It was good news, but Kaede's attention was already directed elsewhere.
He unequipped the cursed sword, letting it float beside him so he could move normally.
He approached the dead Super Major and called out, "Dame… How?..."
It was such a mystery how the dame managed to get behind the monster undetected and even stab its tube heart when it was busy duking it out with Kaede.
"Ah… Forgive me, your highness. It looked like you had trouble dealing with the monster, so I helped a little." She said as she retrieved the black sword from the Super Ant's stomach.
"No, I mean. How did you get there? I didn't even see you."
"Both you and this ant seemed to be too focused on your fight, your highness." She nonchalantly explained, lightly flicking the sword to remove gore.
Kaede watched her in silence, 'Could the Dame possibly be a former assassin?'
He shivered at the thought, but he reminded himself that Nora was an ally and a reliable one at that.
Maybe she sensed the Prince's unease as she said, "Don't worry, your highness. I shall not bite the hand that feeds me."
When her gaze swept the field, Kaede followed suit.
The war was coming to an end. The humans suffered fifty-five casualties, most of whom were untagged by the Rally Skill, but their deaths brought victory against two battalions of ants. It was a very fair trade-off yet Mikael could not help but feel bitter.
'Oh, my precious karma points…'
As the last of her monster army fell, the ant queen radiated a thick and dark miasma. The Queen seethed with uncontrollable rage.
She faced off against a hundred and twenty humans but the queen did not try to escape. Instead, she stretched out her large iridescent wings and flapped.
Her fluttering wings generated a dark gale that cut the humans' skin like knives.
Stronger.
And stronger!
Until the whirlwind whisked the humans away.
"P..ESKY…HUM.ANS…GO..A..WAY!!!!!"
Mikael heard the Queen bellow telepathically. Her thoughts were so vile and murderous that it felt like a mental attack and Kaede had to hold his head due to the migraine.
"I..A..M QUE..EN! AS LO..NG…A..S…I….AM ALIVE… THE.. COLON..Y SHALL PER.SIST!"
The Queen's instinct for self-preservation made Kaede shudder. The monster was right. No matter how many of her children they kill, as long as she survives, a new generation of ants will take their place and establish a new colony.
'We can't let her live. No matter what, the Ant Queen MUST die today!' The souls inside Kaede reached the same conclusion.
The queen continued to beat her wings, creating a dome of ferocious black storm with herself at its center.
"Sir Finn! The wind is too strong! We can't approach!" the remaining members shouted over the roaring tempest.
The Queen, like a slow starting engine, finished her warm-up and increased the speed at which she beat her wings.
Slowly, the wind dome extended its radius while its strength reminded Mikael of a blender.
' No… this is impossible… if we enter that…' A horrifying thought crossed the people's minds, 'We will be shredded into minced meat!'
The people backed away in fear.
Even Finn was at a loss, 'What do we do? Our spells won't reach and it's impossible for the melee fighters to withstand the gale…'
"If only we can cut off her wings…" Sir Finn murmured.
As the members wallowed in regret, watching the windy fortress inch close, their prince spoke.
"Sir Finn, if I manage to break her wings…" Kaede's eyes glinted sharply, looking squarely at Finn, "Can we win?"
Finn shivered in delight despite the dire situation. He was obsessed with this side of the prince. The side that was full of surprises. His unpredictability stoked Finn's curiosity but he stifled his emotions as he replied,
"I can't say for sure, Sir Deon… BUT we will at least have a chance."
Kaede nodded at his response.
A chance, albeit a very slim one-- That was all Kaede needed to act.
'There are only 23 minutes left of the body reinforcement. We have to finish this before the time's up!' he thought as he equipped Nostalgia and moved.
<Skill: Teleport Lvl. 1 is activated>
Kaede entered the storm. He braved the harsh winds that cut his body like sharp daggers.
The queen looked at him and telepathically said, 'YOU!!! Yo..u.. shall… pay.. fo.r…kill..ing… my gen..eral. anno.ying…hum..an!'
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to reunite you with your children in the underworld, B*tch."
Kaede landed on the Queen's wide back and repeatedly stabbed her left forewing joint.
Ping!
<System Notification: Target Set for Item Skill: Nostos>
<Item Skill: Nostos is activated>
<Skill: Stab Lvl. 1 is activated>
The queen seemingly realized Kaede's plan as she shook her body like a wet dog.
Kaede felt like he was riding a mechanical bull that was set at the highest difficulty and he could only thank his good luck for having such a convenient item skill otherwise, he would've fallen off the queen's rear.
The sword persistently hammered the wing joint until it broke.
CRACK!!
As soon as her wing fell limp, the wind dome's strength noticeably weakened.
But the Queen had four wings and it took Kaede a full 10 minutes to detach one.
'Sh*t! only 13 minutes left.' He furrowed his eyebrows in desperation.
Then he heard Sir Finn scream from afar.
"JUST WRECK HER WINGS!!"
Kaede cocked his head in confusion, 'Wreck the wings? But I am already doing that…' he trailed off when a sudden realization hit him.
'Shoot! Why didn't I think of that?!'
There was no need for him to detach it all. He just needed to ruin them enough not to catch wind.
'Like a ship's sail!'
Kaede immediately unequipped Nostalgia.
<Skill: Psychokinesis Lvl. 2 is activated.>
He mentally sent the cursed sword toward the iridescent glassy wings. unlike the rest of her armored body, the Queen's wings broke much more easily.
He tore them apart, punched holes in them, and sliced them as fast as he could.
When the wind died down to a bearable degree, Sir Finn led the members onward and surrounded the Queen.