Chapter 30

While in midair, I hastily activated Haste and did my absolute best to break free from my bounds. Luckily, before we hit the huge pile of dirt, I actually managed to break free and landed safely on the ground. But at the same time my paws had touched the ground, a huge explosion of dirt erupted from my back.

The resulting shockwave sent me rolling a few meters forward. And when the explosion finally subsided, I looked around and saw the whole mess that the explosion had made.

First, half of the huge cut-upped three had actually managed to pierce the huge pile of dirt. As a result, there was now a huge hole on that huge pile of dirt and a cloud of dust was coming out of it. Furthermore, some dead ant monsters and debris that were probably the collateral damage from when that hole was made were now scattered around the area.

Okay. Now they are really pissed… I thought while gazing cautiously at the numerous pairs of eyes staring down at me. And when I turned my head to the side, I saw the Savaga and the Hackclaw that were in the same situation as me.

Surrounding us was a whole swarm of ant-type monsters. And upon using Assess on them, I noticed that there were actually four varieties of ant-type monsters on that crowd. Most of them were either an Anties Worker or an Anties Soldier, it was then followed by quite a number of Anties Scout, and lastly, there were also a small bunch of Anties Captain mixed in among them. Honestly, judging by the sheer number of the ant-type monsters surrounding us, there was no mistaking that we were currently at a bad spot.

Because of how bad my situation was, I couldn’t help but curse at the monster that had put me in this dire spot. That goddamn Tronobo!!

It was at that moment that the swamp of ant monsters rushed towards us. Fortunately, it looked like I could easily deal with the Anties Worker and Anties Scout. As for the Anties Soldiers, though I could certainly beat them in a fight, dealing with those things would take some time so I did my best to limit my confrontation against them. But in the case of those Anties Captain, just their presence alone was enough to tell me that my chance at beating them was only about 50/50 so I desperately avoided engaging them in combat.

Making full use of my agility, I gracefully dodged every Anties Scout and Anties Worker’s attack. And whenever I found an opportunity, I would also launch a counterattack using my fangs and claws. Of course, the only reason I was able to pull off such a stunt was that I was a level above the ant-type monsters when it came to speed and agility. Coupled with the fact that I also had Haste on top of that, then it was just inevitable that the weaker ant-type monsters couldn’t even hope to touch me.

Probably noticing that their comrades were having a hard time against me, two Anties Soldiers rushed in my direction. But since I knew that dealing with them would slow me down, I immediately ran away from them. The problem was, when I turned around to run, there was an Anties Captain waiting for me on the back.

Well, shit. Was all I could think.

Probably recognizing that I had nowhere to go, the two Anties Soldiers and Anties Captain charge towards me. To make matters worse, there was also a swarm of other ant type monsters following behind them. But then, I noticed something…

Wait, these guys are all moving at the same speed!

For the record, the Anties Captain was certainly strong. In fact, any attack from the monster had the capabilities of inflicting a fatal injury. Well, only when it actually connected.

Though it was taking quite a toll on my body, I still managed to dodge every attack that was coming right at me. And to avoid being cornered, I always moved towards any gap I saw between the swarm of ants. Luckily, it seemed like the ant-type monster’s coordination was all over the place. As a result, instead of cornering me using their numbers, the ant-type monsters’ movements were actually being hindered because there were too many of them.

Of course, while swiftly evading every deadly blow from the ant-type monsters, I was also taking advantage of every opening I could find to launch a counterattack. Unfortunately, because of how desperate the situation was, every counter that I made wasn’t deadly at all. And since Haste had also been active from the very beginning, I was also starting to feel its effects which were why my movements were getting duller by the second.

Crap, I’m approaching my limit!!

But as I was about to reach my limit, a huge stone fell and crushed the Anties Soldier that I was fighting. And probably because of its impact, a green liquid which was most likely the Anties Soldier’s blood splattered everywhere.

Confused, both the swarm of ants and me stopped in our tracks. But before I even managed to process what had happened, a rain of stone assaulted the whole area around the ant’s nest. Along with that, the blood and body parts of the ant-type monsters flew everywhere accompanied by the screeches of pain that were now echoing all over the battlefield.

Give it a rest already, goddamn apes!! I cursed while trying my best to avoid being hit.

At this point, there was no mistake that this was the work of those ape type monsters. Most likely, those monsters were the one throwing these stones from a safe distance. And based on their actions so far, I would even bet that this was the plan of those accursed ape type monsters from the very beginning. In short, they intended to use the three of us as both a bait and a sacrificial pawn.

Making full use of my agility, I dodged all the large-sized stones while at times using my claws to divert the direction of the smaller ones away from me. Though to be honest, surprising as it was, I actually found this task much easier to accomplish compared to fighting a huge swarm of ant-type monsters.

Unfortunately, since the ant-type monsters didn’t have as much agility as I had, they were being hit or crushed by the rain of stones rather easily. Of course, it wasn’t as if the ant-type monsters were completely defenseless against the rain of stones. After all, they also had those seemingly armor-like shells protecting their body. The problem was, even those armor-like shells had its limit and it seemed like it couldn’t withstand being hit multiple times by those unbelievably hard rocks. In fact, all the dead ant-type monsters I had seen so far had some cracks or dents on their armor-like shell where green liquid was oozing out. And as a result of that, the ant-type monsters had no other choice but to desperately run towards their nest in order to take cover from the sudden rain of stone. Though obviously, the ape type monsters weren’t about to let the ants do what they want.

Just before some ant-type monsters managed to enter their nest, a huge boulder came flying towards that nest. Inevitably, it caused an explosion and a powerful shockwave that easily took away the lives of the ant-type monsters that were near the zone of the blast. And as if that wasn’t nearly enough, another series of boulders came flying along with the rain of stones.

Are you freakin kidding me!! Was my reaction while running for my dear life.

Following that, the deafening sound of multiple explosions reverberated inside my ears. At this point, my whole vision had completely become covered by the cloud of dust which made it harder for me to see what was really happening. On top of that, the ground was also shaking violently probably because of all that boulder that was falling down like some goddamn meteor shower.

I didn’t know for how long that situation had persisted, but when all the explosions finally stopped, my body was still miraculously intact.

...I’m still alive…? Was my honest question.

Still half in daze, I carefully looked around and the first thing I noticed was that the cloud of dust was already starting to subside. Beyond that cloud of dust, I also noticed the figure of the Savaga and the Hackclaw which were both still somehow alive. And then surrounding us, were the mangled corps and body parts of the unfortunate ants that were all probably caught by all that explosion. Though naturally, there were still some ants around that had luckily managed to survive just like me. But then, it seemed like the lives of the surviving ant-type monsters were forfeited after all.

It happened just before the ant-type monsters managed to get up on their feet. Taking advantage of the monsters’ weakened state, the Battalion of ape type monsters swooped in and killed any surviving ant-type monsters on sight. What followed after that was just a one-sided massacre. And without any strength or means to fight back, the remaining of the ant-type monsters were completely annihilated by the ape type monsters who were clearly inferior when it came to their numbers alone.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but think. These guys sure play dirty.