And soon a part of the ceiling fell down.

It didn’t choose a nice abandoned place, and instead fell directly over the head of a brother not too far away from me.

It streaked through the air, created heavy undercurrents, and…!

*Bang!*

It created noise, which was loud enough to deafen anyone ears, and made the ground tremble when it finally made contact with it.

{Shock resistance has risen to lv 14}

I saw the boulder falling and crushing the ants head into paste, and a sense of urgency exploded in my chest.

{Perception has risen to lv 15}

*Gulp!*

I looked around, and saw similar thing was happening all over the cavern.

While the whole ceiling hadn’t actually come down on our heads yet, but the small falling rocks were enough to act like meteors, and rob the lives of those who were extremely unlucky.

My fellows, who were already feeling anxious, started panicking and crying out loud.

I didn’t stay standing still like a target either, and moved as my perception caught a rock falling directly over the place I was at.

I hurriedly rolled to my left and dodged it, but my roll ended up pushing an ant. That unlucky fellow ended up getting buried under a ton of dirt which fell from the loose ground above.

{Reflex has risen to lv 7}

“Shit!”

I cried, as I saw her hand, which was the only thing outside the dirt mound twitch for a second, and then becoming motionless forever.

But that wasn’t all. The plan by those detestable black ants was too cunning and another piece of the now crumbling ceiling fell. It didn’t kill anyone directly, but as if the ground below our feet was just a sheet of dirt over glass, it broke from the impact.

*Bam*

“Ah, RUN!”

“Sav-“

“Help me!!”

The ants that had jumped, rolled, or slide away from the rock, couldn’t hold themselves, when the floor cracked, and broke down under their feet.

The hole swallowed hundreds of ants, and made our already crumbling footing similar to a cracked glass. To me it appeared too fragile to walk upon, but what choice did I have.

I looked toward the tunnels at the side from where we had entered and saw the brothers and sisters from our colony being thrown out one by one, looking extremely wounded and haggard.

At the same time a scout near me received news and cried out.

“Fuck, it was a trap.” He shouted the following at the top of his voice so that everyone around could hear him.

“Everyone the enemy soldiers are coming. They are fucking coming bac-”

{Intermediate knowledge has risen to lv 13}

*Boom*

But his life also ended as a falling rock crushed him, and stopped his voice from spreading.

Thankfully or maybe unfortunately he wasn’t the only scout there, and from the others panic struck mouths, the news spread like wildfire.

I ran away as the rock broke the ground beneath my foot, and saw my brute captain looking to my left.

I followed his line of sight, and saw that my team captain was fighting against the enemies stationed at one of the tunnels.

She was trying to make a bloody pathway from the enemy’s stronghold, but her abilities were clearly lacking in front of that tunnel filled to brim with the black ants.

Seeing my team leader in danger I couldn’t stop myself, and my body moved on its own.

{Planner has risen to lv 7}

Was the want to save someone considered a plan too?

I activated haste, fast processing, perception and concentration, as a boulder big enough to completely crush me and five more ants with it, fell down. It didn’t crush the ground and entered the abyss beneath or feet and instead bounced over the ground and started rolling toward me.

{Concentration has reached lv 9}

Like a messenger of death it crushed one, two, ten, and by the time it reached me, it had already killed over thirty ants in its path, but it couldn’t continue its torrent of rage, and stopped before it actually reached me.

{High luck has reached lv 6}

I ran toward my team leader, and saw the captain looking at me, and nodding his head.

Finally a smile blossomed on his face, and he redirected his attention to save as many ants as he could.

I ran as fast as I could, rolled past a falling rock, and jumped of the breaking ground to save myself.

{Roll has risen to lv 10}

{Roll has reached its maximum level}

And is presenting you with the option to:

Advance breaking Restrictions or Become Free.

"Gwack!"

I heard the sound of someone getting crushed, but I didn’t have time to save others. It was either them or my team leader. And I had no confusion in my priority. I needed to advance freely.

*Ting*

[Skill: Slipping steps gained.]

Skill slipping steps and ghost steps have high affinity with each other and can combine.

Would you like to combine them

Yes/No

I didn’t hesitate, and a new advanced movement technique dazzled in front of my eyes.

*Ting*

[Skill: Slipping steps of the ghosts gained.]

Slipping steps of the ghosts: (Tier 2) Become free from the forces that bind your steps and advance past all obstacles that come your way. Cost: 1Mp/min for the slipping function.

5Mp to phasing through an object.

I activated the slipping steps and suddenly my speed rose by atleast 50%, and the skill was only at the first level.

I was just 19 or so meters away. I wasn’t too far and with the help of my new movement skill, I could have easily covered the distance. Even if I was given mere ten more seconds, they would have been enough.

But unfortunately, my or rather my team leaders luck ran out at this moment.

My face turned stiff, and my soul grew horrified in a single second, as my perception and my eyes both at the same time told me to run away.

Those Red streaked black ants which were hiding at the top of the pit in the groove near the ceiling, rolled down boulders which were at least twice my size.

They weren’t bits and pieces of the ceiling, but our enemies’ meticulous plan.

As if the falling ceiling wasn’t enough, they had prepared them fucking boulders too.

The boulders rolled down from all the side and made the ground tremble. A landslide occurred from all around us, and death came rolling down.

Surely, a single impact with those raging wheels of destruction could have killed me, but I wasn’t going to sit tight, and endure through them!

Although the boulders came rolling down from the top of the pit and gained crazy speed and inertia by the time they reached the bottom, but they were too far from me.

Inspection and weakness tracking worked together with fast processing and concentration to help me find the gap between them which could have easily helped me dodge them,

{Fast processing has risen to lv 8}

But..

One such boulder was coming directly toward my team leader who was fighting hard with the enemy troupes directly underneath it. The black ants had all of her attention concentrated on them, and she had no idea what was coming for her head.

Gritting my teeth, I ran, my eyes became blood red with every passing second, and rage started building inside me.

{Haste has risen to lv 9}

I tried, I tried so hard to run to her, and pull her out of the way...

"LEADER!!!"

I cried and the boulder reached her.

I saw with unknown wetness covering my eyes, as the boulder passed over her head and rolled toward me.

"Hah...!"

I cringed and spurted out a mouthful of saliva, as I saw that happen.

The raging boulder covered my sight, and hid team leader behind itself as it came toward me.

I easily dodged passed it, as a smile bloomed on my face.

'Her luck is good enough it seems.' I thought and looked past the boulder as my eyes met with my team leader.

But then my body stiffened.

{Shock resistance has risen to lv 15,…16,…17},

"Wha...!"

I couldn’t form proper words as a high ranked black soldier ant, ripped with muscles from head to his feet, threw her decapitated head away, and kicking her lifeless body roared with pride.

The world stopped for me right there.

{Fury has risen to lv 10},

[Fury’s special skill: Fire body unlocked]

Fire body Rapidly burns your mana to raise the temperature of your body. No harm will be done if your fury subsides before your mana runs dry. Otherwise fury will start consuming your Hp until you die. All attacks will inflict fire damage to your opponents.

Fire resistance increases by 5 levels. Cost: 2Mp/min

Was it anger, I don't know but I heard the sound of something breaking inside me.

The ceiling stopped falling the boulders stopped rolling, our enemies stopped roaring; my fellows stopped crying, and I saw my team leaders head suspended in the air.

{Fury has risen to lv 11}

The world became still, a clam like never before covered the whole world.

I saw unwillingness, frustration and longing in her dimming eyes. Strength left me and my body started feeling heavy.

{Fury has risen to lv 12}

This unusual state of mine didn't continue for long and soon the world returned to normal.

A single drop of water slid down from my eye, and it evaporated before reaching my mandibles.

{Fury has risen to lv 13}

I felt like something was draining my life.

But the thought that came to my mind was ‘Do I have to stop it!’

YOU IDIOT!!!

A huge pressure pushed me out of my stupor, and forcefully cancelled my fury.

I spurted a mouth full of white fluid, as my vision turned hazy, and I started staggering.

{Concentration has risen to lv 10}

[Concentration special skill: Data gathering gained.]

Data gathering: Allows you to see in details you weren’t able to before. Use wisely. It can wreck your brain.

Soon the sound returned, the trembling returned, the anger returned… and so did the pain. Suffocation so deep that I forgot to breathe for some time, and when I did try to breathe, my congested chest didn’t let me.

.

.

.

"Noooooo..............!"

{Yell has risen to lv 10}

{Yell has reached its maximum level}

And is presenting….

*Ting*

[Skill: Roar gained.]

Roar: (Tier 2) A roar to show your presence to a foe stronger or in larger numbr than you.

Afflict the opponent with status effect:- Stunned, Fear, Confusion, for 0.5 seconds.

Lower their stat points by 1% for every level.

Cooldown: 1day

I cried and a blast of sound erupted from my mouth, and brought everyones attention towards me.

Some of them directly fell down and started cowering away from me.

Staggering, I walked toward my once precious team leader, but in the time I took to walk and reach her, a falling piece of the ceiling fell on her. It broke the ground and with itself took her into the endless abyss which spanned beneath our feet.

I only looked at the dark menacing hole for five seconds, before I turned my grudge from the boulder toward the black soldier ant at the entrance to the tunnel.

{Willpower has risen to lv 9}

I gritted my teeth, clenched my fist and prepared all the magic that I could prepare.

My blood boiled as saw him laughing with his comrades and signed death warrant to every single one of them.

By now the ceiling had stopped falling, though not all of it had fallen, but the terror it had created and lives it took were already enough.

The rolling boulders also stopped by now. The ground had been turned into a mesh with holes everywhere.

But as if the third of our brother that had died wasn’t enough, our various allies and enemies standing in the tunnels looked toward the now open ceiling, as fireballs fell toward the breaking and cracked ground like meteors.

Two came toward me too from my back, but I didn’t care.

I activated Mend wave, just as they reached near my back and…

*Wush!*

A gust of mana burst out, with me at the center and flowed outwards.

The falling fireballs collided with the wave and exploded without harming me, as the ruble in front of me got cleared away.

{Mend wave has risen to lv 2}

"Huh... what did he do?"

The killer of my team leader looked toward me in confusion as he heard the sound of fireballs exploding.

And I returned his question with the angriest threat that my mouth automatically spewed out...

"Dead don’t ask questions!"

And I fired an air bullet at him, before I started running once again.

*********

POV: Team leader.

"Team leader there are ants in front. Thousands of them."

I glanced at our young scavenger, who was much more of a battle maniac than our vice leader.

Not only is he the only novice ant who can kill a soldier on his own, but also has a horde of skill, like this otherworldly ant sense of his.

I don’t think even most advanced and high level soldier ants have such precise ant sense.

Anyways, I asked our scout to check whether he was right and it turns out that everything was okay.

We entered the cavern and saw that it was our homies, and not the enemies.

"Phew."

I thought we would be fighting this cavern full of ants on our own.

Scouty went to ask one brother what was happening, but came back with more questions than answers.

I had to take the matter in my own hands, and had to go ask uncle hulk what this was all about.

And it turned out our spy had fucked us right in the ass.

"Go now. Don’t come back until I ask you too."

"Oh let her stay. She is such a bright child."

"Nah she is a devil in disguise. You don’t want to anywhere near her scheming mind."

"Humph!"

I kicked his foot, bowed my head slightly to the other captain and came back to my team. I answered their questions, and our young chick decided to roam around alone.

Though I wanted to hold him down and make him stay with me, but thinking that it wasn’t a good thing to bind his potential, I let him go.

"So what we going to do now?" the scout asked.

"Let’s try to find a way out. I am not feeling relaxed in this hell hole."

I looked around and the only way I could see to run out was through the tunnel.

"You all go and check the various tunnels. I think we are missing out on something here."

"But I want to be with you!" my friend, our vice-leader pleaded, but like hell I was going to let him do as he wanted.

"And what you going to do by staying with me? I have already said many times, we can’t be together."

"But...!"

"There are no butts Green. If we weren’t from the same nursery and you had come to ask my hand then I surely would have said yes. But I can’t help but think of you as my brother. After all we are from the same batch and everything, just…”

"Don’t say it... I understand. But please understand that I have no control over my raging soul that only wants to be together with you."

"Sigh... go now."

It’s not that I don’t feel anything for him, but such is our destiny. We ants are not supposed to have a family, just a command.

But only a moment later something happened.

"What the?" The ants from our colony, that were willingly coming out of the tunnels though looking frustrated, started looking as if they were being pushed out now.

It was not the only change that happened. As if the gods were angry for us attacking the colony or we had really fallen into a trap…

*Boom!*

The ceiling started failing.

I saw a part of the ceiling collapsing and dirt burring at least fifty ants underneath it.

The loose ceiling led to huge boulders falling down from the ground up above, and the place they fell to broke apart and engulfed those boulders as if there was a dark and deep abyss underneath our feet, waiting for its chance to fill its endless stomach.

I looked round and saw that most of our forces had been pushed out of the tunnels and into the death trap of a cavern, and the enemies stood guard at the entrance to the tunnels; Stopping everyone from going inside.

I wanted to call my team but seeing that here was no near me, I rushed alone toward the tunnel nearest to me.

I didn’t actually have the confidence to handle all the black and red streaked bastards on my own, but I knew that my team would come if they noticed the commotion which I was sure that I would be creating.

I dodged past one of the rolling boulder, jumped over a pit formed from previous falls rock, and gritting my teeth from the various screams that happened around me and fixing my focus on the tunnel, moved past everything.

What was there to think, would I have been able to help anyone even if I had stopped? So, grabbing the only chance that I had, I dived upon the bastard soldier at the very front of the tunnel, and pierced my mandibles into his chest.

“Who…?” He whispered as the light in his eyes turned dim.

His fluids covered my face, bit I opened my mandibles wide without the fear of getting his dirty blood over me and widened his wound open and he as I did so the lifeless body slipped out over my mandibles.

“Damn this girl!” The soldier behind him shouted, but I didn’t give him a fuck.

I saw one of them going for my middle leg on the left and jumped over him.

I positioned my abdomen to the front and with the momentum from my jump, I timed the very tip of my abdomen at his eye and…

*Stab!*

“Ahhh….!”

My stinger pierced cleanly into his eyes and I let my venom flow into his head.

Although, I wasn’t a poison master like our green variant vice-leader, but for this ant that didn’t look to have any resistances at all, it was enough.

His gurgling stopped first, and then his little small brain melted, and left behind only the Exo-skeleton which also withered shortly afterwards.

And just then, I felt the ground tremble. Although my ant sense didn’t work, but my antennas perfectly told me that something was coming from the above, but another one of those bastards kept me busy and by the time I got rid of him, a huge ass boulder passed over my head.

“Creyaaa!” I cried out and my hair stood up straight from fright, as I felt the wind it brought with itself.

*Bang* it fell on the ground and so did the soldier who had come to attack me.

“Humph, amateurs!”

But it turned out I had acted a little too arrogantly at that moment.

“So a little kid thinks she can kill our bothers in my presence?”

I saw an ant, a soldier ant, almost thrice my size coming out of tunnel, as he spoke those words.

The other ants parted and gave him room to wiggle out and I for some reason remembered my uncle when I saw him.

‘A second, maybe a third ranker!’ My soul screamed, as I took a step back.

Yeah, I was an arrogant female, who was loved by all and hated by none. I had done as I had wished all my life, but I also knew my limits.

I just needed to hold on for some minutes more and others from my colony would have come, and we would have attacked them together.

I hurriedly turned around and tried to move, but then he attacked me, and a thought came to my mind… maybe I wasn’t meant to be a hero after all.

*Snap!*

.

.

.

.

“NOoooooooooo!!!”

My eyes met with my junior, and I saw his face turning furious like never before.

Ah!

I made my junior sad.

Don’t cry…

Be safe….

Maybe I should have… told him… when I...