Poor chicken.
When that chicken was a yellow chick.
Did it ever know it would be used as bait to lure out termite monsters?
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
It must be a very brave rooster indeed.
As it fluttered and defecated, its body hit the cage, making a loud noise.
But the termites didn’t care.
They rushed in as if to eat the cage whole.
However, we can’t use up a chicken every time we travel.
For reuse, the cage was attached to a chain.
Pandan quickly pulled the chain.
Clang!
The termite’s strong jaws bit the air instead of the cage.
As the adventurers quickly retrieved the cage, the termites turned to look at us.
And then a series of strange events occurred.
The adventurers all spread their arms wide, puffed up their bodies, and shouted.
“Wooaaaah!”
“Graaaaargh!”
“Kyaaaah!”
If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought they were crazy.
But seeing their appearance reminded me of something.
It was exactly like the way to deal with encountering a bear while hiking, which I saw on YouTube.
Puff up your body and threaten that if they charge recklessly, there will be no mercy.
I didn’t want to just stand still, so I raised my body and roared loudly.
“Saaaaaak!”
Surprisingly, it worked.
The termites hesitated and gave up on attacking.
Then they dug back into the ground.
The exact name of these termites is ‘Hell Helmet Termite’
I don’t know why the modifier ‘hell’ was attached, but the reason for ‘helmet’ was clear.
They had a flat white carapace attached to the top of their heads.
It looked like a helmet, or from another perspective, like the graduation cap college students wear, and I could immediately understand why.
‘Camouflage carapace!’
After hiding their bodies in the tunnel, they put their heads in, and it was completely unnoticeable.
The flat carapace on their heads completely hid the hole.
No wonder they can’t be seen.
They could be described as monsters specialized in digging traps and ambushing.
“Now that we’ve confirmed they’re over there, we can turn back and go.”
Pandan said so.
‘Can we just pass by?’
“They’ve realized we’re threatening, so they won’t attack first. But if we pass right over them, they might reflexively pounce.”
The adventurers clearly had know-how for breaking through this zone.
“It’s good you decided to move with us, right?”
I see.
It would certainly be comfortable to travel like this.
If I were alone, I would have been very flustered by termites suddenly popping out of the ground.
‘Ah, I need to level up.’
The problem was that I had such thoughts.
It’s good to go easily, but it feels like it would be difficult to level up.
Of course, I didn’t bother to tell the adventurers about such a greedy concern.
“Throw it over there too!”
After passing the first stretch, they kept throwing the birdcage at suspicious-looking places.
When the termites sensed movement and came up.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
“Kuooooong!”
“Kroaaargh!”
“Saaaaaak!”
Everyone shouted together to threaten them.
It seemed like there was a Kraddmesser mixed in the middle, but let’s ignore that.
Interestingly, Isil, hanging on my back, also shook its leaves together.
If it had a mouth, it might have shouted “Sssssssak!”
More anticlimactically than expected, we broke through the pillar zone without a single fight.
“It’s easier than I thought?”
“Still, stay alert, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, accidents always happen when you let your guard down.”
Even while saying that, I could feel the adventurers’ tension easing.
But the magic realm is an extremely dangerous place.
This mountain range is also a magic realm, so if we assume it’s like the Great Forest, we should never be at ease.
There are no perfect countermeasures or strategies in the magic realm.
There are always exceptions in real situations.
And when you encounter exceptions, unexpected situations occur.
“Cross carefully.”
Jericho said so, and the adventurers started walking steadily.
Moving too quietly isn’t good either.
It’s better to make a little noise to warn the termites that we’re passing over.
Termites that have realized our group is numerous and threatening will stay hidden quietly.
But there seemed to be one among them that was a bit braver.
Or maybe it was sleeping and didn’t know what was happening around it.
Or it might have been too hungry to overcome its hunger.
What’s certain is.
It popped out from an unexpected place.
It was sudden.
Of course, I could react, but unfortunately, the adventurer passing by its side couldn’t.
Crunch!
His ankle was bitten in an instant.
The termite didn’t let go of the prey it had bitten.
Without even a chance to resist, it dragged the adventurer in.
“Aaaaargh!”
The adventurer screamed and struggled not to be dragged away.
He dug his nails into the ground, but they just left marks as he was dragged.
In an instant, his nails broke and peeled off.
The other adventurers reacted, albeit belatedly.
Jericho, holding a hammer, struck the termite.
Thud!
But true to its insect-type monster nature, the termite had a hard exoskeleton.
It was dented, but not enough to inflict a fatal wound.
The termite that had bitten the prey was desperately trying to return to its hole.
And then I moved.
Shhhk-
The dark iron dagger forged by Helmut was very hard, and surprisingly sharp.
Dawn pierced exactly between the termite’s eyes.
The brain is destroyed, even insect-type monsters usually die.
「You have killed Hell Helmet Termite lv39.」
Magic power is absorbed.
However, the damage already done didn’t disappear.
“Aaah, let go, save me!”
The termite didn’t release its jaw strength even in death.
The adventurer whose leg was bitten kept screaming, not realizing the termite was already dead.
“Shut up, you bastard!”
Jericho covered the adventurer’s mouth to calm him down.
Another adventurer took out an axe and quickly cut off the termite’s head.
Then he took out a knife and practically disassembled the termite’s jaw.
“Huk… kheuk…”
There was an ugly wound on the adventurer’s ankle.
The white thing visible inside where the termite had bitten was clearly bone.
Jericho poured a potion on the wound.
It bubbled and the flesh healed a little, but the wound still remained.
“Damn it. Of all places, it had to bite the ankle.”
There must be some kind of poison on the termite’s jaws.
Even after using a whole bottle of potion, the wound didn’t heal, so they tied a bandage.
The bandage quickly soaked with blood.
“Can you walk?”
“N-no…”
“You there, support him.”
The designated adventurer made an unwilling face but offered his shoulder.
Jericho seemed to want to send the injured adventurer back.
The injured one noticed this and forced himself to walk.
“This doesn’t feel good…”
With an injured person, the speed became much slower.
Moreover, one person had to support the injured, so there was more loss of combat power.
I saw those things and felt.
‘Hmm, these guys are less impressive than I thought.’
Jericho and Pandan were somewhat okay, but the other adventurers looked too clumsy.
They said they were B-rank, but is that level really that low?
If these guys were dropped in the middle of the Great Forest, they probably wouldn’t last a few days before all dying.
