With a powerful swing, Isaac brought his de crashing down on the ant''s foreleg, severing it cleanly in one swift motion. A torrent of dark purple blood sprayed from the wound, painting the air with a sickening, metallic stench as it sttered across the cave floor. The creature let out a deafening, primal screech of agony that reverberated through the rocky walls, nearly causing Isaac to lose his grip on the hilt.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He smirked, feeling a brief, hard-won surge of triumph. But his satisfaction evaporated almost instantly, reced by a cold, creeping dread as he watched the severed leg twitch on the ground. Before his horrified eyes, the torn limb began to regenerate, sinew and muscle weaving together with unnatural speed. In a matter of heartbeats, the ant''s leg was back, fully intact, as though nothing had happened.


    "What the…" Isaac''s voice came out in a hoarse whisper, his face frozen in shock and despair as he realized the depth of their predicament.


    The mutant ant flexed its newly regenerated limb and immediately lunged at him, swinging its colossal foreleg with terrifying speed. Isaac barely managed to raise his de in time, bracing himself for the impact. The force was far beyond anything he could prepare for—it struck him like a battering ram, lifting him clean off the ground. His body sailed through the air, his arms trembling from the recoil as his de ttered from his grasp.


    BAM!


    He crashed into the cave wall with a bone-jarring impact, pain searing through his body. His vision blurred, and he crumpled to the ground, every muscle screaming in agony. Broken ribs made each breath a shallow, ragged effort. He tried to rise, but his strength was fading fast, and his body refused to obey.


    "Emily… Emily…" a voice trembled nearby. It was Anthony, his face drenched in sweat, his eyes wide with terror as he nced between Isaac''s broken form and the advancing mutant. "We have to do something, or we''ll end up like them."


    Emily stood motionless, paralyzed by fear, her gaze fixed on the monstrous creature. Horror was etched into every line of her face as she saw the blood scattered across the floor, a  reminder of her fallenrades. The thought was paralyzing—a single one of these ck ants had effortlessly ughtered her fellow fighters without help from the others lurking a short distance away.


    "Even if we kill this one," she whispered, her voice hollow, "we''re doomed. The rest of the hive will devour us. There''s no way out… it''s over. This is where we die."


    Anthony turned to her, frustration shing in his eyes. "Are you serious? You''re giving up without even trying?" He shook his head, anger tightening his voice, but Emily merely shut her eyes, resigned.


    "Ah, damn it!" he cursed, panic gripping him as the ant closed in. Desperate, Anthony extended his hand, focusing all his energy to lift a nearby rock with his telekic ability. He hurled it toward the creature with all his might.


    The rock flew through the air, but upon impact with the ant''s exoskeleton, it shattered into harmless fragments. The creature continued its relentless advance, undeterred.


    "Damn it…!" Anthony''s breath came in ragged gasps. With a quick motion, he summoned five of Kate''s arrows, hovering them mid-air with his telekinesis. With a flick of his wrist, he sent them soaring toward the ant, directing three toward its beady ck eyes, while the remaining two aimed at the softer underside near its legs.


    As the arrows streaked through the air, the ant''s mandibles spread wide, and it unleashed a jet of thick, ck liquid. The substance struck the arrows mid-flight, melting them instantly as it hissed and smoked. The ant continued its advance, unscathed.


    "No, no, no…!" Anthony''s voice cracked as the ant retaliated, spraying him with the same ck acid. He screamed, his voice echoing through the cavern, as the corrosive liquid clung to his skin, eating away flesh and muscle. His desperate wails dwindled as his body was reduced to bones, copsing lifelessly to the floor.


    Emily''s entire frame shook as she heard his dying cries, her eyes still squeezed shut. But the creature wouldn''t wait—it moved closer, looming over her, its sharp foreleg poised. In a swift motion, it plunged the limb into her chest, puncturing flesh and bone. Emily''s eyes shot open, a strangled gasp escaping her lips as blood poured from the wound, pooling beneath her. The ant lifted her limp form and tossed her into its gaping maw, devouring her without pause.


    Dark blood trickled from the creature''s jaws as it savored its kill, savoring each grisly bite.


    Isaacy crumpled against the far wall, his body battered, and his spirit crushed. His breath came in shallow, shuddering gasps, and the terror in his gaze was unmistakable as he watched the creature relish its gruesome feast. He had wanted to save them, but now he was barely hanging onto consciousness, his body battered and bones fractured beyond healing.


    Even if he were at full strength, Isaac knew he wouldn''t stand a chance.


    "So… this is the power of the mutants in the Crimson Coffin," he thought, bitternesscing his mental words. He couldn''t tear his gaze away from the ants.


    This was his first raid on this forsaken. He''d heard stories from top guilds, tales about the blood-drenched horrors within the Crimson Coffin, where mutants reached levels of ferocity unmatched in any other realm. These mutants were beyond humanprehension; surviving even one encounter was a feat of pure luck.


    They had called the the Crimson Coffin for a reason—the blood of countless humans stained its soil, and the few who escaped bore lifelong scars. Only a handful of people—barely 0.01%—had ever returned to Earth alive.


    Isaac had known all this. But he had needed the promotion desperately, needed it to finally prove himself. Turning down the raid would have meant abandoning everything he''d struggled for. Now, that decision felt like a death sentence. "I should have said no… I''d have been better off alive with nothing than dead in this pit."


    He grimaced, a tear slipping down his cheek as he thought of his wife and daughter waiting for him back home. His heart broke at the memory, knowing he would never see them again.


    A rumbling sound broke through his despair, snapping him back to the present. He looked up, just in time to see the heavy stones blocking the cave entrance suddenly explode outward as if struck by an unimaginable force. The violent tremor caught the attention of both the mutant ants and Isaac, who turned his gaze to the entrance in awe.


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    Through the dust and settling rubble, a figure emerged—a young woman, barely in her early twenties, with long, fiery ginger hair cascading down her shoulders. She was d in scaly ck armor that seemed to glint with a life of its own, and in her hand, she held a de, its tip gleaming ominously. Her presence radiated a power so intense that even the ants hesitated, skittering backward instinctively.


    Isaac could only stare, his face a mask of disbelief and hope. "Who… who is she? And where did that aurae from?" His mind raced with questions as he watched the mysterious woman stride confidently into the cave, her gaze fixed on the monsters he had fought so desperately to escape.