Even now, Solant did not allow herself to think of victory. She tried not to think at all. As she raced underneath the Eldest's carapace, between their legs and out from under their abdomen, she thought only of moving her legs, two at a time.
The ball gripped tight between her mandibles, the general tried not to focus on the touchline, looming ever larger in her vision.
She tried not to think about her broodmates, those on the pitch with her, and those watching from above, who had entrusted her with their future.
She very much tried not to think about the massive ant behind her, radiating a suffocating aura of power.
How many times had the Endless been pushed against the wall? How many times had they come out on top? This would be no different. It had to be no different. She refused to lose.
Her core throbbed inside her body, the ichor pulsed within her monstrous flesh. Every fibre of her being strained to go just that little bit faster, to reach just that little bit further!
The touchline was so close! She wished it was closer, wished she had already arrived. If she could touch this ball to the stone, then this burden would be lifted, for just a little while, and she could continue to lead her team with no blemish upon their record.
She was almost there!
The crowd was screaming, she was dimly aware. A roar of voices and clacking mandibles that shifted the stone beneath her claws and sent her antennae to quivering. The force of it was overwhelming, but there was simply no room in her mind for it.
She couldn't lose!
One final leap, one final stretch for the touchline. She pushed off with all her strength, flying through the air, ball gripped firmly in her mandibles.
Only a few metres! Not even a second of time, and it would be over!
Except… she wasn't moving?
"Are you done?" The Eldest huffed irritably.
Solant shifted her head and realised she had become gripped by the giant ant in mid-air, leaving her suspended, mere centimetres from her goal.
Held above the ground, no matter how she struggled, there was no way she could overcome the remaining distance. That tiny gap may as well have been an insurmountable chasm.
With one motion, the Eldest raised their head and turned, pulling Solant away from the touchline, and pulling her heart from her chest.
It was over.
She had lost.
"Can you really call it a loss when you never had a chance to win?" the Eldest mused. "Probably, yes. You lose, Solant. Which means you and your little team are mine for the next little while. Are we clear?"
"... Yes."
"Excellent. We'll be heading to the fourth stratum as soon as I can possibly arrange it."
The Eldest put her down amongst her teammates, making sure to take the ball and crush it with a flex of their mana. The crowd continued to go berserk and the giant ant flexed and posed for them for a moment.
"Are you alright?" Leonidant asked as she approached her general.
"I'm fine," Solant replied without emotion.
"I can't believe you got so close, even with everything stacked against us…."
"It wasn't close enough."
"That's not your fault."
"Isn't it?"
Leonidant took a step back, pushed away by the intensity of her leader's scent.
"S-Solant?"
"Whoa, hold it right there." A thick leg slammed down between them, right in front of the general's face, followed by an overly long antenna that poked her in the head. "You're taking this far too hard. In my opinion, you aren't focused on quite the right things, but we can put that aside for now, there's time for discussion soon enough. Before we go, though, there's something I want to know."
"What?"
"How did you poison that cake?"
The Eldest sounded curious, not even mad, but Solant ducked her head a little before she replied.
"I had learned that too much sugar caused ants to lose concentration and behave somewhat erratically, so I had the cake prepared with ten times the normal amount."
"You… tried to poison me… with sugar?"
"I would not put aside any weapon in the pursuit of victory."
"Nono, I get that… it's just… that's adorable. Alright. I've had enough of this. Get your crew together, the full twenty, I can't take any more of this."
When the other ten arrived, the Eldest counted them, nodded then raised their head.
With a flash of light, and a ripping sound, the pitch became empty.
~~~
"The most one-sided 1-0 match in history."
[You aren't wrong, Peter. Despite her heroics at the end, somehow managing to slip her way past the Eldest for a second, it wasn't enough. Solant and her Endless have finally tasted defeat at the mandibles of the mightiest ant in the Colony.]
"It's a shame, really. I can't imagine seeing the Great One return to this stratum again any time soon, if at all. We, and the audience lucky enough to witness this spectacle live, may be the very last people to see the Eldest's greatness in person at this depth."
[I believe you're right. And what a spectacle it was. It's been my privilege, listeners, to bring you this commentary and let you share in this unprecedented and unrepeatable moment in the history of our game and our civilisation. Long live the Colony!]
"Long live Tunnel Ball!"