"I'd rather die than ever lose again," he muttered softly.
The grip around his arm loosened, just enough for him to pull himself free.
"Wait!"
He froze.
The gentle woman had finally spoken to him. She stepped toward him. For the first time since that day, she smiled softly. Her eyes carried that same warmth as the day they met.
She reached out, taking one of the two rings he wore, and pressed it back into his palm with delicate fingers.
He gripped the ring tightly.
His head tilted down, teeth gritted as he forced himself not to shed any tears. Slowly, he turned toward the queen, who was dragging herself from the ground—one leg at a time.
"Thank you," he whispered.
The word barely left his lips.
He stepped forward toward the beast while the couple watched from a safe distance.
He waited.
The creature slowly lifted itself from the ground, its broken limbs scraping against the dirt. When it finally rose, the massive spider-like abomination towered over them, its shadow swallowing the faint light that remained.
It stood on eight legs. Its back pulsed like it was ready to lay eggs again but couldn't—because of Shiro's interruption.
Each leg was long, black, and covered in coarse hair. Its upper body, however, was disturbingly human. Pale skin stretched over a twisted frame, too smooth compared to the rest of it.
Her face was the worst. It resembled that of a human woman, warped and fused with insect features. Mandibles twitched beneath torn lips, and eight eyes glimmered across her forehead—each one blinking, but never all at once.
She had two long arms that ended in sharpened claws, her bare chest rising and falling with a slow, unnatural rhythm as her many eyes lingered on the corpses of her children.
All its eyes locked onto Shiro.
In the next instant, something purple shot from its mouth—fast, hissing through the air. He brought the massive blade up just in time, the liquid splattering against the steel with a sharp hiss.
He swung the sword to the side, flicking the substance off. The droplets hit the ground and began to sizzle, eating through the dirt like acid.
His lips curved slightly.
"Interesting."
The creature began spitting more of the purple, acid-like liquid. Each glob hissed as it hit the ground, burning through rock and dirt alike.
He leapt backward, moving from side to side, steps light and precise. The attacks came fast, but he slipped between them effortlessly—each dodge fast and smooth.
After creating enough distance between them, Shiro bent his knees, muscles coiling like a loaded spring. In the next instant, he shot forward, the ground cracking beneath his feet as he closed the distance in a blur. He swung his blade at her limbs, but it bounced off without doing any damage.
Shiro looked up. "That's not good."
She looked down and roared, stomping wildly, each strike shaking the earth as she tried to crush him beneath her legs. But her movements were heavy, slow.
He slipped between the attacks, body swaying left and right like a shadow caught in motion. Every time one of her limbs came down, he was already gone, leaving only dust where he had been.
As he weaved through the storm of stomps, his blade struck at her joints, aiming to break her balance.
But nothing. It felt like his blade was clashing against the same metal it was forged from.
Her armor-like limbs barely dented, every strike echoing with an annoying metallic ring that cut through the air.
It didn't matter. With every strike, he moved faster, rhythm smoother, circling her like a predator looking for a weakness.
Her many eyes tracked every movement, following each step. So he moved faster. With every motion, his blade struck her limbs, sparks flying in all directions. Each blow was precise, aimed for her joints—relentless. He kept hitting the same spot again and again until a faint crack split her armor.
That was all it needed—just enough damage for her massive body to give in. She staggered, the weight too much to bear, form tilting to the side as she struggled to stay upright.
Her eyes met his. He gripped the hilt tighter and poured mana into the blade for the first time. The edge lit up with a pitch-black glow, releasing a low, soft hum that vibrated through his arms.
He moved, leaping high into the air, and brought the sword down with all his weight behind it. She raised her arm to catch the strike, but the blade cleaved straight through her hand and came down from shoulder to waist in one clean, merciless motion.
Her body hit the ground with a heavy thud, the sound echoing through the hollow field. Green blood oozed from the wound, thick and steaming as it sank into the dry soil.
He dismissed the sword and materialized his daggers.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
'Yeah… we can finally let loose,' the voice inside him replied, calm but eager.
The couple ran toward him.
"You were amazing!" the man shouted.
Shiro turned sharply.
"Don't come any closer."
"What?" the woman asked, confusion flashing across her face.
"The fight isn't over."
Their eyes shifted toward the lifeless body of the creature.
He didn't look away. His tone stayed cold, steady.
"Trust me. Just stay back."
The ground began to thrum—slow, steady, like a heartbeat echoing through the earth.
But it wasn't coming from below.
It came from the queen's abdomen.
It pulsed again. With each beat, the air grew heavier, thicker, almost hard to breathe. The soil trembled beneath his feet, pebbles and dust jumping with every deep thud that followed.
Shiro's expression darkened. He turned toward the couple, voice cutting through the rising hum.
"Back away. Please."
Then it stopped.
For a moment, the world went still.
A heartbeat later, a bright-red, armor-plated arm burst through her abdomen.
The half-body of the queen let out a guttural screech as another arm followed, both clawed hands digging into the torn flesh and ripping it apart. Flesh and ichor sprayed outward, the sound wet and jagged, like steel tearing through flesh.
Something stepped through the opening. One leg… then another.
A figure emerged—a creature, tall and grotesque, covered in blood-red armor that shimmered faintly under the moonlight. Its movements were deliberate, almost human. The face, however, was not.
Its head tilted, and for a brief moment it almost seemed human—until its mandibles twitched. Behind the smooth, chitinous mask, its eyes glowed like molten embers, burning with hunger.
It walked toward the queen's severed head, which still twitched faintly on the ground. Her mandibles clicked weakly, eyes flickering with the last trace of life.
The creature crouched. For a brief moment, their eyes met—mother and son.
There was no hesitation.
Instead of saving her, it opened its jaws and began to gnaw. The sound was slow and wet, echoing through the hollow field. Within moments, the twitching stopped. By the time it lifted its head again, nothing remained but shattered chitin and silence.
Its gaze met Shiro's.
In that instant, a cold shiver crawled down his spine. The air grew heavy, thick with killing intent.
Then the creature's back split open. A pair of wings tore free—wet, slimy, and glistening with strands of green ichor.
It threw its head back and let out a scream so loud the air itself seemed to vibrate. The sound pierced the night, echoing through the empty hills like the roar of something far beyond mortal.
He turned and shouted at the couple.
"Both of you, run—now!"
And in that instant, he lost focus.
The creature shot toward him with such blinding speed that he barely had time to react. Its long, armored arm slammed into his gut, the impact like a hammer against steel, sending him hurtling upward through the air.
Before he could recover, the beast appeared above him—faster than his eyes could track. Its heel came crashing down, the weight behind it monstrous. The armored foot struck his back and drove him straight into the ground.
Dust and shards of stone burst outward as his body cratered into the dirt.
[Limitless Activated: You have taken damage. Your body grows stronger.]
He looked up. The red-armored ant was already preparing to dive.
"I can take one more," he muttered under his breath.
'No, we can't,' the voice inside him hissed. 'We've already taken too much damage. If we get greedy now, we'll die.'
The creature shrieked and dove from above, the air trembling under its descent.
And then—a voice cut through the chaos.
"Do something, Lucus!"
The man stepped forward and threw up a dome around Shiro—then another, and another—layering them with everything he had left.
The creature crushed through them all. In the next instant, its knee slammed into Shiro's gut. The impact knocked the air from his lungs. He gasped, blood spilling from his mouth.
The beast loomed over him, lifted him by the head, and hurled him to the side like a broken doll.
Then its eyes shifted toward the couple.
It took a step forward. Then another. The ground cracked beneath its weight. The man tried to stand in front of his wife, but his legs barely held.
[Limitless Activated: You have taken damage. Your body grows stronger.]
Shiro's voice came from behind the creature, each word carrying weight, like a command.
"We're not done yet… round two, you damn insect."