"Halt!"

The team had just rounded a gnarled mass of tree roots when the color suddenly drained from Lina’s face.

Her voice was urgent. "Something’s wrong! Not just one—a large group! A huge mass of chaotic, hungry ’red’ emotions, about two hundred meters to our front-left. They’re moving fast!"

Before she even finished speaking, a skin-crawling, intense gnawing sound drifted from that direction, like countless steel brushes scraping furiously against the ground, punctuated by the cracking of trees.

"Take cover!"

Allen’s eyes sharpened as he made the split-second decision.

The four of them moved swiftly, ducking behind a massive tree that would take several people to encircle, even quieting their breathing.

Allen peeked out from behind the trunk, looking toward the source of the sound.

In the distant woods, a large patch of shrubbery was shaking violently, like the surface of a lake after a boulder had been dropped into it.

The next second, a black tide burst forth!

It was a swarm of Magical Beasts, each over half a meter tall, resembling giant ants. Their bodies were covered in black carapaces that glinted with a metallic sheen, and their menacing mandibles snapped open and shut with sharp CLICKS.

They scuttled forward at high speed. Whatever they passed, be it insects or any unlucky creature in their path, was instantly engulfed by the black tide and devoured completely, leaving only devastation in their wake.

"They’re Black-armored Marching Ants."

Allen said, the analytical data from DSeek already displayed.

[Black-armored Marching Ants, Level: Low-Level Magical Beast (Swarm). Characteristics: Average defense, extremely aggressive, vast numbers, simple collective intelligence. Danger Level: High.]

"There are too many, at least thirty of them!"

Lina whispered, her voice trembling. "They’ve already spotted us. It’s too late to get away!"

If they got caught, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"We don’t need to fight them head-on."

Allen and his primary thought process worked in tandem, and a plan formed in an instant.

He pulled a crimson "Flame Type-I" incendiary grenade from his cloth bag and weighed it in his hand.

"Baston, see that low-lying area?" He pointed to the side of the Marching Ants’ path, where there was a natural depression in the ground.

"I see it." Baston nodded, his muscles tensing.

"Use all your strength and throw a large rock over there. The bigger the commotion, the better. Draw their attention," Allen calmly instructed.

"Right!" Baston immediately bent down and started searching for suitable "ammunition."

Allen then turned to Lina. "The moment Baston acts, use your ability to create the illusion of ’delicious food’ in that depression. Can you do it?"

Lina’s eyes lit up, and she nodded emphatically. "I can! I can weave together emotional fragments of ’desire’ and ’sweetness’ to create a lure!"

"Excellent."

Allen activated [Sensory Enhancement], his gaze becoming as sharp as an eagle’s as he carefully observed the Marching Ants’ movement speed.

"Bruno, get a Frost Bomb ready. Aim for the path between us and the depression. If any slip through the net and charge us, use it to slow them down."

"Yes, sir!"

A simple ambush plan had taken shape in a matter of seconds.

Baston cradled the rock, his eyes locked on Allen, awaiting the final command.

Allen stared at the surging black torrent and began the countdown. "Three... two... one... go!"

"HRAAAGH!"

Baston let out a suppressed roar as the muscles in his arms bulged like cast iron. [Giant’s Strength] activated instantly!

He hurled the heavy rock like a cannonball, and it smashed into the distant depression!

At almost the same instant, a glint flashed in Lina’s eyes. She extended a finger and pointed gently toward the depression.

A psychic ripple, blending the concepts of "temptation" and "deliciousness," spread out from that spot like a stone dropped into water!

The Black-armored Marching Ants, which had been advancing in a straight line, suddenly twisted their course as if they were sharks that had smelled blood!

The first few Marching Ants at the front crazily changed direction and scurried madly toward the depression.

The rest of the swarm immediately followed, the entire column pouring into the low-lying area like a bursting dam.

They "smelled" the sweet food but couldn’t pinpoint its location, so they began rampaging around inside the depression.

Now!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Allen activated his Witchcraft. The silently appearing [Craftsman’s Hand] exerted its force, powerfully flinging five crimson grenades out with perfect spacing!

Five red arcs streaked through the air. The three-second delay calculated by DSeek was flawless.

Right in the center of the swarm, where the ants were most densely packed, the grenades detonated with a great WHUMP about two meters above the ground!

There was no earth-shattering bang, only five muffled bursts.

The next second, a viscous, orange-red liquid, like napalm, rained down from above, instantly blanketing the entire depression!

"SZZZLE—!"

Piercing shrieks instantly shattered the forest’s tranquility!

In the blink of an eye, the depression transformed into a roiling sea of fire!

The Black-armored Marching Ants struggled and writhed madly in the alchemical flames!

Their tough carapaces, which they prided themselves on, were quickly burned red-hot by the high-temperature flames created from a mixture of red copper powder and Fire Salamander Oil, emitting waves of a foul, scorching stench.

The flames were incredibly potent; no matter how the Marching Ants rolled or thrashed about, they couldn’t be extinguished. Instead, the fire only spread, clinging to their bodies and turning them, one by one, into writhing, struggling torches.

The entire swarm collapsed in an instant, their formation utterly destroyed.

But Allen’s assault wasn’t over.

He struck again, precisely throwing five black "Burst Type-I" fragmentation grenades right after, targeting the edges of the fire and the less dense areas of the swarm.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!

This time, the explosions were truly violent!

A furious shockwave mixed with thousands of pre-formed fragments swept out in a wide arc, like the Grim Reaper’s scythe.

Any Marching Ants trying to escape the inferno or milling about on the periphery were instantly shredded by high-speed steel pellets, their carapaces torn apart as black ichor splattered everywhere.

The encounter had lasted barely a minute.

The battle was over.

The air was thick with a burnt, acrid smell, and the shrieks from the sea of fire gradually faded.

Behind the giant tree, Baston, Lina, and Bruno slowly peeked out. They stared at the hellish scene before them, rendered speechless.

Baston’s thick arms trembled slightly, not from lingering fear, but from the sheer shock of the Alchemy Grenades.

He looked down at his own massive fists and, for the first time, began to question his definition of "power."

His punch could shatter rock, yet a few of Allen’s "little iron balls" had effortlessly annihilated an army.

Lina’s face was a little pale.

In her unique [Emotional Spectrum Vision], the depression had instantly transformed from a chaotic, hungry "red" to a "dark red" ocean representing extreme pain and death, as thick and viscous as blood that would never dilute.

Bruno, for his part, clamped a hand tightly over his mouth. Dozens of Low-Level Magical Beasts had their combat capability completely dismantled by just 10 small grenades in under thirty seconds.

’Is this... the power of the Alchemy school?’

Allen walked to the edge of the blaze and, after confirming that nothing was left alive, tossed in two more Frost Bombs to extinguish the remaining flames.

He then turned to the three still-stunned figures behind him and said:

"Don’t just stand there. Clean up the battlefield. Collect their mandibles and appendages; they’ll fetch a few Magic Stones."

The three snapped out of it and quickly got to work.

Baston and Bruno were responsible for pulling the more-or-less intact carcasses out from the edge of the fire with long poles, while Lina stood guard.

"Captain..."

Bruno’s voice was suddenly tinged with uncertainty. "You... you should come see this."