In a World of Reversed Chastity, I Strive to Become an Honorable Male Knight, but Lustful Women Keep Targeting My Body - 308

Chapter 308: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Ant Army

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Army ants are a special kind of wandering ant that do not maintain a permanent nest. They form massive colonies of hundreds of thousands, sometimes even over a million individuals, and march across the land while devouring any prey in their path. They are truly terrifying insects. Even large carnivores cannot stand against the overwhelming violence of their numbers, and they are sometimes called the apex of the food chain. …Well, in reality, they do have natural enemies such as antlions.

Apparently, the enemy were demi-humans descended from such fearsome creatures. I almost clutched my head and cursed the Pole Star on impulse, but lamenting wouldn’t improve the situation at all. For now, I committed the reserve forces and proceeded with preparations for interception. …In any case, we had a large number of allies, so at least our reserves were plentiful. That was something to be grateful for. The problem was that the battlefield was narrow, making it difficult to take advantage of our numerical superiority.

“Wah…!”

Peering through my telescope, I let out a strange sound. The enemy ant army had already closed to a distance where they could be seen with the naked eye. With the telescope, I could clearly make out their bizarre appearance. Even though they were called ant insect-men, in terms of appearance they were much closer to ordinary humans than something like spider insect-women, the Arachne. The differences were that they had two pairs of arms, four in total, and a part like an ant’s abdomen attached at their waist like a tail.

But above all, what was bizarre was their appearance. Of their four arms, the two on the left each held a large round shield, making two in total, while the two on the right held a single short spear. They wore dark blue cloaks, helmets, gauntlets, and greaves. All of their armor was made from a strange, black-glossy material. …Up to that point, it was fine. That much was fine, but…

“They’re perverts…!”

Sonia, who was looking through a telescope beside me, let out that remark. I completely agreed. The ones the elves called “ants” had their limbs and heads properly protected, yet they wore no cuirass. No, more than that, they wore no clothing at all. Their brown skin was fully exposed, and of course, their breasts were completely bare. And there were hundreds of them, marching in perfect formation while beating war drums. It was unmistakably an army of perverts. A seriously dangerous group. I absolutely did not want to get close to them.

“No, that’s Sparta. However you look at it, that’s Sparta. Seriously… you’ve got to be kidding me…”

However, what shocked me was not their perversion. It was because I recognized a group that fought in such attire from knowledge of my previous life. Greek heavy infantry, commonly known as the phalanx. And with a military outfit stripped down this thoroughly, I couldn’t help but think of the famous Spartan army. Yes, Sparta. The military state said to have faced a Persian army of a million soldiers, though estimates vary, with only three hundred men at the Battle of Thermopylae. A nation of extreme militarism. I admired them greatly, but if you asked whether I wanted to fight them, the answer was absolutely no. They were far too terrifying.

“Hmm, hmm, hmm…”

Well, of course, this was another world. They must have been nothing more than unrelated barbarian tribes from the frontier. Even so, just by looking at that strange military attire, I could tell they were not enemies to be taken lightly.

That avant-garde style of forgoing a cuirass was surely not just for show. That kind of heavy infantry fought in tightly packed formations. One’s own body was protected by the shield of the comrade beside them. And in turn, one protected another comrade with one’s own shield. That was why they did not require protection for the torso. That must have been the reasoning.

I understood it in theory, but to truly discard all armor like that was madness. If they were an army built on armchair theory without real combat experience, that would be one thing, but this was the war-torn land of Liseben. There was no way they hadn’t seen real combat. In other words, it could be inferred that they possessed the level of training to fight effectively even in that indecent style. …What a pain.

“So that’s it. That’s what you call ‘ants’?”

“Indeed. Those ones are called the Kingdom of Adan. Once hailed as a worthy rival to Elfenia, a nation of warriors… These are its remnants.”

With eyes tinged with nostalgia, Lady Dalaiya looked toward the pervert army. …Elfenia competed for supremacy with something like that? The old Liseben wasn’t just chaotic, it was beyond that. Whoever won would just become our enemy.

“Even now, their ridiculous attire hasn’t changed. It’s been the same since I was just a common warrior.”

How many hundreds of years ago was that!? That indecent style was absurdly traditional.

“Do not let your guard down because of their appearance. The tight formation they form has both high defense and offense, making it extremely powerful. In a battle on flat ground, they are stronger than the same number of elves. …Though in the end, since this land is mostly forest, we elves were the ones who ultimately won.”

“Only an amateur would let their guard down after seeing that outfit…”

I groaned as I observed the enemy. They marched in tight ranks, locked together, holding their shields and spears at the ready. Despite being a group of several hundred, their footsteps were perfectly synchronized. Even the elite units of the royal army would struggle to maintain such flawless marching. …In other words, their level of training was insanely high.

“…Not yet, don’t fire yet!”

I shouted that toward the allied soldiers in the trenches. The distance between us was five hundred meters. It was within range for rifles, but still a bit far. Our ammunition reserves were also somewhat limited, so I wanted to conserve as much as possible. However, doing nothing wasn’t very interesting either. I ordered the Michael Collins to provide fire support. The rapid-fire guns roared, and explosive shells rained down on the pervert army.

At first, it was ranging fire. Naturally, I didn’t expect a direct hit in a single shot. The shells landed far off target, but the gunnery crew of the Michael Collins calmly continued their adjustments. Taking advantage of the rapid-fire nature of their guns, they quickly refined their aim, and before long, they were landing near hits.

“… ”

But the enemy showed no sign of disturbance whatsoever. They were only 57 mm shells, with power comparable to grenades, but even when they exploded nearby, the enemy did not break formation in the slightest. That kind of composure was far from ordinary. I glanced toward the south. On that front, the Vanka faction elves continued their aimless attacks as usual. To the south were the elves, to the north the so-called ants, the remnants of the Kingdom of Adan. And to our east was a great river…

Judging by the movements of the Vanka faction and the Adan remnants, it seemed they were aiming to cut off our retreat. As expected, the two sides appeared to be allied. They were coordinating their movements as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“The bombardment hit!”

At the lookout’s voice, I turned my gaze back to the northern front. A direct hit from a 57 mm shell had blown several ant soldiers away. Cheers rose from our side.

…But even then, the ants showed no disturbance. Without slowing their marching speed at all, soldiers from the rear stepped forward to fill the gaps in the line. They continued advancing toward us, trampling over their fallen comrades. Even the rhythm of the war drums, beaten at regular intervals, did not falter. It was thorough to an extreme. Honestly, it was terrifying. They felt like a mechanical army, completely devoid of emotion.

“…Riflemen, begin firing! Take them down from out of range!”

I had no desire to engage in close combat with such a dangerous enemy. When I gave the order through a megaphone, the riflemen on the northern line opened fire all at once. Thick white smoke engulfed the trenches.

The distance between us was three hundred meters, well within effective range for rifles. The lead balls rained down accurately onto the densely packed ant soldiers. …But not a single one fell. The bullets, which should have had lethal power, were all deflected by their round shields and armor.

I almost slammed the telescope I was holding into the ground, but I held myself back through sheer will. A commander must not show panic. Putting on a face as if to say “Well, not bad,” I glanced at Karina beside me.

She was trembling, her face pale blue. She looked like she might wet herself at any moment. 

…Seeing someone even more shaken than yourself can actually calm your nerves.

Yeah, my fear had eased quite a bit. As expected of Karina, she performed exactly as I had hoped. Once the battle was over, I’d pat her head as much as she wanted.

“So those shields and armor have defensive power on par with Galea’s magic armor, Enchanted Armor…!”

Sonia muttered bitterly. …What was truly terrifying was not the performance of their equipment. Despite their forward-thinking style of not protecting their torsos at all, not a single bullet had struck there. Their defense came from the way they locked shields together, protecting each other completely.

Such a fighting style could not exist without incredible courage and, above all, absolute trust in one’s comrades. It was truly the Spartan style. Seriously, give me a break. Why were soldiers of this level, and in battalion-scale numbers no less, just naturally appearing out of the wilderness? If this were a game, I would have immediately turned it off and shouted, “I’m never playing this garbage game again!”

“… ”

Cold sweat ran down my forehead. I thought I was used to barbarians. But that had been arrogance. I should have realized. There was no way the native inhabitants of a land where berserker elves had rampaged since ancient times could be normal. The ones that were strange weren’t the elves. Liseben itself was a mad land. A true land of carnage. What kind of garbage territory had that damned Duchess Olean forced on me!? If she weren’t already dead, I would have stormed her lands to complain!

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