Kuhk!"
Whoosh!
A pair of huge antennae whipped out.
Like oversized war hammers or baseball bats.
"...!"
Haviel ducked swiftly.
Used the momentum for an upward slash.
The queen countered with her mandibles.
From then on.
Haviel and the queen ant.
The two beasts unleashed every ounce of attack instinct at each other.
Blocked, slashed.
Parried, struck.
Smashed, pushed.
Pushed back, then whipped.
Dodged, then uppercut.
Rolled, then lunged.
But the tide turned against Haviel.
'He's tiring!'
Lloyd's shoveling intensified.
He was exhausted too.
But Haviel, in a desperate fight, more so.
'More! Just a bit more!'
If Haviel fell, they were done.
Plan failed.
Beast ants unleashed on the territory via the tunnel.
'Damn, shouldn't have made the tunnel so sturdy!'
Too late to collapse now.
Even if tried, only partial cave-in.
Not enough to stop beast ants.
'Must succeed.'
Lloyd's digging grew fiercer.
Dirt flew with each swing.
Sweat poured down his neck and back nonstop.
Finally, his shovel reached the target.
Psssh!
'Got it!'
Gas bubbled up from the pit.
Methane eruption.
Lloyd grabbed his shovel.
Shouted at Haviel.
"Hey! Over here!"
Haviel reacted instantly.
A powerful slash repelled the queen, and he dashed over.
Lloyd waited.
Then they bolted down the opposite passage together.
The queen pursued furiously from behind.
Lloyd glanced back.
Locked eyes with the queen.
Then, he smirked.
Tossed his torch at the queen.
It hit her head.
Thud, bounced harmlessly.
Spun through the air behind her.
Met the invisible, transparent gas: methane.
Methane and flame mixed.
Violent chemical reaction ignited.
891 kJ per mole of energy released.
Boom...!
An explosion devouring everything.
(End of Chapter 26)
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