My Lord! We have a huge, h-huge problem!
It was a sunny noon.
A soldier of the territory hurriedly ca running to the mansion, huffing and puffing. He broke into the Barons office, disregarding all etiquette and formality.
After listening to him for a while, the Barons teacup fell to the floor.
Shatter!
. What? The Barons face beca pale. Say that again. Ant beasts?
Yes, My Lord, ant beasts have appeared inside the tunnel where Young Master Lloyd has been digging.
Then, what about Lloyd?
According to the workers who were with him, he stayed behind. He ordered everyone to evacuate quickly.
Is he there alone?
No, Sir Asrahan stays behind with him.
.
After reporting, the soldiers face beca somber.
Ant beasts inhabited the eastern wilderness beyond the mountain range. They were terrifying creatures. Each individual was much stronger than a wolf. Additionally, there were too many of them. They were also fearless and very organized.
In other words, there was no way to survive once caught by them. Itd beco even more hopeless especially when encountering them underground.
Sir Bayern first summoned his troops. Right now, they are gathered in front of the mine, starting the preparations to close the mine.
That was the best they could do.
What if the ant beasts ca out of the mine?
The hunting grounds would be destroyed. The residents of this estate would also be annihilated. Not only the people, but livestock would also get hunted and made into at dumplings. If you got lucky, you would be paralyzed alive and then stored in a warehouse, or beco a delicious prey for the ant colonys larvae.
To prevent this situation, the right thing to do was to close the mine before it was too late. However, for so reason, the Baron fell silent.
.
My Lord?
.
Sir Bayern told to ask for My Lords command. The soldier timidly glanced at the Baron.
The Baron continued to be silent. Then, at so point, the Baron suddenly sprang up from his seat and opened the closet in his office. He took out the armor that had been stored there and began to wear it.
M-My Lord?
However, Baron Frontera still didnt answer. Instead of his answer, only the clinking sound from the Barons armor could be heard inside the office.
Clink, clink! Thud!
He wore a brigandine1Brigandine: is a form of body armor from the Middle Ages, typically made of heavy cloth, canvas, or leather, lined internally with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric, sotis with a second layer of fabric on the inside.with iron plates attached to it and wrapped his knees with silver-colored poleyns2Poleyn: is a component of dieval and Renaissance armor that protected the knee.. After that, he wore the demi-greaves3Demi-greaves are greaves that only protect the shin. Greaves itself is another part of armor from the Middle Ages which are used to protect the legs. and a bascinet helt4Bascinet: a dieval helt of light steel, fits closely to the wearers head and typically has a visor.. An iron-rimd shield was carried on his back while a long sword hung on the waist of his armor.
In everyones eyes, the Baron appeared ready for a battle. However, the soldier was surprised as the Baron hadnt held a sword even once in the past ten years.
Excuse , My Lord? Right now.
Lets go.
Pardon?
If you cant keep up, Ill leave you behind.
Wham!
The Baron stord out after roughly opening the office door by kicking it. He ran through the corridors, down to the horse stable, and climbed on a horses back.
Ha! the Baron kicked the horses sides.
Only one thought occupied the Barons mind.
Lloyd, wait for a little bit. Please hang in there, by all ans!
His heart beat accelerated as he rushed towards the mine.
Dash dash dash! Swish!
After kicking the ground to do a rough jump, a sword fiercely slashed the space.
Crunch!
Kieeeeeek!
The long sword hit and split the ants head. Along with a scream, transparent bodily fluids splattered.
However, at that point in ti, the longsword had been pulled out of its head a long ti ago. The sword had already been searching for its next target, beaming calm and cold light.
Slash! Clang! Thud!
Javier turned his body sideways to cut its body. He kicked its bottom part to block it. He stabbed, pulled, and lifted the sword.
Lloyd thought Javier would slash upwards, but then he advanced with his sword moving like a gale.
One slash to the left, one slash to the right, a jab to the side on its upper left, then what was next, a downright slash?
Lloyd left his tongue hanging out as he ran through the narrow tunnel. He had no choice but to do so.
Javier was running two steps ahead of him, charging forward. anwhile, Lloyd looked at Javiers swordsmanship with eyes full of admiration.
Really amazing. This is the skill of a real knight.
It was on a different level than his previous duel with Sir Neumann. There was no obstruction in all of Javiers movents. It flowed naturally just like water, yet also fierce and unstoppable at the sa ti.
Furthermore, in between his connected movents, Javier also added nurous small movents that were too hard to see with eyes. It went in a flash, just like lightning. A myriad of feints and lethal attacks were brilliantly mixed in. In short, Javiers swordplay itself was an art.
The ant beasts got literally slaughtered in front of his elegant but destructive swordsmanship.
.. Even in this situation, dont you get tired? Lloyd, who had been following Javier, cried out. While swinging his sword, Javier glanced at him.
Im tired, Javier answered in a single breath. His breath didnt seem to be disordered just yet. Everybody wouldnt know that he was tired just by listening to his voice.
However, Lloyd knew.
We dont have much ti.
No matter how strong Javier was, he was still a human. Humans had limitations to their stamina. He couldnt fight forever.
If he had reached the level of a Sword Master, the endless cycle of mana could loosen his stamina constraints, but he hadnt reached it just yet.
Right now, he was just slowing down the accumulation of fatigue with Asrahan Core Technique.
About the brilliant way Lloyd-nim said, are we not there yet?
Slash slash!
Javier asked while cutting down the ant who blocked his way into three pieces: head, chest, and stomach. Lloyd grimaced.
Not yet!
Then, when will it be?
I also dont know. Im searching for it as hard as I can!
What do you an by youre still searching.
Stop talking to , just focus on clearing the path. We have to move as far as we can to increase the probability! Lloyd exclaid.
What he shouted was the truth. Even now, he was still activating his Interdiate Survey Skill to its limit. As an optional skill of the survey skill, the ground composition of the ant nest inside the five ters range hed targeted would continuously be identified.
The thing hed been desperately searching for was a thane gas layer that mustve been buried sowhere inside the ant nest.
It should certainly be around here. Here, there were bituminous coal beds embedded all over the place. So, the thane gas layer must be here sowhere.
Lloyd continued to run. With Javier in front of him, they ran from corner to corner inside the ant nest.
The survey skill was used as optimal as possible to detect all possible directions.
How hard did he search for it?
Finally, Lloyds eyes saw sothing.
Found it!
Five ters under the ground, Lloyd could see so thane gas lurking there. However, it wasnt the main part of the layer.
Was it a stream of thane gas layer? It was indeed only a small stream.
Nevertheless, there was no way we could imdiately co in contact with it from here.
The one thing he was confident about was that this stream of gas was indeed thane and where it was connected to.
Between him and the gas, there was five ters thick of soil and rock. Digging it with a shovel would take a very long ti. Even worse, the tunnel wasnt large enough for Bangul to transform into her giant state.
Javier! Over there! Lloyd pointed at one of the passageways. That direction was where the stream of thane gas was connected to. From now on, just run towards the direction I pointed at!
I understand, but-
But?
We, can we just go outside?
.
Javiers eyes were calm while he was slicing the ants. He looked like he had already made up his mind to face his end here.
In front of his subdued eyes, Lloyd stopped smiling. Why? Are you scared?
Im not afraid, just-
Just what?
I felt a little resentful.
Is it because youre afraid of dying in a place like this?
No, its not.
Then, did you hide any dirty paintings under the bed in your quarters and you were afraid of getting caught?
Obviously not. To be honest with you- Javier sighed deeply and continued, Im afraid of dying with soone like Lloyd-nim.
Oh my!
It was my greed as a knight, I guess. I think the most honorable death a knight can get is when he sacrificed his life for soone worthy and respectable.
Hoho, so you feel that dying hand-in-hand together with a scumbag like is unfair?
Thats an accurate summary.
Really? Are we going to leave now, just like that?
Were going to die together here anyhow, arent we?
Youre laying bare your true colors for the last ti before we, as companions, are going to the afterlife, arent you? asked Lloyd.
Javier then retorted, Im just saying this because I think Ill be less resentful if I spoke to you frankly regarding this, honestly.
Clang! Clack! Swish!
The ants were still running towards both of them. In front of them, large soldier ants blocked the way. Whenever that happened, Javier proceeded to keep on running, cutting, and slaughtering the ants in front of him without rest.
Naturally, Lloyd followed closely behind. With a torch and a steel shovel in both of his hands, he worked hard on stopping the ants that were chasing them from behind.
As such, the two of them fought against the swarm of ants with their bodies. In the anti, they still quarreled with each other.
Ha! Okay! Since were going to die, lets do yaja ti! said Lloyd.
Not knowing what that was, Javier asked, What is yaja ti?
Say anything you want to say without minding our ranks! Heave-ho!
Sounds nice. Hup!
Clang!Snap!
They jumped to the passageway located on their left. While brandishing a sword, raising a torch, and wielding a shovel, the war of words between them continued.
Then, lets start with ! You, your luck isnt humane! said Lloyd.
How co?
Youre very handso!
I was born with this face.
Thats what Im saying, then why am I so unlucky?
Say, are you done talking?
What if Im not?
Still, Ill take my turn. Its unfair to get beaten one-sidedly.
Look at this punk, trying to save so ti?
Thats right.
Thats good. Ti is gold, my friend. Of course you cant have all three5Lloyd was talking about 3Ts in life: Ti, Talent, and Treasure.!
. Javier suddenly went silent.
Are you crying? Huh? Why did you stay silent while getting beaten under my attacks?
Its because I suddenly feel sorry for you.
Wow, why?
Now that I think about it, I think my nipples are more handso than your face.
Hurl. It was a more powerful shot than Lloyd had initially predicted.
Lloyd clenched his teeth and fought back, Ha! What have you been doing with that face so far that you couldnt even get a girlfriend?
Ive been working hard on my swordsmanship training.
Aha. So youve been single since birth?
Similar to you, Im sure Lloyd-nim also hasnt had a single girlfriend yet.
What?
Thats as far as I know. Besides, I actually-
Actually?
Ive received quite a few love confession letters.
What? Love confession letters?
Thats correct. Javier was still fighting with his sword. Inside this fellows eyes, Lloyd could see unidentified confidence shining through.
While blocking an ants mandibles with his shovel, Lloyd shouted back, How many?
Umm, I think Ive roughly gotten about two boxes of it. I put them inside my quarters.
Youre lying!
Its the truth.
Does that even make sense? What is the population of our territory? I think youd have to get a confession letter from almost every female in our territory to get that many?
Pft!
Dont look down on for being solo!
When you brush your teeth, use a toothbrush. (tl/n: Here, Javier mocked Lloyd by playing with the word solo/ inside his sentence. He inserted it into the word toothbrush, from to .)
.
Hello, nice to et you. Youre do re mi fa solo, right?
.
Today, are you going to spend another solo night?
. You gorilla in heat, thats enough! Lloyd scread.
Was it because he was being pushed by Javiers words? No, it was because he reached his intended destination.
Javier, who was continuing their war of words, also had a different look in his eyes as if he had sensed it.
Is it here?
Uh-huh. Lloyd examined the ground. With his survey skill, what was underneath the ground was visible. He could see an indentation that was about 1,5 ters big below. However, that indentation wasnt just an empty space.
Its a layer of thane gas. A very big one.
Only a small portion of the thane gas layer was visible through the skill. It was like he had found the right Wang Geon6Wang Geon was the founder of the Goryeo dynasty who ruled and unified ancient Korea. He traced his ancestry back to a noble Goguryeo family so he could get a legitimate ground to rise to the throne. He claid that he was a descendant of Emperor Sukjong of the Tang Dynasty. [tl/n: I think this is what the author refers to with this sentence. Im not a Korean, so I mightve misunderstood the authors intentions.].
Lloyd quickly spoke, Ill be digging here starting from now. Protect in the anti.
I understand.
They had co all the way to this place. They were in a situation where the only one they could trust was each other. There wasnt a reason nor a need for questions.
Since then, Lloyd began to frantically dig the ground of the passageway with a shovel. Javier protected Lloyd by keeping the ants that were coming from both sides in check.
But, at that mont-
Skreeeeee! A thunderous roar was coming from one side of the passageway.
Then, sothing big was approaching while stomping all over the passageway. Its head was twice as big as other soldier ant beasts with a body large enough to fill the passageway. Its mandibles were completely longer and sharper than a longsword.
A queen ant?
It seed likely, but Lloyd didnt care.
The queen ant isnt the objective anyway!
This wasnt a ga of the Three Kingdoms, where youd win if you beheaded the monarch. Even if the queen was to be caught, the rest of the colony wouldnt be shaken. If you were unlucky, you could provoke them and theyd get even angrier instead.
For now, the best thing to do was to focus on the original objective.
Hold them back until Im done digging all of this!
I understand. Javier raised his long sword and blocked the queen ants way.
Did it get angry seeing Javier blocked its way?
The queen ant lunged forward. Skreeeeeee!
Boom!Thud thud thud thud thud!
The queen ant seed to almost destroy the passageway. No, actually, it forcibly rushed in by crushing and widening the narrow walls of the passageway.
Even so, Javier didnt back down.
Heup, Javier inhaled. With just a single breath, all of the surrounding mana began to shake. The mana fluctuated, with Javier at its center.
He gathered it to his triple circle, which amplified the circles. Then, he poured it out.
Clang! Claaang!
A longsword that contained the rotation of three circles. A pair of super-strong chitin7Chitin: is a fibrous substance consisting of polysaccharides and forming the major constituent in the exoskeleton of arthropods and the cell walls of fungi-coated mandibles. These two collided with each other.
The first clash was a draw.
Kakakagak!
.!
Skree?
The longsword and the pair of mandibles confronted each other with similar strength. While both of their weapons clashed between them, Javiers eyes widened. The queen ant pulled back its jaw in surprise while its cilia8Cilia is the plural form of the cilium, which is referring to the long hairs on an ants compound eye. bristled up.
They both were shocked at each others power that was beyond their expectations.
The first one to move was the queen ant.
Skree!
Swoooosh!
The ant queen whipped its pair of giant antennae around. It was like a bigger and heavier club than a baseball bat.
..!
Javier quickly ducked down. He took advantage of the montum and raised his longsword. As a response, the queen ant also swung its jaw.
From then on, Javier and the queen antthese two archenemies and two beastspoured all of their offensive instinctively toward each other.
He blocked and slashed, kicked and smacked, chopped and shoved, being pushed and bashed back, dodged and raised his sword, rolled over and then charged forward.
However, things gradually turned against Javier.
Dude, hes exhausted! thought Lloyd.
Lloyds shoveling beca even more frantic. He was tired as well. However, Javierwho continued to fight for their lives, mustve been even more tired.
More! A little more!
If Javier collapsed, it would be over. When it was over, the plan would fail. The ant beasts would be free to go to the territory through the excavated tunnel.
Sh*t! I shouldnt have made the structure of the mine so strong!
Now, it was too late to break it down. Even if he tried, only a part of it would collapse. He knew for certain that such collapse wouldnt be able to stop the ant beasts.
Thats why weve to succeed.
Lloyds shoveling beca more intense. Every ti his shovel moved, dirt was thrown everywhere.
Sweat endlessly flowed down his neck and back.
Finally, his shovel dug the point hed targeted.
Fwoosh!
Its done!
Gas began to leak out from the pit. thane gas erupted from there.
Lloyd quickly packed up his shovel and shouted at Javier, Dude! Co here!
Javier imdiately responded to his shout. With a strong single sword slash, he shook off the queen ant and ran to Lloyd.
Lloyd waited for Javier before he started running. Then, they ran together through the opposite passageway while the queen ant chased them fiercely.
When Lloyd looked back, his eyes t the queen ants eyes. At that mont, Lloyd chuckled and threw the torch at the queen ant.
The torch hit the queen ants head. With a thud, it bounced off in vain.
It flew behind the queen ant, circling round and round in the air, and t the invisible, transparent gasthe thane gas.
The thane gas and the fla mixed. A violent chemical reaction began. 891 kJ per mol of energy was generated.
Boom!
It resulted in a huge explosion that engulfed everything.
Authors note: Boom! It resulted in a huge explosion that engulfed everything. The explosion swallowed the earth. The world had co to an end.
Tl/n: I was cackling too hard when I read Lloyd and Javiers banter. Javier is surely a savage one.
Thank you for your support!
1
Brigandine: is a form of body armor from the Middle Ages, typically made of heavy cloth, canvas, or leather, lined internally with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric, sotis with a second layer of fabric on the inside.
2
Poleyn: is a component of dieval and Renaissance armor that protected the knee.
3
Demi-greaves are greaves that only protect the shin. Greaves itself is another part of armor from the Middle Ages which are used to protect the legs.
4
Bascinet: a dieval helt of light steel, fits closely to the wearers head and typically has a visor.
5
Lloyd was talking about 3Ts in life: Ti, Talent, and Treasure.
6
Wang Geon was the founder of the Goryeo dynasty who ruled and unified ancient Korea. He traced his ancestry back to a noble Goguryeo family so he could get a legitimate ground to rise to the throne. He claid that he was a descendant of Emperor Sukjong of the Tang Dynasty. [tl/n: I think this is what the author refers to with this sentence. Im not a Korean, so I mightve misunderstood the authors intentions.]
7
Chitin: is a fibrous substance consisting of polysaccharides and forming the major constituent in the exoskeleton of arthropods and the cell walls of fungi
8
Cilia is the plural form of the cilium, which is referring to the long hairs on an ants compound eye.
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