Perched atop a sturdy tree branch, Seiya observed the ants below as they scurried around, occasionally spitting streams of acid. He dodged their attacks with ease, but the acid left its mark, corroding branches that collapsed under their own weight.
"I can't tackle them one by one. They're too well-coordinated, always covering one another's weaknesses" Seiya murmured, his sharp eyes scanning the swarm below.
{They could climb up to get you, but they won't. They know the high ground puts them at a disadvantage. Smart little bastards} Ibyu chimed.
"If I try to escape and head for the other children, they'll chase after me for sure and complicate things further. Time is of the essence—I need to act fast to go help them "
{I don't see how you can fight them alone without help. Their teamwork is flawless} Ibyu countered.
"Then I'll just…" He trailed off, leaping forward and heading down.
"Disrupt the ground beneath them" He completed, skillfully twisting his body in precise movements to avoid the corrosive streams of acid the ants spat at him mid-air.
His descent was quick and deliberate that the moment he landed, he drove his fist into the ground with a force that sent shockwaves through the earth. The impact exploded dirt and debris into the air, scattering the ants in chaotic disarray.
With no second wasted and amidst the chaos, Seiya grabbed a mandible he had salvaged earlier and hurled it with tremendous force at a nearby ant. Before the weapon struck its target, Seiya sprinted, catching it mid-flight and thrusting it deep into the ant's core with relentless precision.
One ant down.
Seiya moved to another ant, this one still disoriented from the explosion. He drove the same mandible into its core and with practiced ease, ripped off its mandibles to use as additional weapons.
Within the swirling debris cloud, Seiya took out five ants, each attack calculated and merciless.
When the dust settled, Seiya stood amidst the shattered remains of the ants, drenched in their green blood with sweat glistening on his brow due to the energy he had just expended.
Seeing how many he managed to take down within the debris, Seiya felt unsatisfied. He felt he'd have outdone more had he been in good health.
He wiped his face with the back of his hand, taking off his glasses that were smeared, to clean.
Grabbing a dry strip of his bandages, he cleaned them and pushed them back onto his face, his movements brisk and mechanical.
His eyes caught another ant attempting to regain its footing some distance away. He dashed toward it, narrowly dodging a fresh spray of acid that grazed past his cheek from the ant. With a powerful uppercut, he sent the ant soaring skyward. Before it could ascend any further, Seiya snatched it mid-air by its legs, slamming it down with earth-shaking force. His foot followed next, crushing the ant in one decisive stomp.
The remaining ants, driven into a frenzy by the carnage, began charging en masse. They spat acid as they advanced, forcing Seiya to act swiftly. He grabbed a fallen ant by its mandibles and dragged it across the ground, its exoskeleton scraping loudly as he charged toward the incoming ants.
Before the ants could reach a proper firing range, Seiya hurled the corpse of the ant at them, blocking their view and stalling their advance. In a blur of motion, he appeared almost instantly before them like he had teleported, catching the falling body he had hurled mid-air. Using it as a weapon, he forcefully swept the others aside, clearing a path. Even before their bodies hit the ground, Seiya was upon them at unfathomable speed, stabbing their cores or smashing them with bone-crushing punches—Eliminating four more ants.
The final three, realizing his tactics, adjusted their own strategy. They spread out, encircling him and coordinating their acid sprays to corner him but Seiya saw his chance. Sliding under one stream of acid with fluid precision, he sprinted toward one of the ants. Seiya plunged a mandible into its stomach, dragging it down the length of its body as he slid beneath it. Green blood spilled like a torrent. Before the others could react, he leapt atop the dying ant, driving the weapon deep into its back.
With two mandibles in hand, Seiya turned swiftly, bolting in the direction of the children.
The surviving ants, undeterred, chased after him, depicting his escape cowardly. But Seiya came to an abrupt stop the next minute, flipping backward to land squarely on the backs of the two pursuers. The force of his landing crushed their steel-like exoskeletons.
"I knew your mission was one you couldn't retreat so I was sure you would both chase after me" Seiya muttered, plunging the two mandibles he carried into their heads and silencing them for good. As their bodies crumpled beneath him, he sighed in relief, briefly catching his breath before gathering their mandibles.
Have the ants already cornered them? Seiya asked as he gathered up the mandibles.
{Not yet, but they're close so you need to hurry} Ibyu urged.
"Hah! Maybe I should just let them die" Seiya breathed with weariness in his voice.
{…..}
"I'm kidding" He let out, already sprinting toward the children in need of help.
In the yard back at the facility, the audience watched in stunned silence. On the screens, Seiya's feats unfolded like a spectacle of raw, unrelenting power. Such precision and strength wasn't at all what they were expecting from a mere ten years old—that too, from Seiya who always looked fragile.
Seiya arrived in no time with Ibyu directing his way.
There he met the children being cornered by another group of ants. The children were huddled together, struck with fear and screaming as the ants closed in.
Among the children were Eiro and Hayne who stood upfront, sheltering the others while they tried to fend away the incoming ants.
Without hesitation, Seiya lunged forward, using a mandible to slice through the nearest ant before stomping it into the ground.
Seiya stood atop the crushed ant to catch his breath, gazing down at the children who stared back with shell-shocked eyes filled with both fear and awe.
Towering over them, blood-streaked and battle-worn, Seiya looked every bit like the savior they had desperately needed.