The sound hit first.
A deep, chittering roar that echoed from every direction. The tunnels came alive with movement, claws scraping against stone, mandibles clicking in a deafening chorus. The entire anthill seemed to be breathing, pulsing with life.
And it was all coming for him.
Zayden straightened slowly, the glow from his crimson-green eyes casting faint reflections on the tunnel walls. His immaculate white hair floated slightly, as though stirred by invisible wind, and the blue patterns etched across his skin thrummed faintly with power.
"So that's your move," he said under his breath. "Fine. Let's see how far this goes."
The first wave appeared — Ant Workers and Ant Warriors, hundreds of them, crawling over each other as they swarmed down the tunnel. Behind them, the bulkier Ant Knights charged, their blade-like arms scraping sparks off the cavern walls.
Kuro hissed on his shoulder, her body coiling tighter around him.
Zayden stepped forward once.
Shadows rippled outward.
"Umbra Coat."
Darkness flared and wrapped around his body, a second skin of living shadow that hissed and crackled faintly. The temperature dropped, frost forming on the nearby stone.
The swarm lunged.
Zayden moved.
He didn't dodge — he met them head-on.
"Umbra Beam."
A spear of condensed darkness tore down the tunnel like a lance of night. It skewered the first dozen ants in line, burning through them before detonating at the back of the horde. The shockwave sent carapace shards flying.
The survivors didn't stop.
Good.
Zayden was already moving again.
He sprinted straight into the swarm, his body little more than a blur. Claws and mandibles swiped at him, but his enhanced stats made him untouchable — every strike was met with a parry, a dodge, or a counter.
"Umbra Slash!"
A blade of darkness carved through five warriors at once, bisecting them cleanly. Their ichor sprayed across the ground, sizzling against the shadows coating his body.
Kuro leapt from his shoulder, her tiny form hitting the ground with a splash of darkness. Phantom silhouettes rose from her shadow, lupine shapes with glowing red eyes that lunged into the swarm, ripping and tearing like living weapons.
The cavern became a slaughterhouse.
Zayden didn't slow down. Every kill left a faint shimmer behind, Power Shards. He barely glanced at them as they flew into his space ring, stacking like coins in an invisible pile.
Minutes turned into what felt like hours.
By the time the last Ant Warrior fell, the floor was coated in black ichor, and the tunnels around him were littered with twitching corpses.
Zayden exhaled slowly, letting the darkness around him dim slightly. His Umbra Coat dissolved, sinking back into his skin.
Only then did he pause, opening his status panel.
A second screen opened — his Space Ring inventory. The corner of his lips curled faintly.
[Inventory — Power Shards]• Rank 6–7 Shards: 150• Rank 8–9 Shards: 100
Zayden tilted his head slightly.
"Ranks…" he muttered.
He crouched and pulled one of the brighter shards into his palm. It pulsed faintly, emitting a soft glow. He compared it to one of the dimmer shards — same size, same texture, but the light was weaker.
"So these things aren't all equal," he murmured. "But what does that mean? Stronger beast? Higher evolution stage? Or something else entirely?"
He frowned, tucking them back into the inventory.
Questions for later.
Right now, the queen was still waiting.
He rose to his feet, his expression sharpening. The tunnels were still trembling faintly, and he could feel her presence deeper inside the hive, like a weight pressing on his chest.
He started walking again, this time slower, but with purpose. The air grew thicker the deeper he went, the stone walls narrowing until only one or two ants could move side by side.
A good thing. It meant they couldn't swarm him all at once.
Of course, it also meant he had no escape route.
He grinned faintly, baring his teeth.
Perfect.
The next wave came screaming out of a side tunnel. These were Ant Knights, humanoid-shaped, their carapaces gleaming under the faint light. They moved faster, smarter, coordinating their attacks instead of throwing themselves at him.
Zayden's eyes lit up.
"Finally. Something with teeth."
He vanished from sight.
The first elite didn't even have time to react before a shadowy blade bisected it from the hip up. Zayden spun midair, landing lightly before launching another Umbra Spike that pinned two more elites to the wall.
The last elite roared, charging him head-on.
"Umbra Blast."
Darkness detonated point-blank, reducing the elite to scattered chunks.
The cave went silent again.
Zayden barely stopped to breathe this time. He wiped ichor from his face, the glow of his markings brightening slightly as though feeding on the violence.
Kuro returned to his shoulder, her tongue flickering.
"We're close," Zayden said quietly.
He wasn't sure how he knew, but something inside him — maybe the awakened bloodline — told him that the queen was just ahead.
Another tunnel opened up, wider than the rest. The walls glistened with some strange resin, the floor strangely smooth.
A throne room.
Almost there.
Zayden stepped forward, the sound of his boots echoing in the empty chamber.
From the shadows ahead, he heard a sound — a low, guttural hiss that made the air vibrate.
And then the clicking started again.
Dozens of legs moving in perfect rhythm.
The floor shook.
From the tunnel ahead, more shapes emerged. Not workers this time. Not warriors.
Elite Knights.
Five of them.
All of them stared at him with murderous intent.
Zayden smiled, the faintest trace of madness flickering in his crimson-green eyes.
The knights moved as one.
Five shadows detached themselves from the far end of the tunnel, their hulking humanoid forms glinting under the faint glow of the hive's resin-coated walls. Each of them was larger than the knights he had fought before, their black carapaces traced with crimson patterns that pulsed faintly like beating hearts.
Elite Knights.
Zayden's grip on his broken sword hilt tightened before he tossed it aside. His weapon was nothing but dead weight now — it had shattered in his last battle, and carrying it would only slow him down.
He didn't need it.
Darkness rippled around him as he stepped forward.
Kuro hissed low on his shoulder, her body lengthening, coiling tighter. Her crimson eyes glowed brighter, the tips of her shadowy aura flickering like flames.
"Stay close," Zayden muttered.
The first knight charged.
Zayden blurred forward to meet it, his claws forming out of solid shadow. Umbra Slash carved a deep gash across the knight's chest, black ichor spraying across the floor. The knight didn't fall — instead, it roared and swung its bladed arm, forcing Zayden back.
The other four joined in, surrounding him.
"Good," Zayden muttered, a grin flashing across his face. "All at once. Saves me time."
The next moment was chaos.
Two knights attacked from opposite sides, forcing Zayden to twist his body unnaturally, letting their blows pass inches from him. He countered with an Umbra Beam, the attack ripping through one knight's shoulder and staggering it back, but leaving himself open.
A third knight slammed him from behind.
Pain exploded through Zayden's ribs as he was sent flying, smashing into the cavern wall hard enough to crack the stone.
He coughed once, blood dripping from his lips, but his grin didn't fade.
Kuro leapt from his shoulder with a sharp hiss. Her tiny body landed softly, darkness pooling under her feet before exploding outward into a swarm of phantom beasts.
Dozens of shadow-wolves and panthers materialised, their red eyes glowing as they lunged at the nearest knight.
The elites snarled and tore through them, but the phantoms slowed them enough for Zayden to recover.
He shot forward again, appearing right under the first knight's guard. Dark Spike erupted from his palm, impaling the knight's chest and slamming it against the wall.
He didn't stop.
Before the corpse had even slid to the floor, Zayden spun, catching another knight's bladed arm mid-swing.
"Break."
His grip tightened, and with a sickening crunch, the knight's limb snapped in two. Zayden followed up with an Umbra Blast that tore half its torso apart, scattering ichor across the stone.
Three left.
They didn't falter.
The remaining knights moved faster, coordinating their attacks, forcing Zayden on the defensive. His Umbra Coat rippled under the onslaught, absorbing some of the damage, but not all. Cuts formed along his arms and legs, ichor and blood mixing on his body.
He was grinning again.
"Come on…" he growled, darkness rising higher around him. "More."
The shadows surged, reacting to his will. The blue markings on his body pulsed with light, and his horns glowed faintly with a sickly green aura.
Zayden disappeared.