Chapter 8

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As the cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

---

Standing at the entrance of the Iron Ant fortress, I took a deep breath and firmly held the sand that had flowed in with me. I needed sand for my magic, so I brought the sand that had flowed in with me. I manipulated the sand, which I had formed into a sphere, using the magic called "Sand Ball."

We had infiltrated the Iron Ant fortress, but as expected, many Iron Ant soldiers were waiting. A large number of Iron Ants armed with spears charged at us.

"Agii! Agii!"

"Sand Bind!"

With my magic, the sand clung to the Iron Ants, immobilizing their movements. Phew, this way I could proceed without hurting them.

However, immobilizing them like this would reduce the amount of sand. The sand I brought in was limited... I had to be careful—

"Still, what an amazing fortress. What is it made of?"

Isis suddenly voiced this question. Indeed, for such a large fortress, a considerable amount of iron must have been used.

"Sand iron. Iron Ants have the habit of settling in places rich in sand iron."

"Really?!"

I couldn't help but exclaim at the unexpected words from the queen.

"Does that mean these walls are made of sand iron too?"

"Most likely."

What a revelation. If that's the case, then—

"Iron Sand Bind!"

I tried my sand magic on the wall, and as expected, the wall crumbled and the ants were immobilized by the sand.

"Amazing, Horus. It's like the wall came to life."

Isis praised me. The walls were indeed very sturdy, like iron, but since they were made of sand iron, I could manipulate them.

"I'm glad this is a sand iron fortress. With this, I can use my magic freely!"

I had brought sand, but there was much more sand here. Moreover, sand iron had a stronger binding power.

"Iron Sand Bind!"

"Agii?!"

I immobilized all the approaching Iron Ants with my magic. Their spears, made of sand iron, were also affected by my magic. I turned the spears back into sand iron and solidified them, rendering them immobile.

"Um, is it really okay to proceed so easily?"

The queen tilted her head in confusion. The accompanying ants also looked puzzled, but we weren't here to crush them.

We had agreed to minimize harm, and if immobilizing them was enough, we could fulfill the queen's wish.

As we proceeded, immobilizing the ants with sand iron, we reached a large hall.

There was a throne, and an ant with a somewhat regal appearance sat on it. Its body structure was similar to a human, and it wore heavy armor and held a long spear.

"I didn't expect the queen to come this far—especially with a human."

"Iron Ant King, I came here today to speak with you directly!"

Surprisingly, the Iron Ant King could understand and speak human language, indicating a high level of intelligence.

"Speak? There's no need for that!"

"Why, King! You weren't this forceful before!"

"Silence! Silence! Be silent! You will die! Die! Kill! Destroy everything!"

Hmm? At first, I thought the ant was quite intelligent, but his tone now felt off. He could speak human language, but it lacked rationality.

Moreover, the queen had mentioned that the king was more reasonable in the past, but the current Iron Ant King seemed to lack rationality.

"Destroy now!"

"Iron Sand Bind!"

"Guu!"

The ant king tried to stand but was immobilized by my magic. The throne he sat on was also made of sand iron, which I could manipulate.

"Guuu, release meee!"

The ant king screamed, but I couldn't release him so easily.

"Sand Perception!"

I cast another spell. I was sensing the king himself. Since I had immobilized him with sand, I could use the sand iron to sense him.

"Huh? This is...?"

"Is something wrong?"

The queen noticed my reaction and asked.

"Yeah. There's another life reaction in the king's head."

"What? Another life reaction?"

"Ngoo!"

Isis and Raku were also surprised. But I had a suspicion about such a creature.

"Most likely, it's a parasitic monster. It's parasitizing the king's head and controlling him."

"Really?!"

The queen was shocked. She hadn't expected the king to be parasitized.

But with the reaction in his head, I was confident.

"Can your life magic do anything about it?"

"Maybe not now. I'll try to remove the monster with sand. After that, I hope Isis can heal him."

"Understood!"

Isis nodded seriously. The queen looked worried.

"But can you successfully remove the parasite from inside his head?"

"Since it's controlling the king's head, the brain functions should be intact. He can still speak and react, so it hasn't penetrated too deeply. It's likely attached to the back of his head."

So it's possible, but I need to be careful to avoid hurting him. I won't be able to maintain the Iron Sand Bind effect.

"Sand Iron Puppet!"

I created sand iron puppets using the surrounding sand iron.

"Everyone, if the king starts moving, hold him down with all your strength!"

The puppets nodded firmly. Alright, let's start removing the parasite.

"The king is—"

"Yeah, but it's okay. The puppets will handle it."

As the effect of Iron Sand Bind weakened, the king stood up and approached with a spear. But the sand iron puppets quickly moved to contain him.

I thought the sand iron puppets would be sturdy enough to hold him, but—

"Whooaaaaa!"

The Iron Ant king swung his spear, and the puppets were thrown back. They immediately tried to hold him down again, but the king's combat power was extremely high!

I need to hurry. I must be cautious and not panic—

"One of the puppets is down!"

"This is our problem, we can't leave it to Horus alone! We will help!"

"Wait. Save your strength in case of an emergency. There are still puppets left!"

I created a few more puppets as a backup. Then I focused my attention on the king's head again. Using Sand Perception, I carefully peeled off the parasite, which had formed a claw-like structure—ugh, another puppet is down, and the king is really strong. But if I can peel this off—

"Kishaaaaa!"

"Got it! Isis!"

"Got it!"

The Iron Ant king fell, and Isis immediately moved to heal him with her life magic. I caught the parasite, which was trying to escape, with sand.

"Kyuuuuuuu!"

"Is this the parasitic monster?"

The queen's disgust was palpable. I can understand why. The parasitic monster looked grotesque.

"I can't let it go."

I crushed the captured parasite with sand. Now, at least, we can breathe a sigh of relief—

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