UNYIELDING DETERMINATION PREVAILS.

Mark tightly hugged Anne, shielding her from the onslaught of the giant ants. Their mandibles clacked as they attempted to rip through Mark's skin.

"Get a hold of yourself," Mark shouted as Anne continued to tremble in fear and panic. Mark couldn't comprehend her fears. Though it seemed all was lost, they could still try to escape with their lives. He had been living on the edge since he met Leo, which had almost eradicated his sense of fear.

On the other hand, Anne's emotions were in disarray, as fear, sorrow, hopelessness, and longing overwhelmed her heart. Thoughts of her family and her life raced through her mind.

Anne had already accepted her impending death even before it arrived. She was a realist who knew when to surrender and when to fight. In their current dire situation, hope seemed nonexistent, especially for a Generation Beta like her who hadn't encountered anything close to horror before.

Why bother trying when the situation was so grim? How could anyone possibly turn such an impossible situation around? These were her thoughts as she resigned herself to her fate, now finding solace in the joys of her memories.

Lost in her thoughts, she trembled from time to time. The world outside her mind had become a blur as she sought refuge in her memories, cherishing the moments of happiness that had now become distant echoes.

In the comfort of her memories, Anne faintly heard the voice of a man. It was familiar yet unfamiliar, not belonging to her current surroundings.

"Anne, snap out of it... ANNE!! ANNE!!" The voice continued to echo, filled with panic and desperation.

"Who are you?" she spoke, her voice barely a whisper.

"Is she frozen by fear?" Mark thought to himself as he winced in pain. The ants, oblivious to the thoughts of their prey, continued to assail Mark with bites from their large mandibles.

Anne was fortunate; the ants were only on one side, the hole they had created. Mark continued to shield her, his iron body protecting him, slowly increasing in proficiency.

Mark noticed the ants shifting, attempting to encircle them. He slapped Anne, who was still trembling in fear, trying to shield herself from the reality unfolding before them.

Anne snapped out of her daze, looking at Mark with a sense of injustice. She had momentarily forgotten the dire situation but was quickly reminded as an ant attempted to bite off her hand, only to be thwarted by Mark's protective hand.

"Mark, are...are you okay?" Anne stammered, her heart racing as she watched Leo's hand locked in the ant's mandibles.

"I will be if you hand me that sword over there," Mark said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

Anne felt a bit at ease as she noticed Mark's smile. Though panic still gripped her, it lessened. Following the direction Mark had indicated, she spotted a silver broadsword, conveniently placed where the ants weren't clustered, closer to them, and partially concealed by rubble.

Mark relaxed his tight embrace, providing her with enough space to retrieve the sword. She reached out her hand, felt the hilt of the sword, and pulled it closer.

Mark swiftly took the sword from her hand and swung it at the ant that had circled them, now facing its fellow ants.

CLANK!! The sound of metal striking concrete reverberated through the dust-filled room, with the concrete being the ant's resilient exoskeleton.

Mark was shocked as he didn't anticipate the outcome. He momentarily paused an action that could have cost him his life if not for the ant being pushed away by the force of the sword strike, and the rest of the ants momentarily stopped upon hearing the unfamiliar sound.

Mark quickly snapped out of his shock as he noticed the ants regrouping to attack him once again.

"Anne, get yourself a weapon. We'll fight until we can't anymore," Mark declared, driven by unwavering determination despite the seemingly hopeless situation.

Anne, who had been paralyzed by fear earlier, felt a newfound determination as she watched Mark continue to battle despite their dire circumstances.

She meticulously scanned her surroundings as the dust still lingered in the air. Anne continuously tapped the ground, searching for any weapon hidden in the rubble. Her hand brushed against something extremely sharp and pointy, and she involuntarily withdrew her hand, blood dripping from it.

A smile crept onto her lips as she realized she had found a weapon. She handled it gently to avoid injuring herself, getting a feel for what seemed like a grip, and then she pulled it out.

"What am I looking at... a giant insect leg...the one Leo killed," she thought to herself as she observed the gleaming ebony tarsus in her hand.

Armed with the spider leg, Anne stood her ground, ready to assist Mark.

Blood dripped from Mark's wounds, wounds inflicted by the mandibles of giant ants. Anne, preoccupied with her battle, hadn't initially noticed the state Mark was in.

"Mark, are..." Anne was interrupted by an ant that had circled them, now behind Mark and in front of her. The ant's mandibles clacked as it attempted to bite her leg. Quickly pulling her leg back, she stabbed at the ant with her improvised weapon, the spider's leg penetrating the monster's head.

The creature convulsed in pain, attempting to dislodge the foreign object from its body, but Anne wouldn't relent. She held onto her weapon, pushing it deeper into the ant's head. After a few seconds of writhing in pain, the ant ceased moving, its life extinguished.

Anne heard the familiar notification in her head, and ten points were added to her soul energy.

Meanwhile, Mark, preoccupied with his battles, didn't notice the death of one of the ants. He continued to fend them off, unable to kill even a single one.

"Mark, let's exchange weapons. The spider leg Leo brought can penetrate their tough exoskeleton," Anne exclaimed, realizing Mark's struggles. Only two or three ants could attack at a time due to their size.

Mark, breathing heavily from the continuous swinging, responded without turning around, "Keep it. I'll strike them into your range, and you deal the finishing blow."

Anne remained silent as she pondered on Mark's suggestion. It would be more efficient if he used it but that might leave her open to attack. She felt guilty but yet grateful to Mark for his suggestion which was more disadvantageous to him.

" Ok, bring them over, " She said, her resolve renewed and reinforced.

Mark feeling her determination through her tone, hit one of the ants that had dashed toward him, creating a dent in its exoskeleton and pushing it toward Anne.

Anne in turn stabbed the monster, her weapon pierced its hard shell and crushed its brain.

They continued slowly gaining control of the fight. Mark took the brunt of the ants attacks, his vitality slowly but surely dwindling.

The onslaught of attacks Mark felt slowly tempered his body advancing his skill.

Mark's body shivered as it glowed an eerily white light, his 'iron body' transforming into 'steel body'.

After the glow subsided, his wounds had healed up and his skin radiated a subtle silver hue.

CLACK!!

The mandibles of an ant broke as it tried to take a bite out of Mark's leg. Mark who had felt a surge of power in his body, felt a new sense of hope, as he believed he could finally turn the tables around.

After about fifty kills, Anne had also leveled up her stats stronger than she had ever been.

"We can win," Mark declared, a fervent fire of hope and determination burning within him.

They changed their formation as they felt it was no longer necessary as both of them faced the ants whose numbers seemed to have not changed.

In front of them, were giant ants, whose ebony skins shimmered in the rays of light which had peered through the holes of the now collapsed building. Behind them corpses of the monster ants with a clear fluid dripping down their heads, the point impact of Anne's weapon.

The dust had settled revealing the determined, unwavering expression of the two as they fearlessly faced the ants in front of them.

Mark threw his sword into the colony, the impact dispersing them, he jumped into their midst, and with his arm as a weapon he fought, punching holes into any ant that was unfortunate to cross his path.

Anne, who had invested her soul energy in agility and endurance, swiftly dodged the mandibles of the ants and struck at their heads whenever the opportunity arose.

The battle progressed as Anne and Mark gained the upper hand, their eyes burning with determination.

Mark, without looking, threw a punch at an approaching ant. His hand rebounded as if he had struck a solid wall, a sensation harder than when he struggled with the other ants.

Turning toward the creature his punch failed to kill, Mark remarked, "What's with this one, a soldier ant?" as he observed the unique creature before him.

Its skin radiated a silver hue under the radiance of thin rays of light. The light was brightest at its mandibles, indicating their sharpness. This ant was slightly larger than the others, with its most distinguishing features being its silver exoskeleton and large mandibles.

"Wait, does that mean we've been fighting worker ants all this while?"