One will not look at Goliath ants and say they are weak. They have changed the meaning of the saying "as weak as an ant." These ants can bring down giants. So the giants are not having an easy time in their campaign against the ants.
'They must be so desperate. They even brought out their workers. They have survived for so long but they are pushed against the wall this time around.' He thought to himself.
The fact that the small worker ants have joined the fight indicates how serious the ant colony is taking this battle. The big soldiers are the ones that have always fought invaders of the colony and they have had success in it enough for them to survive the onslaught of giants.
There are very few races that survived the wanton killing of the giants of order, and even lesser than can survive in the ruined environment caused by the constant siphoning of mana by the giants. Goliath ants are one of the races that survived. They did more than survive, they thrived.
They live in the desert and eat sand. They can eat anything, but sand is the most available thing in the desert. Once in a while, they turn their sight onto giants of Order.
Their teeth can crush rocks and their exoskeleton is as hard as the sand they eat. It makes them a worthy foe for giants of order since the giants can't bully them with their size. Killing something small is most efficient with a tool and since giants of Order can't use sophisticated tools apart from their rune weapons, the Goliath ants survived. They then thrived and often prey on giants.
But this time, it is the giants that brought the fight to them and they mean business. The supreme god of order and justice noticed some fluctuations of divine power within the mound of this colony which indicates an attempt to become a demigod. An ant queen must not become a god or their race will become troublesome to deal with. That's why giants of Order are attacking this colony and why the workers have joined in defending. They have to do everything to protect their queen.
The ants are attacking from the sky and the land. They are content with defending. That is the order given to them by the queen. Helios can't see the ant mound where the ant queen is because his sight is being obstructed by the swarm of ants. The ants are all he can see for kilometers ahead. They are like clouds of death that can shred anything to bits. Just the beating of their wings is creating a droning sound that is almost overwhelming to the senses.
He soon began to draw attention. He is radiating heat and light, plus he is more than 30 meters tall. He is like a giant torch in the sky. The attacking giants of order only spared him some attention before focusing on the battle. They can't relax their assault at all or the ants will be the ones to overwhelm them.
"So this is how they fight. Not bad." He said after observing the giants.
These warrior giants are part of the forces of certain churches. They are soldiers, and as such have uniformed runes. They all have runes that create armor on their body for protection and various runes for weapons. There are the close combat warriors at the front with shields and hammers for crushing the insects. There are ranged fighters who stay behind and use bows to offer assistance through the use of incendiary and explosive arrows.
There's a third type of troop, the special units. Their runes form cannons and other heavy weaponry that fire exploding energy balls into the ant board dealing catastrophic damage. The cannons they form are either carried on their shoulders or standing on the ground if they are too big.
The first two types of troops can switch runes and thus switch roles on the battlefield. A ranged fighter can easily become a close-range fighter and vice versa because they have both types of runes tattooed on their body. But no one can switch with the special units.
The special units sacrifice a lot of their law fragments to become the highest damage dealers. They don't have fragments to spare for much of anything else. Their cannons might be mighty but they take time to load and fire. That period leaves them vulnerable and they don't have runes for armor. That's why they need the other types of fighters to hold the ants back while they prepare. Their corporation is why they are pushing the ants back.
"Where are the priests?" He questioned when he didn't see the major fighters.
There are other types of soldiers but these three are the most active ones on this battlefield. The priests aren't being active even though they are the best warriors. Unlike the other soldiers that have ordinary runes, priests have divine power and Stigmata.
Stigmata is so much more powerful than a rune but gods don't hand them out to anyone. The stigmata that giants get on their first star celebration is just a symbolic dud. You only get one if you swear yourself into eternal service as a priest. A priest is capable of switching to all three roles and will perform them better because of their access to divine spells.
But priests aren't used for those. They are more important for healing. Healing is a very important thing for giants of order. They are difficult to injure but also difficult to heal when injured. Their large bodies and abundant vitality mean that they can heal slowly from anything as long as they have time and rest. But a battlefield isn't a place to get time and rest.
Divine spells are the only way a soldier can be healed with a spell since magic doesn't work on giants of order. So priests are kept safe for their spells. They don't risk them on the battlefield or allow them to waste their energy fighting.