I Became an Ant Lord, So I Built a Hive Full of Beauties-Chapter 515: Battle of Blood part three
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A shallow stab along Kai’s right bicep that numbed his fingers for a heartbeat. A grazing cut across his jaw that drew a thin, hot line of blood. A glancing blow to his side that set his ribs blazing again.
[Ding! System notification-
HP: 3280 → 3040 → 2790.
Aura: 5020 → 4580.
Apex Plus aura drain: ongoing. Estimated safe duration at current output: 00:11:30.]
Eleven minutes.
Plenty of time to die.
Not unlimited time to win.
Vorak shifted again.
He stepped back, just outside Kai’s optimal range, spear grounded lightly, point angled toward the sand.
For a moment, Kai thought he was taking a breath.
Then the air changed.
It thickened, just slightly, like the space inside the circle had been pulled tighter. The hair along Kai’s arms prickled.
The system chimed.
[System Alert: battlefield field skill activation detected.
Designation (approximate): Formation Echo.
Effect: subject temporarily "borrows" the pressure of surrounding allied formation. Each step, strike, and stance gains the weight of a squad behind it.
Note: does not summon physical allies. Manifests as increased impact, stability, and resistance to displacement while within range of their own army.]
Vorak’s aura swelled.
Not dramatically. There was no flare of light, no crackle of power. It was subtler than that. His presence simply grew more... anchored. Like a stone that had just remembered it was part of a mountain, not a lone rock.
He rolled his injured hand once on the spear, testing the pain, then raised the weapon again.
"Your mountain is watching," he said calmly. "So is my army. Let us show them why they obey us to stand in front instead of behind."
He moved.
The next thrust hit like a charge.
Kai met it on the shaft, trying to deflect rather than clash. Even at an angle, the impact drove him back two steps, heels furrowing the sand. His shoulders jolted; his arms tingled to the fingertips.
[Ding! System notification-
HP: 2790 → 2610.
Aura: 4580 → 4270.
Advisory: hostile field effect multiplying impact. Current effective force ~2.3× baseline.]
He bared his teeth.
"Fine," he thought. "You have a formation. I have a hive."
He let the Net crack open, not to speak, but to feel.
Shadeclaw’s steady rage.
Silvershadow’s coiled worry.
Luna’s furious focus.
Akayoroi’s cool calculation.
Miryam’s bright, burning fear.
Thousands of threads hummed behind him.
He did not call on them as a skill. There was no system notification, no neat trait name. But his body remembered the weight of leading them, of standing in front of their spears and telling them to hold.
He set his back in that memory.
The next time Vorak’s spear slammed into his, the impact still hurt. But his heels dug in less. His stance shifted, grounding not just in sand but in the idea of the mountain under his feet.
They drove each other around the circle.
Vorak pressed a Formation Echo, lending every strike the weight of an eight star rank. His spear whistled through the air, its tip leaving faint red afterimages that crisscrossed like tally marks.
Kai slipped, deflected, and bled.
A cut on his thigh.
A bruise blossoming under his ribs.
A stab along his shoulder where the spear tip bit through armor and out again, leaving a neat hole.
[Ding! System notification-
HP: 2610 → 2280 → 1930.
Aura: 4270 → 3820.
Warning: critical threshold approaching. Microfracture risk increases with each apex-boosted clash. Recommended options:
– Reduce Apex output (combat effectiveness drop)
– Or shorten engagement via high-risk maneuver.] 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
He had known this was coming.
Vorak could outlast him in a straight spear duel. Eighth star. Bigger aura pool. Battlefield traits.
Kai needed to break the ledger, not balance it.
Vorak lunged again, spear coming for his chest, direct and brutal.
Kai twisted, letting the point slide along his plate. It still punched a shallow groove.
Instead of recoiling, he stepped in.
Too close for most spear work.
Vorak reacted as a veteran – he choked up on the shaft, shortening it, turning it into a thick staff. The wood slammed into Kai’s side, right on the old wound.
White pain detonated in his ribs.
[Ding! System notification-
HP: 1930 → 1520.
Status: fracture stress on previously damaged region.
Advisory: local structural weakness reaching failure point.]
His breath whooshed out.
He used it.
He let his limp show.
He staggered back two steps, spear dipping, eyes narrowing as if his vision had blurred. He let his left arm sag a little, as if the blow had partially numbed it.
Vorak’s pupils contracted.
He smelled blood.
He bore down.
"Going down already," the general said, tone almost regretful. "We are only getting to the interesting part."
He came in with a straight, merciless thrust – no feint, no pattern. Just a spear tip aimed at Kai’s heart, timed to catch a man whose leg had just failed him.
Kai’s "stumble" finished.
He dropped.
Not back.
In.
His left knee buckled, yes. But instead of falling away, he collapsed forward and down, letting gravity and Apex Plus work together. At the same time he snapped his spear up, not to block the thrust in the usual way, but to catch it in the crook between shaft and blade.
Steel screeched.
The spearhead slid sideways, its lethal line scraping along Kai’s upper chest instead of punching straight through. Pain flared; warm wetness spread.
He did not let go.
He trapped the spearhead under his arm, his own spear braced as a lever.
Vorak’s eyes widened a fraction.
For a heartbeat, they were locked in an ugly tangle – Vorak half extended, Kai half kneeling, both holding the same murder in a different way.
Kai moved first.
He surged up from the kneel, using his legs like pistons. Apex Plus roared through his muscles. His left arm hugged Vorak’s spear to his body; his right hand snapped his own spear butt up, aiming for Vorak’s jaw.
Vorak abandoned the thrust.
He let his spear slide, loosening his grip so Kai’s trap took his weapon further than he intended. His head snapped back; the butt whistled under his chin instead of smashing it.
