Tristan's heart raced as he saw the giant crystal ant climbing up the tunnel toward him. He quickly glanced around and analyzed the ant's speed.
'Damn, it's much faster than I am at climbing. There's no way I can escape this.'
Tristan stopped pressing his legs against the tunnel wall and began to fall toward the ant.
[Dark Blade]
As Tristan collided with the ant, he struck its head with his black blade, but to his surprise, it only chipped a few of the crystals on its head. Not only that, Tristan thought he would be able to knock the creature off balance with his weight, but when they collided, the ant had no difficulty staying firm on the tunnel wall.
The creature's mandibles tried to sever Tristan's leg, but he managed to escape with a powerful leap in the tight tunnel.
'This monster has many advantages here!'
'At least I could tell that it's organic inside.'
Tristan quickly started thinking about how he could defeat his new enemy. He remembered his knowledge of normal ants.
"Normal ants have poor eyesight, and their antennae are sensory organs they use to smell. If this monster has similar characteristics, I might have a chance."
Tristan began to fall again toward the crystal ant. This time, he used his black blade to cut the ant's antennae. When he did this, the ant went berserk, thrashing around inside the tunnel, but he wasn't finished with his attack yet. Now, he aimed for the large compound eyes that were not protected by the crystals.
His black blade pierced the creature's eye and drove deep into its brain. After a while, the ant's movements ceased, and its body plummeted down the tunnel.
Tristan let out a sigh of relief. He began to think about what had just happened.
'What if there are more ants? If that ant made all those holes, then the situation is resolved, but if it was some kind of scout and there's an ant nest nearby, we're doomed.'
Without wasting more time, he quickly started climbing up the tunnel.
***
Near the hole where Tristan had entered, the group members were waiting for him.Yue occasionally looked at the hole, and Lan had a serious expression on his face.
Yue said excitedly, "I hear something coming."
After a while, they saw Tristan slowly emerging from the tunnel.
"DUSK!" Yue exclaimed in a loud, happy tone.
"You did it, kid!" Zhou Lan said.
Lan grabbed Tristan and lifted him out of the hole, raising him into the air. But noticing his uncomfortable expression, he placed the child back on the ground.
Tristan sat down, let out a tired sigh, and began to explain to the others what he had seen.
"I found a magical beast digging a tunnel. It was a giant ant, about the size of a dog, and its body was covered in crystals."
"Ant?" many of them said.
"A magical beast?" Jian murmured, concerned.
"What do we do now? What if there are more magical beasts here?" Feiyan asked.
"We have to keep moving forward; we can't turn back now," Jian said.
"But they're just ants. How dangerous can they be?" Yue asked.
"The crystal coating on that thing was very tough; it was hard to break even with my ability."
A worried expression appeared on everyone's face when Tristan said this.
"The worst part is that normal ants live in large groups. So there might be a lot more ants."
"But even if there's an ant colony, if it's not in our path, we might have a chance," Tristan said with a shrug.
"Well, first, we'd better worry about our scent."
"Why?" Zhou Lan asked.
Then Tristan remembered that ordinary people weren't as interested in insect biology as he was, so he paused and began to explain what he knew about ants.
"Do you like studying insects?" Yue asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, well, I guess I like learning about various subjects in my free time."
Tristan turned to Zhou Lan.
"Mr. Lan."
"What is it?"
"Can you remove the bandages from my arms for me?"
"Are you healed already?" Lan asked with a bit of surprise in his voice.
"Not completely, but I think I can at least move my arms now."
Lan removed the bandages from his arms.
Tristan stared at the horrific scars on his arms for a few seconds. Then he began to move his arms.
'I still can't move my hands precisely, but my arm movements are good enough.'
Tristan thought he should try to seek information about the crystal ants in his divine fragment when the opportunity arose.
Eventually, the group members decided to throw dirt on their clothes in an attempt to mask their scent. Tristan doubted this would be very effective, but it was better than doing nothing.
"Let's try to move as quietly as possible. Yue's enhanced hearing is our best chance to detect the enemy in advance," Yi Jian said, and everyone agreed.
Yue felt a bit uncomfortable with the pressure of the task she had to perform, but she tried not to show it and kept a confident expression on her face.
She detected more noises a few times, but none seemed close to them. At one point, she started to walk more slowly, and a worried expression appeared on her childlike face.
"I think something is approaching us! And it doesn't seem to be just one thing."
"What should we do? Run?" Feiyan asked nervously.
"Does it sound like many ants?" Jian asked.
Yue focused for a moment, and then she said, "I don't think it's many." She couldn't give a more precise answer than that.
"If they've detected us, I think it's too late to run," Tristan said.
"We might have a chance to defeat them. Dusk managed to kill one by himself. If there are only a few, we can handle it," Jian said, trying to sound confident.
"Where's the noise coming from?" Tristan asked Yue.
She pointed out the locations to him with her finger.
Tristan and Jian approached the holes Yue had pointed out while the others backed away. Soon, Tristan and Jian were also able to hear their enemy approaching.
One after another, four crystal ants emerged from the three holes. The ants that appeared were no different from the one Tristan had faced earlier. But now he was able to notice one more detail due to the lighting: the ants' crystals were blue, resembling sapphire ants.