Chapter 179

Ch . 179 Five Red Ants

I scout around the perimeter of the red ants’ nest to look for any ants . As usual, I’m having Adofu and the ball rabbit wait on standby in the distance .

The plan won’t start until we grab the centipede dumplings and bring them towards the nest .

The problem is that simply carrying the dumplings to the nest by hand is impossible . It’s just too much to carry, but taking them near the nest would be too suspicious .

I could try catching a red ant and forcing it to take a dumpling back to the nest . I can only pray that I can get my hands on a red ant like that though, so that plan won’t really work .

Honestly, there’s a high chance that they’ll just spit out the centipede dumplings like the Ianians did and just leave them alone . Rather, since they’re poisoned, the possibility of that happening is much higher . If I were a red ant, I definitely would not carry something as disgusting as this back to the queen . It would be considered as lèse-majesté and I’d be beheaded on the spot . The nest would be filled with the stench of the centipede .

Back in my original world though, I have seen ants carrying even grasshoppers back into their nest quite a few times . I can eat dark worms, but I still can’t stomach grasshoppers . I think that even one ant carrying back a single dumpling might inflict some damage upon the colony . So long as it actually takes it to the colony . At this point in time, I can’t just dispose of this pile of centipede dumplings . It’s too late to turn back now .

That centipede was truly strong . Even in death it still manages to inflict damage upon my very soul . It seems that I’ll be tasting centipede no matter what I eat for a while . No, it’s my fault for eating after all . I know that .

While I was scouting around, I saw a scorpion that is about three meters long being surrounded by some red ants . I quickly duck behind some rocks and observe .

The scorpion was gray with two front claws, which are characteristic of a scorpion .

As for the red ants, I saw five . Included among the five is a red ant that I had previously wrestled with in their nest . Moreover, the formation that they took against the scorpion tells me that the fight is now over . The scorpion is already surrounded, there’s no way for it to get out . Yeah, it’s as good as dead .

The two red ants standing in front of the scorpion take turns performing feints to direct the attention of the scorpion towards themselves . The other red ants take the opportunity to bite the tail and legs of the scorpion from its blind spots . As soon as the scorpion redirects its attention to resist the ants behind it, the remaining ones go after it .

It’s a dirty way to fight for sure, but it is quite effective . It keeps the damage to all members of the group to a minimum .

The scorpion was flipped onto its back instantly . The red ants surrounding the scorpion begin to quickly chew it into pieces, and it soon stops moving . It’s survival of the fittest out here, and there is strength in numbers .

Well, let’s take a look at its status .

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Species: Big Scissor

Status: Deceased

Lv: 28/50

HP: 0/228

MP: 154/162

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They killed a C rank monster in an instant! Whoa now . Hey . Should I really be starting a fight with these guys? One wrong move and I’ll end up like that too . In their own way, they’re stronger than the centipede .

The five red ants pick up the scorpion and start carrying it off .

Five, hmm… with that many in a group, if I charge in without any strategy, I might have the table turned on me . I just saw how they instantly killed that C rank monster, before it even had a chance to make a move . Sorry, but I refuse to make the same mistake as Big Scissor-senpai .

But wait, isn’t it fine so long as I don’t get surrounded? Thanks to the level boost I got from defeating the large centipede, my speed should now exceed that of the red ants by a significant amount . If it comes down to it, I could also fly away or use [[Roll]] to make an escape . If I fight skillfully, I can avoid being surrounded and mobbed to death, like Big Scissor-senpai was .

[[Clay Gun]] is just about the only long-range skill that the red ants have . If I need to escape, it may be possible to use [[Kamaitachi]] while getting away . It will be a prolonged fight due to the [[Automatic HP Regeneration]] skill the red ants have, but if I can focus on one ant at a time and take their numbers down to two or three, then I could take them all on at once . Alright, shall we begin?

I fly out in front of the red ants as they’re carrying the scorpion and fire off [[Kamaitachi]] . It’s important for me to figure out how much of the ant’s HP I can shave off now, before I actually enter the battle . If possible, I would also like to take down one of them with this .

“Kucha!” “Kuchach!” “Kuchach!”

“Kuacha!” “Kuacha!”

The red ants are panicking big-time . Of course there’s nothing else to expect .

I didn’t want to attack while they were carrying their food back to their nest, but this is nature and there is no entitlement to such conveniences here . It’s necessary to grab onto every chance I can get and to have nerves of steel so luck doesn’t just pass me by . Forgive me, red ants .

Four of the red ants simultaneously abandon the body of the scorpion, which then falls over onto the fifth one who failed to move in time .

“Gucha!”

While I don’t think that a single scorpion is something worth dying over, it’s great that one of the ants is no longer able to move . Targeting the closest of the four ants in front of me, I quickly release [[Kamaitachi]] at it . Damn, they move better than I thought they would . They managed to avoid two of my attacks .

Yeah, don’t stop now, wings . Now to send out the next [[Kamaitachi]] . With this I should be able to instantly close the distance .

“Kuacha!” “Kuacha!”

The moment the two foremost ants bark at me, two red sand bullets come flying towards me . There it is, the skill [[Clay Gun]] . I fly backwards in an exaggerated manner and avoid them . It is much easier to move around out here in the open than back in the nest where I couldn’t move horizontally or vertically . Although, that’s true for their side as well…

When the two ants in front of me shoot, the other two ants behind them follow up with [[Clay Gun]] and fire at me as well . I fly further back, but they anticipate where I’m going to land and fire some projectiles there as well . Since it’s unavoidable, I guard myself with my wings .

Yeah, it seems that I’m at a little bit of a disadvantage in this shootout . However, the red ants don’t have much MP . This is tough, but I should be recovering well with [[Automatic HP Regeneration]] . If I can withstand this shootout, they’ll lose both their means of recovery and attack . Although it may be a dilemma, but it is also an opportunity . It’s better to let them continue using [[Clay Gun]] than widening the distance between us .

I focus on avoiding their [[Clay Gun]], and reduce my usage of [[Kamaitachi]] . But, I’m unable to do that .

“Kuacha!”

One of them makes a mad dash towards me . Well, that’s just great .

“Guuo!”

With a roar, I launch three [[Kamaitachi]]s at the red ant . It manages to avoid the first one, but the second one shatters the ground beneath its legs, hindering its movement . The third one hits the ant head-on, and it collapses head-first . Yes! just as planned!

In the mere moments my attention was focused on the ant that I just killed, the other three have spread themselves out wide . These guys, are they planning to attack me from all sides? When I try to close a gap in my defenses, they create another . It’s a vicious cycle . They really are an unpleasant opponent to fight .