Chapter 39: Battle of a Hundred
"Bai Ye, you're way too relaxed. We're down here fighting for our lives, and you're up there eating something or other."
Mizusaki wasn't accusing him; she was joking.
"H-Hello... I'm a temp worker."
A slightly immature female voice came through, sounding like a soft-spoken girl.
"Little sister, don't be shy. Big sister's got your back. That sniper in the distance is Night of the Beheading, the deep-voiced one is Old Smoke, and the one who talks like he's trying to piss people off is Elementalist Dust. They're all very 'united' 'teammates.'"
Mizusaki started teasing this girl who had appeared from who knows where.
This girl wasn't a powerhouse. She was a healer that Old Smoke had borrowed from a medium-sized adventure group—a 'busty' healer. Of course, it wasn't free; the payment was a piece of ant king heart three centimeters in diameter. Whether it would actually be delivered was anyone's guess. In this situation, Old Smoke wouldn't sign a contract with them.
When adventure groups faced this kind of loot-grabbing mission, there were naturally reduction mechanisms. Otherwise, even a whole ant king heart wouldn't be enough to split among a group of dozens of people, which would be ridiculous.
Therefore, as long as they obtained a large enough heart fragment, that medium-sized adventure group could all complete their main missions with at least the lowest rating.
At the moment, the healer girl was hiding in a dirt pit, surrounded by over a dozen teammates for protection. Even so, she didn't feel safe. A thick sense of malice seemed to be emanating from that wireless earpiece.
Compared to Su Xiao and the others' cooperation, the teamwork within her own adventure group was far too harmonious—no comparison at all.
"Um..."
The healer girl spoke weakly.
"Mizusaki, stop wasting time. Attack the palace now."
Su Xiao's voice made the healer girl shrink her neck in fright. Her teammates around her looked at her with confusion, which made her feel a bit more at ease. She suddenly had a thought: having teammates for protection was really nice. Without them, any one of those people could use her until she died.
"Got it, got it. I'm summoning my 'darling son.'"
Mizusaki's red lips curled up. She seemed like a melee fighter, but that wasn't actually the case.
Swoosh!
A piercing sound of air being torn came from high above. A massive blue figure was falling from the sky, heading straight for the palace.
Boom!
The blue figure landed like a meteor, sending a pulse of freezing cold spreading outward. The entire palace was smashed into a crater thirty meters wide.
"Roar!!"
A roar came from within the palace, and bone-chilling cold spread, freezing the entire structure solid.
"My 'darling son' is pretty strong, right?"
A trident-shaped mark appeared on Mizusaki's forehead. She had a dual development: melee combat plus summoning.
"Dark Heaven: Devour."
A large mass of dark elemental energy appeared in Dust's hands. He slowly clenched his fists, and the dark element ball shrank smaller and smaller until it was only the size of a marble.
Dust tapped his finger on the dark element ball. The ball suddenly vanished and reappeared above the palace.
"Maximum output."
The veins on Dust's face bulged, and his robe fluttered without any wind.
Rumble...
Suction force came from above. Gravel on the ground floated up. The frozen palace cracked all over, then shattered. Building debris drifted upward, pulled toward that dark element ball.
At this moment, over a hundred contractors were gathered around the palace courtyard. They didn't have the strength to fight the ant king, but leaving was out of the question, so they were all hanging around nearby. Those with ranged abilities also attacked the ant king.
Dust, Mizusaki, and Old Smoke all wore expressions of having seen it all before. They had experienced similar situations many times.
Su Xiao was different. Because of his hunting missions, his main tasks often differed from other contractors, so this was his first time seeing such a scene.
Once the ant king died, these contractors would swarm in, throwing out all kinds of skills. Some would grab for treasure chests, others for the ant king's heart. The scene would definitely be lively.
A large group of contractors stood on the courtyard walls. Some were staring blankly at the rapidly expanding stone sphere in the sky.
"Is that... a Planetary Devastation??"
A somewhat laid-back contractor swallowed hard. He hadn't experienced the Naruto world, so he had only seen this kind of scene on a screen. Now that it was happening before his eyes, the impact on him was immense.
Dust's move wasn't actually Planetary Devastation, but the inspiration came from it.
The entire palace was shattered. Inside the ruins, two figures stood facing each other.
"This isn't what we agreed on. You attacked early."
The ant king crossed its arms. Its skin was a light green, and it wore a 'dome-shaped helmet.' In reality, this was a natural carapace it was born with, used to protect its head—not a helmet.
The ant king's body structure was very similar to a human's, except for its cylindrical tail. This tail was unlike any creature's, with a tip that looked just like a needle.
Purple carapace covered parts of the ant king's arms and legs. This form was like a human wearing light armor.
"I can't command them."
Chairman Netero leaped backward. With so many humans around, he wouldn't fight the ant king alone.
"Pouf and Pitou are already dead? I thought they were decent."
The ant king's voice was calm, showing no emotional fluctuation over the deaths of its two loyal guards.
"Humans really are a lowly species. I originally thought of using humans to govern humans, but now that idea seems absurd."
The ant king's gaze turned to the stone sphere in the sky. It flicked its tail, and an afterimage appeared. A basketball-sized piece of rubble was sent flying.
Swoosh!
A piercing sound cut through the air. With a thunderous boom, the hundred-meter-wide stone sphere was pierced through. Cracks rapidly spread, and the sphere shattered.
"I thought it was a troublesome move, so I used full force. A bit of a miscalculation."
The ant king muttered as footsteps approached.
"Don't worry about it. That was just clearing the terrain."
Mizusaki walked into the palace ruins. Old Smoke and Dust flanked her on either side. Across from them was the chairman. The three surrounded the ant king, with Dust farther away, and Su Xiao the farthest.
"Clearing the terrain? So you have ranged attack methods."
The ant king scanned its surroundings and quickly noticed a watchtower in the distance.
On the watchtower, Su Xiao aimed his crosshairs at Mizusaki. Mizusaki's mouth twitched.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't point that thing at me. It's giving me goosebumps. Don't mind my earlier mistake. I'll block the ant king."
Mizusaki's expression was a bit unnatural. Being aimed at by the Duke of Annihilation would cause that reaction in anyone.
Was Mizusaki's earlier move really a mistake? Only a three-year-old would believe that.
A frost giant ten meters tall stood behind Mizusaki. Its entire body was made of ice, continuously releasing cold air.
Su Xiao realigned his crosshairs on the ant king. The situation now was that someone needed to step forward and test the ant king's strength.
Su Xiao and Dust absolutely couldn't do that. Su Xiao was about 800 meters from the ant king, Dust about 300 meters. As for Old Smoke and Mizusaki, those two were unreliable too. The only candidate was Chairman Netero.