It seemed that everyone had managed to escape before the ground collapsed.

There were no screams coming from under the rubble, nor were there any limbs sticking out.

Most likely, it was thanks to the adventurers who had gone with me to hunt the dragon, warning everyone in time. Or maybe it was the guild staff.

Thankfully, everything turned out okay.

I chose this method because I had no confidence that I could find my way back out of those dark tunnels. And to be honest, I was incredibly worried.

I shook my body to get rid of the dust and looked at the children. They were staring wide-eyed, looking up at the sky, at the pit, and then back at the sky.

In the dark, I hadn’t noticed, but now that I saw them in the light, they looked surprisingly healthy, despite being trapped for several days. In fact, they seemed plumper than other kids in the city.

It seemed that whatever the ants had been feeding them acted as a sort of nutritional supplement. Considering they said they had diarrhea after eating it, it probably acted as a laxative, too, clearing out their digestive systems.

I placed a hand on the boy's head.

He was a brave kid.

He had seen the people around him die, seen the ants hatching from their bodies, yet he still tried to protect his sister.

In a situation that would drive most people mad, he managed to think and act rationally.

Maybe someday, when he grows up, he'll become someone really important.

The girl blinked her round eyes and looked up, murmuring.

“The ground goes all the way up to the sky, brother. There are no stairs, and… sniff… sniff… we won’t be able to climb up. Are we going to live here forever?”

Children have such strange ways of thinking.

The girl’s eyes filled with tears, barely holding them back, but it looked like she might burst into tears again. Her voice was already cracking with sobs.

Hmm, that’s a problem.

The boy patted his sister’s back.

“It’s okay, Ju, we’ll climb up if we have a ladder.”

“But the ground is higher than a ladder.”

“There must be a really long ladder.”

“I haven’t seen one like that before. We're going to live down here forever, brother… Waaah…”

And there it was. She started crying again.

No, no, this wasn’t the time for this.

In such a serious situation, there was no time to be listening to talk about ladders.

I patted the children on the head and looked up.

The crater-like pit was huge, and from where I stood underground, I couldn't even see the top.

However, if I used the wind, I could easily leap out, even without wings.

I could do it without a long ladder.

It might be just a little bit tough, but it was definitely doable.

“Hold on tight. If you don’t, you’ll fall.”

I spoke to the children and gathered the wind around my body. Focusing more around my legs, I launched myself into the air.

As my body rose, the girl’s hair fluttered in the wind.

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

The girl screamed.

The boy seemed to have frozen up.

As we neared the surface, the girl cried out.

“We're flying, brother! We're flying!”

To be precise, we weren’t flying—we were jumping.

‘Ah.’

The ground was in sight, but we started to descend again.

I hadn’t used quite enough power.

We were falling.

At that moment, I drew in my chest and summoned the wind, propelling us upward again.

It worked.

I thrust my body forward and landed on solid ground.

“Haa.”

We had barely avoided crashing down.

A sigh of relief escaped me automatically.

Suddenly, cheers erupted from all around.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Rafa is hereeee!”

“It’s Rafa!”

“We’re saved!”

The cheers were so loud that they startled me.

In my arms, the girl began crying again.

The children must have been frightened by the noise.

From among the people who had been standing far from the pit, someone screamed.

“Bain! Ju!”

A man and a woman in shabby clothes pushed their way through the crowd.

They came running, practically rolling on the ground.

“Mom!”

“Dad!”

The children screamed at the top of their lungs.

As soon as I set them down, they flew across the ground and into their parents' arms.

Two children—though it was just a pair—had returned alive, and they were reunited with their family.

I had saved them.

A sense of pride swelled in my chest.

“Rafa! You’re safe!”

Jenny, covered in dust, approached me at a brisk pace.

“There are people trapped by the ants underground.”

“Oh, you found them. That’s a relief.”

Jenny let out a sigh of relief, though it wasn't a truly happy situation.

After I briefly explained the state of the people underground, her expression darkened.

“Such terrible news... I understand. I’ll inform Lord Egan, and we’ll take action right away.”

Jenny gestured towards another staff member, pointing down towards the underground. The worker quickly understood and began shouting to others.

“We need to get down there! Bring ropes and long ladders!”

Seeing the staff spring into action, Jenny turned back to me.

“There are four ant holes in the city. The lord is currently holding back the one near the opposite gate, and the others are also under control for now. There are two holes in this area, and initially, only a few ants were coming out, but all of a sudden, they began pouring out.”

Jenny pointed in a specific direction.

I looked over and saw a massive queen ant not far from us.

Swarming around it, more ants were gathering.

“The queen just emerged. It seems like... well, I can’t say for sure, but it looks like it's trying to flee.”

Maybe the queen had decided it was better to retreat since the hatchery, or nursery, had been wiped out.

Or maybe the queen had been near the hatchery itself.

I drew the axe from my back and asked,

“How is Tatiana?”

“She’s with the soldiers. I knew she was capable, but she’s exceeded my expectations. Not just her water magic—she’s surprisingly skilled at dealing with beasts. She seemed a bit awkward at first, but she’s been fighting very well.”

It seemed that her master had taught her well enough to manage on her own.

‘But still, this must be her first real battle.’

Unlike me, who learned everything through my body, this must be her first time killing something.

Even if it was just a beast, the first time you kill anything is unsettling.

When you actually feel something die under your hands and understand that it was your actions that ended its life, it leaves you with a strange feeling.

The reality is so different from what you imagine, even for me, the first time—

No, wait.

My first time was when I was Rafa.

Back then, I hadn’t felt any horror at killing something.

Yeah, there was none at all.

‘If anything, I was excited beyond measure.’

What filled the young Rafa’s heart then was pure exhilaration at his first successful hunt.

‘Hmm.’

As I stood still, pondering, the queen ant, which had been gathering its soldiers, finally decided to flee.

Its abdomen turned towards me.

“Well.”

My eyes went wide.

Somehow, Rella had climbed onto the queen's abdomen.

“When did she get there?”

Apparently, she was in the middle of a hunt herself.

Rella was pecking at the queen ant's rear with her beak.

Of course, ants are insects, so it wouldn’t be out of place for a bird to eat one, but this was different.

There was a huge difference in size.

In this situation, Rella wasn’t the hunter—she looked like she might become the hunted.

Still, it seemed that escaping was more of a priority for the queen.

Even with Rella clinging to its abdomen, the queen paid her no mind.

The ants around the queen were gathering into a mass, starting to move.

Among them were several large soldier ants.

Maybe that was their elite force.

I began running.

“Rafa, be careful!”

Jenny shouted from behind me.

From other directions, shouts of encouragement from adventurers rang out.

“Hey, rookie! Watch yourself!”

“Rafa!”

“Kill it! Don’t hold back, crush it to pieces!”

As I ran, the ants moved faster.

But I was still much faster.

I closed the distance in an instant, quickly catching up with the black mass of ants.

Leaping into the air, I soared above them.

As I passed, ant bodies fell to the ground, rolling as they landed.

Suddenly, the queen ant began scratching its abdomen with its legs.

An odd sound echoed, and the other ants rushed to shield her from me.

Maybe it was a distress signal, calling for them to protect her.

‘I thought ants couldn’t make noise.’

I mumbled to myself and jumped over the ants.

The ant I stepped on crumpled beneath me.

A glance down revealed its head had been crushed.

In mid-air, as I neared the queen, she desperately scratched her side again.

“Bip-bip!”

Rella flapped her wings wildly, heading for the queen's waist.

She looked like a swan singed by fire, sliding along a black lake—unable to fly, just slipping.

“...”

Seriously, what was that bird doing? What if she got hurt?

Rella finally reached the queen’s waist, gripping the smooth body with her claws.

Whether it hurt or just tickled, the queen raised a leg into the air, trying to shake Rella off.

And in that instant, my axe cleaved the air.

Shluk.

With a soft sound, the queen’s thorax and legs were severed, and her massive body toppled forward.

The moment the queen died, the ants around her were thrown into chaos.

The ants scrambled in confusion, unsure of what to do until I killed a few more. Then, belatedly, they began to flee.

“Block them!”

“They're escaping!”

“Don't let them through!”

“Bring the nets!”

With shouts, the soldiers thrust their long spears at the ants.

From another direction, adventurers and civilians worked together to block their path.

A few ants tried to retreat back into their holes, but nets had already been set up.

An ant tried to bite through the net, but before it could, I severed its head with my axe.

As I dealt with the fleeing ants, a commotion erupted nearby.

“Whoa! They’re breaking through!”

“Retreat! Fall back! Don’t push yourself—focus on blocking the next route!”

It seemed there were too many ants in that direction.

While I ran over to help, in other areas, people were successfully herding the ants.

Some had even teamed up to kill the flesh-eating ants.

With my assistance, the tide had turned in favor of the humans, and they could afford to focus on surrounding and killing the remaining ants.

Several people were on top of buildings, shouting loudly.

“This way, over here! There are some in that building!”

They were calling out the locations and numbers of ants.

Among the voices, I thought I heard the innkeeper’s.

It felt like I had been swinging my axe for a long time.

I wasn't exhausted, but my arm was definitely starting to feel the strain.

Even if it's just killing, the sheer number makes it laborious work.

I rolled my neck lightly, and my gaze fell toward the direction of the queen ant. Rella was atop her, spinning in circles and chirping excitedly.

With something smeared all around her beak, she may have actually been eating the queen ant.

I rotated the arm holding my axe once, loosening it up, and turned to pursue the ants again.

Just as I turned, Rella opened her tiny beak as if to burp.

A small puff of smoke seemed to escape.

Wait, smoke?

Startled, I turned back to look at Rella, but she simply opened her mouth again, releasing another tiny burp.

But there was no smoke this time.

‘Was I imagining things?’

I tilted my head in confusion and turned my body back around.

There was no time to sit idly.

I had to hurry before they all escaped.

After confirming that there were no more ants nearby, I began sprinting towards the people who seemed to be struggling the most.

From atop a building, people waved and called out to me.

“Over there! That way! They’re over there!”