For some reason, Foolish, who System was wary about and had sent away, had returned to the shelter and attacked the invading mouse without hesitation.

  Because of her continuous growth in recent days, Foolish's level seemed to have increased again. Her body's length was close to seven centimeters now, twice as rge as an ordinary bck and brown soldier ant.

  System observed that one of the mouse's hind legs had a bite wound from Foolish's mandibles, and some blood stains were visible on its fur.

  Perhaps due to the corrosiveness of the formic acid in its wound, the mouse curled up and began licking its injured leg with its tongue.

  Foolish took advantage of the chaos to move in front of and protect System.

  "Now, attack it!"

  System knew that this moment, when the mouse was distracted and licking its wound, was a great opportunity for a sneak attack. If Foolish wanted to attack the mouse, she could only do it now.

  When System gave the order, Foolish obeyed without hesitation!

  Foolish opened her huge mandibles, which, when fully expanded, were twice the size of her head. She charged forward with those six-centimeter-wide bdes aimed directly at the mouse's head!

  However, before she could reach the mouse and bite into its flesh, the mouse noticed her movement. Using its more flexible body, the mouse dashed to Foolish's side and smashed into her, knocking her to the ground!

  The mouse didn't stop there. It rushed directly to Foolish's fallen body, bit her twice, then flung her away again.

  While Foolish had been able to get a good hit in with her first surprise attack, she was obviously not suited for a direct frontal charge against this kind of enemy.

  Although she'd grown to seven centimeters and looked somewhat big, the structure of an ant's body was very slender and light. This fifteen centimeter mouse weighed dozens of times more than her.

  In this match-up, it was clear that Foolish suffered from her body's light weight and low flexibility, which had led to her sneak attack failing and the mouse attacking her instead.

  Crack...

  Crack...

  The mouse held a long and thin bck object in its mouth and was slowly chewing on it. A harsh crunching sound was the only thing audible in the otherwise silent cave.

  Foolish shook her head. The mouse's attack just now had made her a little dizzy.

  System noticed that the hind leg on the left side of Foolish's body had disappeared. That leg was precisely the object that the mouse was currently eating.

  System didn't know if this behavior from the mouse should be perceived as a threat, a taunt, or intimidation. Instead of giving Foolish a fatal blow just now, the mouse had instead chosen to slowly eat her leg right in front of her.

  System didn't feel any uneasiness or fear through his [Mental Connection] with Foolish. She had only two emotions in her heart; one was concern for System, and the other was anger at the mouse!

  Foolish adjusted her body, then rushed toward the mouse again without waiting for System's order. Unfortunately, her second charge ended much the same as the first.

  This time, she lost the right forelimb and the left middle leg. The mouse easily bit off two more of Foolish's legs, then tossed her away again.

  Crack...

  Crack...

  The mouse threw the half-eaten leg aside, then picked up one of Foolish's other legs to chew on. System even heard the sound of the mouse sucking out the flesh and blood from inside the leg's exoskeleton.

  Even if Foolish wasn't injured at all, she wouldn't be a match for the mouse. Now, with only three legs left, she had no hope at all of defeating it. She could only watch as the mouse ate her legs one by one, unable to escape her fate of being tortured to death.

  "Foolish, come here."

  System sent her a mental message, wanting to call her over to his side.

  Foolish, still dizzy from the attacks, shook her head. It looked like her head had been cracked open by the mouse, and a cloudy, white liquid was slowly trickling out.

  However, the vitality of insects was extremely tenacious. Even though she'd lost three legs and her skull was fractured, Foolish still walked over to System at her usual speed.

  Foolish expressed her confusion to System. She obviously didn't know what he was pnning to do.

  System watched as the nearby mouse finished eating one of Foolish's legs, then picked up the third leg to chew on. System finally made a decision.

  "Foolish, hide behind me. When the mouse attacks me ter, run away and return to your original ant nest. There's a real queen ant there. I'm not a queen ant. I'm a grasshopper."

  System sorted out his thoughts and tried to convey mental messages to Foolish in a steady and sincere tone.

  He felt very strange. He'd been terrified when he'd watched his lifespan counting down, but now that his death was truly imminent, he was somewhat open-minded.

  The dozen or so ant rvae around him had difficulty even moving, so it was basically impossible for them to escape. The only one who had any hope of escaping was Foolish.

  System hoped that she could survive.

  "..."

  However, Foolish didn't respond to System's mental message, instead remaining silent.

  Ever since meeting System, this was the first time that Foolish had disobeyed one of his instructions. She suddenly turned her body and burst out with extraordinary speed, considering she only had three remaining limbs.

  Foolish shook her huge mandibles and charged at the mouse again!

  Crack...

  Crack...

  Foolish was thrown away by the mouse again just like before. She lost two more limbs, and only her left forelimb still remained.

  She used her only remaining leg along with her movable abdominal joint to twist forward on the ground, still wanting to attack the mouse.

  But her speed was very, very slow...

  She was so slow that by the time the mouse had finished eating all of her legs, she still hadn't managed to reach it.

  The mouse seemed to have lost all interest in Foolish. It moved in front of her and used its two front legs to flip and fiddle with her disabled body, throwing her around like tossing a sandbag. After she was tortured to exhaustion, it once more grabbed her body. The mouse finally seemed ready to finish her off.

  It was just at this moment that a miracle happened!

  Kssht!

  A translucent liquid mixed with red spshed out from the mouse's head. Perhaps due to the mouse's negligence, or maybe because Foolish had finally found an opportunity for a long-pnned attack, the stinger on her abdomen had miraculously pierced the mouse's eye.

  The mouse screamed miserably. It kept rolling and jumping in the cave, as if it was terrified of the pain from Foolish's sting. In the end, overcome by the pain of its injury, the mouse ran off and escaped from the nest.

  Foolish had been thrown aside by the panicked mouse and was covered in dirt, but she wasn't dead. She struggled, crawling out of the dirt with her one remaining leg and her twisting abdomen, and slowly moved toward System.

  After a few minutes, Foolish finally crawled in front of him. She turned her body around and opened her huge mandibles, spreading them out toward the nest's entrance, ready to defend her queen...

  ...

  Note from the author:

  A gentle reminder that when mice fight arthropods (such as spiders and crayfish), they really like to eat the limbs in front of the opponent.