The golden barrier that had protected me from the ant's deadly grip shimmered before vanishing completely.
Guardian's Last Stand had officially become a relic of the past. No longer usable, but it had served its purpose well.
My body was still enhanced by my own Blood Control trait and the Crimson Moon Pendant's life force conversion. But whether these enhancements would keep me alive for the next few seconds, that was an entirely different matter.
The ant dashed toward me with incredible speed despite numerous injuries.
'Fast!'
I tried to dodge, but I was unable to fully escape the powerful attack.
The strike grazed my shoulder and I felt it dislocate immediately. Sharp pain shot through my body as the joint popped out of place.
I grunted in agony while quickly regaining my balance and creating some distance between myself and the ant.
Keeping my eyes locked on the ant, I attempted to force my shoulder back into place. The creature wasn't going to wait patiently while I dealt with my injuries.
After a few desperate attempts while the ant prepared its next assault, I finally managed to relocate the joint.
Click.
I rotated my shoulder to test its functionality before scrambling up the nearest tree. I hoped that the ant's injured limbs would prevent it from climbing after me.
As I watched from above, the ant seemed to have no intention of climbing. Instead, it charged directly at the tree and split it in half with one brutal attack.
I felt the massive oak falling and my body plummeted with it. I quickly leaped onto another tree, but the ant attacked that one too. In short order, four trees had fallen under its relentles, quick assault.
As I jumped to the fifth tree, the ant anticipated my movement and the short distance between the two trees didn't provide me enough time to avoid its strike.
I landed on the new tree just as it was falling and got caught by the ant's attack.
The impact threw my body like a broken kite once again. I had crossed my arms defensively before taking the hit to lessen the damage, but it still hurt like hell.
I stood up almost immediately to find the ant pursuing me relentlessly. I tried to dodge, but my speed wasn't sufficient.
Boom!
The attack landed squarely against my crossed arms.
Crack!
"Argh!" I couldn't help but roar in pain as I felt my arm bones fracture under the terrible force.
The ant didn't wait for me to recover. It attacked again immediately, the second strike breaking my other arm and sending waves of agony throughout my entire body.
Everything was spiraling downhill rapidly.
My body flew through the air like a kite and slammed into another tree trunk.
Fortunately, I ended up about twenty meters away from the ant. I forced myself to get up despite the overwhelming pain.
My enhanced regeneration was working fast, but it couldn't keep pace with the accumulating, high damage I was receiving.
Standing up on unsteady legs, I abandoned any thought of fighting and took off running in the opposite direction. I poured every remaining drop of mana into enhancing my movement speed. All I could think about was to escape.
If I slowed down or looked back, I might die. I convinced myself, just to run even a little bit faster.
After nearly five minutes of desperate flight, I found myself in an completely unknown part of the forest. I had delved deeper into the wilderness in my attempt to escape the relentless pursuit of my enemy.
I had no idea where I was.
I glanced back to find that accursed ant still behind me, its damaged limbs moving with terrifying determination.
I cursed out loud this time. I had hoped that a powerful Transcendent beast would emerge in this deeper territory and engage the ant while I escaped.
A Transcendent-rank creature wouldn't worry about an Elite-rank like me and would focus entirely on the injured ant that represented a more significant threat and reward.
To my terrible luck, this didn't happen.
The sword in my hand was shaking uncontrollably. My arms were healing at a rapid pace, but they were still not suitable for proper combat with a creature like the ant. I needed to keep delaying the inevitable, otherwise I was dead.
I cursed it out loud, my fighting spirit refusing to bow down despite the hopeless situation.
"You're so hell-bent on dying, huh?" I spat, my voice shaking slightly.
Whether it was fear, excitement, or pure adrenaline, I couldn't tell. But I knew one thing for certain.
I wasn't going to go down without a fight.
I charged fearlessly towards the ant.
The creature seemed genuinely surprised by my sudden courage, but then shrieked in what sounded almost like pure delight.
In its remaining eye, this was clearly my last stand. I was being suicidal, that's what it thought.
As if wanting to crush my spirit and any remaining hope for survival, the ant charged toward me at the same time.
Seeing it charge, my face paled further. I had gambled on the fact that the ant would wait for my attack, allowing me to control the engagement and perform an escaping manoeuvre at the right time, but it didn't.
My mind started working so frantically, so fast that dozens of thoughts flashed through my consciousness in less than a second.
Was this the phenomenon of life flashing before your eyes that everyone spoke of? I hadn't experienced it in my previous death, but it seemed like it was catching up with me this time around.
This wasn't a fight between Kyle and a beast that overpowered him, where plot armor and protagonist luck would somehow create a miraculous victory.
This was just a side character completely out of place. This world wasn't originally mine, and my existence here wasn't supposed to be part of the story.
To say that I didn't lose hope would be a complete lie. How could I not feel despair?
I was completely overpowered by the ant, heavily injured, with no life-saving items or skills remaining, trapped in a barren part of the forest with no backup plan.
As we both approached each other in what would likely be our final collision, I couldn't help but feel bitter about my situation.
The distance between the ant and myself closed rapidly. Its damaged but still deadly body bore down on me with murderous intent, while I rushed forward with nothing but desperate determination and a damaged sword.
This was it.
The moment that would determine whether Adrian Blackwood's second chance at life would end in these unknown woods, or whether somehow, against all odds, I would find a way to survive.
The ant's remaining eye glinted with anticipation of victory as we hurtled toward our final confrontation.
Time seemed to slow as death approached.