Re:Ant Lord-Chapter 94: Sisterly Mocking (Castle bonus)

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Pain seared and system notifications: HP -120. He gritted, triggered Tiny Tank. His chitin glowed, damage clotted.

With lever torque, he ripped the spear upward. The scorpion split; its core, a glowing black gem clattered free.

[Ding! Kill confirmed: 3-Star Glass-Scorpion

EXP +400. Core store in storage. ]

Kai pivoted. Flint tangled with the second brute; Zephyr yelled as the third scorpion pinned him. Kai dashed, lopped off tail with flat thrust; grabbed Zephyr by scruff, yanked free. They finished the creature together.

Shale’s hammer thundered on the left flank; Needle’s javelin shimmered arcs on right. Within twenty breaths, twelve scorpion bodies cooled, glass steam curling.

Battle lull. Squad regrouped.

Casualties, two minor poison nicks. Antidotes applied. Kai’s HP will tick back after some rest.

Flint whistled. "Ruler’s pets defend the front yard."

Kai crouched by brute corpses, resisting the urge to devour, glass toxin likely. There are many people present, he can’t use his Essence eater. He pocketed stinger blades (loot useful).

Shale signaled all clear ridge tops. Mia flagged the success rune behind.

"March forward again." she commanded.

By midday the squad reached a basalt outcrop shaped like a dragon skull. Beneath shade, Mia convened council. freёnovelkiss.com

"Visual contact with Ruler, they’re right," she said, voice low. "But it’s still dying, the pulse is slow. We mark two safe corridors: the west gully we just walked and the north scree ramp. We will return, guide the army through the west tomorrow."

Shale set chisels to carve beacon runes.

Across the valley, dust clouds rose. The Coatl Banner jogged ridge, bright sapphire cloaks visible. Thea’s aura flickered in command.

Kai’s antennae twitched. "They’re closing fast. How do we avoid clashes?"

Mia’s eyes hardened. "We don’t. Protocol share scouting maps. But watch out from Darius."

As if summoned, Thea’s group diverted toward Cerastis camp. Minutes later the sisters met at mid-slope: Mia formal, Thea smirking, Darius at her shoulder like a polished dagger.

"How quaint," Thea drawled. Her voice was honey poured over broken glass. "Little sister found the worm pit first. Did someone hold your hand across dunes?"

Mia’s jaw clenched. "We completed scouting patterns. I’ll debrief the Queen at dusk."

Thea laughed. "You mean if you make it back. Six stars or not, desert nights devour the weak."

Her gaze shifted to Kai. Green-gold eyes swept him head to toe, lingering an instant too long on the spear slick with ichor.

She tilted chin. "Listen, Elite Cerastis, you have options. Join my banner. A true seven-star leads us. We won’t perish under sentimental orders."

Needle bristled. "We follow Princess Mia."

Thea’s lips curved. "Blind loyalty. Enjoy dying." She turned. "Darius, escort our guests out of danger before they hurt themselves."

Darius’s eyes bored into Kai, burning with unresolved envy, four-star aura pulsing. A silent promise of later violence.

Kai met it with steel calm. His own aura, still two stars yet feral, echoed challenge.

Thea flicked the cloak, strode away. Coatl Banner followed, boots crunching glass. Darius lingered a breath, then saluted Mia mockingly and left.

Mia exhaled slowly. "Thank you, all. Their words are poison, keep your minds clear."

Kai stepped close. "Words bounce off iron wills, Princess." He paused, softer. "We’ll finish our task soon and bring the legion through safe paths."

She nodded, shoulders loosening. Another system ping whispered:

[Squad Morale raised.

Leadership: +1 (hidden stat only for readers.) ]

Shadows stretched long. Cerastis erected a low camo net between basalt spires for bivouac. No fires, it only glow-shards under tarps.

Kai volunteered to watch. Dune wind carried far-off roars, maybe other predators arguing with twilight. He perched on stone, Seismic Sense pulsing base tremor of the mammoth worm, a heartbeat measured in earthquakes.

He thought of Mia earlier, her cheeks flushing, the way she’d steadied after Thea’s barbs. Duty weighed on her more than plate mail. He swore again to shield her path.

Below camp, moon rose, painting sand silver. Kai’s spear point gleamed. Sleep called but resolved burned hotter.

Tomorrow they would sprint back, deliver maps, shepherd a million-ant legion across this sand graveyard. And Coatl’s ambush would come he could feel it.

He whispered into the wind: "Come then, Darius. Come, Thea. Cerastis will not break."

Sky answered only with desert stars. A few moments later...

Moon-silver dunes slept beneath a velvet sky, as if the ruler-lands themselves had paused to breathe. Cerastis Banner lay inside the basalt gulch they christened Dragon-Skull Nook, bedrolls hidden under netting, glow-shards dimmed to coals. Wind hissed softly across sand and rattled the ridgeline stones like dry bones. Three sentries stood watch: Flint on the east lip, Needle on the west, and Kai atop a central pillar that overlooked both.

Kai scanned the shimmering darkness. Every few heartbeats he half-closed his eyes to let Predator Instinct feel the dunes: tiny beetle skitter here, ink-snake burrow there, nothing heavy, nothing organized.

But unease tugged him. Thea’s biting words that afternoon had contained more than mockery; they’d been a harbinger. She wanted the glory of the first safest route discovery, and Darius thick with four-star arrogance wanted Kai buried. Ambush was inevitable. There is no doubt about it.

He tapped the butt of his spear twice on rock, sending the pre-arranged tremor code. Shale’s silhouette in camp lifted a thumb: alert shift acknowledged.

Kai drifted into the breathing slow draw, release, and counted grains of sand in the wind. Yet each breath returned sharp with static. Something was coming. His predator instinct was trying to say something but he was unable to understand.

At first it seemed the sigh of distant dunes sliding down. Then Kai noted the rhythm: five or more quick swishes, a pause, five again. Boots cutting sand at speed.

He swung to face northwest.

An instant later, a spear of cobalt light flashed over the ridge, Thea’s banner flared. It exploded mid air, showering blue sparks that blinded night dilated eyes. In that strobe flash Kai saw dozens of silhouettes already cresting the gulch rim: Coatl troopers in curved glaive harnesses, midnight cloaks fluttering.

"Alert! Alert! Enemy incoming!" Kai yelled, voice ringing off stone.