God-Tier Extraction Talent: Reincarnated in a Game-like World!
Chapter 42: A Powerful Presence

Chapter 42: A Powerful Presence

For a moment, everyone froze, including the flying ants.

It was dead silent.

Then Sophie screamed loudly, "CASSIE!!"

But her voice only echoed in the vast chambers.

She clenched her fists, her vines trembling. "How did they even—! We were right there!"

"T-They sneaked past my guard!" Gabriel clenched his fist. He hadn’t even sensed anything, and when he did, it was already too late.

’I’ve neglected my perception stats a lot,’ he thought inwardly. ’If only it had been slightly higher, I would’ve definitely sensed those ants back there.’

Without hesitation, Gabriel dumped all 10 free stats he had into perception, bringing it to 57 then stared into the bottomless pit.

What reflected in his eyes were thousands of shivering purples.

But why choose Cassie of all people?

The answer was rather simple.

Because they knew she was useful.

"What are you planning to do?" Sophie asked.

"Grizzlenaught will take my place. I’m going to get her!" Gabriel said. Even before Sophie could open her mouth, he stomped the ground with all his strength, and his body practically exploded into the air.

Usually, saving people wasn’t his thing. But Cassie? Though she had a very annoying personality, he knew very well about her frightening abilities.

"If these ants think I’ll just let someone as useful as her die like that, then they must be joking!"

Gabriel’s body soared through the air. Very close to the ceiling, he seemed to hover slightly before falling into the pit with even more momentum.

The wind rushed against his face, disheveling his red hair. His grip on Crimson Judgement tightened as he cut down all the monsters in his path.

The ants were shocked!

They never thought a day would come when a human willingly jumped into the pit themselves.

Didn’t they know how dangerous it was?

"Don’t lose focus!" Khrome’s voice snapped everyone out of their daze.

And the fight resumed once more.

This time, the group became even more cautious after seeing what happened to Scarlet.

---

Back in the passage—

Scarlet was already mid-charge, cleaving through the last wave of Purpleback Ants with razor precision. Her movements were fluid, her silver aura cutting down anything that dared to approach.

"Just a little more..." she muttered, eyes flicking to the blinking red bar over Alice’s head from a distance. Her expression was pale, and she had grown weak, only supported by Lilly.

She’d already reduced the number of enemies to single digits.

There were just five left, but these five proved even more difficult to deal with—their shells seemed sturdier than most.

"Vice Leader!" Liam suddenly called in a serious voice. "Leave these ones to us. We’ll handle them. You take your sister—I’m sure you’ll definitely find something in the reward room to cure her."

"Yes, Liam is right. If you stay here and fight, her chances of survival will only get slimmer."

After a moment of hesitation, Scarlet nodded and said sincerely, "Thank you. I’ll make sure to repay this debt." She bowed slightly.

"Hahaha, just keep the good stuff for us when you reach the final chamber!" Liam laughed.

"I will." She nodded, determination burning in her eyes.

Lilly assisted Alice up, and the duo headed toward the stone door. Upon getting within range, the door opened, and they stepped through to the other side.

"Alright, let’s do this." Liam cracked his neck. "The Vice Leader already did all the work. All we have to do is finish this lot, then we join them!"

The mage stretched his arms out as two magic circles appeared.

"Let’s do this!" he declared, fire burning in his eyes.

---

When Scarlet, Lilly, and Alice stepped through the door, they expected to appear in another passage or something similar. Instead, what welcomed them were the sounds of shouting and fighting.

"Fire Blast!"

"Rock Bloom Spike!"

Screech! Screech!

Magic skills illuminated the chambers, disrupting the natural mana flow.

"It’s the others!" Lilly gasped as they headed forward and finally got a clearer view of the situation.

On the other side, across the bottomless pit swarming with vicious Purpleback Drones, was the party that had split from them several minutes ago.

"They’re not complete," she mumbled under her breath when she noticed Gabriel and Cassie were missing.

In place of those two was a fierce-looking spectral Grizzlenaught bear—the same bear she had been hearing reports about.

"Since that thing is here, that means he’s alive and close by," she murmured.

It was at that moment she suddenly sensed a crushing presence being emitted from the depths of the abyss. Her eyes flashed with something akin to fear.

Lilly saw the look on her friend’s face and asked in concern, "What is it?"

"There’s something extremely powerful down there. I... I don’t think even I can defeat it without help!"

Both Lilly and Alice’s expressions darkened when they heard this. Something that could evoke such a reaction from a hero-rank tank adventurer was certainly not an enemy to take lightly.

It didn’t take long for the Purpleback Drone Ants to sense the presence of the newcomers. A portion of the group split off and lunged toward them.

Seeing the ants change formation, the others also noticed the group across the pit—and a wave of relief washed over them.

With the ants splitting up, it became much easier to fend them off.

Without waiting for a reply, Scarlet leapt into the air, silver energy surging violently around her like a burning wind.

At the exact same moment, a ripple passed through the swarm of ants.

They felt her.

Dozens of Purpleback Drones screeched and turned mid-air to face her.

Some of them hesitated.

They had evolved instincts, after all.

And they understood something:

This woman was dangerous.

They surged forward in sync at once, but the silver energy slash cut through them like paper.

It was a one-sided massacre. Some ants flew back into the pits in fear, while others attacked blindly.

Suddenly, she turned to her side and swung her blade—a horizontal silver slash surged forward.

SWISH!!

An ant with golden stripes appeared, cleanly split in two, purple blood exploding mid-air.

Lilly watched, slightly stunned, as the halves dropped to the floor, twitching.

"Stealth skills?" she frowned.

These ants were even more dangerous than she had given them credit for.

And the fact that they were smart enough to detect the healer and go for her was even more troubling.

---

Below the pit—

The air rushed past Cassie’s ears as she tumbled headfirst into the darkness, her limbs flailing wildly.

"Aaaahhh—!"

She couldn’t even see the bottom. Everything was just a purple blur. Just when she felt she would hit the ground, a sharp FWOOOSH echoed as she felt strong arms wrap around her waist.

BOOM!

She slammed into the ground—yet didn’t feel pain. Instead, she realized she was lying atop someone—they had most likely taken the brunt of the impact.

But who?

She barely had time to think before she sensed hundreds of purple eyes glaring at her from the dark.

Cassie felt her stomach churn with dread.

The ants didn’t make a move yet, which was both alarming and eerie.

Her eyes flicked back and forth, breath caught in her throat.

Suddenly, a shadow began edging forward—its overwhelming presence peaked at the edge of the dark space, and the hundreds of purple eyes turned toward that direction.

The next moment, all of them bowed their heads in reverence.

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