Ch . 139 Mysterious Underground Passage

"GiJiJii!" "GiJiJiJiJiJiJii!!"

I approached the ball rabbit with my mouth open while the huge centipede was crying behind me .

Look, it may be dangerous so get inside . But the ball rabbit shakes its head .

「Behind, walking」

You'd rather walk behind then be thrown back into my mouth?

…If that's okay with you then . Fortunately the back was closed by the huge centipede, so I don't need to worry about anything coming in . If I had them in my mouth then I will be unable to use any form of breath attacks, so this may be for the better .

Should I have the ball rabbit carry Nina?

"guuga!"

I lightly voice out and instruct the ball rabbit to carry Nina . I thought that it might alarm any monsters hidden in the passage, but it was a wasted concern as the huge centipede screeches . The other side is probably already well alerted .

I catch something moving beyond the corner of this passage with [[Presence Sense]] . But because of the thick walls the sign is weak, but there's is definitely something moving towards here .

It's hard to think that there are humans in the middle of such a desert .

Although, there could be ruins here, there is a high possibility that it was converted to a den for monsters .

The huge centipede which is the biggest threat in this desert is unable to pass through here, so this is a good place for monsters to make their home .

The ball rabbit follows my instructions, lifts Nina and places her on his head with its dexterous ears . It tried to move forward but Nina's legs were dragged across the ground . That…I wonder if it can make due somehow .

Did the ball rabbit know what I was thinking, it jumps a little and shifts Nina up a little more with a "Pefuto" . I guess it's dragging her head this time . The ball rabbit set Nina down and sucked in air as if taking a drink . For a moment the body of the ball rabbit was puffier, but after the sound of a gulp, the ball rabbit returned to its original shape as if nothing happened .

Err…This is, yeah .

I couldn't understand what happened for a second there so I didn't respond, but I know it didn't do that because it was hungry . I think it just imitated my mouth from the time I was carrying it . That reminds me that the ball rabbit had the skill [[Internal Body Storage]] . This is just making me more anxious .

"Pefu!"

Maybe due to my impolite thoughts the ball rabbit has bulging eyes and inflated cheeks . Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, I know it's safe… . I know that you won't digest .

After checking that the huge centipede is still immobile in the back, I start to advance through the narrow passage . The ball rabbit follows behind me while dragging Nina .

Every step we take I feel signs of something approaching with [[Presence Sense]] . It doesn't seem to be that big . With that size, I hope it's not a terribly strong opponent . Being wary of this, I start walking along a little slower .

I wonder if they are also afraid of coming around the corner . Even I was avoiding going too fast so that I don't suddenly bump heads with whatever is coming, as I can't really tell what it is .

We share a mutual interest .

I go through the straight passageway and make a turn at the corner . There I saw two big worms at the end of the passage .

I thought that it was one big body, but I guess due to the thick walls, [[Presence Sense]] didn't work too well .

They were two sizes smaller than me and their whole body was bright red . The size ratio could roughly be estimated as a medium sized dog compared to a human . They had eight short legs and the space between their chest and abdomen was extremely constricted .

No, this is an ant .

When I was running through the desert using [[Roll]], I feel like I had seen it in the distance .

Race: Red Ogre Ant

State: Normal

Lv: 29/55

HP: 246/246

MP: 78/78

ATK: 213

DEF: 226

Mana: 48

Speed: 187

Rank: C

Characteristic Skill:

[[Soil Attribute: Lv–]] [[Sociability: Lv–]]

[[Pheromone: Lv–]] [[Red Sand: Lv–]]

Resistant Skill:

[[Physical Resistance: Lv2]]

Normal Skill:

[[Bite: Lv4]] [[Dig: Lv6]] [[Clay: Lv2]]

[[Clay Gun: Lv3]] [[Self-Regeneration: Lv3]]

Title Skill:

[[Soldier Ant: Lv6]]

These guys stats are unreasonably strong . Its attack and defense are fine, but its speed is stupidly high for being at C rank .

It's completely specialized in close combat . Although it may be several steps below me, it's still not alright with there being two of them .

Even a single one would be troublesome .

I don't see any skills that I should particularly watch out for, and I also hardly see any resistance skills . Just with their status alone however, and there being two of them, it makes it more troublesome than facing the large slug .

Besides, since the ball rabbit is behind me I have to be careful not to let either of them get by me .

I don't really want to fight them… .

Maybe they aren't hostile?

Me and the two red ants stop with our faces facing each other .

"kucha, kucha!" "kucha! kucha!"

When the red ants saw me they let out a shrill voice . That noise, it's like they are rubbing their teeth together .

The huge centipede was the same . I'm sure now that I'm not very confident .

「Begone, I tell you」

The ball rabbit calls out from behind .

Go home, and don't look back .

You heard the centipedes cries, so isn't it already decided what we will do?

"Gurua"

Ball rabbit, please tell them that it's impossible because there's a huge centipede blocking the way .

I'll leave it to my translator to ask .

「You understand, begone, go die」

I see, did you just tell it to die?

There won't be any room for negotiations after this .

"Kucha!" "Kucha, kucha!"

Both red ants move towards me at the same time right after the ball rabbit finishes translating .

Ah dammit! Guess I have to this after all!