Rudra felt one of his ribs broken and held his chest in pain, but with his eyes determined, he walked forward while slashing at an ant and giving an order weakly.
"Keep moving."
Pranay, Ranga and Laila were hunched over, panting heavily, but upon hearing the order, they took a deep breath and walked toward the rear of the truck, resuming their previous positions. As for Prabhu, he wiped the blood from his mouth and immediately resumed killing the smaller ants.
They were all injured, and the speed at which the truck moved was abysmal. They were already out of breath, and several of them coughed up blood every few breaths, but they had to keep moving. Who knew what was waiting for them if they wasted any more time?
Thankfully, the rain was a silver lining. It made them feel slightly better as time passed, replenishing their energy and easing some of their exhaustion.
Rudra could vaguely see a building in the distance, and a faint light of hope appeared in his eyes. It was Hamsa Raga Hospital. A giant hospital a kilometre away from the town, which also doubled as a medical university
However, his hopes were cut short and crumpled like a discarded piece of paper when an ant even more massive than the one they had just dealt with appeared, its entire body covered in a metallic lustre.
And most importantly, the bloody thing could fly.
The flapping of its keratin-like wings created a sound no different from a helicopter hovering above them.
It levitated right above the truck, looking down at all of them like an emperor passing judgment upon his subjects.
The thing had wings stretching dozens of meters, and its teeth looked like a pair of razor-sharp blades.
Under its menacing aura, even the ants that had been relentlessly bothering them stepped away and no longer dared to approach.
It landed right on the truck, and a twisting sound immediately rang out.
Rudra felt as though it were his own bones being twisted, but things only got worse.
The ant actually lifted the truck a few feet off the ground before slamming it back down.
(Boom)
Metal twisted into scrap iron, while the tarpaulin tore apart, no longer able to keep the rain out.
"Ah."
Lingaraj exclaimed in surprise and grabbed hold of Kavya.
Deepak gripped the railing and closed his eyes.
Balram clasped his hands together and continued praying.
The four people in Pranay’s group closed their eyes in desperation.
However, the moment the rain touched their skin, blood shot from their seven orifices, and even their eyeballs popped out.
Their painful howls during their final moments were like wails of despair, making Rudra’s legs buckle as his eyes widened in disbelief.
He had been able to save so many people.
He had been able to rescue so many of them.
He had been able to fight off the giant, and they were supposed to reach Hamsa Raga and leave this God-forsaken place.
They had survived.
They had definitely survived.
So why?
Why?
His mind plunged into chaos, and as he looked at the lifeless bodies scattered throughout the truck, a profound sense of unreality settled over him.
The giant flying ant looked down at the creatures that had suddenly stopped moving beneath its feet with curiosity.
It bent down and took a bite of the flesh, but, showing a disgusted expression, it threw the flesh away.
Something fell before Rudra. It was a hand. He recognised the hand. It was the hand of Kavya.
His eyes turned blood red, and he looked towards the giant flying ant with boundless rage.
He knew he was helpless, but if he was going to die, he would die fighting.
He got up, studied his trembling hands, tightened his grip on the spear, and looked at the ant defiantly. "Come on then." He challenged.
The flying ant turned its head to the side and looked at Rudra with curiosity.
It jumped forward and opened its mouth to see if this one would taste any different.
Rudra was preparing to be snapped to death. However, he had no regrets. He had tried his best.
Then, a miracle happened.
(Gaaaaa)
A sound broke out from the town, and it rippled out in waves.
The flying ant stopped midway and slowly turned around. However, the moment it did, its entire body trembled, and its eyes turned red.
"Kaaaaaaa!"
It let out a deafening roar and burst toward the town, the sheer force of its movement blasting Rudra and everyone else several feet away.
Rudra looked toward the town himself, and he finally understood why the flying ant had abandoned him and rushed toward it.
That same irrational feeling he had experienced when he looked at the tree and its fruit returned, only this time, it was far more intense.
A humanoid giant with two legs and two hands stood in the distant sky, hovering above the destroyed town like an otherworldly being admiring its creation. Its entire body was completely crimson, with blood-red veins running across its flesh.
Fleshy wings stretched out from its back like a monstrous bat, and even from this distance, the sheer span of each wing was enormous, stretching wider than a city bus.
Its eyes were familiar. They were deep purple, just like those of the Krasurs, but it had only two of them.
However, its mouth was unmistakable.
It was a complete recreation of the Krasur’s piranha-like teeth, those countless circular teeth packed tightly together and grinding against one another like the jaws of some grotesque sea monster. The sight alone was enough to make its monstrous nature unmistakable.
The giant stared toward the curtain of clouds, its purple eyes fixed on the deep abyssal monster hidden within those bellowing clouds. For a moment, it remained completely still, almost as if it were challenging the monstrosity concealed beyond the curtain.
Then, from deep within its chest, it let out a low, guttural growl that reverberated through the ruined town.
Despite hating the flying ant to no end, this abomination overwhelmed his hatred. What he was looking at was not a simple beast, but the enemy of life. Every strand of his being was telling him that such an abomination was the enemy of the entire world.
In front of such loathing, his hatred for the flying ant turned out to be nothing.
He tremblingly stood up and unconsciously started walking towards the town.
His mind was filled with the intention of killing the flying red giant at any cost.
However, just as he was about to start running, the almost solidified image of Shiva in his mind slashed out with his trishul, and Rudra immediately felt lighthearted, and his mind became much clearer.
Rudra stopped; his heart was palpitating.
’’What was I about to do?" He asked himself in disbelief.
Could he defeat that red giant? Was he mad?
He looked around at his surroundings, and to his shock, Prabhu, Pranay, and the others were also walking toward the town. But that was not the only thing that surprised him. His jaw slackened when he looked into the distance.
Giant ants, the same kind they had almost lost their lives fighting to defeat, were emerging by the hundreds throughout the fields, all moving in the same direction. Everywhere he looked, the grass rustled, with the antennae of the ants popping just above the surface as they marched toward the town like an endless army.
Rudra suddenly felt as if he and his group were a lonely boat stranded in an endless ocean, surrounded by an army whose purpose he could not understand.
"Had the army of ants launched a campaign against the crimson giant?" he wondered.
The bizarre situation made his body tremble, and his blood run cold. Whatever was happening, he knew he could not stay in this place for long.
"Everyone, stop."
Trying to snap everyone out of their daze, he cried out.
Thankfully, maybe the mantras they had chanted before had created images of deities in their minds as well. They woke up as soon as he screamed out and, just like him, looked at their surroundings in horror.
Rudra didn’t dare to look around and walked towards the destroyed truck.
Saddened by the sight and unwilling to simply move on, he started digging.
Seeing him, Laila, her eyes full of tears, bent down and started clawing at the soil. Soon, the others joined in as well.
Time was precious, so they didn’t try to dig graves for everyone and respectfully placed all the bodies within a single grave. Rudra’s heart felt like it was bleeding when he brought together broken pieces of Kavya’s body. His eyes red, he pushed the soil.
"May your souls have their peace." He prayed in his heart, and after peeling off the outer skin of the large red ant they killed and salvaging whatever resources he found, he walked towards the hospital.
Everyone else wordlessly followed Rudra, and their group of five appeared like a beacon trudging through the endless sea.
P.S. For assets like character images, maps, and other things, look into my bio (Free)