The cavern yawned before them, massive and hollow, its roof jagged with black rock and lined with glowing fungi that cast ghostly light across the stone floor. The air was damp, heavy with the smell of moss and mud. A faint drip echoed from the far walls, the only sound besides the scraping of cricket legs.
The enemy was there—resting. The crickets stood scattered, their spears grounded, mandibles twitching in puzzlement, as if they still tried to make sense of what had just happened outside. Their formation was loose, their guard lowered.
Adam's antennae flicked forward. His mandibles clenched with rage.
"Juggernauts—line up!" he barked.
The massive ants moved, forming a wall of bodies, their mana shields flaring alive in shimmering green. Behind them clustered the warriors, Adam at their head, healers holding the flanks.
"CHARGE!"
The roar shook the cavern. The Juggernauts thundered forward, shields braced, earth trembling under their weight. Adam sprinted behind them, his body tense with fury, the swarm's war cry bursting like thunder.
For a brief instant, confusion lit the crickets' eyes. Then Skarn's voice split the air:
"NOW!"
In perfect unison, the crickets bent their legs and leapt skyward.
The Juggernauts plowed forward into nothing. The air above shimmered with bodies as dozens of armored crickets came crashing down.
The cavern floor erupted. A shockwave rolled outward, dirt and stone scattering. Juggernauts staggered, confused. A few unlucky ones were crushed instantly, their shells splintering under the weight. Those who had advanced too deep were swarmed the moment they landed—skewered by spears, hacked apart in merciless precision.
Adam froze. A trick, they were playing weak all along, he thought as fury boiled inside him. He watched his ants being butchered in front of him. Mandibles snapped in terror, shells cracked like brittle bark. Blood sprayed the moss-covered ground.
"AHHHHHHH!"
His scream ripped through the cave. He had to save them no matter what. He slammed into the front lines, fury driving him, the swarm echoing his cry. The battle began in chaos.
Adam smashed a cricket into the air with the full force of his head, the soldier's armored body tumbling skyward before crashing down limp. Silk spat from his mandibles, he caught another cricket mid-stride, webbing its torso, then twisted his body. The web pulled taut, dragging the insect sideways into its own comrade. Both collapsed in a tangle of limbs, and ants swarmed to finish them.
He webbed another, yanking its weapon away with a violent pull, then swung himself bodily into the enemy line, knocking spearmen to the dirt. The disruption saved Norkk and a cluster of Juggernauts who had somehow survived the first wave. They surged up, cleaving down fallen crickets before they could rise.
Adam pressed forward, until a dark figure dropped before him.
A cricket, broad-shouldered, his body wrapped in battered black armor. A scar slashed deep across his right eye, mandibles twitching with restrained fury. He carried no helm, his bare head exposed, pride written into his rigid stance. A single spear gleamed in his grip.
Adam's appraisal flickered:
[Appraisal Panel]
[Name: ???][Species: Desert Cricket][Level: ???][Attributes: ???][Abilities: ???]
The cricket spoke, voice low and venomous.
"You don't know how long I've been waiting for this."
He shifted his stance, spear angled forward, legs braced.
"The glory will be mine!"
Skarn roared as he lunged. The cavern echoed with the clash of crystal and mandible. Sparks spat as Adam parried the sideways sweep with his mandibles. Skarn thrust low—Adam dodged left, slashing at his leg and drawing blood.
The cricket only grunted, adjusting, and came on again.
Relentless thrusts rained down, spear jabbing, sweeping, turning in his grip like a living extension of his body. Adam blocked, parried, sparks scraping off his shell, the two locked in a storm of movement.
Then Skarn changed.
He spun his spear in a circle overhead, a blurring arc of wood and steel. The system pulsed inside Adam's skull:
[Warning: Mana Disbalance Detected]
He didn't understand—until the spear swung down.
A wave of mana ripped outward, slicing the air. It struck Adam's mandibles. Agony flared—searing heat branded a scar deep into his face.
He staggered, vision flashing white.
Skarn laughed, teeth bared.
"I don't want to hurt the product too much," he sneered. "But your eyes… oh, your eyes alone will be worth a fortune!"
He leveled the spear to strike again.
But Norkk slammed into him, barrier first. The crash shook the cavern, hurling Skarn into the dirt.
Adam reacted instantly—web shot out, coiling around the spear. He yanked, the weapon skittering across the battlefield, far from Skarn's reach.
"Damn you!" Skarn roared. He lunged, seizing Norkk's leg, and with monstrous strength he swung him bodily into a cluster of ants. Norkk's barrier flickered, his shell cracking under the blow. Ants toppled with him, their cries mixing with the clash of battle.
Adam surged forward, mandibles cutting across Skarn's abdomen. The cricket twisted, dodging most of it, but his arm was still carved, blood spraying across the moss.
Desperate, Skarn lunged for Adam's legs, trying to wrench him into the air. Adam's silk spat, plastering his face. He twisted sharply—the web pulled taut, yanking Skarn's head sideways. In the same motion, Adam's mandibles slashed his face.
Blood burst. Another scar burned into Skarn's carapace. He immediately lifted himself in the air, his wings flittering as he retreated backwards to gain distance,
His hand froze on the freshly cut wound on his face, and a tremor shook him. Memory surged, unbidden. The scar across his eye, the humiliation, the shame that had followed. Fury roared back to life, hotter than ever.
Grinding his teeth, Skarn turned and snatched a spear from a comrade still fighting. The soldier froze in shock, defenseless for a heartbeat. It was enough. Ants pounced, mandibles driving into his flesh as he screamed.
Skarn didn't look back.
"DIIIEEE!" he bellowed, lunging at Adam.
The duel turned savage. Adam dodged left, but Skarn's kick connected—slamming into his wounded mandible. The crack rang loud. A fragment of chitin shattered away. Adam reeled, pain blinding.
Skarn pressed on. His spear slashed across Adam's legs—one limb severed clean. Adam collapsed, the cavern tilting around him.
Then Skarn's foot crashed into his abdomen, pinning him. The black-armored warrior loomed above, gasping, his voice a rasp of triumph.
"Finally… I've got you where I wanted. Now perish!"
Adam's thoughts spiraled, not now, I can't die now…
And then, faint at first, a sound rose. A rumble.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
War drums.
The cavern quaked as Brill burst from a tunnel, antennae blazing. Behind him poured the moths, wings wide, their charge descending like a storm of shadow and light.
The crickets panicked, some fleeing, others throwing up weapons in frantic defense.
Adam seized the moment. He twisted, snapping a web line across Skarn's head. He yanked hard—Skarn stumbled, ripped backward.
Adam lunged, mandibles piercing deep into his back. Blood spewed hot as he lifted the cricket into the air, then hurled him down. The impact rattled stone.
Skarn writhed, voice breaking.
"Mercy! I'll never return, I swear—"
The plea ended in silence. Adam's mandibles sliced clean through his neck. The head tumbled, eyes wide in disbelief, rolling across the moss.
The ants roared, their cries shaking the cavern.
Adam stood above the corpse, body heaving, scar burning, mandibles dripping with blood. The duel was over.