Hill fled down the fungi-lit tunnel, the thundering steps of the enraged ant echoing right behind him. Panic besieged his lungs as he drew short, choppy breaths.
This is insane! Why did I do that? Luring a monster easily twice the size of the ones I barely escaped from before? How dumb can I possibly be!?
He cursed his own stupidity and his unexplainable impulse to help the woman, it made no sense to him in the little amount of time he had to judge in hindsight.
The tunnel was wide, allowing him to run at full tilt, but his weak body couldn't keep up with his desire to escape. The cavern furnace had drained most of the moisture from his body and his head felt heavy.
Every individual breath tore at his throat. His heart pounded hard and it seemed ready to burst from his chest. He pushed harder, feeling his head spin with each increase in pace.
He risked a glance back. The giant ant was gaining on him, its massive armored form surprisingly agile despite its bulk.
Each massive limb slammed into the stone floor, sending small shock waves through the tunnel. The sound alone was enough to drive his fear higher.
Its burning red eyes were locked onto him, the murderous gaze piercing to the marrow of his bones.
Hill knew he had to do something, otherwise the ant would surely kill him. He didn't understand the full capabilities of the phantom hand but he wasn't in the mood to gamble on the unknown.
Just like with the three ants in the tunnel from before, he needed to make the phantom hand pass through the giant ant's head in order to disorientate it.
Yeah. That's the only thing you can do, Hill!
As he planted his feet and turned around, he felt the familiar tingling beside his fist as he loaded up a hook punch.
The ethereal red hand shot forward with his fist, phasing through the air towards the charging ant's head. It passed through the thick carapace like smoke through a screen.
The ant barely reacted. A slight twitch of its head, perhaps, a momentary flicker in its red eyes, but its charge didn't falter.
It had already experienced the strange sensation when attacking the woman; it seemed to understand now that the ghostly touch carried no real threat. The creature's intelligence was more terrifying than its size.
Shit! It didn't work! Hill's panic spiked.
He tried again, swinging his arm backward, the phantom hand mimicking the useless blow. The ant ignored it completely, lowering its head. Its massive mandibles clicking, preparing to ram or bite. The sound of those scissoring mouthparts filled his ears.
He could feel the heat leaking from its mouth and he could smell the awful odor of digestion.
He tried to swerve and dodge, his worn shoes trying to grip the damp moss-covered stone floor. The fungi-slick surface betrayed him at the worst possible moment.
His foot slipped.
You've got to be shitting me you motherf—
Time seemed to slow for a horrifying instant.
His balance gone, arms flailing wildly in a futile attempt to right himself, he tumbled to the side. His head slamming with the hard tunnel wall with sickening force.
Stars exploded behind his eyes, followed immediately by absolute darkness. The last thing he heard was the scrabbling of massive legs drawing closer. He didn't even feel himself hit the floor.
----
Grogginess. A dull throbbing ache that seemed to pulse unevenly behind his eyes.
Hill drifted back towards consciousness slowly, reluctantly. His first coherent thought was confusion. Where...? Am I dead?
Then memory slammed back as he remembered being chased by the giant ant, and falling against the tunnel walls.
He gasped, eyes snapping open, expecting to see giant mandibles descending on his head.
Instead, he saw only the dim green glow of the tunnel fungi above him. He was lying on his side on the cool stone floor.
It was silent. There were no thundering footsteps, no furious clicking. The quiet was almost as unnerving as the creature's pursuit had been.
Before he could fully process this, he felt a stir within his soul. It felt like a gentle pressure that pulsed within his conscious. Glowing runes coalesced in his mind's eye, shifting into text:
[Elder Lava Ant Defeated.]
[Your Rinshu Core has been Strengthened: 1/1000.]
[Item Acquired: Black Pearl Carapace Spike.]
Hill stared at the shimmering text, very bewildered.
Defeated? How?
He had blacked out before the ant reached him after he fell. He should be dead, or at least gravely injured.
Elder Lava Ant? So it was some kind of leader or tougher variant? And an item? This strange phenomena seemed to avoid explaining these things properly.
He pushed himself up slowly. Small lightning bolts of pain shot behind his eyes. He looked around the section of the tunnel where he lay, searching for answers.
There was no sign of the giant ant's body. But the walls... they were splattered, almost painted, with huge swathes of viscous fluid – the same fluid he'd seen leaking from the dead ant earlier.
Droplets dripped slowly from the ceiling fungi, creating small puddles on the stone floor. The air was thick with the coppery smell of the stuff. It coated his clothes and hands, sticky and still warm.
The Elder Ant was gone, vanished completely, leaving only its blood behind. What in Igashia had happened while I was unconscious? How could it possibly be dead? Someone or something had to have killed it. But what could take down a monster of that size?
A soft scraping sound made him jump. He spun around, ignoring the wave of dizziness that followed, instinctively summoning the phantom hand. The crimson light painted the tunnel walls with dim shadows.
Standing uncertainly at the edge of the hand's light, leaning heavily against the tunnel wall, was the young woman with the light blue hair.
She was clutching her side, her face pale and etched with pain, but her eyes were wide with shock and disbelief as she stared at him. Those strange amethyst eyes seemed to glow in the red light of his phantom hand.
Hill stared at her in tired wonder.
Hey, she's kinda pretty...