I was accidentally injured by God and I just want to be an ordinary person

"Hmm... is that so? Well, this is voluntary anyway. If you want to leave, I can't force you to stay."

Although the adventurer looked quite disappointed, he did not do anything excessive.

"You're not going to steal my magic core? Isn't it past the safe time now?"

"Snatching a young girl's magic core is unacceptable to a gentleman, so please leave first, young lady."

Suppressing his disappointed expression, the Godman adventurer smiled and gestured to Lotte, appearing to have no ill intentions at all.

"What a strange person. Goodbye then."

"It should be my honor to be able to speak with such a beautiful lady."

After saying these farewell words, the God-man adventurer turned around and began to command the adventurers holding various weapons to prepare the defense line. All kinds of instructions were accurately transmitted from his mouth to the adventurers' ears.

With such affinity, it is natural that he would take on the position of command. Of course, it is still a little worse than Miss Ella.

After forming this conclusion in her mind, Lotte began to slowly retreat into the cave towards the group of adventurers who were on the move. The reason she didn't leave immediately was because she wanted to know how long these adventurers could hold out given their strength, so that she could have a reference.

Amidst the tense and expectant gazes, the white ant swarm finally arrived within three hundred yards of the crowd, a distance that could be reached by ordinary bows and arrows.

"put!"

The shout of the young man from the Divine Man tribe prompted the archers to shoot arrows with kerosene on their tips. The sound of metal clashing was heard - but there was no effect. The tough shells of the soldier ants were not affected by this level of attack. The attacked soldier ants were like monsters in the game that had attracted hatred, and their forward speed suddenly increased.

Perhaps they had anticipated this outcome, so the young men and adventurers of the Divine Tribe did not show any disappointment and began their next move.

“■▽○——‘Collapse’.”

The earth magic cast by the young man from the God-man tribe and several other magicians caused the ground to suddenly collapse to a depth of about two meters.

This should be a very good effect. The soldier ants that fall into the trench first will be trampled to death by the soldier ants that fall into the trench later.

Thinking of this, Lotte's pace of retreating became a little faster - the adventurer from the God-man race just now did not lie to her, and the cold and damp smell unique to the second floor came from the cave.

Unfortunately, things did not go as smoothly as expected.

Although the soldier ants on the ground were still moving at a speed equivalent to that of an adult running at full speed, the winged flying soldier ants seemed to be under some kind of command and no longer flapped their wings to fly towards the adventurers. Instead, before the ordinary soldier ants reached the trench, they stood up one after another and filled the trench like a drawbridge on a city gate.

"Impossible, how could this happen! Soldier ants are supposed to be unintelligent monsters—Hmm, don't worry. Throw the Explosion Fruit and prepare for close combat!"

No one noticed that the face of this young man from the Divine Race began to be covered with fine beads of sweat.

The soldier ants were still approaching, 200 yards, 150 yards, 100 yards...

Finally, the maximum throwing distance was reached.

"put!"

Countless adventurers struggled to throw the explosive fruits. Those standing here were adventurers who had passed the first round of screening. Even if they could not be called elites, they could be said to be veterans among adventurers. In addition, they had excellent commanders worthy of their trust, so fear did not appear on their faces.

Bang, bang——

Each round of throwing explosive fruits would cause countless dust to fly, and the speed of the soldier ants would also decrease a bit. Some of them were even blown directly into the air because of their poor positioning.

The situation had improved, and the God-man adventurer in charge nodded in agreement.

"Well, keep throwing. Prepare for the next round of magic."

"B-but we don't have enough Explosion Fruits anymore!"

A slightly panicked voice came from the defense line.

"What? Quick! Magic caster, next round of magic!"

"Come on, it's too late! It's less than 20 yards away!"

"Where are the warriors? The shield warriors will be the main force, and the sword warriors and spear warriors will assist the shield warriors in defense!"

clang clang.

Large metal shields blocked the wooden chevaux de frise. Although the styles were different, it could be seen that each shield was carefully selected equipment.

Even though the earth-shaking soldier ants continued their march, the adventurers' panicked hearts calmed slightly as their vision was blocked by the shields.

"call--"

After taking a long breath, the young man from the God-man tribe raised his staff with both hands, ready to chant offensive magic focused on killing power. Then, the tide of soldier ants finally arrived in front of the defense line.

The task of buying time depends on you.

After repeating this sentence silently in his mind, the first soldier ant crashed into the shield.

"Crack——"

No one, including Ruthie in the cave, had anticipated that the seemingly well-prepared adventurer defenses would be so easily overwhelmed by the tide of soldier ants.

Chapter 54: The true identity of the black-clad adventurer?

"Tsk, is that the Ant King's fanatical aura?"

Turning around and continuing to run deeper into the cave, Lotte smacked her lips.

At the moment when the shield wall formed by the adventurers was broken by the soldier ants, Luty saw through the gap that the soldier ants in the front were flashing with dark red light. Among all the combat units of the soldier ants, except the Ant King, none of them could use magic, so this light was definitely a skill cast by the Ant King.

As for the adventurers who were overwhelmed by the ant colony, when the ant colony broke through the defense line, they were sent away by the magic circle symbolizing teleportation magic that appeared under their feet, so those adventurers only suffered minor injuries at most.

"But this rampage is actually an indiscriminate attack?"

Although the soldier ants and the adventurers engaged in a battle, those weren't the only soldiers. Upon entering the second floor's entrance, Lotte saw other soldier ants circling the caverns and heading to the other side of the mountain. This meant the adventurers who had caused the riot had likely escaped the soldier ants' pursuit, and the lost soldier ants were now searching the entire maze for their enemy.

Could it be that black demon who did it? If it was him, he should be able to do it.

The more she thought about the actions of the black-clad adventurer, the more she felt that the adventurer was from the realm of heroes. If she still had a 3% chance of winning against the Ant King by keeping a distance, then facing that adventurer, no matter how she calculated in her mind, the end result would be that big black sword on her neck.

I hope he really just treats the maze activities as fun.

He turned back and aimed Hela at the top of the cave to launch an explosive bomb. Since the purpose was just to collapse the cave, there was no need for precise aiming.

Bang.

Gravel mixed with moist soil rolled down and piled up into a stone pestle that blocked most of the cave entrance.

Nodding with satisfaction, Luti continued to move towards the second floor.

After entering the cave, the tracking soldier ants seemed to have lost their unstoppable momentum, and the shaking of the earth and the tense atmosphere also dissipated. Although I don’t know what happened exactly afterwards, it is generally a good thing that they did not continue to catch up.

"But now things are going to be a little difficult..."

Murmuring softly, Luty tried to reduce the noise as much as possible and returned to her normal pace. In the quiet environment of the cave, any sound would alert other adventurers.

And because the third floor is occupied by soldier ants, it is very likely that all adventurers will be forced to gather on the first and second floors for hunting. In such a small environment, it is easy to encounter other adventurers, and this complex environment is... terrible for Hela.

Snapped--

Just as Lotte was about to switch weapons, something that looked like a purse appeared on the ground in front of her.

"Who?"

He jumped back a step in an instant, keeping his back against the rubble. Surrounded on three sides, the enemy could only attack from the front. With his current ability, he could hit the enemy with Hela in the first place even without precise aiming.

In the dim light in the cave, Luti glanced at the leather bag thrown on the ground. A few unusually smooth mineral-like crystals leaked out of the untied leather bag.

That is the magic core.

He immediately made a judgment in his mind. Although ores of various attributes also have this color, that strange glow is something only magic cores have.

"Take this. The magic cores inside should be enough to win the game."

It was still the voice that couldn't be distinguished between male and female. The demon adventurer who appeared in yesterday's competition and was wrapped in black walked out of the darkness. The black sword on his shoulder emitted a light that seemed to devour everything.

For some reason, Luti had a familiar feeling, and this familiarity made her put down the Hela she was holding.

"Don't you want a reward?"

When she said this, Ruthie couldn't help but smile bitterly.

I have already concluded in my heart that this is someone who has reached the realm of heroes, so it is normal that such a top-level person would not care about the rewards of the competition. Now I should ask why the other party wants to help me.

As expected, the black-clad adventurer, with only his eyes exposed, gave the expected answer.

"unnecessary."

Then the adventurer lowered the greatsword he was carrying and plunged it into the moist soil of the cave.

"You'd better get out of the maze now. The demons have begun gathering at the maze's entrances to block adventurers."

"Interception? Those demon adventurers we met yesterday were all frantically collecting magic cores, weren't they? What's behind their sudden unity?..."

The words she was about to ask for the reason were suddenly cut short. The wry smile on Lotte's face widened a little, and she completely gave up her guard and held her forehead with her hand.

"Is it also for Miss Ella? Miss Ella is the only one who can make the demons give up their personal interests."

"That's about it."

"You're a demon too, right? Why did you choose to help me?"

"Um--"

The black-clad adventurer froze for a moment, as if he had been asked some crucial question. Although only his eyes were exposed and his body seemed to be standing there motionless, Lotte still noticed the obvious pause in his breathing.

Coming back to his senses, the black-clad adventurer coughed.

"I just wanted to help you on a whim. There's no real purpose."

Seeing the man in black unconsciously shifting his gaze away from her, Lotte was certain of her thoughts. She leaned Hela against the wall of the cave, lifted the hem of her light green skirt with both hands, lowered her body slightly, smiled, and performed a noble etiquette to the adventurer in black.

"Is that really the case, Miss Kamisia?"

"Um?"

A feeling of "How is this possible?" emerged from the black-clad adventurer.

"Camisia? That's the name of the acting Demon King of the West, right?"

"Whether it's your strength or your usual posture of sticking your weapon into the ground, it's a symbol of Camisia-sama, right?"

"That's just a manifestation of my admiration for Camisia-sama."

Without directly questioning the black-clad adventurer's answer, Lotte spoke in a tone that sounded like she was talking to herself.

"Camisia-sama always leaves Miss Ella's side when the games begin. She says she's attending to government affairs, but she doesn't explain what she's doing. Furthermore, she even watches the games while doing them. While this is merely puzzling, considering the strength you displayed yesterday—you're at least at the level of a hero, right? There aren't many people like you, are you? Add to that the purple eyes that symbolize the demon race, and the options are even fewer."

"If someone in the Hero Realm can participate in the tournament, then there are only two possibilities. The first is that they're somehow hiding their abilities, and the second is that they're taking advantage of their position to participate. But neither of these two possibilities would make sense for ordinary adventurers. Someone who has reached the Hero Realm wouldn't participate in such a tournament. As for the second possibility, given the decisive measures Camisia-sama took against nobles who abused their power for personal gain, wouldn't they have done it if they knew they would be hanged, right?"

Lotte had her usual gentle smile on her face.

"So, considering Miss Camisia's abilities, you might have used the Golden Cat's Eyes' storage effect to store your level to deceive the nearby adventurers, and then used your authority to pass the inspection, right? If I were to further verify this... I have Miss Ella's—"

The words stopped abruptly here, and the adventurer who was suspected to be Camisia began to breathe unnaturally fast.

Still smiling, Lotte continued speaking.

"Miss Camisia, am I right?"

Chapter 55: The Intertwined Two

The black-clad adventurer let out a long breath.

"Hmm, okay, Lotte-chan, as expected, without the help of the Golden Cat's Eyes' extra 'me', your thinking becomes too simple. Next time, I should consider incorporating the Golden Cat's Eyes into my daily life. But then again, how did Lotte-chan know that the Golden Cat's Eyes can even store levels? I shouldn't have mentioned something like this back in Copa City that you wouldn't normally use."

Lotte walked forward and picked up the bag containing the magic core that Camisia had dropped on the ground.

"Hmm... This is just my guess."

"Tsk, I really should have discussed this with myself in the eyes of the golden cat. This is such a low-level mistake that I admitted to myself."

"But with so many magic cores... first place is definitely a no-brainer, but what about surveillance magic? Gifting magic cores isn't allowed under the rules, right?"

Opening the tied bag, Lotte took a quick look at the magic cores inside. It contained an orichalcum-grade magic core, along with countless mithril-grade magic cores. Focusing on the orichalcum-grade magic core, Lotte's eyes widened.

"Could it be that the Ant King on the third floor is really you..."

Because her identity had been revealed, Camisia no longer concealed herself and took off the black headscarf, revealing her delicate and mature face hidden under the scarf. Her long red hair reached her waist. Perhaps because it was convenient for the headscarf to tie her hair, she did not tie it into two ponytails with a black ribbon that could serve as a storage device as before.

Camisia used one hand to maintain the balance of the giant sword and waved the other hand towards Lotte.

"No, I didn't cause the soldier ant uprising. As for the surveillance magic, I also used a special method to isolate it."

"Is that so... But is this okay? In terms of fairness."