With a hit in the face, Franco sent the pix soldier to the ground. "Your movements are too slow; you can’t focus only on the first strike, and the second and third are equally important. Think of the fight as a sequence of movements. You can only stop when your opponent is down."

"Yes, master!" The young pix was still recovering from the punch, but he was full of excitement and eager to learn more.

Franco had become one of the most respected trainers in the pix army. At first, they look at him with fear and caution, but his rough style of teaching and willingness to get his hands dirty win the hearts and spirits of everyone around him.

He showed no caution and taught them through pain and hard practice. Sure, he was more powerful since he was chosen by the System, but he trained with them every day. He pointed out their flaws in defense, their bad habits when holding a weapon, and their blind spots during a fight.

"Raise your arm higher! You’re blocking your next attack. Let’s go running some laps; stamina is key to all fights; you need more air in your lungs!"

He didn't feel like he was doing anything special; he was just teaching them by following his boxing routine. He spent quite a few years practicing by blowing off steam and hitting the punching bags at his local gym. He wasn’t even a professional; he was barely more than an amateur with some sparring matches under his belt.

"Thanks for your teachings, master!" and yet their voices and the way they bowed to him made him feel the opposite. It was almost like he was a real master.

"Yeah, yeah, just go. I'm not doing this for you; I’m doing it for future fights." His mind was focused on the future of the Pix-Dawn alliance.

More battles were on the way as long as they kept moving forward and expanding their territory. He had fought a lot of animals in this forest, but he was still far too weak. He touched the scar on his eye, the one that Borka, the warrior pix had given him.

It served as a reminder that there were many others stronger than him in this world. This wasn’t the only thing; he also had another reminder in the form of Emily’s servant. That monster was the most powerful creature they had ever encountered. Luckily, Emily tamed it, but what if she failed?

I need to be stronger; I’m the only one who has some formal training, and my power only serves to beat things up. If I can’t protect them, then I’m useless.

Memories crossed his mind. The fights with lowlifes, his failure as a husband and now after the System kidnapped him, he was also a failure as a father. Franco’s life was a stream of constant failures and disappointments.

He smacked the tree with a hard straight, and the bark flew away. He had so much power, but he was still stuck in this world.

I’m not one to pray, but I have to believe you are with your mom back in the house, safe from all this madness. Please stay safe, Diego.

He imagined the case where the System took his son and left him in one of these crazy worlds. The rage was enough to make his teeth chatter.

"I don’t know if you can hear me, System, but if you touch a hair of his head, I’m going to destroy you. Using the power you gave me, I’m going to make sure there is no dust left after I'm done with everything you stand for."

He punched with everything, and the trees in front were decimated under his power. The strongest punch he could muster, he named it Void Fist.

***

"Void Fist!" He hadn’t used this technique since that day in the forest. The destructive power was too much to use in casual training. This power was only meant for one thing: complete devastation.

It was an attack with no regard for the opponent or the object in front. The combination of his own hands with the gloves The reason he broke his fists and arms so many times before was because he unconsciously held back. He didn't completely give into the power.

The gloves protect my hands, so I can always use everything! Your end begins with my hands!

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From the air, a wave extended against the ant queen. She raised her legs, trying to block it, and several soldiers got in the way, but it was meaningless. They didn’t have the power or the defensive ability to block it. Their bodies were crushed by an invisible wall, a solid air wall that mercilessly advanced until everything on its path was obliterated.

Their heads popped like balloons, and the poison made a massive wave that rode over the attack. The queen's body was cut in half by the attack. The air came with such force that it split her right in two, all the way into the cave wall behind her.

The attack kept going behind the deceased queen and reaching the tunnels; the walls around the nets began to shake. The Void Fist was too powerful; the walls had been compromised, and they were going to collapse.

"Silvano!" Silas yelled while he grabbed Franco by the back; he was unconscious after using so much strength.

The ants were still swarming them; they had to go now. The rocks fell from above and crushed the ants. All of this happened while Silas ran back to the portal with Silvano. A few ants got close enough to try to cut his legs, but just as one of them was about to touch him, he passed the portal and came into the tunnel.

Silvano closed the portal, and the ant's leg was cut off midway.

"We did it!"

"Don’t celebrate yet. How are things here?" He looked at Nathan, who was blocking the way with his shield.

"Was that sound an explosion? I thought we were the ones who were supposed to activate the bombs."

"Not just one, but I heard at least two." Nora said while she helped Silas carry Franco on her shoulder.

"We have to go now; Franco’s attack inside the nest is going to bring it down. The bombs are also exploding from the sudden movements." The punch caused a tremor inside the Rock, activating the bombs before the agreed time. They could hear the explosions following in quick succession. "Let’s go back, everyone inside!"

They crossed to the portal that Silvano kept open during the whole operation before the tremor caused the bombs close by to detonate. Silvano was the last one, and he made it to the other side just as the explosion came from the tunnel behind. He cut it off as the flames graced his back.

"Uh, uf, that was close." They were back at the tunnels near Puy’s tribe.

"Is everyone okay?" Silas looked back at his companions. Franco was still unconscious, but he was fine. They were okay.

Rebecca started to treat Franco and noticed a few of his muscles were sprained, but she fixed him in a moment.

"Operation Ant Extermination complete."

The next few days, they looked around the nest of ants to make sure all the entrances to the nest were buried in rubble. The plan worked perfectly, and there was no sight of the queen or more soldiers.

Some of the weak tribes were expanding their territory and killing the remaining soldiers and workers that had lost their purpose. Without a queen, the colony had no future. Puy couldn’t believe it, but he felt the tremor all the way inside the village.

"Impossible." He went himself with some soldiers to look at the tunnels and saw some of the ants crushed under the rocks. Saying this was just a coincidence that they try to pass off as their work would be an insult. There was no other choice but to accept the truth.

"As the leader of the village, I request to join the Pix-Dawn alliance. If you want to use this place as your base of operations in the future, I’ll help with everything I can, and my people will do the same."

"Thanks, but we also need to keep our word about the food and other resources."

They waited for a day to recover all their stamina, and then Silvano opened the portal back to the forest world with Nora’s help. The two of them had no problem putting the portal in the correct location.

Silvano had grown in the last few days with all the fighting and stress. The dominion and use of his power were much better. He was finally able to repay the favor to Dawn by acting as a transporter. He moved food, weapons, and pix soldiers between the worlds.

Just as Silas predicted, they began to conquer the Rock, and without the red and yellow striped ants, all the other colonies fell easily. He looked back to the stars over the desert; it was a clear sky with several dots across, just like the stars he was used to seeing on earth.

He thought his life was over ten days ago when the ants attacked, and now he was sitting on the conquered Rock, staring at the night sky. The ants that killed Edward were dead and buried. So many lives were lost, but he was still alive.

"Did I do well, Edward? Lidia, Arnold, chief and everyone. Sorry for not being able to help you, but is this good enough for all of you to forgive me?" The tears fell into the sand.

He could finally say there was a point to surviving this long. He saved Puy’s tribe. He secured a future not only for them here but in another world with more capable people. The guilt left his heart along with the tears, until he heard someone behind.

"Did you finally accept it?" Silas asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Ugh, I’m not good with this kind of thing. I always hated talking about my feelings. I just have a hard time understanding other people's feelings, which is really a hassle. So, I’m just going to come out and say it. I'm glad you were the one to be alive and find us, Silvano."

"Heh, you’re glad. You mean because of my power, right?"

"Yes, but not only that. If you only had a good power, then I would just let you go and give you some way to keep in contact. But you prove yourself capable of more; you have a good sense of teamwork, and you aren’t afraid to take the initiative, even if it’s a dumb gamble."

Silas looked a bit embarrassed, and his eyes moved to the side, looking for something. After that awkward moment, he looked at Silvano straight in the eyes and said it.

"I want you to join Dawn."