Re:Ant Lord-Chapter 167: New Enemy?

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[Proto Elemental defeated. +1 EXP, No core.]

Another came. Then three. Then a torrent, diving at him in a spiral formation like a storm of molten hail. Their movements weren’t random, they flowed with the storm’s rhythm, like lightning guided by instinct.

Kai ducked, rolled, and one by one he stabbed them with his spear into the ground, grounding a surge of static arcing through the nearest cluster.

POP. POP. SIZZLE.

Three burst into shards of ore, their essence fizzling out.

[+3 EXP. No core.] freeweɓnøvel.com

A fourth grazed his shoulder, searing pain into his exoskeleton as it tried to enter through a joint seam.

"Tch! Tch! persistent little sparks!" Kai growled.

He spun then pulled Proto Elemental out and smashed it into the ground, then crushed it with his heel. Tiny pieces of sizzling blue metal embedded into the glass like nails from a shotgun. His armor hissed and aura surged.

Kai’s Adaptive Armor responded immediately. His plates along his arms and shins thickened, growing faint ripples that glowed. Heat vents slid open along his back carapace, dispersing built up static.

He dove forward into a roll, dodging a cluster that erupted like a plasma grenade behind him.

[+2 EXP]

[+1 EXP]

[+1 EXP]

More he killed the more kept coming. The sky roared.

The crater’s atmosphere had become a breeding ground. Proto elementals were being born by the dozens, shooting out of glass seams and erupting from lightning scars in the terrain. It was a hive. And he was the disturbance.

Kai adjusted his stance, spread his legs wider, and crouched slightly. His left hand rotated forward, fingers flexing for balance. His right hand snapped out like a whip, slicing a trio of elementals in a single curved arc.

Slash. Crack. Boom.

The ground lit up with the sheer number of dissolving motes.

[+3 EXP, +1 EXP, +1 EXP, +2 EXP]

He killed them one after another. Another group dove from above. He activated Reflex Mode skill. The time slowed for a heartbeat around him. His senses surged.

The face caught every micro vibration. A gustless ripple. The faint sound of metal rubbing inside energy. He ducked left.

Barely.

A cluster of proto elementals missed him by a meter and exploded against a stone wall of fused ore, the impact turning stone into slag.

He panted lightly. His aura pool dipped, but not enough to hurt. The kills were steady, but the rate of enemies climbing past 320... it wouldn’t stop.

They were reacting to his presence. His aura. Kai knew this wasn’t sustainable. "I’ll drown in lightning if I keep this up. My aura will run out soon. I didn’t have much left."

He needed to bait them. Fast.

He scanned the area and spotted a jagged side ravine to the left. It was a scar carved by many thunder strikes, its walls steep, glassy, and slick. It was deep enough to swallow a small avalanche.

Kai moved quickly.

His Adaptive Armor flexed instantly, plates elongating at his knees and wrists, shaping into hooked climbing grips that locked over terrain with better traction. He reached for his Soul Cube, fingers darting across the familiar runes embedded in his palm.

A savage rabbit core of four star rank was pulled out in a flick. He crushed it. A burst of red hot aura detonated in his palm, flooding the area with dense predator energy.

The reaction was immediate.

The proto elementals screamed, not with mouths, but with shrill sparks and warped frequencies. They swarmed toward the released scent like flies to blood, hissing and crackling mid air as they shifted direction in a chaotic wave.

[Lure Activated: Foreign Aura Disruption Triggered]

Right where he wanted them. Kai grinned. He tossed the sparkling crushed core toward the ravine. The powder scattered in the windless air, catching on the terrain like glitter from a shattered jewel. And the elementals pursued.

Like possessed bees, the glowing orbs veered away from Kai and plunged into the ravine, fighting over the illusion of life force.

The side of the crater was momentarily unguarded. Kai didn’t waste the chance. He sprinted forward, eyes scanning the terrain below. The cliff edge yawned beneath him.

He leapt. Ten meters down.

Tiny Tank activated mid air, its familiar pressure locking over his frame. Every plate of his exoskeleton tightened, hardening like tungsten. Wind screamed past his antennae.

He landed hard on a narrow ledge jutting from the crater’s bowl, the stone groaning under the impact. Fractures shot out beneath him, scattering splinters of blue glass outward.

He pushed off again. This time downward. Reflex Mode burst once more.

His limbs blurred, compensating for gravity and precision. His next landing was harder, on the crater floor itself. The glass cracked beneath him, but he rolled on impact, letting his shoulder and spine take the brunt without shattering.

The air shifted. He rose to a crouch. And there it was. A vast pool of mercury colored liquid, still and unnaturally perfect, waiting in the bottom of the crater.

At the far edge, a single spire of metal jutted from the mirrored surface: dull gray, veined with lightning scars, a meteor fragment fused to the pool.

A status ping chimed inside his mind.

[Star Meteoroid Iron – Grade: Ultra Rare

Purity: 71 %

Mass: 15 kg (estimate)

Status: Semi molten; volatile static sheath.]

He allowed himself a small breath of satisfaction. "One shard down. Nine to go? Or fewer, or more..."

He knelt, focused aura into his palm, and gripped the spire’s cool surface. Instantly, arc-lightning danced up his arm, but Adaptive Armor dimmed the shock.

With a grunt, he heaved and the fragment broke free in a curtain of rippling fluid. He submerged it quickly into his Cube. 650 kg capacity remained inside his soul cube.

"Good."

He started toward the opposite wall, where two more dim spikes breached the mercury when the System flashed red.

[Alert: Hostile Entity Detected

Classification: Storm Myriad Beast – "Tesseral Seraphim" (Rank 5★, Aberrant)

Location: Underwater cave mouth at 2 o’clock.]