Wall of Fire

The ant's 6 legs moved quickly as it approached the blond-haired Neia. Quickly, the beast lunged, snapping its pincher shut in an attempt to dismember its prey.

The massive ant, measuring about 150 centimeters from its tarsi to the tip of its antenna, was impaled by a large stone spike that rose from below it. The target of its attack, having chanted “"Impale!”", quickly shifted their thoughts.

All monsters have at least a single magical ability, similar to Pneuma. The accordion deer or the mimic monkeys are examples of this… But these ants haven't shown any obvious signs…

The magic used by monsters and those used by the ‘intelligent’ races were completely different. This was the result of the difference in origins of the abilities. Whereas ‘Magic’ used the mana in the environment and Pneuma mixed the mana with one’s own soul, the magic that monsters used derived from a different source.

The Darkness, Madness, Curse, Fear, Evil. No matter what name one used, it all referred to the same thing. On the central continents, the concept was referred to as the Corruption.

I picked up that book in Lyscynal, ‘The First Magus, Nia’. It told the tale of how the origin of the Corruption was defeated by the first of the magus, Nia. She teamed up with a certain god and removed the Corruptions' origin, stopping its spread across the world… She lost her life in the process; however, the corruption that had already infected the world remained. Since that time, 1000 years ago, it's been the goal of all Magus to rid this world of its remaining corruption.

Though who knows if that's true, it’s just a fairy tale.

Two more ants found themselves impaled by spikes as they approached them.

Returning to what I was thinking about before, the magic of these ants isn’t obvious at first; however, I think it's-

Dodging one ant, another immediately tried to attack the spot where Neia had landed. This double team attack seemed to spell the end; however, a blast of fire hit the attacking ant, reducing it to a burnt corpse. The attack had been fired by Locke Baldr, who had collected a massive pile of ants in front of him.

Gah… Their magic is some type of hivemind, allowing them to work together, even with little intelligence. I should pay more attention to what's happening, but I feel like if I do, il throw up.

The ancient city made up of Gothic buildings had become a battlefield, with ant monsters crawling on every surface, attempting to attack the four intruders.

Locke used the fire from the large burning bonfire at the center of the square as the basis of his spell, allowing his attacks to deal effective damage to the ants.

The rule of thumb when facing monsters was to use ‘physical magic’, which included the schools of Wind, Earth, and Water. Against monsters, the Metaphysical schools of Light, Dark, and Force were not as effective unless combined with other elements. The outlier was Fire magic, which found itself in both groups. It could be either metaphysical or physical, and was the hardest to use against corrupted beings. However, to someone known as the strongest hunter, this was no problem.

FFFFSHT

Fire spread across the horde of ants like an ocean wave, burning those closest to ash and the rest into corpses.

On the other side, two girls fought against the ants and two monkeys. One of the apes repeated “Die!” while the other repeated “Follow!”. The two flung their arms around wildly at the raven-haired girl in an extravagant dress.

“These Baboons have become tiresome!” Nerissa shouted, escaping the onslaught of the monkeys, which only seemed to target her.

“Then deal with them! Don’t treat me like your attendant!” Eris responds, firing several drills made of stone towards a group of ants.

“Tch, that was not my intention!” Nerissa replies, reaching for the locket hanging from her neck. “Hear mine call, oh sirens song! Drown these apes!”

The locket shakes as two blobs of water seep out, slowly morphing into the shape of a woman. These two fairies of aqua fly towards the two apes, transforming into thin veils over their faces.

“Ra, gah!” The monkeys call out, attempting to tear off the face masks of water. However, for every bit of water that falls to the ground, their own tears replace it.

This was the Pneuma of the Orlaith family, the ability to seal spirits into objects. Thai ability effectively allowed the family to artificially make Clewes, objects of power that could otherwise only form naturally.

“Ha!” The two apes let out their last breaths as they slumped to the ground. The two blobs of water returning to the locket.

The battle continued similarly for a time, ants being torn apart or burnt, only to be replaced.

If nothing changes, we won't- Neia thinks as they spot something in the distance. When they arrived in the city, on the opposite wall from the door they entered from, was a path leading downwards. This seemed to be the objective. However, Neia had just spotted an unusually round hole on the right wall, behind the angular buildings.

“Hey! There's another path!” Neia calls out.

Locke turns and looks in the same direction, spotting the path.

“I'll go down that path!” Neia continues. “ That may be the actual path forward.”

“I agree.” Moving closer to Neia, Locke nods. “However, we still need to consider the path forward. I can’t allow you to take any risks.”

“If we continue like this, we’ll tire ourselves and be defeated long before help arrives. We need to find a way to wipe out these monsters' ranks.”

Locke thought for a moment before responding, “It’s most likely a person controlling them. If that's the case, only I could put up a fight.”

“I agree with you there, but I don’t think it's that simple.” Neia points down the main path, “There's most likely the ‘queen ant’, maybe the boss, who controls these ants… It’s too many for one person to control, plus… They're too ant-like. The beast tamer most likely only controls her.”

“... You're right… We need to wipe out that queen ant, then these monsters will become disorganized.”

“You're the only one strong enough to do something like that. If I find the boss, I’ll lead it back to you…” Neia continues, “If I run into any of ‘them’, I’ll run immediately.”

“That is mine opinion as well.” Nerissa agreed, her and Eris returning to the group.

“...” Locke thinks with a disgruntled expression. “Fine, but immediately run if you encounter any trouble. If you find Hel- The others, free them and bring them back. These two and I will go down the main path.”

“Yes, sir!” The three replied.

“Then I’ll give us a path forward.”

Locke turns and looks to the massive flame, which has shrunk a little since they arrived.

"“Great fire rises into a wall to separate life and death,””

A void of no single color appeared before him. His mind instantly understood that he would forget this world. However, she continued despite this fact.

The world of indescribable shade, instantly dyed red, filling with his desire.

“I want-”

““Ankhiale!””

BOOOM!

The fire from the great flame instantly shot out. From the largest entrance, to the group, then to the smaller path, flames rose from floor to ceiling.

“Wha!?”

The fire didn’t burn them as it reduced the ants into piles of ash and smoke. The ants around the wall found their carapace melting onto their bodies.

The great wall of fire continued for a minute before fizzling out.

At this cue, the three prospective students and the prospective teacher run. Nerissa and Eris continued down the larger path, with Locke following behind. Neia runs toward the smaller path, passing through the Gothic streets.

The three reach the mouth of the pathway, ants flooding behind them.

“Tch!” Suddenly, Locke is stopped by a figure. Their body is covered in gray fur, their face canine-esque. “Go ahead!”

“Heh, don’t think you’ll be catching up!” The strongest adventurer of Lycynal, Anzo Bernard, blocks his path.

The two girls, without looking back, continue down into the dungeon.