Evading a deadly strike, Jin stepped back. He plunged the sturdy pincer legs he had been holding into the ground. Another pincer that was about to ram into him crashed into the leg, but the leg couldn't stop it. But it did slow the pincer, which was all Jin needed.
Lowering his stance, he stretched his palm forward. The lightning strike landed on the pincer's chitin, obliterating it immediately. The pincer crashed into its own momentum and burst apart.
However, another pincer stepped on its convulsing body and jumped over Jin.
Buckling his knees, Jin launched himself toward the pincer instead. Before the pincer could jump, he struck a devastating kick at a leg. The leg snapped like a twig, throwing the pincer off its balance.
He moved on to his next target.
'Are they… dead…?'
Jin was tired. He was hurt, cut, bitten, slammed, stomped on, and many other things that he had forgotten the count by now. His throat felt like it was being scratched by sandpaper with every breath he took. Just moving felt like a monumental struggle at this point.
But his mind… it was quiet.
It was far more than just quiet. It was razor-focused and determined. All that occupied his mind was how his body needed to react to the pincer trying to pierce him. Before a pincer could even step in his vicinity, he sensed it. He already knew what the beast was going to do next and how he needed to react to it. He had killed so many of them by now that no attack fazed him anymore.
It was a state of battle awareness that Lian previously lacked. Not anymore, though.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to stay unscathed when facing an endless horde of pincers. With every pincer, he killed or incapacitated, another took its place. Countless carcasses were lying in his wake, yet there were still enough pincers to make his head dizzy.
Squatting on a particularly giant pincer, he tightly grasped both of its bead-like eyes and pulled them out in a single motion. The pincer let out a frightened shriek as brain matter flowed out of its eye sockets.
Just holding the pulpy eyeballs made him nauseous.
'Conrad… he must have reached there by now—'
BOOM!
As if answering his call, a loud explosion erupted somewhere in the distance. However, there was no light nor a shockwave. It was as if something had blocked out the blast, absorbing the brunt force itself.
However, Jin didn't need a shockwave to know what it was.
"Evelin…"
Jin drew a deep breath.
From what he had heard about Evelin's ability… at least what she had told him, this was undeniably her doing. As long as she was inside the heart of the nest, an explosion this loud was prone to swallow everything in the nearest vicinity.
It meant that she had succeeded at destroying the heart.
But the explosion wasn't the only thing that had convinced him.
For as far as he could see, every single pincer froze. Even the pincer that was about to bring its claw down on his head stopped abruptly. It was as if time had stopped for a second.
Then suddenly, all the pincers moved at once. The ones that had been surrounding him passed by him as if he didn't even exist. His legs wavered as the ground shook, and the countless pincers moved at once. The individual beasts dissolved into the unnerving wave of monsters that crawled toward the heart like a tsunami.
They trampled over each other, disregarding their own life. Dozens of pincers were crushed under the collective size of the stampede.
Jin wanted to stay there and watch the show. However, he was already on the move. He was on his way out of the nest.
The further he got, the fewer pincers he encountered. But neither did he pay them any attention, nor did they try to stop him.
'... Great timing. I hope no one has died yet.'
Jin was distressingly mindful of just how calamitous their plan was. Their enemies were never-ending, while they were only six young and inexperienced first rankers… well, except him, of course.
He was already expecting a few deaths on his way back to the city. The question was—how many would still survive alongside him? He felt pathetic simply having such thoughts. But if he was proved right, he needed to be prepared for it.
Letting out a quiet grunt, he glanced at his sore abdomen.
The armor Morgan had given him was damaged beyond repair. It was battered and torn in places that even he hadn't noticed previously. It was disheartening, after all, he wasn't wealthy enough to buy another one anytime soon. And asking Morgan for a new one didn't seem like a wise decision.
Yet, Jin wasn't disheartened in the least.
'When I get back… I really need to thank Morgan… I'd already be dead if it weren't for this armor.'
Wiping the blood off the corner of his lips, he pushed forward.
The moment he was out of the wide expanse of the nest, it was as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders. His heart slowed down enough to give his lungs some breathing space. The adrenaline receded, the accumulated pain taking its place instead.
The pain, though… it kept him sharp. It kept him grounded. It reminded him that he was still alive. That he had survived the wrath of an entire nest, and was still alive.
He wanted to revel in that feeling as the demonic qi in his heart reacted to his dormant emotions. But there was a subtle movement a few meters ahead.
He slowed down and started walking. With the heart destroyed, almost every pincer was supposed to be near the heart by now. At least that was what he was told.
'Exceptions… I can't ignore any exceptions.'
Narrowing his gaze, he dived inside a thick bush. When he arrived on the other side, Jin was startled for a moment.
"Whoa… if it isn't the man of the hour. Took you long enough, Jin."
Celia's voice soothed his soul. He felt a sense of gratitude he hadn't felt in a very long time… not in this life. Somewhere in his heart, he hadn't expected her to survive against the Queen. Seeing that she had not only succeeded in her task but also managed to escape in time, she stopped being just another challenger for him.
But his heart dropped when his gaze fell on Evelin's unconscious figure. Most of her body was charred and burnt to a crisp. He was unsure if she was even alive.
Celia chuckled softly.
"She's… still alive. I don't know for how long, but she's still holding on in there."
Jin exhaled deeply.
"Where's Conrad? He was supposed to be with you."
Conrad wasn't the type of person to simply leave his half-dead colleagues.
Celia winced as she straightened her back.
"He… Um… He said Sam and Dean were supposed to meet him here. He went ahead to check whether they're… You know."
Celia looked like she could pass out anytime now. Her eyes were mostly unfocused, her body relaxed. It was a miracle that she was still standing, even.
To his regret, they didn't have the time to rest, at least not yet. The pincers would come back to their senses sooner or later. If they were anywhere near the nest when that happened…
Leaning forward, he gracefully picked up Evelin and hoisted her over his back.
"Let's keep moving. We can't stay here."
A glint of hope appeared in her eyes. Using a tree to push herself forward, Celia spoke tiredly.
"... Thank god. I thought you'd never ask."
The three slowly moved forward.