Re:Ant Lord-Chapter 140: Signal Arrives

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"It is mythic," Luna said softly, her voice a hush that echoed against the stone walls. "My grandmother once told me a tale about a fox from the starwood clans. She stumbled upon a Well of Crowned Ash, shimmering with essence so pure it bent the moonlight. After one sip, she leapt from a mere one star to a six star rank beast overnight. She accidentally get to the place." Luna’s hands trembled slightly. "But when dawn came, the well’s guardians twisted amalgams made of every soul it had devoured rose and tore her to shreds. She couldn’t bear the power."

Kai’s jaw tightened. "We won’t be that fox." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

He turned to the open crates beside the war table. The faint aura hum from their contents buzzed through the air. "The stinglets Skyweaver forged laced with aura magnetite should disrupt those guardians’ composite fields. We’ll carry mirror shards to anchor us if the fissure fractures reality. And I’ll mark our path using my Aura Insight to read the ley-lines."

Luna exhaled, her breath misting in the cold chamber. "A plan, then."

But her smile faltered. A flicker of worry passed across her face like shadow across snow. Kai caught it instantly.

"You’re afraid," he said gently.

"I worry because I love." She reached forward, fingertips brushing the Moonbound vine circling his wrist, it still pulsing faintly in harmony with her own. "Power tempts. Even you, Kai. Promise me, if the risk outweighs the gain, you’ll walk away."

Kai clasped her hand, grounding her with warmth and certainty. "On my Monarch aura... I promise."

She studied his face, searching. At last, she nodded.

Just after moonrise, blue fire burst from the shaft above the strategy hall. A soul connection scroll made of aura ignited midair in a flare of sapphire flames. Shadeclaw’s signal.

Kai leapt up and opened the burning scroll inside his mind (it’s a way of communication with his underling’s). The embers hissed against as he unrolled the parchment. Runes etched in claw-strokes unfurled across the paper:

Rift active. Lightning vents to the sky. Aura vapors are visible. I saw silhouettes of beasts drinking from a shallow basin (a phantom vision). Guardian presence unconfirmed. Coordinates etched below. Send directive.

Kai’s heart surged.

He turned to face his gathered Royal Guard. Each of them had assembled without needing to be called out. Silvershadow, his obsidian armor freshly oiled, stood like a black wall near the main gate. Skyweaver floated silently nearby, satchels of stinglets strapped to her thorax. Stone Ram and Iron Rampant, their tusks bound in glimmer steel rings, were already yoked to the newly finished siege sled. The massive sled pulsed softly with stored aura inside its containers. Tunnel Crown and Heart Mason stood tall behind them, spools of rope coils and survival gear packed across their reinforced backs.

And in Luna’s arms, nestled against the curve of her shoulder, was Miryam, groggy, blinking, but alert.

Kai’s voice cut through the chamber. "The window is open. We march at dawn."

No one questioned it. The rest of the night was a blur of motion.

Kai etched personal aura signatures onto each stinglet, using the tip of his fingers to inscribe micro-runes into their metal grooves. The tip of his finger glowed with aura as he tested for discharge tolerance ensuring none would misfire during a storm surge.

Skyweaver, using her thermal sensing wings, hovered over the fusing table, sealing aura pearls into pouches meant to be thrown as disorienting flash bombs.

Stone Ram used his massive tusks to snap support braces into the sled’s undercarriage, while Iron Rampant stomped them flush with his armored hooves.

Tunnel Crown delicately tested the pulley gears with his mandibles while Heart Mason used his resin slick antennae to coat the seals of water flasks filled with moon-lotus infusion.

Luna prepared medical satchels with surge dampeners, jewel-sized storm pearls hollowed and packed with root paste. Her long, sharp incisors neatly cut bandages while her nimble fingers tied triple knots into healing herb pouches.

As for Miryam, Kai had originally intended to leave her. But when he tried to place her beside Silvershadow in her nest, her small claw gripped his wrist like a vice. Her eyes glowed with stubborn certainty.

<<Go. I go... with Father.>>

No words. Just instinct. Determination.

Kai sighed, touched her forehead, then fashioned a padded, triple-layered sling around his chest where she could nestle without being jostled. The sling shimmered with Luna’s moon vine weave, reinforced with softened inner bark and leather scales.

Before sunrise, the expedition stood assembled at the eastern tunnel gate, just beyond the nursery alcove. A cool wind howled through the arch, carrying the faintest trace of static like ozone before a lightning strike.

The party was ready:

Kai – Monarch and strategist, spear strapped to his back, aura flickering in his palm.

Luna – His Moonbound partner, wearing reinforced traveling boots and layered cloak, her dagger gleaming at her waist.

Skyweaver – Stinglet pouches stacked like armor across her back, wings spread wide.

Stone Ram & Iron Rampant – Braced into the sled harness, tusks polished, tails swaying with readiness.

Tunnel Crown & Heart Mason – Flank guards and utility beasts, laden with rations and climbing gear.

Miryam – The wyrmling nestled against Kai’s chest, swaddled and softly chirping, her runes dimly lit in her sleep.

Kai knelt and pressed his brow against hers. "We’ll keep you safe, little queen. But don’t bite anyone unless they bite first."

<No bite> she replied drowsily.

A fierce smile pulled at his lips.

Luna, standing beside him, tugged her hood up and took his forearm. Their Moonbound vine-bracelets pulsed in perfectly synchronized.

"Today," Kai said, stepping into the rising light, "Alpha Dawn marches toward a new horizon."

Silvershadow watched from the highest terrace, unmoving. His eyes scanned the trees, the skies, and the roads with equal intensity. Behind him, the Monarch of Mountain slept but it slept armed, defended, and alive.

They stepped onto the wind scarred ridge, the siege sled groaning behind them as the boars powered forward. Dust rose with each step. The morning sun cut its first ray over the cliffs, casting the entire party in molten gold. Their shadows stretched long, war banners painted in silence.

In the distance, the sky scar rippled like torn silk, a gash in reality itself. Lightning flickered inside. Strange silhouettes moved around it like dancers in smoke. Power called. And the Devourer Monarch answered.

Note: I am thinking of changing the book name. The new name will be "Ant Lord Monarch: Only I Can Grow Stronger by Devouring the World" Reason is to reach more people. Current name doesn’t suit the algorithm. Book reach is very low.