Rohan watched as Elane silently moved ahead of him. Sitting on the ground and doing some stretches, he fell into thought.

’Elane’s gone up ahead to scout. Since I have this huge, glowing flower on my shoulder, my arrival could be noticed from a mile away in these dark tunnels.’

When they first discovered the fighting up ahead, he was extremely worried, but after coming to a decision, he realised that the situation they faced was still more favourable than what they were expecting when returning to the Origin Realm.

Not having to face off against an E rank Elite was a huge relief to the both of them, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. A group of Awakened were up ahead fighting something, which could still be very dangerous for he and Elane if they decided to shift their targeting to them.

’But that’s where the Hollow Tide Bursts we have stored will come in very handy.’ He smiled.

Rohan almost wanted it to be Rudith and her cohort fighting up ahead — the chance to enact revenge upon them so soon was a very welcome!

’A Normal tier Hollow Tide Burst would be enough to seriously injure them or even kill the weaker ones of their group. I can’t even imagine what kind of destruction the Elite tier version would bring...’

He felt extremely glad they’d prepared a trump card like that — it was the perfect crowd control ability to deal with a large group like the build up of Awakened near the entrance.

Soon after, Elane returned from her scouting to bring him the news.

Her face didn’t look very promising, but there was a hidden glint of blood lust in her eyes. Something that Rohan had never seen before, not even against Liam or in any of the battles they fought together.

"We guessed right. Rudith and the others are back, and they’ve brought another ten Awakened with them to finish the job."

Her reveal didn’t bring any joy to them, but it did clarify what they were facing up against.

Rohan’s eyes narrowed, all traces of idle amusement fading away from his face.

"So it really is them..."

Elane nodded once and crouched beside him, keeping her voice low despite how far they still were from the fighting.

"And they’re in deep already. Much deeper than I expected."

"How bad?"

Elane let out a breath, the glint in her eyes sharpening rather than fading.

"They’re facing off against over a hundred Worker Ants."

Rohan’s brows shot up.

That was all the remaining beasts inside the nest! It explained why things were so quiet ever since they returned.

But it also explained the scale of the noises Elane sensed.

"A hundred..." he muttered. "Any sign of the boss?"

That was the most important factor deciding whether they showed up or not.

"Not so far as I could tell." Elane looked back the way she’d come. "The tunnels open up near a lot near the entrance, and they’re using that space to hold the line. I doubt they’ve encountered the boss yet, or else things would be much more chaotic over there."

Rohan agreed.

"But it has to be around somewhere. Otherwise those Worker Ants would never have organised together and struck the Awakened as one like that."

They both knew that, and far better after their experience against Liam. His ability to control thousands of beasts all at once had taught them a lot about how to face off against something like that.

’The boss has to be around somewhere.’

That unknown factor weighed heavily on their minds.

"We need to hurry up over there then. It won’t take them long to deal with the Worker Ants, especially with ten more Awakened added to their group." Rohan added before continuing, "And I’m especially worried about where they plan to go after they’re done with that."

There were too many unknowns in this plan. Did Rudith and her group know that the E rank Elite was missing from its lair? Had they already realised that the treasure they’d come here for had already been taken, thanks to the veins spreading all throughout the beast nest dimming drastically now?

So many questions cropped up that were impossible to find an answer to right now. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"There’s no use trying to hide from them. I heard some chatter about leaving some Awakened at the entrance to keep watch, so we’ll have to deal with them regardless. It’s not like there’s anywhere for us to hide anyway."

Rudith was smart enough to separate their large group into smaller groups to search through every tunnel for stragglers, especially when she realised that the treasure had already been stolen.

’But we can use this to our advantage. They’ll be much easier to deal with in smaller numbers!’

The quickly moved themselves into position in one of the side tunnels, preparing for an ambush.

***

Rudith drove her sword into the split seam of a Worker Ant’s head and ripped it free in the same motion, pivoting hard enough to avoid the next one trying to clamp onto her leg.

"Left side!" She shouted.

Joe answered first, his blade flashing and severing one of the ant’s front limbs before he took another in to the throat with a savage upward stab.

Blood and guts sprayed over his forearm, but he didn’t even flinch at the gory scene.

The expanded tunnel chamber near the entrance had become a slaughter pit.

Dead Worker Ants were everywhere.

And even though these were "only" Worker Ants, anything became dangerous in large numbers.

Rudith knew that. That was why here jaw remained clenched.

"That fucking boss has become more paranoid after last time. It sent all this cannon fodder to us before we could even get one foot in the place!" She exclaimed, venting her frustration.

Sarah came in close, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and speaking in a low tone that only the two of them could hear.

"Calm down, Rudy. Once we’ve dealt with these pests, the only thing standing between us and that flower will be the boss itself. These guys we brought along still don’t know a thing, so the plan should work this time!"

Rudith relaxed a little. But the memory of their last encounter with the boss still lingered in her mind.

’If it wasn’t for that little shit Rohan, we would have been in and out before that monstrous Ant even realised it.’

A lot of resentment had built up inside her after that day.