Despite all of the technological advances that Earth had undergone due to system interference, the Convoy that Dane had found himself on was still very similar to the Humvees of America. Little by little, the fleet branched off from other missions in better-off zones. Finally, they were dropped off. They were told that the risk to the equipment was too high, so they had to approach the red zone on foot.

  Once the transport trucks turned back toward the refugee camp, Echo Squad was left standing alone on the edge of the desert with nothing but black sand stretching out in every direction.

  The wind moved across the dunes in slow waves, pushing fine grains against their boots with a dry hiss that sounded like whispers.

  Dane scanned the horizon once more before starting forward.

  Juliet fell into step beside him while the rest of the squad spread into a loose patrol formation.

  Behind them, the distant refugee camp glowed faintly against the darkening sky, its generators casting a pale halo across the growing settlement. From here, it already looked smaller than it had from the air.

  Ethan adjusted the strap on his spear harness and glanced toward the open farmland ahead.

  "You think people actually lived out here?" he asked.

  The structures scattered across the landscape suggested they had.

  Low buildings made of stone and a resin-like material dotted the area, half-buried beneath drifting sand. Long irrigation trenches cut through the ground in straight lines, long since filled with dust.

  Dane nodded slightly.

  "You'd be surprised how fast civilization can crumble in small towns. It was probably farmers out here."

  Abby kicked a rusted tool lying in the sand as she walked past.

  "That's rough," she said. "Imagine living a hard life just to get eaten by bugs during the apocalypse."

  Travis was studying the terrain with open fascination.

  His Drone hovered a few feet above his shoulder, its sensors quietly scanning the surrounding landscape.

  "You think those spinner spiders they served last night came from places like this?" he asked.

  Abby snorted.

  "I know we are supposed to get used to local customs, but I'm never eating dinner here again."

  Juliet didn't turn around.

  "Focus," she said.

  Travis immediately straightened.

  "Yes, ma'am."

  They continued moving across the farmland, weaving between collapsed structures and dry irrigation channels.

  Dane slowed slightly as they approached a cluster of low buildings near the edge of a shallow ridge.

  The team stood frozen.

  Ethan pulled the radio from his backpack to signal that they might have an encounter and to share their coordinates.

  Ethan pushed down the PTT button. "Radio Check."

  They received no response. Ethan switched the channel to the backup, and a loud burst of static crackled in his ear.

  "Command, this is Echo Team. Do you copy?"

  Only the static answered him. He waited a moment, then tried again.

  "Command, Echo Team checking in possible hostiles in the area. Do you read?"

  A shrill distortion screeched through the channel before dissolving into white noise.

  Ethan lowered the receiver slightly and looked out across the desert.

  Dane already knew what the problem was. He had to adjust his mana vision; the amount of ambient energy was so thick that it looked as if the mana saturation rolled across the landscape in slow currents, bending the flow of energy the same way heat warped the air above blacktop.

  The technology available to Earth was still C rank, like most of the planet. So that only meant one thing. They were in a higher-level area.

  Ethan keyed the transmitter one last time.

  "Command, Echo Team attempting contact. Signal degradation is heavy. Do you copy?"

  Nothing. He clicked the unit off and put it back in the spatial pouch.

  "Well, it looks like we are going to have to map the area, then report later," he said.

  Abby sighed.

  "I mean, that's why we brought the Scribe, right?" She looked at Travis

  Travis shifted his plasma rifle nervously. "So… what does that mean exactly?"

  Ethan spoke to everyone rather than just Travis. "We will take turns recording events, but from here on we are going dark."

  "The Mission stays the same, we just won't be receiving back up, and we will be acting independently until we can signal back."

  Ethan turned back toward the ridge ahead of them.

  "Alright, let's move out," Ethan said.

  Travis's Drone hovered higher, adjusting its sensors.

  "Uh… guys?" Travis said quietly.

  The ground exploded.

  Sand burst upward in violent sprays as the first insect erupted from beneath the surface, its segmented body twisting violently as it lunged toward the nearest movement.

  Ethan's spear snapped forward before the creature had fully cleared the ground.

  The blade punched through its head with a wet crack.

  "Abby Protect Travis, Dane, you're with me, Juliet start singing!" Ethan shouted.

  More sand erupted around them.

  The hive soldiers came in waves.

  Sleek ant-like predators clawed their way out of the tunnels beneath the farmland, their bodies longer than a man and moving with terrifying speed.

  Dane stepped into position beside Ethan as another insect lunged from the side.

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  Its mandibles snapped shut inches from Travis's leg before Abby's blade came down in a brutal arc that split its head open.

  "Watch your feet!" she shouted.

  Travis scrambled backward as another soldier burst from the ground beside him.

  His Drone emitted a sharp warning chirp as targeting markers flashed across the creature's body.

  "Duck!" Travis called.

  The Drone released a projectile twice its size, and the back of the projectile caught fire as it hit an ant. A shockwave spread from the metal cylinder, tearing through three bugs at once.

  Dane moved through the chaos like a blade through water. Everyone was frantic, but the battlefield moved in slow motion for him. Using Identify told him everything that he needed to know.

  Vesparan Hive Soldier

  Rank: C

  HP: 3,840 / 3,840

  MP: 60 / 60

  Threat Level: Manageable

  Skills:

  ? Burrow Ambush – Can tunnel through sand and erupt beneath targets.

  ? Carapace Armor – Reduces damage from blunt and ranged attacks.

  ? Swarm Instinct – Gains increased speed and coordination when near other hive soldiers.

  Recommended Course of Action: Fight. Target joints between armor plates.

  That was new; it had been so long since he had used Identify, and now he was getting more information. He chalked it up to the monsters being so weak compared to him.

  One insect collapsed with a shattered thorax before it even reached the squad. Another lunged from behind a broken irrigation wall only to slam into an invisible barrier of compressed space.

  The fight lasted less than a minute. Dane blinked across the battlefield, sending heads flying as he struck their necks with the spectral hatchet.

  The last soldier twitched once before going still.

  The desert fell quiet again.

  Travis exhaled slowly.

  "…Okay," he said between breaths. "That wasn't so bad."

  Abby wiped insect blood from her blade.

  "Yeah," she said. "Command definitely oversold that threat."

  Ethan rested his spear against his shoulder again.

  Dane didn't say anything. Because he could see it, the fog he perceived from mana had grown thicker.

  Juliet noticed his expression immediately.

  "What is it?"

  Dane slowly lifted his head toward the ridge beyond the farmland.

  Movement appeared along the crest. Three shapes climbed into view. They were larger than the soldiers. Their bodies carried heavier armor and longer limbs that moved with deliberate precision. He scanned them with Identify.

  Vesparan Hive Guard

  Rank: B

  HP: 44,200 / 44,200

  MP: 140 / 140

  Threat Level: Dangerous

  Skills:

  ? Reinforced Carapace – Significantly higher physical damage resistance.

  ? Guardian Charge – Rapid forward lunge designed to break enemy formations.

  ? Hive Defender – Increased aggression and durability when protecting a queen.

  Recommended Course of Action: Disengage. You and Juliet will be fine, but the others are underleveled

  Travis swallowed.

  "Uh… those aren't the same ones."

  The guards didn't use their charge ability.

  They spread out slowly instead, moving along the ridge until Echo Team sat perfectly in the center of their formation.

  Ethan lowered his spear slightly.

  "That's not good. I can't see their level."

  The sand shifted behind them.

  Something much larger climbed over the ridge.

  First, the legs appeared.

  Long, powerful limbs that crushed the sand beneath them as they stepped forward.

  Then the armored body rose into view.

  Finally, the upper torso lifted above the guards.

  The creature's silhouette was unmistakable.

  A towering hybrid form that was part demon, part ant, with its massive insect body supporting a humanoid upper frame crowned with curved horns.

  Vesparan Hive Queen

  Rank: A

  HP: 90,600 / 90,600

  MP: ???

  Threat Level: Extreme

  Skills:

  ? Hive Command – Directly coordinates nearby hive organisms.

  ? Brood Authority – Can summon additional soldiers from nearby tunnels.

  ? Mana Saturation Field – High mana density disrupts technology and communication.

  Recommended Course of Action: Get them out of here, Dane.

  Daedala's personality slipped through the identify skill. He knew that she was probably right that the team wasn't ready. But another part of him that lived for the challenge couldn't back away from the fight. It had been so long since he felt this thrill. This was what he lived for.

  The Queen paused at the top of the ridge. Her head tilted slightly as she studied the battlefield below. The dead soldiers were scattered across the sand.

  Her antennae twitched once, and something akin to sadness and rage hit them.

  Ethan's voice dropped to a whisper.

  "…Tell me that's not what I think it is."

  Dane didn't look away from the creature.

  "No," he said quietly. "It's mine."

  The Queen lowered one clawed hand and tapped the ground. The three guards crouched instantly, ready to strike.

  Dane inhaled sharply, holding it for a second, then exhaled slowly.

  The guards charged.

  The sand erupted beneath their feet as the three massive insects came down the ridge like living battering rams.

  "Split up!" Ethan snapped.

  The squad scattered just as the first guard slammed into the ground where they had been standing. The impact threw black sand in every direction and left a crater where its mandibles struck.

  Ethan didn't retreat.

  His spear snapped forward, the tip glancing off the creature's armored head with a ringing impact that sent vibrations up his arms.

  "Fuck, their armor is too tough!" he barked.

  Abby was already moving.

  She darted around the creature's flank and drove her blade down at the joint of its forelimb. The strike landed clean, splitting the softer tissue between plates.

  The guard shrieked and twisted toward her.

  "Yeah," Abby muttered. "You felt that."

  But another sandstorm erupted behind them.

  Travis turned just in time to see the second guard bursting from the ground like a nightmare given form.

  His Drone shrieked a warning.

  "Behind!"

  The creature lunged. It was too fast, and Travis shrieked in pain as the mandibles severed his arm.

  Dane stepped sideways, twisting space with his blink, and landed a solid blow on one of the guards. The momentum warped violently on the other two as gravity bent beneath their feet, Dane pulling on the chains that only he could see. The insect he struck slammed sideways into the ground, its body skidding across the sand in a shower of debris.

  Ethan didn't hesitate.

  His spear punched down through the exposed plating beneath its head.

  "Get my arm back from that one!" Travis shouted.

  But Dane wasn't looking at either of the two remaining guards. He was looking at the ridge because the Queen hadn't moved. She stood there watching them like a commander observing a battlefield.

  Dane felt the weight of her gaze.

  The third guard came in from the left while Dane was having his staredown. Abby saw it first.

  She threw herself forward, slamming shoulder-first into Travis and knocking him clear just as the creature's mandibles snapped shut where he had been standing.

  The impact sent him tumbling across the sand.

  "Kid!" Ethan roared.

  Travis scrambled to his feet, coughing dust.

  "I'm good!"

  The guard lunged again.

  This time, at Abby.

  Juliet's voice cut through the chaos. She was singing a beautiful song. The song sounded like a sword cutting through the air, and Abby began to glow.

  The mandibles engulfed the assassin, but there was no blood; instead, it sounded like crushing metal. Blood began to seep out of her mask.

  Dane severed the head with a clean chop, Ethan scrambling to her side, almost as if he forgot they were in a battle.

  The last guard didn't slow down.

  It launched itself straight at Travis with no one there to protect him this time.

  Travis raised his rifle and fired.

  The plasma rounds shattered harmlessly against the creature's armored head.

  "What the fuck, dude!"

  He disappeared under the beast. Dane lowered the gravity on the monstrous ant until it came off the ground. He had no way to tell if Travis was okay. But he knew that he had to kill the last guard.

  The spectral dagger formed in his hand; he easily aimed for the joint connecting the two halves of the Thorax. He wedged it in and extended the spectral weapon into a sword until he felt it burst out of the other side.

  Dane stepped forward and ripped at the wound, but the sword wouldn't move. He had no proficiency with swords, but with the blade already piercing the beast, the hard part was done. It only had a sliver of HP remaining.

  He compressed the space around the creature's torso. The pressure folded inward like a collapsing star. The insect shrieked as its body warped.

  The guard fell, and the desert was silent. Dane reflexively looked back where the Queen had been watching from, but saw nothing when he turned back.

  Was it all a test? He thought to himself.

  Travis lay still, unmoving in the black sand, and Abby was still coughing up blood in the arms of Ethan.

  Dane walked to Abby and waved his hand over her. He rewound time until she was no longer coughing up blood. He felt his core fire up when he did it. Before, he had to use his own EXP to change time, but now he could use Dragon Essence. He would have to remember that.

  Then he walked to Travis. The boy was barely twenty. He had no HP left, and his face was twisted in the terror that he had died in, frozen in time. Dane couldn't help but feel it was unfair. He himself had cheated death dozens of times, being resurrected multiple times and having a skill that would anchor him to a point in time.

  He looked at his skill list, and there sat the altered chrono anchor. He could self-resurrect three times. He saw the counter at 2 out of 3. He used one against Tormund, but right now, he only wished he could use one of them on someone else.

  Fuck it, I have to try, he thought to himself.

  Channeling all of his power into the skill, he tried to pull it out and use it. He saw Amelia's face when he did that; he had already tried and failed this once before. But Travis's body, aside from the severed arm, was in much better shape.

  It felt like he went into his soul space, but it was different... then he realized what it was: the Astral. He could feel Travis's soul, and he pulled it back from the other side.

  Chrono Anchor: Revives 1 out of 3