The ant king quickly sensed the 'changes' taking place on the body that it felt so proud of.
Crack.
Crack....
Its outer skin, most likely tougher and hardier than any known metal on this planet, began developing cracks all over the place. On the other hand, the enemy was easily withstanding the ant king's attacks.
'It can't be.'
An impossible hypothesis quickly entered the ant king's head.
'I... I'm losing out on physical strength?!'
Not only that, to a human less than half its size?
But, right at that moment....
CRACK.
It realised that the fresh wound on its waist from that powerful hit felt 'wrong'. Even the sound coming from there was not too good to hear.
The exoskeleton lacked pain receptors, so the ant king had to divert its attention for the briefest of moments to confirm the status of its shell down there.
Sneak.
The result was rather shocking to behold.
'….It's cracked open!'