GILF Hunter

Lia’s sword slashed the back of a Stinger clinging near the barrier.

Most of the Stinger swarm that had raided the main force were hunted down, and the battle paused momentarily.

Now, only a few Stingers were drifting above in the sky.

Seizing that opening, Ian shouted.

’Depart now!’

’Just wait a bit! We’ll catch it and be right back!’

At Ian’s signal, the members of the Hamel Mercenary Group broke away. This was the unit heading for the Stinger nest.

Rin also looked back and waved a hand once toward Ian.

’I’ll be back!’

Rin was also included in that detachment. Since she was the only one who had actually seen the nest, she was there to provide direct guidance.

’They’re coming again!’

Following Rin, who was in the lead, a portion of the Hamel Mercenary Group disappeared into the forest path, and before long, new Stingers flew in.

The defensive formation, whose scale had slightly decreased with the departure of the detachment, closed the distance between each other and took their positions again.

Now, to ensure that the other team could safely enter the nest, they had to hold out here and draw out as many monsters from the nest as possible.

’Ugh...’

Lia, who swung her sword after narrowly dodging a lunging Stinger’s attack, felt her body gradually becoming sluggish.

It seemed the Stinger’s paralytic venom was spreading through small wounds sustained during the fight.

Lia called out to Tanya, who was inside the barrier at the rear.

’Tanya! Detox potion!’

And without even looking back, Lia used the detox potion that had naturally landed in her hand as if she had possessed it from the start.

’...’

The gazes of the mercenaries near Lia kept turning in that direction.

It was a scene that was completely incomprehensible even while watching it happen right in front of them.

Wasn’t resupply... something you did by quickly heading to the rear when there was a temporary break in combat?

The mercenaries, who had heard the explanation beforehand but couldn’t understand what it meant at all, watched Lia and then one or two of them cautiously shouted.

’Ex-excuse me! A po— over here too...’

Before the mercenary’s sentence could even finish, a potion bottle was already in his hand.

’It really came...’

Is this... the level of resupply of a B-rank mercenary group?

They say there’s a huge wall between C-rank and B-rank mercenary groups. Could this be what they meant? The C-rank mercenaries felt a massive, invisible wall and continued the battle in a daze.

Of course, more than the mercenaries fighting at the front, the porters belonging to the C-rank mercenary groups who were assisting at the rear felt an even bigger wall.

Do you have to do things like that to become a porter for a B-rank mercenary group?

It was a sight that made them completely give up the hope that they might be able to join a B-rank mercenary group in the future as they grew.

’More are coming!’

Hearing someone’s shout, everyone turned their eyes toward the sky.

Another swarm of Stingers was taking flight from the nest’s direction.

The main force where Ian was located was the spot closest to the nest, so the monster’s offensive was bound to be the strongest accordingly.

’The numbers are higher than expected. Will it be okay?’

Lia turned to Ian and asked.

They had brought resupply goods as generously as possible, but if an offensive like this continued, one could never be sure.

’We just have to hold out until they catch the Queen. It won’t take that long.’

Ian nodded as if to say not to worry.

＊　＊　＊

Rin ran quietly along the forest path and looked back. It was a rugged path, but Hamel and his members were following better than expected.

At this rate, it would be okay to increase the speed a bit more...

Thinking so, Rin moved toward the nest, weaving through the forest path even faster.

’It’s this way.’

Rin guided the Hamel Mercenary Group toward the nest while recalling her memories from the scout a few days ago.

After pushing through the brush for a long time, the massive Stinger nest revealed itself before everyone’s eyes.

’It’s incredibly big...’

Everyone stood still in front of it, marveling at the size of the giant nest. It was almost more of a fortress than a nest.

’Everyone, there’s no time to sightsee! We have to catch the Queen quickly!’

Hearing Clea’s words, everyone snapped out of it.

It was the first time everyone had seen such a large monster nest, but as she said, there was no time for leisurely sightseeing.

The subjugation force was in the middle of a fierce fight at the rear, so they had to catch the Queen as quickly as possible.

’The way down is this way!’

The place Rin pointed to was a steep slope that was vague to even call a path.

It was unavoidable if they wanted to get down to the nest at the bottom of the cliff. It was the place that looked the most like a path among those Rin had found while searching the perimeter as much as possible.

Fortunately, since the detachment was entirely composed of front-liners, no one seemed intimidated by this level of incline.

Everyone stood before the slope Rin pointed out without a word.

’Then, I’ll go first... ah.’

’What’s wrong?’

Rin hesitated for a moment as she was about to lead the way down. One most important problem remained.

It was good that they had reached the front of the nest... but what next?

The size of the nest was enormous, but they didn’t know the most important thing: the location of the Queen.

’I don’t know where the Queen is. Is it okay to just go down recklessly?’

’There’s no way to know from the outside anyway, right?’

’That’s true... but wouldn’t it take too long to search that whole place one by one?’

Clea replied confidently as if not to worry.

’It doesn’t matter! Either way, she’s inside there, isn’t she?’

Answering like that, Clea took out the staff she had hung on Hamel’s back and held it up to the sky. She also pulled out a jewel that looked quite expensive from her pocket.

’Ah, everyone get back!’

’Huh?’

The other members, excluding Hamel, hurriedly retreated. Rin also followed them in confusion, moving a long distance away from Clea.

The reason was apparent immediately.

Sparks began to crackle and fly wildly from Clea’s body.

It seemed she was preparing a grand magic of considerable scale. Even Rin, who couldn’t sense mana well, could feel that a massive spell was being prepared.

A dazzling flash of light shot out from the staff Clea held up, soaring into the sky.

─!

A few Stingers hurriedly crawled out from inside the nest.

Because of the vivid light emitting from the staff, they had noticed that intruders had approached the vicinity of the nest.

However, Clea’s magic was already complete.

Before the Stingers could even get out of the nest, Clea’s magic was cast.

—Boom!

A blinding flash flickered, followed late by a loud roar of thunder.

The Stinger nest was on an incredibly large scale, but it wasn’t made of any particularly special material. It was a light and weak structure that could be torn apart even by human hands. It had no durability at all to withstand a magical attack.

Part of the nest hit directly by the lightning falling from the sky collapsed while burning.

Soon after, flashes flickered again, and thunderbolts poured down toward the nest several times in succession.

It was the large-scale destruction magic of a combat mage, which demonstrates its greatest true value in a situation like this.

Because of the continuous flashing, it was impossible to even keep one’s eyes open properly.

Rin wanted to watch the magic manifest, but since her eyes felt like they would fail if she kept watching, she eventually gave up and closed her eyes.

Waiting for the magic to end with her eyes closed, Rin slightly opened them after the thunder had completely ceased.

’Wow...’

The Stinger nest, caught in the lightning storm, was more than half destroyed.

The interior of the nest was clearly visible through the collapsed gaps. The Stingers that were trying to come out were nowhere to be seen.

Clea, who gave a proud smile while looking down at the half-smashed nest, discovered a conspicuous large space among the cracks in the nest.

’That must be it! Let’s go!’

Brushing the jewel that had turned to ash off her hand, Clea tapped Hamel’s shoulder.

Hamel, along with all the members, rode down the slope toward the nest.

Rin wasn’t keen on charging into a burning nest here and there, but since it felt like she’d be left alone outside at this rate, she hurriedly followed behind them.

’Hamel! Over there!’

Leader Hamel advanced forward while smashing weak walls at the very front.

Rin looked back at the wretched state of the nest that Clea’s magic had swept through.

She thought they would have to put up quite a big fight inside the nest, but only the charred remains of bees and larvae were left.

Mika would have been so upset if she saw this.

Rin thought so as she chased after the subjugation force.

＊　＊　＊

’My Lightning Storm...’

’Why is that yours?’

Mika, who was inside the barrier, muttered with an upset face.

Clea’s magic was clearly visible even to Ian and his group, who were fighting far away.

’Everyone, hold out just a bit longer! They must have entered the nest!’

They couldn’t know the progress over there, but they could roughly guess the situation by the magic from a moment ago.

A magic of that magnitude must have undoubtedly been used toward the nest.

As everyone expected, a flare went up from the nest’s direction after a short while.

Simultaneously, the movements of the Stingers they were fighting became strange.

The attacks of the Stingers, which had been actively mounting an offensive toward the intruders, gradually became sparse, and before long, the attacks stopped completely.

’These things... their movements are strange?’

’It seems they caught the Queen.’

There would have been nothing but larvae inside the nest, and the Queen didn’t have any particularly remarkable combat ability.

Once they had entered the nest, the rest would have been an easy task.

There was no need to send a signal to the other mercenary groups nearby.

The Stingers no longer pounced on the mercenaries but flew through the air before eventually scattering in all directions.