"RAGE SPEAR. STRIKE!"
The furious roars of brothers Lumber and Gumber echoed, tearing through the ruins. Two spears, charged with a momentum akin to meteors, streaked across the sky, slicing through smoke and debris to pierce the behemoth, Almond. Yet, facing this full-force assault, the demon merely curled his lip in contempt. He casually raised his massive greatsword, using the hilt to stop the two razor-sharp spearheads with a deafening metallic clang.
A violent shockwave erupted from the point of impact, scouring the surroundings. The giant mushrooms were blown backward, their stalks snapping one after another like dry twigs under the pressure of the forest's collapse.
"Poor humans,"
Almond growled, his voice deep and brimming with arrogance. With a titanic physique twice the size of the brothers, Almond merely flexed his arm muscles and shoved his blade forward. A terrifying force, vast as a tsunami, repelled Lumber and Gumber. They tumbled across the ground, dust clinging to their open wounds, struggling to anchor themselves lest they be completely crushed by that absolute power.
On the opposite side, Cashew glided forward, her long, slender legs moving like a breeze toward Omelet—who was paralyzed with fear—and Lio, who stood guard with his sword. She was in no hurry to finish them. Lifting a long wing to partially shroud her face, she whispered with a chilling, ethereal malice:
"Fragile humans... your true opponents now... aren't us."
High above, Almond beat his small wings, hovering as he added, his voice rumbling like thunder from the abyss:
"Inferior scum, you aren't even worthy of staining this blade with your blood."
Shinji scrambled to his feet, ignoring the countless lacerations from Cashew's threads. He ran to join Lio in shielding Omelet. Suddenly, a gut-wrenching sound emanated from deep underground—the sound of desperate scratching and collapsing earth drawing nearer. Abruptly, a brown, withered hand thrust through the soil, its gnarled fingers gripping a chipped stone axe.
Shinji froze, his pupils shrinking in horror. This familiar sensation
"No... It can't be..."
From beneath the muck and mire, the ant soldiers of the Anteria race crawled out. But they were no longer the valiant warriors they once were. They appeared as ghouls from the afterlife: some missing arms, others legs, and some were mere headless corpses moving with a bizarre, instinctual twitch. Amidst this crippled horde, a towering figure stepped forth. The sight made Shinji's heart sink.
"Kriz!"
Shinji screamed, his throat tightening. The once-proud leader was now only half a man; a sharp strike had cleaved through his frame. The right half of his body had vanished completely, leaving a void that incessantly leaked thick, pungent, dark-green blood. He stood there, his eyes clouded with tears, lips trembling as he whispered a desperate plea:
"Humans... please... kill us..."
Despite his fatal injuries, Kriz and his soldiers were forced to advance. One soldier swung his axe at Shinji, but the movement was stiff and clumsy, like a malfunctioning marionette. He sobbed as he swung; his missing left leg turned every step into a ritual of agony, leaving a trail of emerald blood across the earth.
"Kill me... I beg you..."
It was then that Shinji noticed countless glimmers of silver thread—thin as spider silk but resilient as iron chains—wrapped tightly around their every joint and fiber. The threads pierced through open wounds, jerking them cruelly at the puppet master's whim. Suddenly, Kriz was forced to deliver a lethal blow, his blade cleanly severing the head of the weeping soldier beside him. Kriz howled, his voice hoarse with despair:
"Forgive me, Odorus... I am so sorry!"
Behind Cashew, more Anterians rose from the ground. They advanced toward Shinji's group while being forced to slaughter one another in a coerced frenzy. Flesh and severed limbs fell everywhere, painting a scene of living hell.
Cashew smirked, her wing flicking slightly. A silver string flashed, instantly decapitating the soldier beside her. She nonchalantly caught the poor ant's head, laughing with utter disdain. Abruptly, she tore off her owl mask, revealing a mouth full of jagged fangs. She unhinged her jaw and devoured the head, the sounds of crunching bone echoing sickeningly.
"Disgusting,"
Cashew muttered after sating her bloodlust.
"Taste like shit."
Witnessing the Anteria people being treated as playthings, tortured and forced to massacre their own kind, Shinji's heart twisted. Brief moments of peace shared with Kriz flashed through his mind.
"We do not like fighting..."—now they were forced into becoming mindless killers.
"We prefer baking and cooking..."—now the hands meant for kneading dough were stained with the blood of their kin.
They were dying a slow death, their bodies broken and their final dignity trampled. Rage flared, scorching Shinji's mind. He followed the silver threads trembling back to the smiling monster. Shinji spun around, his eyes blazing with fury, and screamed a sound that tore through the air:
"CASHEW, YOU BASTARD!"
Cashew simply let out a mocking laugh. Her fingers twitched, sending Kriz into a relentless assault against Shinji. The old captain's body continuously spurted blood, his wounds tearing further with every forced swing. Kriz never stopped wailing in pain, mourning his tragic fate.
Almond looked down from above, pointing at the carnage to insult Lumber and Gumber:
"Do you see, humans? Kill your own friends with your own hands! Inferior scum like you... what can you possibly do? Just die obediently at my feet!"