Chapter 614 - Chapter 8: Former Demon Lord's Cave ④
We descend through the darkness while illuminating brightly. Because we are illuminating the walls, we can see the ants that were clinging and crawling around fleeing downward every time they are illuminated. It seems we are trying to gather the ants at the bottom as much as possible, as we descended so that the range of illumination wouldn't overtake the ants.
"I can see the bottom."
It's Harold-sama. He was clinging to the bottom of the bowl along with Bonnie, looking down.
When I crouched and looked down, they were swarming. There were countless holes at the bottom, and perhaps because they hated being illuminated, they were all fleeing into the holes.
"This seems to be the base."
There were also many holes on the walls near the bottom. If all the holes are connected underground, they would be sortieing from here.
"Let's try a little experiment. Jeanne, turn off the Fireflies. Then, Thought Communication to everyone. From now on for a while, Wilson is our eyes."
Eleanor-sama is looking strangely happy. I wonder where this composure comes from.
(A large number of ants have come out. It's all the holes at the bottom and the walls near the bottom.)
Information came from Wilson-san, who was looking down. Everyone peeks in all at once.
We have already received word from the logging team that they used magic grandly in the northwest area, following yesterday. As a result, the ants' sortie has begun.
Actually, we moved to the midway base once. And we scraped off all the worm monster repellent we had smeared along with the soil and removed it. On top of that, we removed the illumination magic circles. We won't know where the exit is, but we solved that by attaching new illumination magic circles to the wall on the opposite side of the exit.
As a result, the ants started going back and forth with the exit as a matter of course. I don't know how they perceived that a part of their nest was roughed up. In any case, they must have sensed that powerful magic was used outside. Probably, that information was brought by worker ants and led to the sortie.
(I think so too. When the logging team used magic in a situation where the ants were prevented from going outside, the ants didn't show any reaction. They were just swarming around the exit. But the moment we made it possible for them to go outside, this reaction occurred. Lich's hypothesis has been proven.)
Eleanor-sama had been suspicious for some time about the mechanism by which ants sortie when the number of people who invaded the third floor exceeds fifty... actually, the exact number is not known... or when powerful magic is used.
When we attacked Lich's cave, we didn't use high-level magic all over the place, but we fought quite grandly. Despite that, the ants didn't come out immediately. Including that part, she seems to have consulted with Lich, who was actually breeding ants.
According to Lich, basically the Queen ant dominates the whole, but worker ants have their own rules. If a big game enters the nest's defense range, they immediately communicate to their allies, mobilize, and hunt. It's probably the same as an ant trail. And even if the Queen is not there, that rule is applied. They take the lead in searching for prey and predating. Originally, after predation, they would give a liquid-like substance from their mouths to the Queen or larvae, but if she's not there, they seem to use it themselves. They must be full. The ones Lich was keeping seem to be those ants that the Demon Race manipulated with Subordination and brought. At that time, they released those that had been confined by a barrier. The prey was, of course, demon beasts. The released ants followed their instincts, went on a sortie, and targeted us who were fighting all over the place. According to Lich, it was still in the early stages of research, so it didn't reach practical application. If the research had succeeded and a group of tens of thousands of extremely powerful ants had participated in the Demon Lord's army... or rather, they would have attacked villages and towns on their own... the humans on the White Island might have been annihilated.
As a result of Eleanor-sama's consultation with Lich, anyway, attack the nest and kill the Queen. Well, it's a natural result, but as found in the secret book, the Queen is strong. Moreover, she uses earth magic underground. There are subordinates in units of tens of thousands. It's by no means easy.
(Unfortunately, it seems this nest is only connected to the nest hole we discovered in the northwest area the other day.)
Eleanor-sama seems to have had the logging team use magic in order from the furthest from the tower, further dividing the four sections into two. As a result, although the appearance of ants was confirmed in all sections, she is disappointed that it was confirmed that they only sortied from the nest hole in front of her in one place. In other words, there are that many ant nests. Because there were several holes in the wall, she had thought that they might be sortieing to various places from here, but her guess was wrong. On this third floor alone, we have to fight the Queen at least eight times. Since ants are confirmed in large Demon Realms all over the place, the conquest is not progressing at all. Moreover, since ants are basically only in Demon Realms, there is no subjugation reward, just like centipedes. It would be fine if the lord of the Demon Realm paid a completion reward, but if not, and if the completion reward is not an amount commensurate with the hardship, no support can be expected. Until recent years, Demon Realms have been left almost untouched. Demon Realms themselves don't have a very large impact unless the Demon Lord is resurrected. The ones doing it enthusiastically are Sertoria, Engrio, and Northern Gram, which wants to drive out the two-headed ones, and even Medioland prioritizes other things and keeps pushing it back.
(It's no use complaining. Let's subjugate the enemy in front of us.)
Receiving Eleanor-sama's words, the search and subjugation of the Queen ant began.
However, the opponent is on a sortie. Since it's better to let them all out once, we wait for a while.
When searching with Sense Living, there are really too many, and the reaction is almost a surface. It's the same as when searching for a snake pit during the two-headed one subjugation; the entire floor is reacting. The surface that sorties from every single hole climbs the walls, so it's connected like a thick line to the exit hole. I wondered how long it would take, but it ended surprisingly quickly. It must have been worth fighting together with the frogs. According to Wilson-san, there are probably not even half as many as yesterday. The reserves might have all come out.
After they have mostly sortied and the surface has become sparse individuals, we block the enemy's retreat. The point is to dig the soil on the floor, mix in worm monster repellent, and block the holes with it. Since they are ants, they will eventually dig a new hole, but it will buy some time.
Next, we keep digging up the soil at the bottom. Inside the circular floor, we dig a hole with a diameter of roughly two medium-sized bowls in vertical width. We made the other places a place to put the dug-up soil, and Wilson-san piled up blocks dug and hardened with Clump Sand.
We are floating in the air, so it's safe. We keep digging, hardening, and piling up, but even though they sortied, ants swarm uja-uja. Regardless, we kept digging. We don't care what the structure of the nest is like. Since we are hardening the ants together, there must be carcasses mixed in the piled-up blocks, but that's probably fine.
We dug quite a bit. We even took a break and ate lunch in the middle. By the way, lunch is bread, cheese, dried meat, and wine.
(It seems the sortied ants have come back.)
When we were ascending and changing the bowl, Wilson-san found them.
When we rode the new bowl manipulated by Wilson-san and approached the exit, they were digging a new hole in a place a little away from the entrance we blocked.
The ants are all carrying lumps of soil produced when they dug the hole in their jaws. And for some reason, they climb the wall from the newly made entrance and go up.
As we all followed the bowl up to see what it was, the ants were carrying soil one after another to the hole at the very top of the wall.
If the end of the hole is blocked, the hole will eventually be buried... That means.
"Wilson, please bring us close to the hole on the wall on the opposite side."
Eleanor-sama seems to have the same idea. Probably, the end of the hole is connected to the outside. If we go outside, we might know where we are now.
Eleanor-sama digs the hole on the opposite side. She digs vertically, and the dug-up soil is dropped down as if rolling under the bowl. The soil that fell to the bottom seems to be being carried to the very top by the ants at the bottom. They are diligent.
There is no bedrock, and the work progressed because we were just digging along the hole. The hole is not that complicated, and we floated the bowl in a place a little away and dug forward under the bowl.
We moved the bowl into the hole and dug further. If we were to go outside, if we dug straight, light would shine in directly. If there was a time of day when it was in a straight line with the sun, it would be hard for the ants. Anticipating that, the originally connected hole had a place where the angle was slightly upward. That's why light didn't shine in when we first found it.
About half an hour after starting. A ray of light shone in.
"I can see light."
It's the outside!
After all, humans are meant to be active under the sun. In pitch darkness, one's mood tends to sink, but just seeing the sunlight makes one's tension rise.
Dig here, dig there, we all dug forward while raising our voices.
Actually, only Eleanor-sama is digging, but that's the atmosphere.
Finally, when the last lump was dropped under the hole dosa-dosa, the blue sky was visible.
The fresh air is delicious!
Moreover, it smells like grass. I wonder if a grove or forest is nearby. I can certainly see grass leaves beyond the hole. Since it doesn't look like a tree, it wouldn't be in a forest.
Since we are properly hiding our presence, there is no problem, and we went outside as if jumping up.
When I ascended and looked at the hole we came out of again, I found that we had jumped out from the middle of a small, steep hill. Near the top, the soil the ants are carrying is being piled up. Perhaps because they are using something like worm glue, it's surprisingly unlikely to collapse.
"Did the ants perhaps make this hill?"
In other words, is that it? Did the soil carried out to make the nest underground become a hill?
The lump of soil an ant carries at one time is quite large compared to its body size. They lift their heads and work hard to carry a quite huge one in their jaws. Even so, the original is about the size of a puppy. Even if they work hard at one time, it's at most about the size of a human head. To think that it would become a hill like this...
The hill made by the ants is covered with short grass on the surface. No trees, not even shrubs, grow. Of course, forests can be seen around the hill. In the distance, even mountain surfaces where not even grass grows can be seen. Apparently, it's a terrain like a basin in the middle of a mountainous area. Where on earth are we?
It's not that cold. Since the wind is not that strong, it wouldn't be the Ice Island. From the look of it, it doesn't seem to be the Central Mountain Range either.
So as not to lose sight of the entrance to the hole, we cut the surrounding grass cleanly with Wind Cutter and flew up into the sky.
When looking at the terrain from the sky, it's definitely in the middle of a mountainous area.
When we all scouted with Sight, we could see the sea in the distance. When I checked the direction with the wooden fish, it was west. In other words, it's the west coast of the White Island. And the place where the sea can be seen due west is from the northern half of Medioland to Finis. If it's Finis, the mountains are higher. I feel like I can see mountains faintly far to the south, but...
"I understand. This is the border between Medioland and Former Septanaquila... in other words, the middle of the largest Demon Realm on the White Island."
To think it would connect in a place like this... No wonder the insects don't decrease no matter how many we exterminate. Moreover, when flying around the area, there are several similar hills not so far away. If they are all red ant nests, it's a big deal.
Honestly, it's no longer a matter of exterminating the ant Queen. First, we have to go back. Or rather, we have to confirm if we can return to the original place through the ant nest.
However, since we came all the way here, we decided to just make a hideout that would be a base and withdraw.
After all, it's a nest of demon beasts. It would be safer to make it inside the nest than on the outside. We made a lid for the newly opened hole by putting the topsoil peeled off with the weeds on blocks made of Clump Sand. Just like that, we dug a side hole in the middle of the hole we had dug and spread the third set of simple magic circles. Of course, we put a lid on the entrance and smeared worm monster repellent on it.
Just in case, when I sent a message to the logging team, they said they were waiting for our return. They replied to come back because they had spread the third set of magic circles as requested.
Now that they mention it, it's already a good time. I was careless because the days are long in summer. When I thought that, I suddenly got hungry too.
"So it was connected to the Demon Realm in northern Medioland..."
Harold-sama is also surprised.
The Demon Realm in northern Medioland is said to be absolutely impossible to conquer, regardless of others. It seems to be that dangerous and vast an area.
"That's right. Actually, I scouted by flying over it many times, and it's about as wide as the Northeastern Forest, Higashinohara, the entire Royal Capital area, and Nakanohara combined."
In other words, it's wider than half of the Kingdom of Sertoria. It might be about two-thirds. It's too wide. Like Finis, the north is large in scale.
Eleanor-sama says that when she was active, she tried to explore it with all seven of them after subjugating the Demon Lord. It's not hidden by mist like the Dryad's Forest. However, they finally gave up because it was too wide.
After all, it's a place that the Medioland army has left unconquered since ancient times.
"The altitude is not that high, but it's a wide mountainous area. Moreover, since it's a peninsula, it's all sea except for the east. The east is separated from other regions by canyons and deep forests. One large river flows into the forest from the northeast of the forest, but it branches off midway and surrounds the peninsula like a moat. It's a natural fortress, or rather, it's a terrain that makes sense even if it's said that the place where the Demon Lord is resurrected is always there."
Honestly, I think it's better to leave it alone.