The antlings started breaking through the barricades, spurred on by Leo’s attack. The first head that managed to poke through earned an Ice Spike to the face. The spike didn't penetrate, but it cracked the carapace before shattering.

  Leo frowned in annoyance. His Ice Spike was too weak to penetrate an ant’s carapace, even one several levels lower. Firing too many would just eat his whole mana bar. He couldn’t risk firing too many more, he needed to save everything he could if he was going to last the night.

  What he definitely managed to do was to piss it off.

  It broke through and charged straight at him. It was just a level 8 Lesser Antling—not enough to worry him.

  It pounced, aiming for his head, madness in its eyes. But with his increased stats and experience, it may as well have been saying, “Punch me, Leo!” So he did.

  Refined Mana Strikes wrapped his fist. It connected with the crack he'd made earlier, breaking through and sending the antling flying back through the barricade and into its allies.

  You have slain: Lesser Antling - Level 8

  Experience Gained

  +8 Store Credits

  “One down… a million to go,” Leo muttered, cracking his neck in subconscious reflex.

  More antlings started bursting through the single doorway, while others seemed to be still attacking the windows. They were fighting over each other to get through.

  One even stopped to feast on its downed companion Leo had sent their way. They truly were in a ravenous frenzy.

  The frenzy helped—sort of. They didn’t think or learn. They just threw themselves at him. Seeing how many were coming through, with so many more to come, made him think that it might not matter…

  Another broke through, squeezing past its companions, followed by another, and another, as the barricade was completely ruined. Leo fought them off with a steady assault, trying to not let any of them past him.

  Punches, kicks, elbows, knees—anything he could hit with. Mana Strikes were only used when he knew he'd get a decisive killing blow. His stamina was dropping at a steady pace but the antlings were not. There was a limit to how many he could take out before needing a break.

  SP: 264/330

  Still manageable.

  Ranged attacks had been flying past him—mage bolts and arrows. They weren’t killing much, but they helped.

  He glanced towards Cecelia. They were contending with a small number that had slipped past him. Cecelia was leading, cutting apart any antling that came close with incredible precision, illuminated by moonlight that cut through the swirling red mist. It distracted him for half a second. Voltaic Reflex flared a sudden warning.

  A larger than usual antling charged into him, fast, trying to snap him in two. It was one of the Antling Ambushers.

  His body leaned back like he was competing in limbo. The antling soared over him, but Leo didn’t dip far enough, taking a glancing blow that scraped through his Stoneskin as his skin peeled.

  It was enough to knock him off balance. A moment later he was on the floor.

  The ants realised the opening, even in their enraged state, and swarmed him. He kicked at them as they approached, trying to grab anything in reach, throwing them off with grunts. He just needed to get up.

  One of the ants clamped onto his leg.

  Leo groaned in pain. Anger started to rise as he tried to recreate the mana explosion where he knocked back the Mawroot Alpha he fought in the dungeon a few days prior.

  Focusing on the anger and the storm within him, Leo tried to push them all back. Time crawled as Leo touched upon the dam inside his body that contained his storm.

  Only, it didn’t open slightly. It cracked. He immediately panicked and shut it down. The danger he felt told him not to do that again, at least not right now.

  Thankfully, a smaller—more contained—version of his mana explosion started to build. It lacked the single-minded bloodlust and focus of the last one, instead just draining him as mana exploded from him in a brief shock wave.

  The antlings were knocked off him in every direction. They were lighter than the Alpha, making the task a lot easier.

  “Glad that worked,” Leo croaked as he scrambled back to get some room.

  Leo quickly checked his leg in the brief respite, seeing that it was bleeding but not all that injured.

  Must have been a lower-level one. If it was a Soldier, I'd have lost my leg. Leo breathed in relief.

  He got himself up to his feet and tried standing on his injured leg and felt that there was no issue in walking.

  He heard a shout. “You okay?” It was Ashley, she had noticed his situation and called out to him.

  “Yeah! Fine!” Leo called back. “Just caught me off guard.” A Powerful Haymaker sent an approaching antling flying back.

  He ignored the kill notifications coming in. His entire focus was on surviving while conserving. A tricky balance that required all his attention.

  Leo was pushed further and further back towards the line of defenders as more and more ants were making their way through the door. He had used a stamina potion already, just trying to keep himself at a healthy level.

  Leo had never found out exactly what the potion timer was, as he couldn't remember if he'd even drank a potion before, possibly in a rush just before the Alpha.

  It turned out that the cooldown was around thirty minutes between potions of any kind. It wasn’t a really long time, but considering all of his fights so far had been less than thirty minutes total—even the Alpha—these stamina potions were barely enough to keep him going.

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  With all the mayhem that was occurring here, it worried him about what was happening with Bjorn and the others in building D. He imagined that they were able to stay relatively safe with all the ants charging in here. It steadied him in the chaos. That all he was doing here would be helping everyone out.

  Each ant killed was one less person to be attacked.

  Leo was pushed back to the line of defense. Cuts, bruises and green ichor coated him. Ant corpses littered the ground around them as they tried to hold the somewhat tight formation. The corpses were giving them much needed breathing room as they stopped a full tsunami of ants coming at once.

  They held as long as they could with Ashley giving shields as often as she could spare, but the line was crumbling. People’s spirits were waning.

  There were just so many.

  One of the men standing in line, dressed in starting gear for the warrior class and holding a two-handed sword similar to Cecelia’s, executed a poorly timed dodge and was impaled directly through the heart. Before Leo could even intervene the man's body dropped to the ground, limp and lifeless.

  Leo's mind went blank. He was supposed to protect these people… They were relying on him. He was strong… The highest level of everyone!

  It meant nothing.

  He just stared at him. The man’s eyes were wide with shock. Primal fear was written on his bloodied, tear stricken face.

  A sharp crack echoed out as a hand connected with his cheek, sending Leo’s head sideways.

  “Snap out of it!” Cecelia shouted. “People die. You can’t save everyone!” Her voice softened. “Don’t let his death be in vain. There are still people who need your help.”

  Leo was brought back to his senses, his extinguished resolve now a budding flame. At least reignited enough to keep fighting.

  Cecelia finished cutting down the ant that had been incapacitated next to her. The ant that had killed the man had been taken out by the young woman next to him in an anguished scream, twin daggers impaling its head over and over.

  Leo took out his frustration on the last remaining antlings that had approached, only to be confused at the sudden lack of enemies. The numbers had dropped without anyone realising.

  “More are coming,” Cecelia said, gasping. “This night will have more deaths than just his. These people here are already exhausted, as am I.” Cecelia heaved for breath. “I don't know how you have kept going. We need to rest during this brief resp—”

  She was cut off by a roar-like yell coming from outside. Leo and Cecelia looked towards it, then towards each other, both of them recognizing the shout with worried looks.

  Leo sprinted towards the door, stepping over countless ant corpses that crunched under feet with a sickening crunch. He got to the door and stood against the frame.

  The only word he could find to describe the scene before him was mayhem.

  Bjorn’s group had left the safety of their building and were fending off attacks in a tight circle. There were bodies of ants and humans alike littering the ground.

  “Wha…how…”

  How could this happen? Their building was meant to be the safer one! How had he not heard the fighting just outside? Was he too caught up in his own fighting to even think? His mind was reeling with all the questions as he looked out.

  Cecelia words rang out in his head and he shook himself out of the spiraling thoughts. He took a deep breath in.

  “Bjorn! In here!”

  His voice boomed across the courtyard, somehow being infused with a bit of mana to amplify it even further. He didn't have time to figure out what he did. What mattered was its effectiveness.

  All at once, heads turned towards him—ant and human alike.

  “Come on! Move to the building! Stay together,” Bjorn commanded.

  Leo checked his surroundings for any ambushers, then rushed to meet them. It wasn't a far distance but it was a perilous one. There were ants everywhere.

  He stomped on the head of one and then kicked another out of his path. These ants were half his level or less so they didn't put up much of a fight as his glowing fists and feet sent them flying, some dying outright.

  He got between Bjorn’s group and the ants. A one-man army holding them off until they crossed the distance back to building A.

  Once they had made it inside, two of the knights with Bjorn’s group held their shields in the doorway while others held their backs or fired attacks through the gaps. Bjorn caught his breath as he collapsed.

  “Thanks kid,” Bjorn said, panting.

  “What happened?” Leo asked, quickly turning to fire an Ice Spike at one of the windows. “I thought you guys were meant to be safer inside that building.”

  “It was definitely safer,” Bjorn took a drink of his water. “It felt completely solid and easily defendable—just like Ron said. They didn’t even come near the door.” His face darkened. “That safety works wonders… as long as they don't tunnel up through the fucking floor that is. We lost so many in the initial breach. Trapped inside and flanked, the injured… oh god… we had to leave them.”

  Leo’s face was a grim visage. “Shit. I’m so sorry.”

  “It all happened so fast,” Bjorn said, head in his hands.

  He spotted Lena, who was holding Amy tight while she threw out heals on cooldown. Amy’s face was pained and angry.

  “You did well to survive and keep this many alive,” Cecelia said, joining them.

  She was slightly taken aback by the reactions to her words. Bjorn and Amy glared at her while Leo shook his head. They didn’t want to be praised right now.

  Leo couldn’t tell how many of the men and women he'd seen move to the building were missing. Those remaining looked exhausted and broken. Their fighting spirits were running on empty.

  “We should try and barricade the door again with all we have. The windows are holding up somewhat—only a few are broken—but the door will have them flooding in all night,” Leo said.

  *Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

  The noise was shaking the ground.

  Everyone was on high alert, trying to pinpoint the noise.

  “What fresh hell is coming for us now…” Bjorn groaned, exhausted.

  Leo tried to focus on the noise, his reflex was starting to tingle, little shock waves alerting him of impending danger, but not the source, nor the direction. The feeling was still too alien for him to be able to do so.

  “Bjorn! The ants at the door are retreating down the hole! We did it! We've won!” One of the knights said, rushing over to them.

  “I don't think it's that simple.” Leo’s stomach sank.

  The thudding noise grew louder and louder, closer and closer until Leo's head snapped towards where Ashley was still healing people at the back of the room.

  The thudding noise hit a crescendo as Leo shouted.

  “Ash! Shield!”

  He barely got the words out before the wall behind Ashley came crashing down, chunks of rubble raining across the interior. Stone dust flew up everywhere like a sandstorm. He couldn't see what was happening. He didn't even know if she was alive.

  As the dust started to settle, he finally saw it. A towering behemoth of an ant.

  He could barely even call it an ant. Its body was thick and covered in a large plated exoskeleton. It was twice the height of a person. Its head was basically a battering ram. Large blunt mandibles like medieval clubs were clicking on its face with loud rattling cracks.

  He shakily used Identify.

  Antling Goliath - Level 20

  An absolute monster.

  The highest level thing he'd seen so far. As the dust fully settled and the antling got its bearings, Leo saw all the people that Ashley had been tirelessly healing all day and night had been crushed. Either under its giant blunted feet that looked like tree trunks, or by the rubble of the wall.

  “Ashley! Are you alive?” Leo shouted in panic, uncaring about drawing attention.

  A scream of pain echoed loudly throughout the building. It was Ashley.

  She was alive.

  But the Goliath had noticed.

  ?? Even gods need to be held sometimes

  What to Expect:

  - An epic, multi-book space opera with a large found family and multiple POVs.

  - A powerful but emotionally vulnerable protagonist with chaotic powers he struggles to control.

  - Strong, capable, and sometimes morally gray women.

  - High stakes, cosmic threats, and detailed world-building.

  What NOT to Expect:

  - LitRPG/System elements

  - Lone wolf power fantasy

  - A story that is only about romance

  This story contains mature themes, explicit sexual content, and graphic violence. It is not suitable for readers under the age of 18.

  90+ Chapters in the first month

  500,000+ words already written and backlogged