Just as Falmeyr had said, Seigrat and Ieskha began fighting even harder than before, slaughtering the smaller ants while holding their ground in anticipation of the larger ones. One large ant attacked Seigrat while the other two went after Ieskha.
The blunt-armed Hammer Hands ant beat its fists together as it made its way toward Ieskha, causing the earth to shake. It smashed a course through the field of ice as it approached, scattering massive chunks of ice like pebbles. There were other ants frozen within the ice, but Hammer Hands crushed them without hesitation, hurling the broken chunks straight toward Ieskha.
Despite her berserker rage, Ieskha used her war hammer to swat the chunks out of the air with perfect precision. While she was dealing with the ice missiles, however, Scythe Claws saw its chance. It swung for Ieskha’s neck.
“You always were terrible at seizing an opening, Fitz!” Ieskha said, admonishing her old friend.
Despite her words, Ieskha only just managed to dodge the bladed arm by a hair’s breadth. The slightest moment of distraction would be enough now for her to lose her head. However, she was still able to counter with her own attack. The fettering ice surged, enveloping Hammer Hands in the blink of an eye.
It was only temporary. The massive ant creature was able to crack the ice and shake off its restraints simply by straining forward. But that was time enough for Ieskha. In the brief few seconds that she was able to focus on Scythe Claws, she crushed it completely with her war hammer.
“Is that all you can do—?!”
Ieskha’s momentum sent her collapsing into the monster, but its blades never reached her. A blinding rage consumed her. Rage at her old friend for not being stronger. Rage at herself for killing this weak creature that had once been Fitz. And rage at every last person who had had any hand at all in creating this damn situation.
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“You’re next, Gedhalt!!”
✦ ✦ ✦
Meanwhile, the grasshopper-like Long Legs set its sights on Seigrat. In the next moment it was there, hurtling itself toward Seigrat at hyper-speed. Seigrat managed to block its kick with his long spear, leaving the soldiers up on the wall to deal with the airman ants flying overhead.
Long Legs’ agility was off the charts. Its powerful legs left huge divots in the ground each time it jumped into the air. To anyone watching from the outside, it probably appeared as if the ground were caving in out of nowhere as the ant creature repeatedly disappeared and reappeared instantly, always mid-kick.
Long Legs’ kicks broke the speed of sound, creating powerful booms with each and every strike. The surrounding infantry ants caught in the blasts were hurled aside and blown into pieces.
Seigrat, however, had faith in his own reaction speed and strength. He blocked the repeated kicks from the creature’s powerful legs with his long spear, countering in the short moments available before the monster pulled away again.
Long Legs was soon missing its arms, which had been lopped off by Seigrat’s spear, but it had avoided any hits to its legs so far. And its legs were all it needed.
“I guess you can do more than just run fast after all, Dhatt!” Seigrat said, addressing his old friend. “But where’s Mia? She always was shy. Is she hiding again?”
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“It…looks like they’re going to be all right after all.”
Although the fight looked grueling, Seigrat and Ieskha were getting the better of the larger ants. Homura didn’t want to be overly optimistic, but she could see signs of victory on the horizon.
Just when it looked as if Seigrat was about to finish off his foe, he suddenly began behaving strangely. He was swinging his spear repeatedly at open space, though nothing was there.
Homura peered closer, catching brief glimpses of some sort of distortion in the air around Seigrat. Was there some sort of magic at play?
Homura wasn’t sure what was happening, but despite this strange behavior, Seigrat was still managing to score hits against the giant, long-legged ant. With Falmeyr’s support, Seigrat and Ieskha were sure to win.
But Homura’s hopes were short-lived. The sound of something striking the stone behind her reached her ears. She turned to look, only to be confronted by the sight of the holy spear lying on the ground and Lady Falmeyr standing there, stiff as a board.
“L…Lady Falmeyr…?”
As if in response to Homura’s voice, Falmeyr suddenly collapsed to the ground.
“Falmeyr!”
As Homura raced to her side, a spurt of black blood escaped the holy woman’s lips. Psycho hurried over and quickly began examining Falmeyr. Homura took a step back. There was nothing she could do right now. The howling of the monsters seemed to ring louder in her ears.
In a panic, Homura glanced past the city walls. Seigrat and Ieskha had fallen to their knees. Psycho lifted her head, turned to Homura, and spoke.
“The worst has just happened,” she said.