Rudith had the closest view of the queen ant’s gory demise, and she felt for herself the power contained within that explosion. If the queen hadn’t taken the full force of the blast, even Rudith would have been sent back to the Federation the instant the shock wave hit her. Thankfully, the beast’s armour managed to tank most of that which saved not only her from being toast, but Rohan and Elane too.

But knowing this, Rudith was confused why he didn’t simply pull the same thing against the last remaining E rank.

Rohan’s reply came immediately, as they had already wasted enough time and the beast looked about ready enough to pounce.

"That was my final trump card! It was a one time thing — I can’t do something like that a second time."

Even though she felt clear distrust in his words, Rudith had no choice but to go along with it.

Though she did partly believe his words, even if he did conceal some things.

The mere fact that he was asking her for help in the first place was the biggest indicator that he was being at least somewhat truthful. After all, if he could pull another terrifying attack like that out of his ass then he’d have no need for her.

In fact, he could probably take both her and the boss out if that were the case, so her still standing there also attested to his truthfulness.

"Fine."

Her agreement came out through clenched teeth, dragged out of Rudith like she was swallowing poison just to say it.

But she did say it in the end.

Rohan didn’t waste time pretending to be relieved. There was nothing to be relieved about. Neither of them trusted each other, and both knew it. This wasn’t an alliance or anything of the sort. It was two enemies reluctantly working together for the time being because they faced a much bigger and fiercer enemy.

Rudith turned her attention back to the E rank Elite.

The beast had thankfully not moved in those last few moments.

It remained hunched near the ruined remains of its mate, and its huge body trembled with rage the entire time. They were unsure whether it was saying its final goodbyes to it or something like that, but either way, the extra time to prepare was very welcome.

Then Rudith’s flames came back to life, at which point a condescending smile formed on Rohan’s lips.

They roared into life around her shoulders and down the length of her sword in an instant, looking hotter and brighter than even before.

’So she was still holding back her full strength when fighting against me.’ Rohan noted as he watched those searing hot flames.

The tunnel walls glowed orange from the reflected heat, and the blood scattered across the ground around Rudith started to hiss and boil.

Rohan stepped up to her flank, while Elane stayed in her current position with her Spike Beast Bow at the ready. Though she never strayed her attention from Rudith, ready to fire upon her at any moment if she chose to go back on her own agreement and strike against Rohan.

Rohan’s Firestone Skin remained wrapped tightly around his body, though he was still worse for wear on his arms where Rudith had attacked him previously.

He kept a careful distance from Rudith, as she did with him.

His eyes trained on the beast.

And something about it made his eyes narrow.

’That’s strange.’

The ant looked furious, that was obvious. In fact it looked like it wanted to rip all of them apart and scatter them across the crevice walls just as they did with its precious mate a few moments prior.

Yet beneath all of that, there was another peculiarity in its posture now.

Hesitation.

...But not towards Rohan.

Its eyes kept flicking to the burning aura surrounding Rudith, and each time it did, there was the faintest shift in its stance.

The reason came easily to Rohan, which he was pleasantly surprised by.

’It thinks the explosion that killed its mate came from her.’

Of course it would.

From its perspective, its mate had just been blown to pieces by an explosion, and now here Rudith stood with flames surrounding her entire body. For a simple minded creature like the beast, it put two and two together and came to this reasoning.

’Though only I and Elane know that there was no such fire or flames involved with the explosion.’

This incorrect reasoning made Rudith much more dangerous in its eyes than anyone else in the chamber, and a slow, condescending smile formed on Rohan’s face.

And as if to add the cherry on top, the beast charged right for Rudith in the next instant.

It was so fast that it was hard to follow even with his eyes, only Elane at the back being able to see its movements clearly.

Rudith, focused entirely on the beast and her own flames running across her body, immediately sent a flaming blade over in retaliation, intending to stop the beast’s charge before it reached her.

It looked like it did the trick, as the beast immediately dodged to the side, which gave Rudith more confidence to close the gap herself.

’You just made a fatal mistake.’

But Rohan had other ideas.

Right at the moment she entered within striking distance of the beast, right when all of the fury and attention had turned toward her burning sword and blazing aura, Rohan’s left hand flicked.

Something small and round left his palm.

It struck the middle of Rudith’s back with a light, almost harmless tap.

She flinched, but was far too focused on the beast right in front of her to shift her focus.

Her head began to instinctively turn towards Rohan however, but he was already gone.

He pivoted so sharply that it looked unnatural, and his boots tore over the blood-slicken ground as he abandoned his line and sprinted straight toward Elane.

Her eyes were already widened from watching what he’d thrown at Rudith.

"What—!"

Rohan ignored Rudith’s frantic and panicked question and crashed into Elane in a rough, awkward sort of bear hug that covered her entire body with his own.

"NOO—"

Behind him, Rudith finally realised that Rohan had betrayed her, but she didn’t get a second to react.

"Boom." Rohan whispered while smiling brilliantly while looking at Elane’s amazed face, and activated the last remaining Hollow Tide Burst, which he’d just thrown at Rudith.

The detonation that followed made the first one look gentle. Rudith’s flames became instant fuel for the Genetic Armament, and it strengthened the blast multiplefold.

The resulting explosion was not something that the tunnels of the beast nest could handle, and the chamber walls burst, followed by the floor, and finally the ceiling...

It all gave way.

Rohan never actually heard the full sound of it, because by then his ears were already ringing from the blast.

And then it all came crashing down on top of him.

The entrance to the nest collapsed inward as if an earthquake had just taken place, and dozens of tons of rock and dirt cascaded down in every direction, burying everything and everyone inside alive.