General Risen had been silently waiting for his troops to come back with the good news.
There wasn't a single moment where he had doubts that his troops would fail against those fools of an enemy from the Kite Kingdom.
They completely outnumbered them and they were clearly superior to the enemy soldiers, so it was impossible for them to lose even if they tried to lose.
In the end, he never expected to see his soldiers leaving the cave completely covered in wounds.
Even the commander that he had sent to watch over them was missing an arm.
When he saw the way that they were running out, General Risen immediately said, "Battle formation! Protect our allies and rout the enemies!"
This was just his military professionalism.
Even though he had no idea what the situation was, he didn't let his guard down for a minute and gave orders in an instant.
The soldiers that were gathered quickly formed ranks and went forward to support the commander's group.
But before they could reach the commander's group, there were these creatures that came out of the cave.
When they looked closely at these creatures, they saw that they were...giant ants.
Though they were soldiers with military discipline drilled into them, they still weren't able to react to this situation. After all, no normal person would have been able to expect all of these giant ants to run out all of a sudden.
But it was a good thing that there was a fair bit of distance between them and the ants.
With this distance, they were able to react to the ants and form defensive lines to save the commander's group.
It was just that they didn't know what to expect with the ants, so there were a few holes that were created in their lines. Their shields were cut through by the sharp fangs of the ants.
Then the ants started pulling soldiers out of the line to bring them into their lines.
Before the soldiers could do anything, there were a few of them that were abducted.
Once they were behind their allies, the commander ignored his injuries and turned around to say, "Don't attack them head on, they only have sharp fangs! If you attack them from the side, they won't be able to break through the shields! Target their joints, it's their weakness!"
The soldiers were caught off guard by the sudden advice from the commander, but they quickly reacted and followed his orders.
When they did, they found that it was much easier for them to take down the ants.
Though there was still the problem that there were just too many ants. The ants were able to use their numbers to push them back since they were quite strong for ants.
At the same time, it was worrying how there were more and more ants that were pouring out of the cave.
At this rate, it really seemed like they would be swallowed by the ants.
General Risen came down from his vantage point to where the commander was and said, "What happened? Where did all of these giant ants come from?"
The commander revealed a bitter look on his face that also had a trace of hatred as he told the general everything that happened in the cave.
As General Risen listened to his story, his expression became uglier and he clenched his fists.
When it was over, he said through gritted teeth, "Damn! It was a trap!"
The commander didn't say anything, but the look on his face made it clear what he was thinking.
General Risen didn't care about this and turned to look at the ants before saying, "Is there really no way to confirm that he is dead? I want to tear his body apart for what he's done."
The commander said with a look of hatred, "I do too, but now is not the time. We must retreat as soon as possible and hold a perimeter around this cave until the ants are gone. Or else we will have to deal with these ants when we take this territory." After a pause, the commander said, "I suggest we gather tinder afterwards and burn down this cave."
General Risen gave a nod of agreement, but he didn't have time to give the order to retreat as voices came from the ant lines.
"Save me! Please save me!"
"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
These were the voices of the soldiers that had just been taken by the ants.
As soon as these voices rang out, there were groups of soldiers that decided to attempt a rescue mission. After all, these voices weren't that far away and they would have the backup of the shield line if anything went wrong.
They didn't think that there would be anything that went wrong if they went to save them.
But the commander said, "Don't! It's a trap! The ants can steal our voices if they eat us!"
It was already too late for that as many groups were suddenly surrounded by ants when he said this. The ants suddenly surged forward and cut those groups off from the rest of the Vikal Kingdom army.
In no time at all, the soldiers that had gone out disappeared without a trace before their voices also came from the ants.
The soldiers that had heard what the commander said immediately felt a chill run down their spine.
After all, not a single one of them had ever met a monster like this that could steal their voices from eating them.
They all wanted to run, but in the end, it wasn't military discipline that stopped them from running.
Rather, it was the fact that they would have been killed by the ants if they broke their lines and ran, so that was what motivated them to stay.
General Risen had a very ugly expression on his face as he was about to give the order to retreat.
But once again, something else happened.
Arrows suddenly rained down from the sky from behind them.
General Risen had been silently waiting for his troops to come back with the good news.
There wasn't a single moment where he had doubts that his troops would fail against those fools of an enemy from the Kite Kingdom.
They completely outnumbered them and they were clearly superior to the enemy soldiers, so it was impossible for them to lose even if they tried to lose.
In the end, he never expected to see his soldiers leaving the cave completely covered in wounds.
Even the commander that he had sent to watch over them was missing an arm.
When he saw the way that they were running out, General Risen immediately said, "Battle formation! Protect our allies and rout the enemies!"
This was just his military professionalism.
Even though he had no idea what the situation was, he didn't let his guard down for a minute and gave orders in an instant.
The soldiers that were gathered quickly formed ranks and went forward to support the commander's group.
But before they could reach the commander's group, there were these creatures that came out of the cave.
When they looked closely at these creatures, they saw that they were...giant ants.
Though they were soldiers with military discipline drilled into them, they still weren't able to react to this situation. After all, no normal person would have been able to expect all of these giant ants to run out all of a sudden.
But it was a good thing that there was a fair bit of distance between them and the ants.
With this distance, they were able to react to the ants and form defensive lines to save the commander's group.
It was just that they didn't know what to expect with the ants, so there were a few holes that were created in their lines. Their shields were cut through by the sharp fangs of the ants.
Then the ants started pulling soldiers out of the line to bring them into their lines.
Before the soldiers could do anything, there were a few of them that were abducted.
Once they were behind their allies, the commander ignored his injuries and turned around to say, "Don't attack them head on, they only have sharp fangs! If you attack them from the side, they won't be able to break through the shields! Target their joints, it's their weakness!"
The soldiers were caught off guard by the sudden advice from the commander, but they quickly reacted and followed his orders.
When they did, they found that it was much easier for them to take down the ants.
Though there was still the problem that there were just too many ants. The ants were able to use their numbers to push them back since they were quite strong for ants.
At the same time, it was worrying how there were more and more ants that were pouring out of the cave.
At this rate, it really seemed like they would be swallowed by the ants.
General Risen came down from his vantage point to where the commander was and said, "What happened? Where did all of these giant ants come from?"
The commander revealed a bitter look on his face that also had a trace of hatred as he told the general everything that happened in the cave.
As General Risen listened to his story, his expression became uglier and he clenched his fists.
When it was over, he said through gritted teeth, "Damn! It was a trap!"
The commander didn't say anything, but the look on his face made it clear what he was thinking.
General Risen didn't care about this and turned to look at the ants before saying, "Is there really no way to confirm that he is dead? I want to tear his body apart for what he's done."
The commander said with a look of hatred, "I do too, but now is not the time. We must retreat as soon as possible and hold a perimeter around this cave until the ants are gone. Or else we will have to deal with these ants when we take this territory." After a pause, the commander said, "I suggest we gather tinder afterwards and burn down this cave."
General Risen gave a nod of agreement, but he didn't have time to give the order to retreat as voices came from the ant lines.
"Save me! Please save me!"
"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"
These were the voices of the soldiers that had just been taken by the ants.
As soon as these voices rang out, there were groups of soldiers that decided to attempt a rescue mission. After all, these voices weren't that far away and they would have the backup of the shield line if anything went wrong.
They didn't think that there would be anything that went wrong if they went to save them.
But the commander said, "Don't! It's a trap! The ants can steal our voices if they eat us!"
It was already too late for that as many groups were suddenly surrounded by ants when he said this. The ants suddenly surged forward and cut those groups off from the rest of the Vikal Kingdom army.
In no time at all, the soldiers that had gone out disappeared without a trace before their voices also came from the ants.
The soldiers that had heard what the commander said immediately felt a chill run down their spine.
After all, not a single one of them had ever met a monster like this that could steal their voices from eating them.
They all wanted to run, but in the end, it wasn't military discipline that stopped them from running.
Rather, it was the fact that they would have been killed by the ants if they broke their lines and ran, so that was what motivated them to stay.
General Risen had a very ugly expression on his face as he was about to give the order to retreat.
But once again, something else happened.
Arrows suddenly rained down from the sky from behind them.
