༺ Ant Cave (2)༻

It was late at night.

When I got off the carriage, the sight of a gorge entered my eyes. It was dark, with only the moonlight shining through, but even then, it was a magnificent sight that was difficult to believe, given that it was only four hours away from the academy.

The entrance to Tantak Cave was right in front of me. It appeared to be a typical cave entrance, but once you entered, a pitch-black path leading downhill would appear.

“Student, will you really be okay?” The coachman inquired, his voice worried.

Really, I’m okay… Even so, I couldn’t be rude to someone who was worried about me.

With a light smile, I nodded, “It’s all right. Get home safe.”

“Students are…”

After receiving the payment I had given him, the coachman began driving the carriage back.

Before I knew it, I had arrived. After taking a deep breath, I entered the cave entrance.

…It’s really dark.

I took out a luminescent lamp from my magic pouch. The handy portable lamp radiated light which helped illuminate the surrounding landscape.

[Portable Luminous Lamp] A lamp containing glowstone. It is convenient to carry.

Rank: Tier 9

Flapping–!

“Uwak!”

As I shone the luminous lamp at the ceiling, the hanging bats flailed their wings all at once from the light.

My heart felt like it was going to burst…

I’m not good with scary things…

“Ha, I’m so scared…”

Putting my hand on my chest, I took a deep breath.

Even if I had arrived during the day, it would have been dark. I shouldn’t be regretful for coming here at this time; it was my choice after all…

Anyway, it wouldn’t always be dark and scary. If I went in deeper, there would be glowstones made from Garzia’s mana to mark the way.

Let’s hold out until then. After all, it’s not like there are any ghosts.

I slowly moved forward.

“…”

As I walked, a downhill road appeared. It was a gentle slope. If I went all the way down from here, I would arrive at an underground labyrinth.

I had everything about the underground labyrinth memorized by heart, this much was only natural as I was a veteran ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ player.

Just to be sure that I didn’t slip and fall, I began to carefully descend downhill.

“…”

Ah, but really…

It’s so scary when it’s dark.

The illumination lamp had a limited-range. Beyond that range, it was pitch-black darkness.

Suddenly, I imagined the terrifyingly frightening face of a ghost appearing from the darkness in my mind.

If that happened, I would undoubtedly pass out. Yes, I would pass out.

I swallowed my saliva. I moved my feet quietly and silently in the midst of the tension that seemed like it would make my heart stop.

…It was then.

──Gyaaa─!!

──Kwadaang───!!

“………!!”

Behind me, an ear-piercing scream echoed, followed by the sound of collapsing rock.

In an instant, my heart sank. I was on the verge of passing out, but I managed to keep my composure.

It was just a woman’s scream. It couldn’t be a ghost…

I turned around and began running uphill toward the cave’s entrance.

“…?”

After climbing all the way uphill, I saw broken stones all around the cave’s entrance.

Then, as I shone the luminescent lamp in front of me, a familiar figure of a female student sitting in the middle of the cave came into view.

The female student with light green pigtails, dressed in the same Märchen Academy uniform as mine, was trembling.

She looked at me, then turned her head to the side, wiping away her tears.

[Kaya Astrean] Lv: 91

Race: Human

Elements: Wind, Ice

Danger: X

Psychology: [Ashamed to show you such an embarrassing sight.]

Why is Kaya here…?

“Kaya…?”

“Ah, Sir Isaac. I mean, I…”

Anyway, she’s the one who just screamed, right?

Or did Garzia’s henchman show up?

I dashed over to Kaya, knelt down on one knee, and looked her in the eyes.

“What startled you so much?”

“…”

“Maybe you ran into a giant ant…”

“Ba, bat…”

“Huh?”

“Because of the bats… I was scared…”

…I see.

“I’m sorry…”

Kaya apologized in a dejected tone. But it wasn’t necessary to apologize.

Anyway, as long as it wasn’t a dangerous problem, it was fine.

“It’s okay. But why did you follow me?”

“…!”

Why is Kaya here? Seeing that she appeared at this time, it seemed she was following me. And her startled reaction made it obvious.

‘Why?’

I was aware of her admiration for me, but was Kaya the type of person who stalked the person she admired?

“I, too, have a reason for being here…”

“You came after me.”

“Ugh, that’s… I can’t tell you why.”

Maybe I was seeing a side of Kaya I hadn’t seen before. If that was the reason she didn’t want to talk about it, it was okay. I didn’t intend to force her to speak right away.

“Can you get up?”

“…”

“…?”

When I reached out my hand, Kaya, who was hiding her expression the entire time, suddenly looked at me blankly.

[Kaya Astrean] Psychology: [Feels that your sociable attitude is awkward.]

Oh right. I had been treating Kaya with a cold attitude, deliberately pretending to be strong, and acting as if I had shown my true colors.

First of all, I was in a situation where I couldn’t reveal my actual identity to Kaya. It was because I was afraid of the consequences if she had discovered that I was actually weak.

It was necessary to maintain the usual ‘strong but revealing attitude’ so as not to raise unnecessary doubts.

“Hah,” I sighed.

“You didn’t come to disturb me, did you?” I inquired in a cynical tone.

Only then did Kaya relax her suspicious expression and looked at me with a mix of admiration and fear.

“Ah, no…! No way!”

Kaya jumped to her feet and stood immediately as though her body fully recalled her father’s military discipline.

I ignored her and started walking downhill again. Kaya chased after me.

“By the way, Sir Isaac, why are you here…?”

I didn’t have to hide my purpose, so I decided to answer honestly, “To defeat a demon.”

“Is that so!” Kaya responded as if she had suspected as much.

“So there was a demon here…”

“You should not have come to this place.”

Kaya would be in danger if she stayed here. Garzia, even while not being at full strength, was at a higher level than Kaya.

“No, I will help too.”

Kaya came to my side and she looked at me with a determined expression.

“To protect the academy.”

[Kaya Astrean] Psychology: [Feels that it is cool to protect the peace of the academy.]

What are you imagining…?

I wasn’t sure what it was, but I could tell she had a vivid imagination.

She ventures into the darkness behind the academy and defeats the forces of evil in order to protect the students.

I wondered if she was imagining something like this. On second thought, it might not be bad to have Kaya here.

Beyond the downhill road in this darkness was uncharted territory. In other words, I was unable to deal with all variables.

In addition, Kaya’s abilities were also exceptional. Even if unforeseen circumstances were to arise, she had the ability to cover my back.

If Garzia attacked, I would simply have to defend her.

“…Do as you please,” I replied with a feeling of reluctant acceptance.

Kaya’s face lit up. She nodded and returned her gaze forward.

Kaya took out a wand encrusted with a green magic stone and went on high alert. She seemed reliable.

We walked downhill for 20 minutes, relying on the light from the luminescent lamp.

Beyond the downhill path came the dim passage. It was the entrance to the ‘underground labyrinth’.

“Where are we?”

“An underground labyrinth. It’s easy to get lost, so follow me closely.”

“Oh, yes…!”

I hurried my steps right away as Kaya followed me.

As soon as we entered the underground labyrinth, light brown glowstones arranged in an orderly fashion on the walls came into view. They were created using Garzia’s rock magic to easily distinguish the path.

This made it possible to discern the surroundings without the use of a luminous lamp.

I placed a cloth over the luminous lamp and placed it in the magic pouch.

I held my breath and walked through the maze. Whenever we had to decide which direction to take, before Kaya could hesitate, I quickly picked a path and moved on.

After all, the structure was no different from when I played ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.

I could easily reach the center.

“Sir Isaac.”

Kaya abruptly stopped and called my name.

“I’ve been feeling this way since earlier, but how do you know the path so well?”

“…”

…Huh?

Wait a minute.

‘Am I being suspected right now?’

I glanced at Kaya and opened her status window.

[Kaya Astrean] Psychology: [Feels doubtful if you have a background where you were once part of the demons and then decided to fight against the demons.]

What kind of scenario was this again…?

Because of her rich imagination, Kaya comes up with bizarre ideas all the time. This could quickly result in a difficult-to-manage situation.

It had to be answered unequivocally.

What should I say? Well…

Oh, let’s make it up like this.

“I’m just sensing the demon’s mana and finding a way. I’ve felt the mana since the beginning, ever since I was at the academy.”

I said that, but it was really just nonsense.

How could someone sense mana from this underground cave all the way at the academy? In the first place, the range mana could be sensed was so damn small. It was a very silly thing.

However, as expected, Kaya seemed to believe it.

“Wow…”

She appeared surprised.

“I couldn’t sense anything… Is this the mana perception of an Archwizard?” Kaya exclaimed in awe, her mouth wide open.

As expected, she was too simple-minded.

“You’ll be able to feel it gradually.”

Kaya and I started moving again.

She looked at me for a while with a twinkling gaze.

Ah, those glistening eyes. It’s so dazzling, like starlight, so it’s very daunting.

─ It was then.

Sakaksakaksakak…

The sound of something sharp scratching, rocks being flung, and antennae rubbing against each other.

Kaya and I both came to a halt and looked ahead.

Sakaksakaksakak…

Garzia had a lot of minions, also known as ‘Disaster Ants’ – one of the factors that dramatically increased the difficulty of Act 2, Chapter 4.

Sakaksakaksakak…

Disaster Ants have excellent collective intelligence; a cancer to play against that forced the player with all kinds of strategies and tactics. When I first played Hell difficulty, I had a hard time because of them.

If Garzia was hiding here, it was only natural that a legion of Disaster Ants were guarding this labyrinth. In this underground cave, there could be up to 300 of them.

Sakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksakak───

In front of me, through the darkness, a large insect jumped out.

Scuttling with its antennae flickering, a large black ant appeared while closing and opening its sharp pincers at the front of its mouth repeatedly. Its wide-open eyes emanated a red glow – it was a Disaster Ant.

[Disaster Ant] Lv: 70

Race: Demon

Elements: Darkness, Rock

Danger: Upper-Intermediate

Psychology: [Wants to kill you, the intruder.]

“What is that?” Kaya asked, startled by the giant insect.

Fortunately, there was only one Disaster Ant in front of us. He appeared to be patrolling the area.

It was dangerous when Disaster Ants flocked together. I wasn’t sure what kind of strategy they would use to put pressure on me, despite the fact that I was a demon-limited hunter.

[The demon has been recognized as an enemy.] [The unique trait [Hunter] is activated!] [The level and stats are temporarily greatly enhanced!] [The skill tree temporarily becomes +10!]

Then, there was only one way.

As I took a step forward, I extended my hand to Kaya and poured out my mana.

A thin curtain was draped around her. It was a translucent film of ice with beautiful ice crystals floating around it.

「Ice Barrier (Ice Element, ★6)」

“Isaac, what are you going to do…?”

Sakaksakaksakaksakaksakaksa──!

The Disaster Ant took off quickly, running on all six of its legs. At the same time, I bent one knee and placed my right hand on the floor.

“Freeze the entire labyrinth.”

And then.

I released my ice mana.

─────「Frost Wave (Ice Element, 6 ★)

Charakkkkkkk————!!!

The massive flow of cold air from my hands engulfed the entire underground labyrinth in an instant, thoroughly freezing the Disaster Ants and turning them into ice statues.

In an instant, the entire cave was transformed into a cold ice cave, as if it had always been like that.

“Hah.”

A cold chill escaped my lungs.

If there was a legion of ants with excellent collective intelligence, all I had to do was freeze them all before they could launch their tactics.