Chapter 37: Heat
But the eyes...
Its eyes were the most terrifying part.
They glimmered like two burning embers set into a coal-black head, silently watching and far too intelligent to call it a mere beast anymore.
For one horrible second, Rohan thought it had been asleep. Then he realised the truth — it was fully awake the entire time. Just waiting...
For what, he had no idea.
His whole body turned cold, with shivers running down his spine. Beside him, Elane’s breathing hitched sharply.
"...That thing..." she whispered quietly to herself.
Nobody answered her, as no one needed to.
Rudith gave another pull on the rope.
"Inside."
Rohan’s jaw clenched, barely holding back his anger.
’Why is it still not moving?’ Every second of the E rank Elite’s inaction sent countless warning signals blaring in his mind. Something about this whole thing was too far out of the norm.
He and Elane were forced through the doorway together, stumbling out onto the scorched floor of the chamber. The moment they crossed the threshold separating the inside air from the outside, the heat hit them even harder.
It felt like stepping too close to a bonfire, only far more oppressive because it came from the air itself in an all-enveloping manner.
Every breath they took in felt like their lungs were being scorched.
Like most people would in that situation, they began to panic. Their breathing quickened due to the pain and fear, aware of their impending doom, which only served to worsen their pain even more. It was a hellish, torturous loop they were stuck in.
’We’ll barely be able to last a few minutes in this heat; forget even facing off against this E rank Elite! Anybody who steps in here expecting an equal fight must be crazy! No wonder this thing has been left untouched despite its close proximity to Erenhot...’
Just a few seconds of exposure to the heat was too much for him, taking away his ability to speak.
He glanced backwards to get a glimpse of what Rudith and the others had planned, but the doors were tightly sealed shut.
They really were trapped now. Any chance of escape disappeared the moment they crossed those doors.
The only upside to their situation was that the huge ant on the other side seemed to like taking its sweet time in dealing with them.
The two knew that it thought they were just two weaklings who’d stumbled into its chamber by accident. After all, who in their right mind would willingly walk into a quick death like that?
There was nothing more to it, and that realisation didn’t comfort Rohan in the slightest.
The E rank Elite wasn’t hesitating because it was cautious of them. It wasn’t even waiting because it found them threatening. No, it was simply taking its time to decide whether moving from its post was worth it or not. After all, it was there to protect a treasure from scavengers like them.
That sort of contempt from a beast was far more terrifying than immediate aggression like they were used to.
The giant ant began to move. Slowly, leisurely even.
Each step landed with a deep thud that reverberated through the scorched chamber floor and up through Rohan’s legs. Its massive limbs shifted with a dreadful calm, not a hint of urgency anywhere in its body.
The heat radiating from its exoskeleton made the air around it shimmer faintly, as if the beast was warping the chamber through its mere presence.
Which made Rohan realise:
’The heat in this place originates from that thing’s body!’
It was a terrifying realisation.
What sort of power did a beast like this have if just the leakage from its body caused the atmosphere to stir like this?
Rohan’s bound hands flexed uselessly behind his back from all the accumulated sweat built up on his arms.
If there was any consolation, the heat caused him to sweat enough to loosen the rope just a little bit, giving him that small comfort in this dreadful situation.
’It’s playing with us...’
There was no doubt about that. The thing knew they were trapped, seemingly recognising the bindings tying them together.
It knew they couldn’t run.
So it advanced like an executioner with all the time in the world.
Elane noticed this too.
Her voice came out weak and strained from both fear and the unbearable heat.
"Find me... on Earth... after we get out of here..."
Rohan swallowed in his own painfully dry throat, looking at Elane with pity. Why did she go through so much pain just to utter those few words? Wasn’t the pain from breathing enough?
However, he agreed to her request without much thought.
He also wanted to continue their cooperation beyond just these few days; they’ve travelled and fought, and now they were about to die together. They made for quite a good team, despite the ups and downs they had over the past week.
’But how am I supposed to find her?’
This part confused him. All he knew was her first name and what she looked like. It wasn’t like he could snap a picture of her either, as no technology worked in the Origin Realm.
Rohan gulped down a heap of saliva to wet his parched throat, glancing back over at her to express his confusion.
’What!?’
But the shock he felt made him forget all about the pain, frustration and fear he was currently experiencing. All being replaced with a single feeling of shock.
Elane was gone. Disappeared...
All that was left in her place was a single, wet piece of fabric that fell to the floor.
Rohan kicked the piece of fabric, turning it over with his left foot.
All that was on it was a single string of numbers written in ink, smudged by her sweat.
’She was... kicked out? Her time was up??’
It wouldn’t take a genius to realise what just happened, but Rohan was still reeling from the shock of her sudden departure.
He could tell at a glance what that string of numbers represented as well: a number to contact her on. Everyone had their own personal communicator back in the Solar System, each given a unique identifier like the one written on the fabric.
’God dammit! Now I’m left in this shit all alone!’