“All hands, draw your blades! They’re coming!!”

The soldiers from the first platoon who were also archers quickly put away their bows on their waist quivers and pulled out their handy short swords with a metallic scraping sound from the scabbards hanging from their sword belts.

“UWOOOOOOOOOH!!”

“GISSSHAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

But even though they vigorously swung and exchanged blows with the giant ants’ hard fangs, the momentum from the pre-emptive attack had already died down and the soldier units that received the initial attacks were being gradually pushed back.

“Gigi, gih!!”

“Naah!?”

Meanwhile, some of the giant ants from the back row were stepping over their brethren to press down on the soldiers who were holding back their outstretched jaws with their iron swords in an attempt to slit their bellies!

“Tsk, these damn ants!”

“Giiiii!? A, aa…”

Eldric, one of the Knights who was assisting while commanding his platoon, quickly fired a shot from his bow which he held at an angle and saved the lives of his men as the arrow pierced through one of the giant ants’ heads.

At the same time, the soldiers behind the troops on the front line who were trying to keep the giant ants at bay also used the flat of their swords to hit and then stab the heads of the ants that were climbing on their brethren’s backs, but…

“Gafuh, hih, aa…ugh.” 

“I-it hurts… uuughhh.”

As one of the soldiers was trying to stop one of the giant ants from piercing his abdomen with his sword from below, his neck was caught between the jaws of another ant that had attacked from behind and fatally injured him, while I caught another glimpse of the giant ants piercing the limbs of another soldier with their spear-like antennae.

“Don’t push it, focus on drawing them in while cutting their numbers!!”

“Roger that!!”

The first platoon, which had somehow managed to stop the enemies’ initial attacks, began to gradually withdraw while keeping the giant ants in check. In the first place, these soldiers, who also acted as archers who were equipped with both bows and short swords, were not proficient in close combat, so they could not face them head-on.

Hypothetically, the first platoon was supposed to retreat after the initial barrage of attacks and draw in the enemy vanguards as the other two units attacked from the sides, but… it didn’t work out that way.

“Tsk, they’re already spreading out before we could even make a move!”

“Captain, both of the platoons are occupied!!”

Perhaps due to their natural instincts kicking in, the giant ants fanned out from their single directional formation upon contact and launched closed-combat attacks on every side.

If only the first platoon retreated at this point, they might be split up and defeated, so the 2nd and 3rd platoons worked together and battled the ants while gradually beginning to retreat as well. In this situation, the only ones who could move freely were the Adventurer units who were deployed on both sides.

As her hair which was tied in a side pony with a red ribbon swayed in the air, Miss Grace slashed at the giant ant in front of her with the magic sword in her hand which was alchemy-refined with 20% pure mithril that allowed it to store magic flames.

“YAAAAAAAH!!”

“Gih!? Giiiiiiih… ii…”

The flaming slash attack beheaded the huge soldier ant and her lightning-fast strike also hit one of the compound eyes of another common ant which was attempting to jump over the corpse of its brethren which caused it to burn inside out.

“Giiiiiii… hii, gi…” 

Grace quickly kills the giant ants and jumps back as multiple ants chase after her, but this time, the “silver” Adventurers take her place and launch their own attacks.

“DARAAAAAAAAAH!!”

“KISHAAAAAH!!”

A swordswoman who took a half-step forward cut off one of the giant ants’ spear-like antennae that was aimed at her, kicked its head as it tried to snap at her, and plunged her black iron sword into the joint connecting its head and thorax to finish it off.

Meanwhile, a spear-user slightly dodged as he blocked the ant’s antennae with his blade and counter-attacked by thrusting his spear into the soldier ant’s skull and fatally wounding it.

Inspired by their comrades’ display of fighting prowess, the “black iron” Adventurers fought hard alongside the soldier units to stop the ants’ attacks, but… their advantage was broken when a huge Imperial-type emerged from behind the ordinary giant ants.

“UKYAAAAAAAH, IT’S BURNING!!”

“Hih, u, uwaaaa!?”

One of the Adventurers who was hit by a seemingly high concentration of formic acid that the Imperial had vigorously spat out had melted their body from head to toe and the smoking puddle of human remains produced a strange odor. The result terrified his companion who let out a high-pitched scream.

“H-help… m-me…”

Meanwhile, another one of the acid attack victims who had fallen down struggled as they asked for help and desperately stretched out their bone-exposed arms but… the damage was too much and they soon passed away. The Adventurers had no time to react to the gruesome scene before them as they were forced to deal with the advances of the giant ants while having no way to protect themselves from the formic acid that was being spewed by the Imperial ants nearby.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaah, m-my arm, my arm!!”

“Ms. Grace!!”

“Shit, they’re on the offensive!!”

The panic-stricken Adventurers could not help but look in the direction of Grace who had temporarily retreated and found her holding out her left hand while glaring at the huge Imperial Valley Ant nearby.

“…That’s it. You’re dead.”

Upon uttering those words, a myriad of bright and burning red spheres surrounded her left arm in a spiral, and all the magical equipment fitted all throughout her clothes glowed faintly.

“Pierce and burn them down, Multiple Fire!!”

A chain of explosions was heard as the small, flaming bullets were launched in succession and continuously cut down the targets as they hit the giant ants’ heads and abdomens.

“Giiiiiiiiiiiih, giiaaaaaaaaaah!!”

“Gigiigiiii!?”

Unable to endure the pain from its injury, one of the large, Imperial Valley Ants desperately swung its sickle-like legs around and cut down the giant ants around it, and fell down while melting its brethren with the acid that it shot out of its mouth.

“Gi, gi… a…”

Eventually, the light completely disappeared from its eyes and it became motionless.

“OOOOOOOH!!”

“Get the injured out of here! Those who can still fight, let’s destroy these ants together!”

The Magic Swordswoman who was also known as the Fiery Magic Knight gave her orders as the Adventurers cheered, and Grace’s troops stepped up their offensive attacks against the giant ants who had lost the Imperial ant that was commanding them.

This translation is brought to you by Nocturne Translations.