The walls of ice and earth cracked and shattered, the ants moving quickly to attack the Deformity troops standing by. Bernice pushed the army of ants with the power of the wind, trapping the creatures and causing them to recoil. From the girl's left and right, the Deformities—including Lucas and Josh—unleashed their powers.
"Wall!" a Deformity shouted from behind her.
Another wall was formed by the Deformity supports, and everyone moved back. If the ant swarm continued to attack, it would be difficult for the army deformity to defend the camp.
"Everyone should retreat and get into the vehicles," Josh said under his breath. "If we stay here, it'll just be a slaughter."
"If there were enough helicopters, maybe we could. But by road? It's useless," Lucas replied.
Faith came running and approached the Deformity troops defending the right flank of the camp.
"Backup will be here in twenty minutes. As soon as help arrives, everyone retreat to the left flank and stay there," Faith said.
All the deformities nodded obediently.
"Set up flares so the warplanes know our position. That way we won't be in their line of fire. Do you understand?" Faith continued.
"Yes, Master!" all the Deformities replied in unison.
"Hang in there. We can make it through this," Faith concluded.
The man hurried back to the front, a worried look on his face, though he tried to look strong. Bernice looked at the wall of ice and earth created by the Deformity, which was already being eroded away by the ants.
"Can we hold out? Twenty minutes is a long time." The girl said doubtfully.
"We survived more than that, remember?" Lucas looked at Bernice. "You and me, we were even trapped on a rooftop. We're still alive today."
"But what if this is the end of us, Lucas?"
Suddenly, there was a spark of electricity from Josh's hand next to Bernice. The girl gasped in shock.
"On the plus side, we get to meet Elijah and the others at the Academy sooner," Josh said lightly.
"Aren't you afraid, Josh?" Bernice looked at the young man.
"Of course I'm afraid. But I don't want to run away again, Bern." Josh shook his head firmly. "And if there is a hereafter, maybe I'll see them again."
Lucas wiped away the tears that suddenly streamed down his cheeks. "You're right."
"At least we died together," Josh said.
Suddenly, Lucas grabbed Bernice's arm. It would have been ridiculous for him to have said anything that wasn't the right thing in that moment. But he didn't know if he could tell Bernice everything anymore.
"Bernice, I..."
There was a loud explosion, "Boom!'
"...I love you."
Everyone reflexively covered their ears, including Bernice. The girl turned to Lucas. "What did you say?"
Josh's hand pulled his friend's arms back as the defensive wall was breached. The Deformities tried to build a new wall, but suddenly something in the darkness wrapped around their legs and pulled quickly at the swarm of ants.
The Deformities screamed and cried out in pain as their bodies were torn apart, their legs and arms severed.
"Come on, run!" yelled Josh.
They saw a glowing figure among the ants, a large body with tentacles. One by one, the deformity was caught and dragged away. The three youngsters ran back to the vanguard and never looked back.
As selfish as it may sound, they were forced to leave the wounded troops in the trucks and cars. But there was no way they could save these people.
"What's that thing?" asked Lucas as he ran.
Bernice quickly shook her head. "I don't know!"
"We should get to the left flank and stay there," Josh decided.
"To the front, Josh!" Bernice corrected.
"There's something behind us, and if we don't get out of the way now, we're not going to make it!" Josh snapped back.
As they ran toward the left flank of the camp, the vanguard troops retreated and ran in the same direction. Among them were Bone, Faith, and Rousse. Of course, Rousse was closely guarded by her subordinates.
"Retreat!" Faith shouted loudly. "To the left flank! Fall back!"
The Deformity Supports still in the rear formed defensive walls, following in the footsteps of the troops that had run first. Bone immediately approached Bernice, Lucas, and Josh.
"Stay with me," Bone ordered.
"There's another creature," Bernice said hurriedly as she ran after Bone.
Bone nodded quickly. "So is the vanguard, so we're retreating as fast as we can."
"What kind of alien is it, Bone?" asked Lucas.
"We don't know yet, but it's very strong. Too strong," Bone replied.
*
Phebe, Drew, Rick, and the two remaining deformities continued to run toward the campsite. But their steps stopped when they heard the sound of so much fighting ahead. Rick took the initiative, immediately shooting up to survey the situation. Then he rushed down.
"We need to pull back or find a way around," Rick whispered.
"Are there ants?" asked Phebe.
"Lots of them. And there's that glowing thing again." Rick licked his dry lips. "We got lucky when Elijah attracted the glowing alien before, now? I'm not sure."
"Queen? Again?" Phebe couldn't believe her ears.
She had almost died if Elijah hadn't acted earlier. And who knows what happened to Elijah, maybe he died like the rest of the deformity that left with them, Phebe thought.
"Go back, we'll find another way," Drew interrupted.
The three of them backed up slowly, then ran as fast as they could. But it seemed that their presence was known to the ants. So it wasn't long before there was a rustling and screeching pursuit from behind.
"Ah, shit!" Drew cursed in annoyance.
They were already quite tired and injured, but they tried to avoid being chased by the ants. Rick glanced occasionally at the map on the holographic screen, leading his comrades back to the wreckage of the helicopter. Maybe they could escape from there and find their way to Milton.
They ran for twenty minutes, almost out of breath, but the ants kept chasing them. They reached the scene of the massacre of Deformity's comrades in the helicopter. Phebe's pace began to slow, she stopped and coughed.
"I can't. I can't take it anymore," the girl said, her emotions beginning to shake.
"Come on, Phebe," Rick urged.
"Just leave me here. I'd rather die," Phebe howled irritably.
The ants came closer, and Drew stared in the direction the aliens were coming. In the group of ant troops, Queen joined them, her body giving off light that made the three Deformities lose hope.
Rick uprooted trees with his telekinetic power, hoping it would deter the ants and Queen. But the enemy continued to advance, though some of the ants were killed by the trunk.
Screaming with rage, Drew unleashed a thunderbolt that struck the army of ants that had gotten too close. The ants were instantly roasted. Phebe and the others Deformity also helped, but her attacks were no match for the ants that kept coming.
"Well, maybe this is the end," Rick said resignedly.
There was a crackling sound like the wick of a burning firework, and 'Boom! Boom! Boom!' Drew, Phebe and Rick turned their heads in the direction of the attack.
From behind the dark trees, a figure approached. It radiated light from both palms. Phebe gasped, it was Elijah.
The attention of the enemy troops was focused on Elijah, as well as the queen, who stood in the center of her pawns. The Queen quickly approached Elijah and unleashed a fire attack on the young man.
[Warning]
[βασίλισσα Φωτιά +1]
Seeing the Queen's status displayed before his eyes, Elijah grinned. He launched himself and swooped down on the Queen in a flash. Landing directly on the alien's back, Elijah held the tentacles back with the power of telekinesis and grabbed the Queen's neck from behind.
[Δραστηριοποιώ καταβροχθίζω]
[Activate Devour]
The Queen's body instantly tensed and stiffened as Elijah absorbed all of her power. As the stone at the back of her neck cracked, the Queen's body melted with the flames coming from Elijah's body.
[ολοκληρώθηκε το καταβροχθίζω]
[Devoured Complete]
A heat wave hit the ants swarming around Elijah and the Queen, and all the ants died instantly. The status screen reappeared in Elijah's vision.
[Devouring Power Ͱ 10+]
[Water Ͱ 2+]
[Earth Ͱ 2+]
[Fire Ͱ 5+]
[Lightning Ͱ 4+]
[Telekinesis Ͱ 1+]
[Water Ͱ 2+]
[Recharge Ͱ 0]
[Your Status, King]
[You added 1+ Fire Strength. A gift from the Queen]
[We wish you a good harvest]
The fire in Elijah's body disappeared, then he staggered toward Phebe, Drew, and Rick. The two others backed away reflexively, as they had never seen anything so strange before—although being a mutant was a strange phenomenon in itself.
"Elijah?" called Phebe cautiously.
"Yes?" replied Elijah, showing his white teeth.
"Is that you? Are you really Elijah?" Phebe tried to confirm that the figure approaching her was really him.
Elijah stopped before the three and looked at each of them, calmly. "Is there a problem?"
"What kind of power is that?" Drew was in complete disbelief. "I never knew there was such a power."
"Like I said, I got this power when I was seventeen," Elijah said.
"Yes, but usually for those of us who aren't normal, there's only one power. I don't know what power you have, it's different from the rest of us," Rick said.
"I took the Queen's power," Elijah said. "It's more or less the same."
Phebe blinked her eyes quickly. "You have the ability to take on her might?"
Elijah nodded. "Yes. I devour the alien's power."