He thought he had been caught. He thought a Layer 2 beast had spotted him leaving the tree.
He slowly, agonizingly turned his head, his eyes wide, his muscles coiled like a steel spring ready to snap.
Lying in the mud, mere inches from his leg, was indeed a Dreadwing.
But it wasn't attacking. It wasn't even breathing.
Heck, it wasn't even complete, It was just the torso. The entire lower half of the massive, stone-armored insect had been sheared cleanly off, likely by the superheated, guillotine-like mandibles of a Layer 2 Commander ant. Its beautiful, translucent crystal wings were shattered into jagged, useless stumps.
The creature's massive, faceted gem-eyes were still wide open, staring blankly and accusingly up at the overlapping purple canopy. Thick, glowing green blood was rapidly leaking from its ruined, open thorax, actively melting the moss and dirt around Sol's boot into a bubbling, toxic puddle.
