The possessed A Rank rose slowly.
It wasn’t graceful, but through sheer, stubborn force.
Her body trembled as she pushed herself upright, muscles twitching erratically while blood continued to stream from her orifices. The red aura surrounding her flickered unevenly now, unstable, like a fla on the verge of being extinguished.
Even so, she stood up tall one last ti.
"This fucking host..." the voice groaned, layered and distorted, carrying both irritation and sothing darker beneath it.
Her hands lifted in front of her, and then energy began to gather violently.
A swirling mass of deep crimson energy coiled into her palms, twisting and compressing as if it had a will of its own. The air around it warped visibly, bending under the pressure as a suffocating aura spread outward.
Ethan felt it imdiately, a chill running down his spine.
That energy wasn’t just powerful, it was malicious. It felt alive in the worst possible way, radiating sothing ancient and demonic, sothing that didn’t belong in this world.
The colour matched her eyes perfectly.
Blood red.
Just like the liquid now pouring more heavily from her face, dripping steadily to the ground.
Ethan swallowed, his throat dry as he watched.
’This... this is insane...’
And then ca another of his constant, wild, intrusive thoughts.
’Is her asshole and other part bleeding as well?’
He shook his head and imdiately regretted wondering about that at all.
’What the hell am I even thinking right now...?’
Still, his eyes remained glued on the A Rank, both because it was fascinating and because it quite literally dictated what happened to him.
Her hands steadied.
The swirling energy was repeatedly compressed, condensed, and refined until...
"Crimson Flash!"
There was no explosion or warning, just an instant release of chaotic energy.
A beam of pure crimson shot forward from her palms, not as fire, not as light, but as sothing far more absolute.
It didn’t burn or tear; it simply erased everything in its path.
The Ant Queen, which had stood like an immovable mountain just monts before, didn’t even have ti to react. Its massive body was engulfed instantly, its form disintegrating as if it had never existed in the first place.
There was no resistance or struggle, just nothing left.
The beam was so powerful that it continued straight through the cavern and the earth itself. A massive tunnel ford in its wake, stretching dozens of ters deep, a perfectly carved void that left behind nothing but smooth, annihilated space.
Ethan’s eyes widened as he stared at the aftermath, his breath caught sowhere between awe and disbelief.
"Incredible..."
That wasn’t just power, that was annihilation.
’A couple of those attacks, and she could level an entire city.’
The thought alone was absurd and terrifying.
And yet, standing there now - bleeding, shaking, barely holding together - was the sa quiet, nervous girl who had been following him around earlier.
The contrast was almost impossible to process.
And then she collapsed.
Her body gave out completely, the red aura vanishing instantly as she hit the ground without any attempt to break her fall.
A heavy silence followed.
But so words echoed directly into Ethan’s mind, clearly from the demonic entity that possessed the A Rank.
"You owe one, boy."
Ethan exhaled slowly, still staring at her.
He had had enough of voices speaking directly into his mind, but another thing also caught his attention.
"Boy, huh..."
It had called both him and Darius that.
Not out of arrogance alone, but from sothing deeper, as if it genuinely saw them as nothing more than children.
’What the hell is that thing? And what did it an by referring to as a vessel earlier?’
He shook his head slightly.
It didn’t matter right now; survival ca first.
Ethan had recovered a little MP and summoned Talon, the beast who cost less than Wolfy and would still be able to help him move around.
He let out a sharp whistle.
Talon descended in a swift arc, grabbing onto the back of Ethan’s hood and lifting him into the air and carrying him over to the A Rank. The Skyrend Hawk placed him gently, and Ethan imdiately fell to one knee.
He was drained beyond belief, battered, and had a shattered left shoulder, but he still quickly checked on the condition of the A Rank.
Her body trembled faintly, small, uncontrollable movents running through her limbs. Placing two fingers against her neck, he felt a weak pulse, but at least it was there.
"I’m not a doctor or anything," he muttered under his breath, relief creeping into his voice, "but she doesn’t look like she’s dying."
That was sothing, at least.
But there was soone else who was in far worse condition.
Ethan turned his head sharply.
"Darius!"
He pushed himself up, ignoring the pain screaming through his body as he rushed toward where the B Rank had landed after that devastating attack.
The sight that greeted him was bad...
Really bad.
Darius’s body was slumped against the wall, partially embedded where the impact had left him. His chest had completely caved inward, the damage grotesque and unmistakable.
Bones had definitely shattered and probably punctured his lungs. His breathing, if it could even be called that, was shallow and uneven, barely there.
"Shit..."
Ethan crouched beside him, carefully reaching out to check his pulse.
For a mont, there was nothing, then sothing faint, so faint that he almost missed it.
"He’s still alive..."
But barely, and he was as close to death as one could get.
"I don’t know how to fix this..."
He wasn’t a dic, nor did he have any healing abilities, so all he could do was get them out as quickly as possible.
"We need to get out of here."
But of course, nothing ever went that smoothly...
-
Monts after the Crimson Flash tore through the cavern, sothing appeared right where the Ant Queen had once stood.
A Gate.
Ethan froze for a mont, staring at it.
The shimring portal pulsed faintly, stable and unmistakable.
It was their exit, a way out of this damned gate.
’We... actually survived this...’
The thought felt unreal.
’Well, not all of us, but I did, so who gives a shit?’
Despite everything - his injuries, the exhaustion, the pain still coursing through his body - a small, disbelieving smile ford on his face.
He was alive.
What more could he ask for than that?
But what he didn’t realise was that his experience in this gate wasn’t over just yet...
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