With the venom purged from his system, Aren could finally refocus on the insects in front of him.
A smile returned to his face as he summoned Fang again. He glanced at Kira one last time and gave her a short nod. She nodded back, steadied herself, and began hurling ice lances at the remaining ants while Aren charged in beside her.
Seeing that Aren was fine, Aiden and Leon finally stopped worrying about him and redirected their full focus back into the fight.
The number of ants had dropped drastically since the start of the battle. Compared to how overwhelming it had been at first, they had suffered minimal injuries, which in itself felt like a miracle. And now, with Aren fully active again and Kira able to fight, it did not take long before they wiped out every last ant.
The cave floor was littered with insect corpses.
The four of them stood there, huffing and puffing, bodies screaming in exhaustion.
Aren leaned against the cave wall, his breathing erratic. He slid down until he was seated, hands resting on his raised knees.
"That was... freaking hard," he muttered.
Despite that, he did not regret his decision to scout. If anything, he felt satisfied. They had not been pushed to the brink, had defeated the swarm, and gained solid levels from it. He was very close to reaching level ten now.
And level ten was a major milestone.
Kira wobbled over and lowered herself beside him, sliding down the rock wall. For a few seconds, neither of them spoke. She hugged her knees, burying her face into them.
Then she finally broke the silence.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
Aren glanced at her, then looked forward again. "It’s nothing."
"No, it is," she replied. "You said you wouldn’t help any of us if things got dire. But you did. You helped me."
She hesitated before asking, "Why?"
Aren slowly shook his head.
"It’s not something I can tell you," he said. "It wasn’t heroics. It wasn’t because I’m a good person who wants to save others."
He paused, then added, "Don’t think about it. And don’t worry about it. Also, thank you for the potion. It saved me."
She tightened her grip on her knees.
"You helped me, and I gave you the potion," she said. "You were only in that position because you tried to help me. I still owe you. I’ll repay you."
"You don’t owe me anything," Aren replied calmly. "Helping you was my choice. Mine alone."
She studied him for a few seconds.
She couldn’t quite place it, but there was something about him that felt... genuine. He wasn’t trying to look good. He wasn’t trying to reassure her or make her feel safe. He wasn’t wearing a mask.
He simply was who he was.
And for some reason, that clicked with her.
"I’m pretty hungry," she said.
"Yeah," Aren replied. "Me too."
"Should we head back?" she asked.
"Not yet," he said. "I still have some strength left. We should find where the ants’ nest is, at least roughly. Knowing what areas to avoid would already make this scouting worth it."
She nodded and pushed herself up.
Aren stood as well, struggling slightly as his exhausted body protested. Just as he steadied himself, the ground beneath them began to tremble.
"Whoa, something’s coming," Leon said sharply.
They all looked around, trying to pinpoint the direction, but the shaking wasn’t localized. The entire cave was trembling.
Then the ground beneath them exploded.
A massive millipede burst out from below.
It was more than two meters wide, and its length stretched beyond what they could even see as it erupted fully into the cavern. Its many eyes immediately locked onto Aren.
And it lunged.
Aren barely had time to react.
The millipede slammed into him with overwhelming force, smashing him straight back into the earth and dragging him down with it. Rock and dirt shattered as it tunneled violently underground.
"Aren!"
"Aren!"
Their voices echoed as they watched him vanish beneath the surface.
The creature dug deeper and faster, forcing Aren down as the earth tore open. His body bent unnaturally as the millipede burst out of one layer and plunged into another, its massive form spanning dozens of meters.
Then the final layer collapsed.
Aren was thrown violently into open space.
He slammed into damp stone, rolling several meters before coming to a stop. Pain tore through his body as he wheezed on the ground, barely able to breathe.
Water dripped from above. Crystals illuminated the cavern faintly.
The millipede coiled in the shadows, looming over him. It had dragged him into a deeper section of the cave.
Aren lay there, chest heaving, every inch of his body screaming in pain.
’What the fuck is happening...’ he thought, vision swimming as agony spread through him. ’Where did the freaking millipede come from? Shit, everything hurts.’ Aren groaned and rolled, pushing himself to his feet slowly. He grabbed at a hand that felt dislocated. His entire body screamed in pain while blood dripped from his fingertips.
He looked ahead, and there it was, staring at him from a distance. The millipede that had shown up out of nowhere had an ominous air around it, mixed with killing intent targeted at Aren.
"The last time a monster attacked me, it was because Elton wanted me dead. You better not be the same thing," he muttered.
The millipede, seeing that Aren was standing, began moving, its body dragging across the ground. It closed the distance slowly and then stopped a few meters away, facing Aren directly.
"This is gonna be bad," Aren said. He tried to calm himself. He could easily tell that this monster was several times stronger than the boss wolf, though he didn’t know the exact level.
And he was currently in a terrible state, which made things a whole lot harder. But then again, there was no backing down, and the only way out was if he won.
The millipede lunged, its legs hitting the rocks like drills as it moved forward, jaws wide open to end Aren.