Springs composed of ant colonies, numbering over a dozen, suddenly emerged around the sand bandits, their positions no more than a hundred or two hundred meters from the flat ground.
At such close range, the sand bandits finally saw the true nature of the crimson springs and felt their blood run cold, their scalps tingling with terror.
Countless palm-sized red ants clumped together, surging from above like a tidal wave, crashing down upon them and instantly carving out a massive gap.
The sand bandits caught in the deluge didn't even have time to scream before being swallowed by the ant swarm, while the others let out panicked shrieks, turning and fleeing like madmen.
Their morale, already shattered by Law and his companions earlier, now collapsed completely.
The number of ants was simply overwhelming. After erupting from beneath the grassland, they swiftly gathered into a massive crimson carpet, chasing after the fleeing sand bandits.
Law stood at the edge of the grassland on the flat ground, coldly watching the sand bandits being hunted by the ant swarm, his heart utterly unmoved.
On the way here, he had seen many corpses hacked to bloody pulp. Though he had long known the sand bandits were vicious, the sight of those bodies made him realize he had still underestimated their cruelty.
"These are army ants, but several times larger."
Law observed the crimson tide of ants, his sharp eyes discerning their features. He had read about army ants in Linne's collection of books, which helped him identify them.
Their bulging black eyes protruded from the tops of their heads, and their mandibles, taking up nearly a third of their bodies, clashed incessantly as they swarmed over the sand bandits, leaving behind cleanly picked skeletons in their wake.
Flesh, hair, clothing, weapons… nothing remained.
"Why are the army ants here?"
Having identified the ants, Law felt puzzled. Not only were they five to seven times larger than ordinary army ants, but their stationary presence here defied their very nature, completely contradicting the behavior of army ants.
"Get away!"
The sand bandits, one after another, found themselves entangled by the army ants. In despair, they swung their blades futilely.
Two hundred meters… that was the distance they needed to cross to reach the flat ground. Even if a demon stood there, they would rather face him than the horrifying swarm of ants.
Their slashing blades managed to kill some ants, but the next moment, their agonized screams were abruptly cut short.
From his position as an observer, Law calmly watched this scene of utter brutality, feeling no satisfaction, only the conviction that this was the punishment the sand bandits deserved.
The ants' advantage lay in their overwhelming numbers. Their individual defenses seemed weak, and the sand bandits, fighting desperately, managed to drag many ants down with them. Strangely, the dead ants were promptly devoured by their own kind.
As the thousand-odd sand bandits rapidly dwindled, Law kept track of the ants' movements, silently committing every detail to memory.
The sand bandits fled madly. After crossing a hundred meters, half their number had fallen. By the time only fifty meters remained, their ranks had halved again. By the time they neared the flat ground, only three or four hundred remained.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Watching the bedraggled sand bandits stumbling toward him, Law coldly addressed them before expanding his Domain, pushing the survivors who had nearly reached safety back into the ant swarm.
"No!"
The sand bandits were sent flying backward into the pursuing ants, their desperate screams ringing out midair before they crashed into the swarm, splashing up waves of ants—and then silence.
In the blink of an eye, three or four hundred sand bandits vanished, consumed by the surging crimson tide.
And so, the three thousand sand bandits led by Geralt met their end in the forbidden zone.
After devouring all the sand bandits, the ants never set foot on the rocky flatland. Instead, they gathered at the edge of the grassland, their antennae twitching incessantly as they stared at Law, who stood just over a meter away.
Law silently observed the countless ants before him, now fully understanding why Salin and the others couldn't leave. With such aggressive army ants blocking the way, escape was impossible.
'Using Domain, I could ignore the ants and cross the grassland, but I'd have to shrink its range. Otherwise, my Potential Aura would drain too quickly, and I might not even make it to the mountain path before running out.'
Law pondered silently.
If he wanted to leave, the ant swarm couldn't stop him. But to ensure his Aura lasted long enough to cross the entire grassland, he'd have to minimize the Domain's range. That meant he couldn't take many people, and those he did take would need to be fast.
The army ant swarm stared at Law for a moment before receding like a tide, quickly disappearing and leaving behind the still-green grassland… now littered with over a thousand human skeletons.
They did not consume bones. When marching, they did not harm the grass or their own kind. But if a fellow ant died, they would mercilessly devour it. Such was the nature of army ants.
Law watched the now-calm grassland for a while before turning and heading back toward the settlement.
The ancient city had been flooded with thousands of sand bandits, turning its streets into rivers of blood. Many structures had been damaged or destroyed.
When Law returned, Salin and the others were already cleaning up the aftermath… gathering the bodies, separating the sand bandits' corpses from their own fallen comrades.
Whether in the desert's oasis or this forbidden city, water was scarce and precious. The blood staining the stone-paved roads would likely remain, as there was no spare effort to wash it away.
The survivors had narrowly escaped death, but the loss of hundreds of companions they had lived alongside for countless days and nights weighed heavily on their hearts.
Seeing Law return, Salin set aside her task and approached him, "What happened to the sand bandits?"
"All eaten by the ants." Law replied.
Salin fell silent for a long moment before saying grimly, "A fitting end for them."
"Yeah." Law responded softly.
"Come help." Salin said, asking no further questions. She knew Law must have witnessed the terror of the ant swarm firsthand. With that understanding, he, too, would now have to settle here… becoming one of them.
Law joined in moving the bodies, using his ability to extract and remove all traces of blood from the settlement.
A few minutes later, a wisp of black smoke, which is Kuro in his transformed state, drifted in from a distance, heading straight for Law before materializing midair into his cat form and swiping a claw down at his head.
"You bastard!"
Of course, the claw couldn't harm Law.
"What's wrong?" Law looked at Kuro with feigned confusion.
Seeing Law play dumb, Kuro gnashed his teeth. "Why the hell did you throw me away?!"
Suddenly, Law reached out, grabbing Kuro in his solid form, and said seriously, "I forgot. Maybe if I throw you again, I'll remember."
"Don't-!"
Before Kuro could finish, Law hurled him away once more, sending him flying like a shooting star out of sight.
An hour later, after everyone's efforts, the sand bandits' corpses had been piled into a small mountain in one area, while their own fallen lay side by side on the ground.
The people of the settlement stood in silence, gazing at the rows of bodies.
The elderly, the weak, and the women who had returned wept quietly.
These once-adventurous explorers had long been worn down by life in the forbidden zone, their edges smoothed away by hardship.