There was only half an hour before the invasion, Seven was taking his time to rest and prepare for a large scale battle. Regrettably, he couldn’t gather the experiences from practicing Natalya’s martial arts into the book at the moment, but he would incorporate them once it was over.

How did Natalya become so strong? Who was she? What was coursing through her head? He didn’t know any of that, and those were key points to construct his character.

Seven was conflicted.

He both wanted to know more of Natalya and didn’t - otherwise, there would be nothing to create, only to narrate. He was afraid that reality was nothing more than a disappointing work of fiction, and that it couldn’t measure up to his standards, a fear he never felt before.

“Is that the fear of the unknown? Or is it just a measure to protect myself from disappointment?”

Whatever it was, he had no time do dwell in it. People started to gather at the edges of the settlement, and he did the same.

Although there was still a considerable time before the invasion started, few people discussed the situation. He figured that most were bitten by fear or were in the process of mentally preparing for what was to come.

Seven couldn’t blame them, but he was different.

He had only noticed it on the mark of ten minutes, but his hands that trembled from time to time, his cold sweating, the uneasiness in his muscles – it was not only fear but also a mix of excitement.

He both dreaded and wanted to know what was going to happen, a sensation similar to finishing the last chapter of a book and being left with a cliffhanger.

The people, who had been uneasy for quite some time, steeled themselves for what was to come, a scene of almost complete silence.

5 minutes.

-Hey, your name is Seven, right?

-Hmm?

Turning around, he saw an unexpected sight. Nathan.

“What is it now”

-You know... I... Got really worked up there... But ehh, it’s not like me to do these kinda things, don’t know what I was doing... And, well, you see... I... Argh, you know...

He pressed his lips together and looked away, extending his huge hand towards Seven.

“Is this an apology? Huh...”

Seven didn’t particularly care, he stretched his hand and gave the guy a handshake.

-Eh, if you’re building your muscles, you can ask for my help one of these days. If it makes you feel better, you can hit me once too, to make things even, hehe.

-I will keep that in mind.

-So, see ya.

“... What just happened?”

[The invasion will start in 60 seconds. Enemies will approach from Terminals A-1, A-2, A-4, B-1, B-3, B-5, and B-9. I wish you all good luck]

Suddenly, a map of the settlement appeared on a screen, visible to all of them, detailing the position of the main group and the route the enemies would take.

The details showed an arrangement in which the A Terminals were at the ground level, B terminals at a level 10 meters above them, whereas subterranean and superior terminals existed, aside from the hatch directly above them.

Although the distance from each other was not equal, the terminals were spread out evenly in a circle and numbered from the easternmost entrance and going clockwise.

There were about as many entrances as there were people, and it would be impossible to prepare for the invasions accordingly if this information wasn’t provided in the future. From a quick scan, they would be invaded by the South, with most of the forces concentrated at Southeast if the enemies were evenly spread, whereas at Southwest the great majority would descend from higher ground.

In the end, Arthur’s group ended up not building the barricade, but their movements were better organized than the others and they immediately reacted.

-Move on, follow the plan – he shouted, and even those who didn’t know what the plan was ended up going after him. It seemed like Arthur already knew about the Terminals and quickly made his way to another position to better deal with the threat.

While running after them, Kate approached him in the middle of the way.

-You’re with Arthur’s group? - she asked.

-No, but going with him is not a bad idea.

-Yeah, I agree. We’re on the same wavelength it seems – she smiled.

Seven raised an eyebrow.

-You’re not with him either?

-I don’t agree with splitting up into groups. We should all stick together.

He didn’t reply to that as he didn’t exactly agree. Whether grouping up or separating would be for the best, it would all depend on the nature of this deadly game they were playing, as well as the capabilities and mindset of each person.

There were tendencies, but no one could tell what would happen. Seven himself noticed that, even with so many strained relationships and weakened states of mind, things have been progressing quite well, so maybe they could survive long enough as a group.

||Invasion started||

||Number of enemies: 130||

-Will you watch my back? - she looked at the Terminal shutters opening and asked nervously.

"…”

"…”

Seven shook his head.

-I won’t make any promises.

Once the shutters opened completely, there was only silence.

They waited anxiously for the enemies to appear, but it took a while and it was an unexpected sight.

Six huge fiery legs slithered past the entrance with the menacing scythes that more resembled the mandibula of an arachnid.

Ants again, only bigger and stronger.

-Warrior ants...

-What?

-Comparing their physiques, yesterday’s ants were workers. Today’s ants are warriors, they are bigger than normal and have a stronger bite, I’m willing to bet that this species has a sturdier exoskeleton or some other kind of protection, too – Seven explained.

From that area, they could view most of the entrances and he observed that the ants coming from the B Terminals were bigger than those coming from the A terminal.

-The ants from the B Terminals are older and stronger. We can’t face them with normal weapons.

Worker ants were deadly enough to behead a human with their bite, but if his intuition was correct, a warrior want should cut through them like paper. It was too risky to fight them with normal weapons.

Either way, swords, axes, and hammers were made for use against other human beings. Historically, the way humans dealt with bigger threats was employing tactics: surrounding, tiring them out and landing the final blow.

Thinking the same as him, Arthur ordered some people to retreat to the arsenal and bring spears while the rest took cover in two parallel buildings.

Seven noticed there were wires spread out in some of the buildings, and he suspected other things might have been hidden inside of them. “So he did make something after all”.

Natalya had already separated from the group and headed straight for the ants at the A terminal. Not wasting any breath, he followed suit.

-Wait, you’re going straight into them?

-Follow Arthur, he figured out a strategy. You should be safe inside one of these buildings, they won’t reject you.

Kate had a complicated expression, as if she wanted to say something. However, Seven didn’t give her the time to think, and in the end, she complied and went inside.

There was only one thing in Seven’s mind: how will you fight this?

He didn’t know Natalya. Was she crazy, going straight into the enemy lines without caring for her life? Or did she have everything under control? Maybe she was gambling everything in a dangerous strategy.

He had to know. The secret to becoming stronger also resided in this answer.

He must see it for himself.

He must know.

Seven ran after Natalya. He couldn’t compare with her agility and quickly fell behind, but the scene of the girl nimbly stepping over an ant’s leg and climbing it, swiftly evading the menacing bite and making its head explode from inside out was unbelievable.

“How?” That scene was beyond impossible, he could only explain that if she wasn’t human.

As he got closer, the exact movements she executed became clearer. She was still evolving and endlessly adapting, what he thought was perfection was simply a flawed image: her aim was much higher than that.

But he couldn’t watch her for long, to get even a glimpse of her movements, he risked diving into the bulk of their army. There were fewer of the older ants descending from the B Terminals, about 90 of them spawned from the A Terminals which were closer to each other, and at the time a third of them had already moved in.

How would he survive? His mind went blank for a second before his body reacted to the first approaching ant.

"No matter what, I must live. I can't die when I just started writing the story"

He picked up his curved blade and mimicked Natalya's movements with what he understood of her martial arts earlier.

He knew it was impossible, he couldn't crush an Ant's head as she did, and he didn't have the guts to even try.

But he never tried to be like her. The one thing he understood from Natalya's constant developments was that he should look for the answers himself, too.

In the world of martial arts, there was something known as a base, and everything else learned through other means was to strengthen this base.

Seven had no base, only an array of knowledge from different arts, but one thing he knew was that, to make it through this battle, he had to use whatever he had at hand. And that was all through watching Natalya.

The one thing she did not incorporate in her style was the blade.

"She still uses a knuckle and a shield, and she recognizes the superior strength of the opponent while using it against himself"

Natalya could execute the deadliest of her moves at a close range, and for that, she used the shield, at least this much he could figure out.

But a shield would be of no use to Seven. For starters, he wouldn't be able to handle the backlash of a strike, nor accurately position it in a good angle to deflect a hit and use the bounce.

He couldn't let himself get caught: A single strike and it was over.

"It is completely different from the strength she uses, but right now I have no choice but to incorporate it into her martial arts."

He moved on.

At first, he planned to cut the ants' legs, but stopped himself in time. They were covered with a hard carapace and sturdy hairs, likely an evolution against such types of attacks. On the other hand, the most exposed parts were a small area in the thorax, the lower body, and some organs near the face.

The ants were four meters tall, much bigger than the worker ants of the previous day, and it was difficult to reach those parts.

"I see, I have to attack the face when they come down to attack me"

Seven prepared himself for what was to come. He couldn't be directly beneath the ant, they had to lower down at an angle for him to strike, so he kept running until such an opportunity appeared.

"Focus."

"Focus."

"You can do it."

"You've seen it before."

Emptying himself from any unnecessary thoughts, there was only silence left. He felt like he was playing a real-time strategy game. His body moved, but it wasn't himself, all he did was the judgment on where to move, how to move, what actions to take.

And he moved.

He dodged by a hair's breadth.

He slashed on a moment's notice.

He removed his blade on a minute's decision.

"Don't let your guard down, every second wasted is a second you could be dead."

He didn't succeed in the first time, neither in the second nor the third. The ants were tenacious enemies and unless he completely removed their mandibulae, it was impossible to avoid the threat. He could badly damage their organs, but not completely stop them.

He didn't know how he was still alive even after being surrounded from all sides. It was like watching electric saws approaching a person from every direction, and confirming that she was still alive and intact after the encounter.

Seven smiled... The pain.

The pain kept him going. He was tired, he wanted to lay down for a while, but his body kept moving and his nerves were on edge.

He never stopped to catch his breath. If he did so, he wouldn't be able to move anymore.

All the noises were void.

The world had slowed down as he executed his movements. But it wasn't good enough, he improved at a fast rate but it wouldn't stop him from meeting his end.

It was then that he saw her, Natalya.

She crushed the ants whenever she saw them, and easily defeated the mangled bunch that was occupied with him. He didn't know how much time had passed, but he knew that it couldn't have been more than half an hour for her to wipe them out alone.

Did she come to save him? Seven chuckled: of course not.

He was never preoccupied with killing them, all that mattered was staying alive.

Still, he was disappointed that, from half an hour of fighting, he could only glimpse at a few seconds of her brilliance.

He collapsed once again, unable to move even a muscle. As oxygen filled his cells, the battle spirit left him completely and he gazed at the distance, at the direction Natalya had left to. She was headed to the B Terminals, the invasion hadn't ended.

His life was reborn in a puddle of blood and broken bones.

It was ugly.

It was survival.