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With trembling limbs, he readied every skill. Then a battered comrade Thren, someone less known, suddenly rose from behind a boulder. This ant, half-blinded and near death, locked eyes with Kai. In a hoarse whisper, he said, "Kai... run away with others. I’ll hold it off with my self-destruction." Summoning the last of his aura, the ant charged the monster in a suicidal rush. The Ore Eater roared, rearing back for a killing blow.
A flash of swirling aura erupted around the brave ant, and he triggered a final skill that caused an explosion of force at point-blank range. The cavern rattled with the impact. Chunks of debris rained from the ceiling. The predator let out an enraged howl.
Smoke and dust filled the air, and the courageous ant’s silhouette vanished in the flash. He was gone in the wake of his own self-sacrifice. The shock wave knocked the beast to one knee, battered, though still dangerously alive. It panted heavily, its stony armor cracked in places, glaring at the battered survivors with a furious hatred.
Kai coughed amid the swirling dust, choking on despair. The dust cleared enough to reveal Lomar half-buried in a rock pile, motionless. Vexor was missing. Renna was unconscious with big injuries, possibly dying. The predator was wounded but still lethal, its spines chipped and oozing strange fluid. The aura of Four-Star might overshadow them all.
Kai had no choice. He had to fight alone. Summoning every bit of grit he had, he launched himself forward. The beast responded with a furious slash. Kai twisted away, though he felt his exoskeleton crack at the impact’s edge. Pain seared him.
[Ding! HP -500]
The system beeped desperately: "HP dangerously low." But he pressed on, hitting the monster’s weaker spots in a flurry of powerful blows.
Yet the predator wouldn’t fall. Its thick hide deflected many strikes. Each time Kai landed a telling hit, the beast retaliated with a sweep of its spiked tail or a snap of its stony jaws. Kai found himself battered, flung into the rubble more than once. Bleeding from multiple wounds, he teetered on the brink of collapse. Then came the system’s last glimmer of hope:
[Unallocated Stats: 12.
Suggestion: Place them all into Strength?
(Yes/No?)]
"Yes!" Kai hissed, mind reeling from the throbbing agony. "Put them in Strength. All of them!" A sudden wave of warmth pulsed through him as the stats integrated. Strength soared. He gasped, feeling a surge of raw power flooding his limbs. Lifting himself from the ground, he charged the predator with renewed vigor. The beast snarled, flailing in rage. (In the rush of the battle he forgot about the unallocated stats point. But thank god the system reminded him.)
A savage exchange followed, claws on exoskeleton, mandibles on stony plating. Despite everything, Kai found the strength to endure. His hits struck deeper, fracturing the monster’s rocky armor. The predator shrieked, lurching back. Kai pressed the advantage, ignoring the screech in his mind that he might die in the attempt. Blow after blow hammered into the creature’s weakened side, until at last, with a final, resounding strike to the head, the beast gave one last roar and collapsed in a shuddering heap.
[Ding! System notifications: Congratulations Host. Predator defeated: Ore Eater (4-Star).
+2000 EXP. Level Up → 23... 24.
Host advanced two levels in quick succession (due to total XP).
Warning: HP and stamina are very low.]
Kai staggered, all but fainting from blood loss. The monster lay silent, a hulking mass of broken rock-like plating. The resonance of the system’s victory message rang inside him, fueling him with shaky relief. In the hush that followed, everything seemed to swirl in slow motion. Debris, blood, battered allies strewn across the cavern floor, a scene of heartbreak.
With trembling limbs, Kai forced himself to approach the fallen predator. The system urged him:
[Ding! Use the Essence Eater skill to regain HP and aura.]
Though nauseous from pain and mental fatigue, he saw that devouring the beast’s essence might tip the scales if more danger awaited. Gritting his mandibles, he sank them into the creature’s chest to consume the swirling aura within. A rush of power bombarded his senses:
[Essence Eater triggered: +10 Stat Points from 4-Star Predator.
Distribute at will. Hp and aura recovery +1000
Predator essence fully absorbed.]
Exhausted, but newly empowered, Kai reeled from the wave of energy. Then he pried free the predator’s star core, a large, glowing with a fierce deep color, possibly containing significant power. He stashed it quickly in his newly expanded Soul-Bonded Storage. It felt hot in his grasp, a final trophy from the savage four-star beast.
Then reality crashed upon him. The fight was over, but everyone else lay scattered across the cavern. Vexor was possibly buried in rubble, and Renna was unconscious with a possible mortal wound. Thran was already dead by self destruction. There’s nothing left of him.
Kai’s heart sank as he spotted Lomar pinned under a collapsed boulder. He rushed over, pushing the heavy rock aside. Lomar’s exoskeleton was cracked, and his eyes flickered with pain. He coughed, antennae trembling. Blood trickled down his side, forming a small pool around him.
"Lomar?" Kai croaked, kneeling at his friend’s side. "STAY WITH ME..."
A faint shake of Lomar’s head spelled the truth. He must have taken a mortal blow earlier. With ragged breaths, the older ant forced himself to say. "Kai... I’m sorry... we couldn’t handle it." He paused, eyes clouding. "Darius... that traitor... left us. You must go. Survive this. Avenge us if you can... or just live on for yourself."
Kai’s chest tightened. He tried to apply pressure to Lomar’s worst wound, but it was futile. Lomar’s breathing slowed. No potion or star crystal was at hand to fix such mortal damage. The system beeped softly with bleak finality: "Ally’s vitals failing." A sob caught in Kai’s throat. He had grown to respect Lomar’s calm, wise presence. Now, it was slipping away in the dark of a half-destroyed cave.