One stuck with its teeth in a tree, one immobilized, and the last one dead. That left only one ant that was still able to fight. Though it did little to put Mitch's mind at ease.
He might have turned the fight from a gang up into an even one-on-one, but he still got injured in the process. Flexing his back and triceps, he ripped the dead ant's mandibles out from its decapitated head.
"These might not be able to pierce its exoskeleton, but I can use them to defend myself against its bite. My hands and side still sting, though. These ants release acid from their teeth."
He changed the hands holding the makeshift daggers from the pair that got wounded in the process of catching the ant to his intact ones.
Doing some smaller movements to find a comfortable grip, he settled for holding one in a neutral grip and one in a reverse grip.
He lowered his center of gravity closer to the ground and then lunged forward, intending to set the tempo of the fight in his favor.
Mitch pierced forward with the dagger, aiming for the ant's front legs. But it was prepared, having seen what the big creature had done to its friends.
It jumped out of the way and tried to counter Mitch with a bite.
Clang
It got stopped by Mitch's other tooth dagger. He suddenly pulled the tooth backward, dragging the ant, jaw still locked, with it.
Thunk
He kneed the extended head of the ant, which prompted it to release his weapon.
The ant looked disoriented, shaking its head from left to right in an attempt to get rid of its dizziness. As if Mitch would let it.
He dashed forward, once again aiming to cripple the ant's mobility. The ant noticed what he was trying to do, but it was too shaken by the previous blow to react in time.
A leg flew into the air, and red blood was spilled.
'Wait, red blood? Didn't green blood flow from the other ant's head?' He looked down at his own body and noticed a long gash on the side of his thigh.
"Sneaky bastard…" Mitch was impressed. It seemed that the Devouring power system did more than just strengthen the practitioner's body; it also sharpened their minds.
With both of their movements crippled, the fight continued.
Mitch abandoned his plan of cutting off the ant's legs one by one. It would just trade injury for injury, which would result in him being unable to fight the rest of the nest.
Meanwhile, the ant was trying to defend itself for as long as it could. It had suffered greatly the last time it tried to go on the offense, so it stayed on the defensive and looked for any opportunity to injure the demon that had terrorized its group.
Eventually, Mitch posed to attack the ant's uninjured side. The ant responded as it did the last time Mitch tried the same maneuver. It shifted to the side to minimize the damage while opening its jaw to take a chunk of Mitch's other thigh.
That's when the ant made a misstep. Mitch had lost his ability to move properly because his thigh was damaged, but the ant lacked one of its legs entirely. It misjudged how far it could lean without its balance being too affected.
Mitch had anticipated that this would happen, and he didn't miss a beat. He once again extended his injured hands and grabbed a hold of his enemy's jaw, being careful not to wound them more than they already were.
He jerked the ant towards him and raised his daggers into the air, flipping them both into a reverse grip. He then struck down, aiming for the open part between the ant's head and its torso.
Khiii
Argh
Two cries of pain, and then silence.
Mitch wanted nothing more than to sit down, to rest after defeating his opponent, but he knew that many more problems would arise if he didn't move swiftly.
He looked towards the last living ant in the meadow and noticed it still had problems standing. He would easily be able to kill it without putting himself in danger, but it would take time—time which he didn't have at the moment.
He ignored the pain pulsing from his thigh and his right hand and ran. He ran back to where he first encountered the ants.
Soon, the fourth ant that had attacked him came into view. It was still stuck in the tree but was almost done freeing itself. Mitch redoubled his efforts, the pain blurring his consciousness.
Daggers at the ready, Mitch kicked the ant in the back of its head, further burrowing its teeth into the trunk. Then…
Swoosh
Khhhh
"Three down…" He slowly made his way back to the clearing, trying to sort his thoughts out.
The fight replayed in his mind time and time again.
"I lost my cool. When I saw the ant getting disoriented, I should have initiated with a feint. It wouldn't be able to differentiate between a real attack and a fake one after taking such a blow to the head."
Hands slack to his side, he kept limping towards the last remaining ant.
"Don't you feel like you're too hard on yourself? Think about it like this instead: You, a scholar and a researcher, beat four opponents much more lethal than yourself; you should feel proud for outwitting them so thoroughly, instead of beating yourself up for some minor mistakes."
Though meant to encourage Mitch and cheer him up, Katherine's words simply made him show a defeated smile.
"Those minor mistakes added up, Katherine. You see the results of my blunders, don't you?"
Of course Katherine saw, which was why she couldn't think of any way to respond.
At last, Mitch reached the meadow and approached the ant. With both its front legs broken, it could do nothing but wait for Mitch to kill it. Still, Mitch made sure to prod it first, making sure that it truly couldn't retaliate.
After finishing the deed, he returned to where he told Madeline to hide and called for her.
"Child, you can come out now! The situation has been taken care of."
He looked around for Madeline and eventually found her cheerfully crawling out of a small pit in the ground.
"Hi Michael, did you bring… the… food…? Archangel Michael, wha—what happened to your fingers?!"