Chapter 46 - 45

The whole pathway was crumbling down, but because our only way back was now completely blocked by rocks, we had no other choice but to run in the opposite direction of the path. Fortunately, I knew for sure that the Gigarillon wouldn’t leave us here without any purpose. And given the fact that those monsters went out of their way to bring us here, then there was no way that those monsters wanted us to be simply buried here alive. Most likely, there was another exit forward, and that was where the apes wanted us to be. In short, this path should be leading up to somewhere else. Though being that this was definitely a part of that Gigarillon’s plan, then I could easily guess what was beyond this path.

'Damn it!!' I cursed while desperately running forward.

Fortunately, my skill Accelerate came in handy in times like this. Because of that, I could easily dodge all the falling rocks without compromising the speed of my scape. Though obviously, this fact wasn’t the same for the other monsters so some of them had already been crushed to death. In such a situation, it had become painfully obvious that the agile monsters were the ones who had the highest chance of survival. Well, except for a few exceptions…

Curious as to what had happened to the power-type monsters behind, I momentarily looked back. But upon seeing what the Savaga was doing, I couldn’t help but be shocked.

'What the heck?!'

Just a little farther behind, the Savaga was leading the charge of the power-type monsters. But in contrast to the speed-type monsters like us, the Savaga and the other monsters with him weren’t dodging the falling rocks. Instead, they were bulldozing through those rocks without slowing down. Though of course, that action didn’t leave the monsters unscathed even though most of them were incredibly tough. In fact, the monsters’ wounds continuously piled up and the majority of them fell one by one.

Naturally, even my fellow speed-type monsters suffered some casualties. Mostly, the monsters that were crushed were those that weren’t fast or agile enough to dodge without slowing down. And because those monsters weren’t as sturdy and tough as the power-type monsters, just a single hit from those rocks was enough to inflict a fatal wound on them. As a result, even if the monsters didn’t immediately die, the injury that they had received was still enough to render them unable to move or slow down. Which of course, in this particular scenario was the same as death.

'Seriously, I never thought that my experience of being forced to fight would come in handy like this!!'

While internally screaming at the irony of the situation, I suddenly caught a glimpse of a small dim light at the very far end of the crumbling tunnel. Obviously, immediately upon seeing that, I instantly concluded that the light was actually the exit of this place.

'Finally!!' I internally screamed.

Following that, I desperately pushed myself forward without looking back. And honestly, probably as a result of my desperation, it even came to the point that I was tempted to activate the second effect of Accelerate. Fortunately, I managed to hold back my d.e.s.i.r.e and avoid using that self-destructing effect. Until finally, I successfully escaped that crumbling tunnel along with the rest of the surviving monsters.

To be perfectly honest, we just barely escaped from that crumbling tunnel. In fact, at the same moment that the last of the power-type monsters got out, the exit of the tunnel came crumbling down. As a result, the ground we were standing on shook from the impact, and the deafening sound of the explosion rang all around. Though to be fair, that explosion actually caused another problem to arise.

'Yep. Here we go again.' I thought while cautiously scanning my surroundings.

Directly in front of us, there was a vast barren land filled with towering hills of dirt. The problem was, at the surface of those towering hills that were nearby the tunnel that we just escaped in, there were numerous swarms of ants looking down at us. And unfortunately, it seemed like those swarms of ants wasn’t here to give us a warm welcome. Instead, based on their gazes and scent, I could clearly tell that they wanted to kill and rip us apart. I couldn't blame them though, after all, we just basically intruded in their domain in a very flashy way.

Then, as if in courtesy with the warm welcome we received, the surviving monsters behind also began to release to their killing intent. And even though they were wounded and few in numbers, the blood l.u.s.t of the surviving monsters didn’t lose to that of the swarm of ants. As a result, the swarm of ants became even more enraged and let out a chorus of thunderous screech. But as if trying not to lose against those ants, all the surviving monsters also let out their own war cry.

With that as the signal, the swarm of ants began rushing towards us. And although I personally didn’t want to get involved in this mess, now that the ants were surrounding us, I had no other choice but to fight alongside the surviving monsters. The problem was, even in this situation, it was still highly questionable whether this ragtag group of monsters could function as a temporary team. After all, even though we all came here together, that didn’t change the fact that we were all supposed to be enemies as well. In fact, it was actually safe to say that the only reason we weren’t killing each other was because of these swarms of ants.

'Oh boy, things are about to get ugly!'

Making full use of newfound speed, I ran around the battlefield and killed as many ant monsters as I could. While doing so, I also saw some of my fellow monster survivors being killed and torn apart by the ants. Most of the time, those who had died were either too weak or too wounded to keep on fighting such a large number of enemies. Though of course, being that my "paws" were already full just by trying to survive myself, I didn’t have any time to worry about them and not that I planned to in the first place.

As the battle grew more and more intense, the roar, cry, and screech of multiple monsters echoed on the battlefield. Fortunately, even though we were fewer in numbers compared to the swarm of ants, our ragtag group still somehow managed to push back the ants. Though because of all the fighting and killing that I had done, my fur was now drenched by lime green-colored blood of the ants. Moreover, I couldn’t properly use my sense of smell because of the strong scent of blood and grime that was covering the entire battlefield.

“Grahhh!!” I growled while dodging the attack of an ant before sinking my fangs in its head. Then, without wasting any second, I immediately moved away. But at that moment, I suddenly happened to see a new swarm of ants charging towards the battlefield.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but curse. 'Shit!! At this rate, this battle will never end!!'

Obviously, being that this was the ant’s territory, it would only be natural that they could send swarms upon swarms of ants until we were annihilated. And based on the geography of this area, it was all but certain that this whole place was swarming with ants. In essence, it was a lot different from the apes' area wherein different types of monsters were living alongside them. In short, in terms of the overall population alone, there was no way that the apes could compete against the ants.

'And yet those crazy bastards are going to launch a counter-invasion?! Are you kidding me?!!' I asked while ripping off an ant’s leg. And after acquiring what I need, I moved to another location right away.

In order to recover some stamina and strength, I instantly used Devour on that leg. And by repeating that process over and over again, I successfully managed to preserve some of my strength and keep on fighting. Of course, the first effect of my skill Accelerate also came in handy. After all, without that double jump effect, I would be easily cornered given the fact these huge swarms were incomparable to the ones I faced before. The only problem was…

'There is no way that we can win this battle.' I concluded while striking an ant using my claws. Then, as my claws crushed the ant’s left eye, it suddenly screeched in pain. Taking advantage of that, I ripped its head apart without any hesitation.

With its head still on my mouth, I leaped away from the corpse. 'If that is so, then I guess the only option is to run away and hide.' I thought while chewing the ant’s head.

'Okay, let’s do it!! It’s time to ditch these guys!!' I finally decided after swallowing the ant’s head. But as I was about to activate one of my new skills, a notification suddenly popped up in front of my eyes.

[Level up]

[Level cap reached]

[Individual (Unnamed) can now evolve]

[Would you like to begin the evolution now?]

[Yes/No]