On New Earth, those who had fallen behind in level or even grade had always been in a difficult position. Now, with the great factions expanding at an alarming pace, the pressure on them reached entirely new heights.
Desperate to avoid being killed or enslaved by those factions, countless survivors fled deeper into the wilderness.
In doing so, most of them overlooked an even greater threat.
Beasts.
By now, numerous beasts had reached High E grade, while more and more had already evolved to D grade. To them, the weaker humans were little more than easy prey. Beasts generally possessed massive bodies, incredible defenses, and overwhelming physical strength, where humans were comparatively fragile and could often be killed with a single well-placed strike.
The greatest problem, however, was that beasts—and to some extent even plants—grew increasingly intelligent with every level and every evolution.
Some species developed faster than others, but reaching D grade meant that even if they couldn't speak, they understood their fair share about tactics, hunting, and patience.
Mimicking the cries of an injured human was merely one of countless hunting strategies they had developed.
For the larger factions this barely made a difference.
For the smaller ones—especially those consisting mostly of ordinary humans—it was pure hell.
Many people still had no idea what beasts were truly capable of.
Now their culling had begun.
Because in nature...
Only the strongest survived.
Among all beasts, insects thrived the most in this new environment.
Spiders spun elaborate traps specifically designed for humans. Sometimes they stretched nothing more than a single strand of silk across a narrow path. The moment someone touched it, the victim was violently pulled into the trees where the spider patiently waited for its next meal.
Even the larger factions occasionally struggled with species that reproduced at terrifying speeds.
Back on Earth, rabbits, mice, or grasshoppers had mostly served as food for larger predators. They were a nuisance to farmers but rarely dangerous.
Now everything had changed.
They reproduced even faster than before while also becoming powerful enough to hunt other animals themselves.
Even a large wildcat stood little chance once hundreds of twenty-centimeter-long flesh-eating mice descended upon it.
With all these developments, the weak died at an alarming rate.
For many of them, there seemed to be only one realistic solution.
Willingly surrender to one of the larger factions.
They would be forced to work, treated little better than slaves, but their chances of survival remained significantly higher than trying to survive alone in the jungle.
As a result, nearly every major faction grew rapidly as more and more desperate people searched for a safe place to stay.
Yet there were also factions hidden in such remote regions that no survivor ever managed to find them.
Others were surrounded by insect hives so enormous that no ordinary human could possibly cross their territory alive.
Thalion had vastly underestimated just how many ants inhabited the jungle surrounding his base.
Their hive stretched far deeper into the forest than anyone had anticipated.
For more than five days he had done little besides hunting ants, interrupted only by brief breaks whenever he discovered plants with a particularly high affinity for darkness. Absorbing them quickly replenished part of the darkness he had lost during his experiment with the amulet.
He also forced himself to rest for a few minutes every now and then.
Hunting without pause inevitably led to complacency.
And complacency would get him killed.
The ants were genuinely dangerous.
Even though Thalion could comfortably eliminate small groups, a single successful bite or one ant managing to pin him down could easily become fatal.
Those five relentless days of slaughter had rewarded him with another five levels, bringing him to level 130.
Time until the Third System Event was running short, especially considering everything else he still wanted to accomplish beforehand.
At least reaching level 150 seemed entirely realistic.
Especially now that he had finally discovered one of the entrances to the hive.
There was only one small problem.
The entrance itself.
The opening in the ground measured well over fifty meters across and bustled with an endless stream of ants moving in and out every second.
Several D-grade ants patrolled along its edges, carefully ensuring everything remained in order.
Nearly every ant entering the hive dragged something along in its mandibles.
Sometimes it was nothing more than branches, leaves, or even massive stones for construction.
Yet a colony of this size required an equally massive food supply.
Many ants returned carrying all kinds of animals.
What surprised Thalion the most was that many of them were still alive and largely unharmed.
He knew that some ants back on Earth protected smaller insects like livestock.
Judging by what these ants were bringing back, however, it looked as though they had established an enormous farming enterprise beneath the ground.
Seeing what they had built made Thalion genuinely want to attempt diplomacy one more time.
The problem was that he wasn't entirely sure he could fight his way past this many D-grade ants if negotiations failed.
There were undoubtedly far more hidden deeper inside the hive, ready to reinforce the entrance at a moment's notice.
Escaping would probably still be possible.
Fighting his way into the hive...
That was a completely different matter.
There was another concern as well.
These ants were highly intelligent.
They might already view his newly established base as a genuine threat.
If that were the case...
They might decide to launch the first attack themselves.
Thalion wasn't entirely convinced that his base stood much of a chance against a hive of this size. The current situation was incredibly dangerous, and every decision had to be made carefully.
If he simply attacked the ants, they would most likely assume he was nothing more than another powerful beast.
Negotiating, however, would immediately reveal that there was a human settlement nearby, one that could eventually pose a threat to the hive.
Another problem was what would happen if the hive rejected any sort of coexistence.
Then it would mean war.
Still...
What if he simply lied about where he came from?
The stupid ants would never find out, and perhaps he could gather valuable information before revealing anything about his faction.
He had deliberately kept one of the ant forms he had acquired. It might allow him to infiltrate the hive before attempting any negotiations.
The form belonged to one of the smaller ants—the one that had used the red enhancement skill that visibly burned its own body alive.
The ant was still well over four meters long.
Thalion quickly climbed down the tree he had been observing from and, after taking a small detour, headed toward the hive entrance.
As a disguise, he bit off a thick branch and carried it in his mandibles.
Every ant seemed to be transporting something back to the hive, so returning empty-handed would likely attract unwanted attention.
His current form wasn't particularly powerful, causing Thalion to rely heavily on his title as he advanced. He remained alert for any surprise attacks.
The weight of the branch barely registered.
Soon he fell in behind another ant carrying an enormous leaf.
One thing immediately caught his attention.
The leaves radiated a surprisingly dense aura of mana.
His ordinary branch...
Didn't.
So far, however, none of the ants appeared suspicious.
Keeping a steady pace, Thalion followed the green ant into the hive.
Only then did he realize just how unsettling the entrance truly was.
Rather than leading through a tunnel, it was nothing more than an enormous vertical shaft descending straight into the earth.
The further he climbed down, the more ants he discovered.
The entrance had already seemed massive from above.
Inside...
The hive simply continued opening downward.
Countless tunnels branched off in every direction while endless streams of ants crawled across every wall, ceiling, and pathway.
Ants moved above other ants in perfectly coordinated lines without the slightest hint of chaos.
Only a handful remained completely stationary.
Those stood motionless against the walls with their heads and mandibles raised high.
Every single one of them had already reached D grade.
They radiated considerably more power than any ant Thalion had encountered so far.
If he had attacked the entrance directly, these guards would undoubtedly have swarmed him within seconds.
Then he would have found himself in very serious trouble.
The hive already looked far more intimidating than he had imagined.
Truthfully...
He would have preferred turning around immediately.
Unfortunately, that was no longer an option.
Everything inside the hive moved with perfect order and purpose.
Any hesitation on his part would make him stand out immediately.
He doubted the ants would simply let him leave without asking questions.
Choosing not to take unnecessary risks, Thalion continued descending behind the ant carrying the massive leaf.
Although there were no signs indicating directions, every ant seemed to know exactly where it belonged.
Thalion would never have guessed which tunnel led where.
The passage branched countless times before, after roughly a minute of travel, opening into an enormous underground chamber.
Standing at its entrance were two purple D-grade ants.
The moment Thalion approached, both turned their attention toward him.
One of them eyed the branch in his mandibles before narrowing its eyes suspiciously.
"What exactly is the nursery supposed to do with that branch?" the guard suddenly hissed, stepping directly into Thalion's path.
That...
Wasn't good.
It was also completely unexpected.
Until now the ants hadn't exchanged a single word.
Being addressed so suddenly caught Thalion entirely off guard.
He had never heard ants speak before.
Worse still, he had absolutely no idea how a normal worker ant was expected to answer.
The guard repeatedly inhaled and exhaled through its mandibles, almost as if it were sniffing the air around him.
That only made the situation even more uncomfortable.
"Very good."
Deciding that speaking as little as possible gave him the highest chance of success, Thalion settled for the shortest answer he could think of.
He imagined ordinary E-grade workers were simple creatures that rarely wasted words.
Judging by the guard's reaction...
He had guessed correctly.
"I hate you stupid workers," the guard muttered in annoyance. "The larvae need the large leaves full of mana, not useless branches."
With a single motion, the ant ripped the branch from Thalion's mandibles before snapping it in half as though it were nothing more than a tiny twig.
Thalion didn't waste the opportunity.
Without another word, he continued deeper into the chamber.
The entire cavern was saturated with mana, almost certainly released by the countless resources constantly being delivered into the hive.
Behind him, however, the guard continued sniffing the air.
Thalion disliked that immensely.
Without appearing too suspicious, he gradually increased his pace.
It was definitely time to leave.
He had no intention of spending another minute inside this nightmare of a hive.
He had already come dangerously close to being discovered.
If he made another mistake this deep underground, fighting his way back to the surface would be completely impossible.
This wasn't the primitive hive from the Tutorial.
It was a fully established D-grade colony.
And judging by everything he had seen...
Thalion wouldn't have been surprised if the ants were already preparing an attack against his base.
Perhaps it was time to send them a warning of his own by thinning out their numbers.
He wasn't sure if eliminating enough ants would truly slow their expansion, but there was certainly no reason not to try.
Fortunately, the hive was still located a considerable distance away from his settlement.
If the ants did decide to attack, it probably wouldn't happen tomorrow.
Even so...
One thing had become painfully clear.
The ants weren't merely another dangerous species.
They had become a faction that demanded to be taken seriously.
Thalion quickly began making his way upward.
Unfortunately, climbing back to the surface proved far more difficult than descending.
On the way down he had simply followed another worker. Now he had no idea which of the countless tunnels actually led upward.
Streams upon streams of ants crawled through the hive, yet none happened to be heading in his direction.
Instead, he had to step aside as three returning workers carrying enormous mana-rich leaves entered the tunnel he had just left.
After waiting for a few moments, Thalion decided he had already wasted enough time.
He dashed across the wall of the enormous central shaft, jumped to the opposite side, and immediately began climbing toward the distant surface.
He was just thinking about how close the encounter with the guard had been when a shrill screech echoed through the tunnel he had exited only moments earlier.
Every purple ant immediately raised its head.
Several overwhelmingly powerful auras erupted from deep within the hive.
The countless worker ants came to a halt almost simultaneously.
Only Thalion continued climbing.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
"Everything is fine. I'm just another worker ant."
He continued pushing upward without drawing attention to himself.
Then a voice thundered through the hive.
"Intruder."
"Nope. Definitely not me. I'm just a hardworking little worker ant trying to leave without bothering anyone."
Thalion did his best to ignore the increasingly powerful presences rapidly approaching from below.
Before he could reach the surface, several pitch-black insects shot upward through the middle of the shaft.
They possessed vaguely humanoid bodies and immediately reminded Thalion of the First Daughter.
The only major differences were their height—nearly four meters—and the countless glowing purple markings covering every inch of their black chitin armor.
To Thalion, they almost looked like elaborate tattoos.
By now almost every ordinary ant had stopped moving.
Silence filled the hive.
Only the black ants continued flying through the enormous chamber, inspecting one worker after another.
They were clearly searching for someone.
Two of them suddenly folded their wings and dove into the tunnel Thalion had left moments earlier.
He silently hoped they would need some time before the purple guard explained what had happened.
His hope lasted only a few seconds.
The two black ants emerged again alongside the guard.
The guard immediately pointed one of its mandibles toward the endless streams of ants climbing through the main shaft.
The three newcomers slowly scanned every worker below.
"There are thousands of ants in here."
"Finding me will take forever."
"By then I'll already be gone."
The thought had barely crossed his mind when an overwhelming sense of danger washed over him.
Every instinct screamed.
It felt as though someone had aimed an impossibly large weapon directly at him.
Thalion slowly looked upward.
High above the others floated what was unmistakably the leader of the black ants.
Its countless violet eyes stared directly into his own.
There was no hesitation.
No uncertainty.
It had found him.
Thalion refused to give it the first move.
Since this ant form possessed nowhere near the reflexes of his stronger transformations—it was merely an Epic beast after all—he abandoned the disguise immediately.
Shadows exploded outward.
In an instant, his body shifted into the Eclipsari, Scion of the Void.
Without wasting another heartbeat, he activated Shadow Dash.
His figure vanished.
A fraction of a second later, he reappeared roughly twenty meters above the hive entrance.
Only then did he stop and turn back toward the swarm below.
The black ants were rising after him, though far more slowly than expected.
Curiously, every other ant had remained almost perfectly calm.
Only the black ants continued staring directly at him.