CHAPTER 78: TWO STEPS BACKWARDS

With no time to maneuver around the eggs, all of them resorted to climbing over them, cracking a few as they ran for their lives.

"TTAAA!" the queen shrieked, her cries so powerful they made many Z-Streamers fall off their feet—before stumbling and catching themselves. They were determined not to die here.

Yet no matter how fast they ran, or how hard they tried, they still couldn’t close the gap of 9 meters faster than the Spectors would close the gap between them.

Min-ho’s mind began to race.

Then, something unexpected happened.

The sun’s rays fell at such an angle, they hit a glowing crystal that had fallen to the ground. Like a light show, the sun’s rays bounced off the crystal, then hit the other glowing crystals on the roof of the cave.

The light spread across all the crystals and then exploded in an array of orange lights.

Min-ho and the Z-Streamers had been hit by the light, causing some of them to fall and crash. Some held themselves firm.

CRASH!

The sound startled everyone. Min-ho turned to the origin point and felt a light wave of relief when he saw the queen crash into her own eggs. Then, the Third Tiers began shrieking and crawling into any holes they could find or back into the tunnels.

"Come on," Sae-wee said, being the one to pull on him this time.

His attention quickly snapped away from the queen.

The Z-Streamers that fell quickly picked themselves up and ran for the exit.

Before the queen had recovered from her fall and subsequent cries over destroying her own eggs, they had already covered 6 meters.

With anger, the Second Tier gave chase—running and tumbling over itself in blind fury to kill the invaders.

"She’s coming!" Min-ho yelled, giving everyone a push to go faster. And faster they ran.

The distance between them and the exit was quickly vanishing. Once through, the queen wouldn’t be able to catch them as she was too big to pass.

With this thought at the back of their minds, everyone gave it their all.

Min-ho held Sae-wee firmly as he stared at their saving grace.

’Just a little further and we’ll be—’

"Ah!"

The sound cut through Min-ho like a laser.

From the corner of his eye, he could see someone fall behind. He didn’t get to see the person’s face, but the sound of his voice was enough to encase his heart in a sinister fear.

"Ji-su!" Dok-su screamed.

Glancing over his shoulder, Min-ho could see Ji-su. He had his leg stuck in a cracked eggshell. The look of deep fear was frozen on his face.

Without hesitation, Dok-su ran back, trying to help his brother out of the predicament.

Min-ho paused—and so did his teammates. But the other Z-Streamers didn’t even bother.

He diverted his gaze away from Ji-su and toward the Second Tier Spector that was only two meters away from them—and closing fast.

’It’s going to get them,’ Min-ho thought, his heart sinking.

His ears began to ring as he saw the world slow to a crawl. He stared at Dok-su, who was running for his brother. Then he stared at the queen as she ate up the distance like fire burning through thin paper.

His heart pulsed into his ears. Then, without much thought, he let go of Sae-wee’s hand and ran toward Ji-su.

"Min-ho!" Sae-wee called out, then attempted to follow. So did Im-hee and Dok-su.

"No, don’t follow me! Keep going! Get out of here!" Min-ho screamed as he ran for Ji-su.

The others paused, conflicted on what to do.

It didn’t take Min-ho long to reach them. By the time he did, the queen was only one meter away.

Min-ho didn’t slow his pace to help Ji-su—instead, he ran faster, zooming past them. He summoned his dagger into his hand and gripped it once it had taken a solid form.

He then swung his dagger, destroying several eggs as he ran toward the queen.

The queen didn’t stop. She didn’t even shriek. She just stared at Min-ho with her many eyes, the look of murder present in them.

Once she reached Min-ho, she lifted her right pincer and brought it down on him.

Min-ho rolled out of the attack, so it missed his legs by an inch. In a second, he rebounded and continued to dash.

She quickly turned around and followed.

Dok-su froze for a moment, watching Min-ho. Then he returned his gaze to his brother.

Min-ho ran away from the others, luring the queen toward the center of the cavern.

’What the hell are you doing?’ Min-ho asked himself, unsure if he was possessed or something to that degree.

The exit was just in his grasp—and now he had decided to end his life.

’You fool,’ he thought, just as the pincer came down in front of him.

He crashed into it with a groan before falling on his back. Another pincer quickly came down—and it would have crushed him had he not rolled to the side.

He bolted to his feet and attempted to escape, but he was now in the Spector’s grasp.

The pincer came down in a swing. Min-ho raised his dagger, and by the skin of his teeth, he managed to deflect the attack.

A shock wave ran down his arm, exploding currents of pain through his muscles.

He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his dagger.

The pincer came down again and again. It slammed the ground, swung its pincer, and impaled with its stinger.

Min-ho leaped, rolled, and deflected as many attacks as he could. By some miracle, he hadn’t gotten hurt yet. He had managed to read its movements and predict just enough of where it would attack for him to evade.

But he was tiring out, and he knew he wouldn’t be lucky forever.

As the attacks mounted, his mind began to race. He needed a plan—now.

The stinger came down again, and acting on a whim, he impaled the joint connecting the sections of the stinger together.

CLANK!

His dagger bounced off.