Not knowing how long it had been since he had found himself inside the giant ant nest, Charles snuck his way through large tunnels and artificial caves filled with giant ants moving about. Barely keeping himself together whenever one of the giant ants passed by, while silently praying like a devout believer of the Holy Light Church that filth covering his body would mask his scent.
Luckily, so far, he had managed to avoid detection by any of the thousands of giant ants that had moved past him. Remaining undetected outside of a single scare, he had back when sneaking out of the artificial cave where the oversized giant ants were staying, where one of the giant ants that was seemingly guarding the entrance to the artificial cave had stepped on top of his hand. Piercing right through it and causing him to almost scream out in pain on the spot, something that would undoubtedly have alerted the giant ant to his presence.
It was through sheer will alone that he had managed to hold himself back from screaming and endured what had felt like hours of torture before the giant ant lifted its leg and moved to another location.
Even now, he could still feel his hand throbbing in pain, as he hadn’t been able to do much more than tear a part of his shirt off and bind it around his hand to stop the bleeding for now. Knowing he would have to wait until he got back home before finding someone skilled in healing magic to fix up his hand.
The only reason he had even been able to endure as much as he had in the first place was because his class was physical and had higher vitality than normal.
Something that had once ignited hope of his vitality hitting a thousand and learning the Endless Vitality skill that would allow him to live far longer than others, now only made him happy that he was still able to continue forward even with such a gruesome wound and extensive blood loss.
The only positive he could think of from what had happened to his hand was the fact that the location it had happened in was a place with a lot of blood. Masking the potential scent of his own blood that might have given him away if it had happened outside of that place...
Rumble~
Huh? Wha-What is happening!? Did someone else happen to wander into the territory of these giant ants by accident?
Suddenly feeling the ground around him starting to shake, along with seeing the formerly passive giant ants suddenly entering what could only be described as a state of frenzy as they soon enough began rushing off in one direction together, Charles could only guess that someone had ended up making the same mistake that he guessed his own guards had ended up making. Calming down significantly after knowing that he wasn’t in any way related to this change in the giant ants.
Wait! This might be my opportunity to get out of here!
But this calmness barely lasted a few seconds before he realized that this might be his only real opportunity to get out of the giant ant nest alive.
The problem was that this opportunity involved him following the giant ants charging out to face the enemy that had appeared at their doorstep. Using the enraged giant ants to find a path through the countless interconnected tunnels that he had a feeling would be impossible for him to find his way through on his own before he ended up starving to death.
Dangerous as it might be, he didn’t really feel like he had much of a choice in the matter and after a bit of hesitation, he set off behind one of the smaller and weaker giant ants that had barely reached the status of a C Rank Monster. Allowing him to keep up with it while remaining relatively hidden in the process. Knowing very well that he still had to keep himself out of sight if he wanted to stay alive.
Strong as the filth covering his body might be, it did have limitations and if he just began rushing forward at full speed, he would undoubtedly end up being noticed by the giant ants. Even if they were seemingly not showing much disregard for their surroundings as they charged forth towards a still unknown enemy.
The sheer scale of the mobilization from the giant ants growing with each passing minute, as it became clear to Charles that the enemy these giant ants were facing off again was far from simple and didn’t seem to be easy for them to deal with.
Beneficial as this was to him in his current situation, Charles also understood that there was little chance that the enemies that the giant ants were facing were adventurers.
Instead, it should be another group of monsters in the process of invading the territory of the giant ants or an extremely powerful monster that these giant ants had somehow ended up provoking. In which case, he personally hoped for it to be another group of monsters, as the only kind of monster that would be capable of facing off against a giant ant nest of this size on its own would be an S Rank Monster or at least one very close to that level.
A monster like that would undoubtedly be able to notice his presence even if he had attempted to hide himself, while a large-scale clash between two large groups of monsters would be far too chaotic for either side to care much for a lone individual like himself. In other words, a perfect chance to slip away unnoticed.
It was with this silent prayer of it being some kind of territorial war between two warring factions of monsters that Charles made his way to a large natural cave under the control of the giant ants where the battle seemed to be taking place.
Loud as the battle in the distance was, it wasn’t the thing that caught his attention upon stepping into the large natural cave. Instead, it was one of the tunnels just behind the battlefield where he could see the light from the outside streaming into the dark interior of the giant ant nest.
Looking closer, he could even see the familiar blue sky, though only barely, as his vision wasn’t anywhere close to someone who specialized in a weapon like the bow or the far more fearsome long-distance magic used by powerful mages on battlefields between kingdoms or in the face of monster stampedes.
BOOOOM!
Ruuumble-!
It was only when the entire cave began shaking after a loud explosion that Charles finally turned his attention away from the path out of the giant ant nest and focused on the battlefield playing out just in front of the path out. Conveniently blocking the path in the process, as he would have to make his way through a seemingly endless number of giant ants before even getting close to the entrance.
The only thing he could hope was that the intruder managed to push back the giant ants enough for him to get a chance to slip through and escape.
But, as his attention focused on the battlefield in the distance, it didn’t take him long to realize that he couldn’t spot the enemy that the giant ants were facing off against. Only hearing the loud sounds of battle and seeing dead giant ants pilling up with each passing second.
Not a single monster except the giant ants themselves.
Don’t tell me... An S Rank Monster!?
Feeling a shiver run down his spine as he thought this to himself, Charles could not help once again becoming a devout believer of the Holy Light Church as he silently dedicated his body and soul to a sincere prayer hoping that he was wrong.
No... Maybe more than hoping he was wrong about it being an S Rank Monster, he more so hoped that the battlefield itself would move away from the path out of the giant ant nest.
A prayer that was soon answered, as he saw the battle shifting towards another section of the cave.
Originally, he would have just brushed this aside as luck being on his side, but it was also during this shift in the battlefield playing out within the large natural cave that he finally saw the monster that was fighting the giant ants...
"A divine messenger..."
The quiet murmur unconsciously escaped his lips as he saw the holy and majestic form of the one fighting the giant ants. Scales shining brilliantly from the light that made it through the entrance to the cave, while ethereal wings moved gracefully moved in a captivating manner that captivated both Charles and the giant ants alike. Leaving neither able to grasp the fast-moving claws that easily cut through the thick exoskeleton of the giant ants.
The daze of Charles lasted for an entire minute before he recovered and forced himself towards the exit.
The main difference this time around... The faith in his eyes was no longer superficial like it had been before...