"Argh!"
Ricky groaned as an agonizing spasm coursed through his body, his mandibles twitching violently as though caught in a seizure. One of his forelimbs bent at a grotesque angle, twisted unnaturally by the brutal clash he had barely survived. His spiritual field flickered weakly around him, fragments of his strength drained away in the desperate fight against overwhelming odds.
Below him, the broken corpses of the Aegis ants lay in eerie silence, their thick carapaces split cleanly apart. Though lifeless, their limbs twitched faintly—residual energy spasming through ruined joints. Viscous, dark blood pooled beneath them, staining the cracked stone with a sickly sheen.
Huff!
Drawing in a ragged breath, Ricky steadied himself, each inhale sharpening the pain radiating from his battered body. Crimson blood—both his and theirs—matted his exoskeleton, dripping in slow trails to the forest floor. The scent of iron and death hung thick in the air.
