novelraw Chapter 73: Termite Clash
Chapter 73: Termite Clash
The swarm came like a living storm, chaotic and relentless, yet bound together by a single, terrifying intent as hundreds of insect-like creatures surged across the burning sands toward Zakar.
Their jagged limbs tore through the ground while their countless eyes locked onto him with a primal hunger to overwhelm and destroy, but despite the sheer number rushing at him, Zakar didn't move at first.
He stood still, calm and composed, his hand resting on the hilt of his Tyrann Sword as his sharp gaze analyzed the movement of the swarm as a whole rather than focusing on individual targets, reading their flow, their rhythm, their attack pattern like a seasoned predator studying its prey.
"…Messy bitches," he muttered quietly, and the moment they reached him, everything changed.
The first insect lunged forward, its blade-like limb slicing toward his head, but Zakar stepped forward instead of retreating, his Tyrann Sword flashing in a swift horizontal arc that split the creature cleanly in half before it could react.
Instantly, more replaced it, rushing him from every direction, yet he didn't falter as he moved into them with fluid precision and each step calculated. He twisted his body to avoid attacks by mere inches, cutting down enemies in the same motion.
He ducked low to pierce one through its underside before ripping his blade free and turning to strike another behind him without even looking. Blood sprayed, bodies fell, but the swarm didn't slow, climbing over their dead in a desperate attempt to overwhelm him, only to be cut down just as quickly.
One creature latched onto his shoulder, its mandibles snapping dangerously close to his neck, but Zakar reacted instantly, slamming it into the ground and crushing it beneath his heel without breaking his rhythm.
"Shit. These things are relentless. Wonder how the Players would react if they were to face such monstrous beings."
Another attacked from behind only to be split apart by a backward swing of his blade.
The desert echoed with the clash of chitin against steel and the sounds of tearing flesh. Time blurred in the heat of battle, but slowly, the swarm began to thin, their overwhelming numbers reduced to scattered remnants that attacked in desperation rather than coordination.
Soon, only silence remained, broken bodies scattered across the sand as Zakar stood at the center, breathing steady, his blade stained and his eyes still sharp.
"…That's it? Hmph... I never expected to face you this easily." he muttered to the queen of the colony, almost disappointed, as the last insect lunged toward him, only to be cut down with a single clean strike.
The desert fell quiet once more, but only for a moment, because the ground shifted again, drawing Zakar's attention forward as something larger began to rise from beneath the sand.
From the sea of corpses, a larger termite emerged, its movements slow and deliberate, its body far more refined and armored than the rest, its multiple eyes locking onto Zakar.
[Threat: Termite Lead Captain]
[Rank B rank]
[Potential: 97%]
Zakar's grip tightened slightly, a faint smirk forming on his lips. "…Finally. Something worth cutting," he said, his voice calm but filled with intent, as the Captain raised its arm and the ground beneath him erupted into jagged spikes of hardened earth.
Zakar reacted instantly, leaping back as the spikes tore through the ground where he had stood, only for more to follow in rapid succession, forcing him to move continuously as he analyzed the attack.
"…Earth manipulation," he muttered, already adjusting, but instead of retreating, he dashed forward toward the Captain as it raised both arms, pulling large chunks of earth into the air and launching them at him like deadly projectiles.
Zakar weaved through them with precision, his body shifting effortlessly as the attacks exploded behind him, one grazing his side and drawing blood, yet failing to slow him.
"…Too slow," he said under his breath.
The Captain responded by slamming its limbs into the ground, causing a massive wall of earth to rise between them, but Zakar didn't stop, leaping onto the structure and using it as leverage to propel himself forward while narrowly avoiding another spike aimed at him.
As he descended, his Tyrann Sword crashed into the earthen wall with immense force, shattering it as he burst through, only to be met by the Captain's hardened limb swinging toward him like a massive blade.
Zakar met it head-on, steel clashing against earth with explosive force that sent sand flying outward, his feet digging into the ground as he absorbed the impact before pushing back, redirecting the force and sliding his blade across the limb to create an opening.
He stepped in instantly, twisting his body as he slashed across the Captain's torso, but the hardened armor absorbed most of the damage, leaving only a shallow cut.
" Damn it." Zakar muttered, clicking his tongue, just as the Captain retaliated with another crushing strike that forced him to roll aside as the ground shattered beneath the impact.
He rose immediately, without hesitation, his expression sharpening as he realized the shift in battle.
This was no longer a fight against numbers.
This was now a battle of B ranks. And as Zakar tightened his grip on his Tyrann Sword and stepped forward once more, his eyes gleamed with focus and peculiarity.
"…Good."
This time, he wasn't holding back.
The moment Zakar stepped forward again, the atmosphere shifted completely, as though the desert itself recognized that the fight had crossed into a far more dangerous phase where hesitation would mean death.
His grip tightened around the Tyrann Sword, his muscles coiling with controlled tension as his eyes locked onto the Insect Captain with a sharpened focus that carried none of the earlier restraint.
The Captain seemed to sense the change as well, its multiple eyes narrowing slightly as it adjusted its stance, its limbs digging into the ground as if preparing to unleash something more devastating than before.
Without warning, the Captain slammed both of its limbs into the ground with far greater force than earlier, and this time the desert responded violently as the earth beneath Zakar didn't just spike, it collapsed inward before erupting outward in a wide radius of jagged pillars, each one thicker, faster, and far more unpredictable than the previous attacks.
The entire battlefield transformed into a deadly maze of rising stone, forcing Zakar into immediate motion as he twisted, leapt, and slid between the attacks with razor-thin margins separating him from being impaled.
The spikes didn't stop; they came in waves, each one overlapping the last, cutting off escape routes and limiting his movement space, clearly designed to trap him rather than simply strike him down.
Zakar clicked his tongue softly as he moved, his body adapting in real time as he began to read the pattern hidden within the chaos. It wasn't random. The Captain was herding him, forcing him into tighter spaces where its next attack would be unavoidable.
"…It's trying to corner me," he muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowing slightly as he shifted his movement pattern, deliberately breaking the rhythm the Captain had begun to predict.
He cut across the spikes coming his way, moving diagonally through the attack zone in a way that disrupted the Captain's control, forcing it to adjust mid-execution.
That slight delay was all he needed.
Zakar burst forward.
The Captain reacted instantly, raising one of its massive limbs and slamming it downward, the hardened earth around it expanding into a massive crushing blade aimed directly at him.
But Zakar didn't dodge this time. Instead, he stepped into it, his Tyrann Sword rising in a precise upward motion as he met the attack head-on. Steel clashed against compacted earth with explosive force, the impact sending a shockwave across the desert as the ground beneath his feet cracked from the pressure.
For a brief moment, the two forces held against each other before Zakar shifted his stance slightly and redirected the force just enough to slide past the strike.
In that same motion, he moved closer.
The Captain's other limb came swinging toward him instantly, faster than before, aiming to crush him at point-blank range. Zakar dropped low, the attack passing just above his head as he stepped inside its range completely, entering the narrow space where its large-scale attacks became a disadvantage.
His blade flashed upward, striking against the underside of its limb, carving a deeper cut than before as sparks and fragments of hardened earth scattered into the air.
The Captain recoiled slightly, but it didn't retreat.
Instead, it shifted its body backward and slammed both limbs into the ground again, this time causing the earth beneath Zakar to harden and rise around his legs, attempting to trap him in place. The sand compressed instantly into solid stone, locking his movement for a split second.
That was the opening it wanted.
A massive spike formed directly beneath him.
Zakar's eyes sharpened.
"Got to be kidding there."
In a single motion, he twisted his body and forced his leg free just before the spike erupted, using the upward force of the attack itself to launch him into the air. The spike shot past him, missing by inches, as he flipped mid-air and aligned his body for a downward strike. The Captain raised its arms again, attempting to form another defensive wall of earth, but this time, Zakar was faster.
He came down hard.
His Tyrann Sword crashed against the forming structure, shattering it before it could fully solidify, the fragments exploding outward as he broke through the defense and closed the distance completely.
The Captain attempted one final counterattack, its limbs swinging inward from both sides in a crushing motion meant to end the fight in a single blow.
Zakar's body moved with absolute precision, slipping through the narrowing gap just as the two massive limbs collided behind him with a deafening crash. The impact shook the ground, but Zakar was already past it, already inside, already in position.
For a brief moment, everything slowed. The Captain's eyes widened slightly as it realized too late what had happened.
Zakar's blade rose.
Then fell.
A single, clean arc.
The Tyrann Sword sliced through the Captain's neck with brutal precision, cutting through the hardened layers of earth and chitin in one decisive strike.
Silence followed.
The Captain's body froze for a fraction of a second before its head separated completely, sliding from its body as dark fluid spilled into the sand. The massive form stood still for a moment longer, then collapsed heavily onto the desert floor, its limbs going limp as the life drained from it.
Zakar landed lightly a few steps away, his blade lowering slowly as he exhaled a quiet breath. The wind swept across the battlefield once more, carrying away dust and the fading remnants of the fight, leaving only stillness behind.
"…Done," he muttered and glanced back at the fallen Captain, his expression calm but thoughtful. It had been stronger than the swarm, more calculated, more dangerous—but still not strong enough to spar with the queen
Zakar lifted his sword slightly, the remaining fluid dripping off the blade as his grip tightened once more.
"And I'm taking you now." He said with a stern face while looking at the queen sitting at one end of the battle ground, being entertained by her swarms getting annihilated by Zakar.