Chapter 61: 61, Bugs, Battles, and Fairy Follies A Chaotic Convergence!
"I never expected that everyone would have the desire to fight," I admitted.
"Wait, what?! Everyone?!"
I was taken aback by Phoebe's mother's words. Is this really a full-scale battle? All the plans I just made are now in the trash?
"Hold on, I brought this enemy myself. I feel uneasy about involving everyone."
"What are you talking about, Lena? The bugs are our common enemy! No one here is uninvolved!"
"True, Phoebe has a point, but it's hard to make everyone fight an enemy I brought. I really don't want the fairies to get hurt..."
It's selfish, but I can't shake the feeling of wanting to protect the fairies.
"What should I do? If only we could concentrate the fairies' power and attack like a wave motion gun... No, in the end, it would still be a wide-area attack, and the golden ants would nullify it..."
The golden ants are a constant obstacle. I could grant my subordinates an ability to negate area attacks, but looking at the list of fairies in the barrier, many are specialized in wide-area attacks, making the synergy terrible...
I know the golden ants have already demonstrated the worst possible synergy, but if they hadn't said anything, I might have resorted to a strategy that relied on area magic, only to have it backfire; being caught off guard and collapsing entirely as a result.
In fact, the presence of the golden ants is one of the reasons the fairies were trapped inside the barrier.
"Oh, while I can't gather the fairies' strength for an attack, we could use ritual magic to combine everyone's power and greatly amplify Lena for a short period. However, that means all the fairies would have to support her within the barrier, and Lena would have to fight alone."
"Well, if that's the case, it's better this way. I don't want to come up with a clumsy strategy that could get you all hurt. Instead, let's focus on strengthening everyone and take down the golden ant in one decisive strike."
Phoebe's mother's words prompted murmurs of discontent among the fairies surrounding them.
"Wait, we're just supposed to focus on support?"
"Messiah is too kind-hearted, and that can be a problem..."
"Going solo is reckless!"
"I want to unleash area spells!"
Phoebe also chimed in with her objections.
"Mom, I'm going to fight from Lena's pocket!"
"Oh dear, everyone is so eager…but this time, let's follow Lena's decision, alright? Phoebe, you can do as you wish."
With Phoebe's mother's voice, silence fell over the group, though everyone still looked displeased. Perhaps Phoebe was the exception because of the blessings she received, or maybe they simply felt a kinship with her.
I could sense that letting negative feelings build up around Phoebe's mother wouldn't be good, so I decided to speak up.
"Um, the golden ant among the enemies has some troublesome abilities, so fighting in large numbers is dangerous. We need your support; please help us!"
As I bowed my head in earnest, the fairies began to fuss.
"Don't bow your head!"
"Okay, okay, if it's just support, then lift your head!?"
"I'd rather not have you bow when you owe us for feeding you!"
Somehow, I managed to secure their cooperation.
"We're going to take down the golden ant, right? In that case, please stand by near the entrance barrier on the north side while I prepare the ritual magic. I recommend you don't stick your face out of the barrier; it might be opaque, but some insects are clinging to it, and there's a chance they'll slam into you. So be careful."
"Got it…"
Phoebe's mother pointed toward the north and spoke again.
"Messiah?!"
"Lena, I'm coming too!"
"Understood, Phoebe... Make sure you don't come out of my breast pocket, okay?"
As I reassured Phoebe, I stood near the northern barrier. My goal was to defeat the golden ant, which should significantly weaken the insect army by eliminating an intelligent foe.
After a short wait, a flurry of icons suddenly appeared beneath the HP bar. An aura enveloped my body, surging with power, and the previously opaque barrier became much more transparent. As a result, the bodies of the insects clinging to the barrier were clearly visible.
There were sleek, brown bodies with six thin legs that resembled those of a beetle, and they were utterly grotesque!
"Whoa?!"
"Ah?! Lena! Is something wrong?!"
The sudden shock made me stumble and fall backward! It seemed Phoebe still saw the barrier as opaque.
"I'm sorry, but I just enhanced Lena with ritual magic... Phoebe won't be enhanced, so stay alert, and the boost will only last about five minutes... If needed, retreat into the barrier."
In the distance, I can hear Phoebe's mother's voice. I glance back to see numerous fairies praying on a high ledge. Time is of the essence—five minutes isn't long! I need to find and defeat the golden ant right away!
I peer through the shimmering barrier to locate the golden ant. If it had been a brown or black one, I might have wasted precious time looking for it, but the gold stood out vividly, making it easy to spot. As usual, the golden ant was riding on the dark spider we fought in the first quest.
"Here we go, Phoebe! Our target is the golden ant!"
"Yes!"
I launched myself at a beetle stuck to the barrier, striking it with Archie and bursting out! The beetle vanished in a flash of red light after a single blow.
"You're back again, human! How dare you interfere earlier! Charge, my army! Devour them!"
The golden ant's roar echoed around us. Suddenly, swarms of insects turned their attention toward us, swarming in our direction! To be honest, I wanted to scream in terror, but that wasn't an option. I had to swing Archie to fend off the bugs while getting closer to the golden ant!
"Holy ball!"
Phoebe launches a glowing orb from her pocket, providing support.
"Whoa!!!"
With my own Archie, I send the charging stag beetles and jewel beetles flying!
Archie ignites in flames, incinerating two insects at once!
Taking down two at the same time is incredible, thanks to the fairies' assistance… or rather, that strike must count as a single-target attack.
I blast away a group of pill bugs charging at us with Archie!
"Damn it! Bee squad! Sacrifice yourselves to take down the humans!"
Right in front of me, eight bees unleash their stingers all at once… Wait, these guys die after they shoot their stingers, right? No hesitation at all!
"I won't let you!" "Aqua Shield!"
Phoebe deploys a water barrier, and with the fairies' extraordinary support, the incoming stingers appear to move in slow motion… I can dodge this!
I sidestep, deflecting the unavoidable stingers with Archie!
The stinging bees fall to the ground, enveloped in a red effect before disappearing.
"Damn! Dark Spider! And you other spiders! Scatter your webs and stop their movements!"
"Lena, jump with all your might!"
Spider silk rains down towards us. Timing it perfectly, I leap with all my strength!
My body soars high, multiple times my own height.
As a result, I get exceptionally close to the golden ant!
"Whoa!?"
"Lena! Let's make a quick decision!"
I almost lose my balance, but I manage to stabilize myself using my aerial control skills. Does "make a quick decision" mean I need to attack from here? If it's a long-range attack... I have no choice but to throw Archie!
"Archie, throw!"
"Holy Ball!"
"Dragonfly, guard!"
I hurl Archie like a javelin towards the golden ant! Phoebe fires a sphere of light! Archie shoots forward with incredible speed, but suddenly, a dragonfly the size of a human swoops in to protect the golden ant! Archie pierces through the dragonfly, but his trajectory abruptly changes, driving him into the ground. The Holy Ball collides with the dragonfly's wings, exploding in a burst of magic.
"Whoa! That was close! I thought I was a goner! Fall back, Dark Spider! Those who can fly, strike from behind and rip its wings off! Ground troops, attack right where it fell!"
The golden ant shouts orders. Rip off its wings? Is that directed at Phoebe? No way!
I pull out a firelight and twist my body with all my strength, slicing at a stag beetle coming from behind.
"Aqua Shield!"
But in my focus on attacking, I lose my balance and crash to the ground with a thud!
"Ugh!"
A brief pain shoots through me, but thanks to Phoebe's Aqua Shield, the fall's damage is lessened; I've only taken a fraction of the hit, and I can still move. I need to get up quickly; otherwise, I'll be overwhelmed by the bugs. I scramble to my feet, readying my firelight.
A swarm of caterpillars charged at me with incredible speed, and I swung my firelight, slashing through them with a satisfying squelch! But it was disgusting!
"Damn it! They've closed the distance…"
I needed to retrieve Archie first! Just as that thought crossed my mind, Archie floated up from the ground as if by magic, returning to my grasp without a soul touching it!? I held the returned Archie in my hands.
In my astonishment, I sheathed the firelight and cradled Archie with both hands. Could this be the blessing Phoebe's mother bestowed upon me? I was incredibly grateful!
But how much longer would the fairies support me? Just then, the system screen kindly indicated I had three minutes left… I needed to end this quickly!
After fighting for about two minutes, I realized that the golden ants had low combat power… If they were stronger, they wouldn't run away the moment I got close.
Moreover, with their ability to grant immunity to area attacks, they'd have little reason to follow the All Mosquito if they were strong themselves.
"Damn it! Surround them! You guys aren't affected by area attacks, so overwhelm them with your numbers!"
The golden ant shouted orders… While it was helpful that its loud voice made the plan obvious, I wondered if they needed to utter the words for the immunity to activate. If so, I wanted to shut that golden ant up quickly.
"Lena, I'll borrow your shoulder like we did with the bees! I'll cover our backs!"
"I got it!"
Phoebe shifted from my chest pocket to my left shoulder, as if she were taking on the enemies behind me.
"Ice Spear! Holy Ball, Thunder Shot!"
"Take that!"
With a swing of Archie, I knocked down about five flies the size of basketballs, not daring to look back, placing my trust in Phoebe. I kicked off the ground and sprinted toward the golden ant. Any pesky bugs that got in my way were sent flying by Archie.
Thanks to Phoebe's support, the dread I felt toward the insects had lessened, even if just a little... Perhaps a placebo effect! But it still felt gross, and I wanted to wash Archie immediately!
"Damn it! Are they targeting me? Stay away! Die! Offer your flesh and blood to the all-mosquito army! Bring on the Hexas! Shower me with that toxic stench!"
A brown, flat bug the size of a soccer ball lunged at my face... A Hexa?! That thing gives off a smell that lingers for days if it clings to you! A giant version would be a bomb-level hazard! I couldn't afford to hit it directly!
"Earth Gate! Phoebe, return to my chest pocket and hold your breath for five seconds!"
"Got it! I've already taken out most of the enemies behind us, so please focus on the front!"
"That's amazing, Phoebe!"
With Earth Gate, I summoned spikes of earth from the ground to pierce the Hexa!
I held my breath and sidestepped to keep my distance from Hexa while chasing the golden ant. Fortunately, our sense of smell didn't detect Hexa's scent, and I was grateful for that.
"Do you really know how to deal with Hexa?! I thought you'd just charge in and attack!" The golden ant exclaimed, clearly surprised. It seemed to be a rare creature in this world… honestly, it would be better if it went extinct; it's a dangerous threat.
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone