Chapter 148

Alicetia’s Adventure – Day 2.
The next day. After finishing breakfast, I proceeded through the forest. The goblins' reproductive ability is astonishing. Although weak, about 30 of them appeared in just an hour. There's no doubt that the Stampede has caused them to multiply rapidly. Well, they're slow and clumsy like scarecrows, so they're no match for me.

The orcs seem slightly more numerous than usual, too. I've already defeated five of them. I don't understand why, even when goblins and orcs are fighting each other, they suddenly team up and attack me when they see me. The mysterious ecology of monsters is baffling.

"The forest is full of monsters. But they're weak."

"For a normal adventurer, this number would be deadly."

"They are weak. The club bestowed by My Lord demands prey."

Helios swung around a club that could no longer be called a mace. The daily stress of losing to knights due to lack of skill must have been overwhelming. After all, he's an ancient dragon.

Moreover, Helios's club relied purely on brute strength. It's perfect for stress relief.

"Gyaa!"

"Gyagyaa!"

"Goblin soldiers. Their iron swords will be turned into ingots. Helios, don't smash them."

"Understood."

Helios blocked the attack of a goblin soldier wielding a rusty iron sword with his large shield and countered with a sideways swing of his club. After repeating this process several times, the goblin soldiers fell, completely pulverized. I finished off the remaining goblin soldiers myself by shooting lead bullets into their heads.

Then, I stored the goblin soldiers' bodies in the Treasury, purified their iron equipment to remove impurities, turned them into iron ingots, and sent them to the Treasury’s warehouse. They might come in handy later.

As I started to feel tired, I climbed onto Mr. Coote's back and headed deeper into the forest. And then, I regretted my decision.

"Bugs! Run, Mr. Coote! We can't win against them."

"My Lord, aren't they just weaklings?"

"Bugs are a no-go. Storm Flare."

A fiery tornado engulfed the bugs, but the terrifying thing about insect-type monsters is their lack of fear. They kept pouring out from the depths of the forest. Hundreds of 3-meter-long Gs (cockroaches) and army mantises. Why are there so many of them? Especially the Gs!

"Alicia, those are Gs, right?"

"Yes, they're called Gs as well. They're the natural enemy of female adventurers. If caught, there's a risk of being turned into a breeding ground. Let's just run."

How terrifying. And they're way too big. The way they scuttle around is utterly revolting.

But now I understand why there are so many monsters in the outer layers of the forest. The bugs have been breeding uncontrollably in the depths, driving the other monsters out. The stronger ones were probably eaten. The weaker monsters survived because they fled quickly.

The army mantises and Gs keep pouring out. The army mantises are 2-meter-long mantises. As long as you watch out for their scythes, they're not much of a threat. But the Gs? No way.

Those things have resistance to both physical and magic attacks. Poison barely works on them. They're more vile than demons. The only way to deal with them is to blast them away with high-powered magic.

"Pierce and explode, thunder lance! Thunder Lance: Modified."

Thunder Lance is an intermediate-level magic that shoots a lance of lightning, but the modified version is explosive. When the modified Thunder Lance hit the center of the G swarm, it scattered lightning across a 20-meter radius, damaging the surrounding Gs. However, the Gs wouldn’t give up and keep charging. Their numbers didn’t seem to decrease much. Intermediate-level magic isn't enough? I don't want to use advanced-level magic because of the strain, but I have no choice. I start chanting on Mr. Coote's back.

The air around me distorted like a mirage. The gathering mana was affecting the natural environment.

"My ultimate move, Burst End."

A magic circle appeared on the ground, and white flames erupted from it. Burst End is a tactical-level spell, the strongest magic my Mother can use. Although its range is short, it creates ultra-high-temperature flames. With my vast mana, its power and range expand further. Even the Gs, with their high magic resistance, couldn’t withstand this. They burned to ash without even screaming. The surrounding trees turned to ash in an instant.

After firing two more shots, the Gs were completely wiped out. Only the army mantises remained. It seemed there were still quite a few of them left.

"... Alicia, what about the G materials?"

"The Guild refuses to buy them. They're treated as worthless trash. If you try to sell them, you'll probably get scolded. They don't even have magic cores. Some say they're classified as primitive creatures."

Ugh, what a nuisance. The army mantises, on the other hand, have decent magic cores, and their scythes can be used as weapons. Their bodies are also materials for magic catalysts, so they can be sold.

"Uhahaha! My time to shine!"

With the Gs gone, Helios charged in.

"My Lord... I want to have some fun too."

"I don’t really need a pet that carries bugs in its mouth? Are you sure?"

"I'm fine being My Lord’s mount."

Cats and dogs sometimes catch bugs, but I can't handle that! It's unbearable. So Mr. Coote will stay as my mount for now.

The army mantises put up a good fight. Using their numbers and sharp scythes, they slashed at Helios. However, he blockeds with his large shield and crushed their heads with his club. They flailed around for a while, unable to see, before finally collapsing. The rest met the same fate.

"The club is indeed useful."

Helios wiped the bodily fluids off his club with a cloth as he returned.

Afterward, we collected the remaining materials.

"Given the situation, it seems like an Insect Mother has taken up residence here. It's a dangerous monster that can cause small to medium-scale Stampedes on its own."

"Is it strong?"

I've never heard of this monster. I avoid reading about insect-type monsters in the encyclopedia, so I know almost nothing about them.

"The main body isn't particularly strong. It's just a ridiculously large caterpillar.

However, it spawns countless insect-type monsters, causing them to multiply rapidly. The types of insect monsters it spawns are varied, and occasionally it produces troublesome ones. This time, it seems to have spawned Gs."

"But Gs aren't monsters, right?"

So, a monster can spawn primitive creatures? And a caterpillar that spawns various types of insects is just as creepy.

"That's the mystery of the Gs. They can be spawned by the Insect Mother, but when dissected, they yield nothing. Their materials can't even be used as magic catalysts. They're completely useless."

So, the real terror is the Gs. Those brown demons should be eradicated from the earth, but they've been around since ancient times, even on Earth. Maybe we should create a virus to kill them... but if they mutate like in those movies, that would be even worse. Let's not go there.

I never want to see a humanoid G. That would be a nightmare. I still remember crying after seeing one. I couldn't even watch TV for a while. Especially on rainy days, I refused to leave my room out of sheer terror. It's a terrible memory.

In any case, we can't let the Gs multiply any further. We need to exterminate them. This is a good hunting ground. We can't let it be overrun by Gs.

"Let's move forward, Mr. Coote. We can't just ignore the Insect Mother."

"Understood."

"Please don't leave me behind, Princess."

"I still have plenty of fight left in me!"

For a while, we ignored the monsters and advanced through the forest, relying on Mr. Coote's sense of smell. The dense forest was teeming with insect-type monsters. Spiders, ants, bees—despite their lack of unity, they moved in a coordinated manner, fighting against the Gs. It seems the Gs are also a food source for them. I would never eat one, even if I were starving.

After pushing forward for a while, we arrived at a clearing in the forest. There it was—a white, squishy, 20-meter-long caterpillar, continuously spewing insects from its rear.

The area was overflowing with monsters, already reaching the level of a Stampede. This is too much for just us to handle.

"Open the gates of the Treasury. Come forth, Heavy Assault Golem and Soldier Golems!"

Out came a 3-meter-tall golem. Its shoulders and elbows were equipped with spiked shells, and its fists were armed with pile bunkers.

Next were the Soldier Golems, camouflaged and resembling soldiers. They were less than 2 meters tall and armed with AK-47s. These AK-47s had been modified to reduce recoil, with magic crystals embedded in the magazines. The bullets were propelled by explosive magic, making them functionally different from the original, though the core concept of reliability remained unchanged. They were sturdy, easy to handle, and had minimal recoil.

The AK-47 is a legendary firearm. Its durability, reliability in harsh conditions, and mass-production potential are unmatched. While the modifications reduced its mass-production efficiency slightly, it was still highly effective.

The Heavy Assault Golem charged at the Insect Mother. The Insect Mother was a mostly immobile monster with no real means of attack. Its sole purpose was to spawn insect-type monsters.

I led Helios, Alicia, and the Soldier Golems to confront the surrounding monsters.

"Helios, charge in. Alicia, guard me, and Mr. Coote, you do the same. Absolutely no carrying bugs in your mouth, got it?"

"Understood!"

"I won't allow these insects to lay a finger on you, Princess!"

The Soldier Golems opened fire with their AK-47s, taking down the smaller and softer monsters. The forest echoed with the screeches of monsters, while Helios trampled through them.

"Those attacks won't work on me!"

An army mantis's scythe pierced Helios's arm, but it didn't harm him. Of course not. Despite his human appearance, his dragon scales couldn't be cut by a mere mantis's scythe. Helios retaliated with a crushing blow from his club, smashing the mantis to pieces. However, strands of silk suddenly bound him. Even Helios's immense strength couldn't break free from the tangled threads. A giant spider—Big Taratect—approached, intending to devour him.

"I can't move!"

"Just burn it!"

"That's it!"

Helios spewed flames onto himself. While his human form could only produce weak flames, it was enough to burn the silk. The defenseless Big Taratect was sent flying as Helios slammed his shield into it. As expected, Helios is all about brute force, not finesse.

"Wind Cutter!"

I used wind magic to slice apart the spider Helios had sent flying. Using high-level magic to annihilate everything would leave no materials, and my body isn't mature enough to handle high-level spells. Due to my tampered magic circuits, I can use spells beyond my age, but I mostly rely on intermediate-level magic. I do have vast mana reserves, though, so I can use high-level spells a few times if needed.

Cloning is a low-strain spell, so it's easy to use, but combat magic is too taxing. Honestly, fighting is a hassle.

Meanwhile, Alicia moved like a gust of wind through the monsters, leaving them bleeding and collapsing. Occasionally, she would vanish from their sight, only to reappear and slice them from behind. Her movements were unpredictable. Of course, with my magic vision, her concealment magic was useless to me.

"Soldier Golems, take the right flank. Helios, the left. Alicia, cover the rear. I'll handle the front."

"Understood."

"Bring it on!"

We formed a defensive circle to avoid ambushes while wiping out the monsters. I borrowed the power of the wind, water, and earth spirits to unleash a tornado upon the monsters. The tornado, mixed with blades of wind and water, combined with chunks of earth to annihilate the monsters. They were sliced by the wind, cut by the water, and crushed by flying debris.

"Kishaaaaa!"

After what felt like an eternity, I heard the death cries nearby. It seemed the Insect Mother had been defeated. The Insect Mother, riddled with holes, finally stopped moving. It had over a hundred holes in its body and had barely put up a fight.

With their parent slain, the insects lost coordination and attacked even more fiercely.

"It's time. Mr. Coote, Helios, roar!"

"Hooooooowl!"

"Groooooooar!"

Mr. Coote and Helios roared simultaneously, and the insects froze. It wasn't fear—they realized they couldn't win.

Mr. Coote and Helios weren't even going all out. I still had my Spirit Armament and other tricks up my sleeve.

The insects understood from the roars that they couldn't win. They didn't fear death, but they had an instinct to preserve their species. Total annihilation wasn't in their best interest. Seizing the opportunity, they retreated. There were simply too many monsters. I couldn't spam high-level magic, and using Spirit Armament would leave me nearly immobile afterward. In the worst case, my soul could collapse. It was best to retreat for now.

I opened the Treasury and recalled the golems. Chains flew out to collect the monster corpses. We then retreated inside.

The monsters, shaken by the roars, began to flee, but more than half tried to break through the gate. However, the barrier held, preventing them from entering. Even I couldn't break the Treasury's barrier.