Reincarnated as a random race, of course I got goblin.

Chapter 127 - Pyre Myrmidon Invasion

Restoring the basin is easy enough, but the statue was reduced to rubble by the attack of the fifth Maker. I'll need to...

A tremor shakes the entire cavern, causing bits of magma-rock to loosen from the ceiling. I sneer with anger. We don't have time for this! Shadow, handle the rebuilding.

"Alright. Take care of whatever it is quickly."

Leaving Shadow as the Body Double, I firmly grip Thorncutter as I run towards the source of the tremor. Reaching it, I stand before a battered Ittan-Momen and a recently collapsed tunnel. 

"M-Master... I'm sorry, there were too many and I had to do this to halt their advance!" Ittan-Momen shrinks back as they notice me, immediately bursting into apologetics. 

"What's going on?" I rein in my anger for now. There might be a more appropriate target coming along soon. 

"It's these big Insectoids! I haven't seen anything like them before, but something tells me they're here for the Miragia." They transmit a mental picture of the monster. 

It's difficult to tell its size, but it's an ant-like monster with an oddly raised thorax. Unlike normal ants, their front pair of legs have almost hand-like claws, and it's wielding a spear and a shield which seems to be made out of bits of others of its kind. 

"They're a really bad match against me, since they also use Fire and Heat Spells..." Ittan-Momen admits whilst gently trying to get soot off of themself. 

Of course they do... I heave a sigh as the rubble begins to shift, something is clearing it out from behind. As the scale-like stones clatter to the floor, a small hole opens in the pile, and a compound eye scans the scene before it.

*Pyre Myrmidon
A large, eusocial Insectoid capable of creating and using weapons and tools. A subspecies of the true Myrmidon, this variant is adapted to living in arid, hot places and as such sports a resistance to Fire and Heat as well as the ability to cast Spells of these Elements.
Due to the scarcity of food in its chosen habitat, Pyre Myrmidons are highly nomadic, killing and eating anything the swarm comes across before relocating to a new area.
If you encounter one Pyre Myrmidon, there's bound to be more nearby, and they release pheromones to alert the others to the threat causing them to swarm the target until they are dead, or the target is. 
The Queen of the Pyre Myrmidons is the weakest point for the swarm, as if she dies, the colony will quickly lose its cohesion. Due to this, she is zealously guarded.
Despite the extreme risk associated with fighting even one Pyre Myrmidon, they provide excellent lightweight materials that carry the ability to protect against Fire and Heat as well as augment those Elements in weapons.*
*Rank: 3 Stars (worker) - 5 Stars (royal guard) -  6 Stars (Queen) - A colony spotted close to any settlements is treated as if a 8 Stars monster has been spotted.*

There seems to be hesitation once I'm noticed, but before long, a hole big enough for one of the ant-like monsters to squeeze in is made. How delightfully single-minded. To come at me one after the other.

I stab forward, embedding Thorncutter into the forehead of the first monster. It spasms and flails as its brain is run through. It's unnerving to look at, with its twitching limbs and curled up body, yet none of that familiar warmth letting me know it's truly dead. 

There is little time to be lost in thought, however, as even before I've managed to pull loose Thorncutter, another Myrmidon is entering the hole. 

I've lost count of how many I've killed. It's become a mechanic rhythm at this point. Stab, pull, store, stab, pull, store. There has to be a nest nearby. There are far too many for this to be a simple scouting team. 

Ittan-Momen has returned to be with Shadow. Seems she's almost done with the Divine Spring, but something needs to be done about these ants. 

My musings stop at once, as the now overly familiar 'thunk' of Thorncutter piercing yet another ant brain fails to manifest when I thrust forwards yet again. D-did they finally stop?

Or did they find another way? I quickly web up the hole with silk before rushing back to Shadow. If they found another way, and their goal is indeed the Miragia, I can't leave Shadow without a way to defend herself without acquiring Stats.

The last thing we want at the moment is to go beyond what my body can endure. 

As I enter the chamber containing the core of the Miragia, a dreadful scene unfolds. The room is littered with frozen chunks of ants, a group of five Yuki-Onna surrounding Shadow and Ittan-Momen. Their faces light up with relief once they spot me. 

"There you are. I was getting worried about you." Shadow says with a wink and a smile, barely taking the time to do either before she refocuses her attention on the almost complete Divine Spring. 

"They stopped appearing on my end, so I wondered if they found a different path through. Seems I was right." I kick at a particularly big chunk of ant. It shatters into a thousand pieces as it impacts the cavern wall. 

"This was just a scouting party. More will come." Shadow states, matter-of-factly as she carefully fits the Pure Death Gem into the navel of the statue before filling the basin up with water. 

"After all, they'll endlessly swarm to kill an aggressor. Each Myrmidon killed will release pheromones to draw the others." She continues, bringing a hand up to her nose and sniffs, scowling at the scent we're both saturated with. 

"Then I say we take the fight to them!" Thorncutter pipes up, her rigid form once again becoming like that of a living being. "It'll take forever if we just wait for them to come to us. And we don't really have the luxury of time." She aggressively pecks at a frozen chunk of Pyre Myrmidon as if to underscore her point. 

"I agree. Once the Spring if finished, we'll take them out." Shadow nods, placing the Life Gem into the statue, not letting the conversation distract her from her work. I quietly face the tunnel the Myrmidons came from, prepared to defend until then.