"Found you."
The voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
The words traveled through the colony like a blade sliding between ribs.
Every ant froze.
Workers stopped carrying food.
Soldiers stopped moving.
Even the larvae became strangely still.
Ethan stared toward the tunnel leading to the surface.
His remaining antenna was raised.
His entire body was tense.
"...Iris."
[Yes.]
"What is that?"
[Unknown.]
"...You already said that."
[The situation has not improved.]
Ethan's mandibles tightened.
"Can you Appraise it?"
[No.]
"Can you tell me its level?"
[No.]
"Can you tell me what species it is?"
[No.]
"Can you tell me literally anything useful?"
A pause.
[It is large.]
Ethan stared blankly.
"...I hate you."
[Noted.]
The crimson king suddenly moved.
"Everyone!"
His voice thundered through the colony.
"Seal the upper tunnels!"
The soldiers immediately obeyed.
Hundreds of ants surged toward the entrances.
Ethan watched them work.
No questions.
No hesitation.
Every ant knew exactly where to go.
The king wasn't panicking.
But he was moving quickly.
Too quickly.
That frightened Ethan more than anything else.
A Level 10 king didn't become the ruler of hundreds of ants by being stupid.
If he was afraid...
Then Ethan had every reason to be terrified.
A distant scratching sound echoed from above.
Scrrrrraaaape.
Ethan's antenna twitched.
The sound came again.
SCRAAAAAPE.
Something was digging.
Not through the colony.
Through the earth above them.
Slowly.
Casually.
As if the entire mountain of soil and roots separating them was nothing more than loose sand.
Pip's ears flattened.
"...It's digging down."
Ethan nodded.
"I noticed."
"Can it reach us?"
The king answered before Ethan could.
"Yes."
Pip's face went pale.
"...Oh."
Ethan looked around.
The colony had hundreds of ants.
Maybe thousands.
Elite soldiers.
Workers.
Guards.
A Level 10 King.
Surely...
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Surely something that large couldn't simply walk into a colony this size.
Could it?
Then Ethan remembered something.
The king had walked through a stone wall earlier.
He had done it like the wall was made of wet clay.
Ethan swallowed.
"...Iris."
[Yes.]
"If it gets inside..."
[Your survival probability decreases significantly.]
"How significantly?"
[I recommend not finding out.]
"...Great."
The worker ant touched Ethan.
Her antenna moved rapidly.
Fear.
Question.
Then determination.
Ethan understood.
"Fight?"
"No."
She froze.
Ethan shook his head.
"We're not fighting that."
Her antennae lowered.
She pointed toward the king.
Then toward the soldiers.
"Them?"
Ethan understood.
She wanted to know whether they should help.
Ethan glanced at the crimson king.
For a moment...
Their eyes met.
The king's expression was unreadable.
Then he spoke.
"You."
Ethan blinked.
"...Me?"
"You and your companions."
The king pointed toward a narrow tunnel.
"Take that passage."
Ethan stared.
"...Why?"
"Because I said so."
"That's not exactly convincing."
The king's eye narrowed.
"Then consider this."
He leaned closer.
"Whatever is outside has not yet entered because I am still standing."
Ethan's expression changed.
"...You're buying us time."
"Do not misunderstand."
The king's mandibles clicked.
"I am not saving you."
"I am preventing an unknown creature from entering my colony."
Ethan stared at him.
"...That's basically the same thing."
"It is absolutely not."
"Sure."
The king looked like he wanted to bite him.
Ethan couldn't blame him.
Another enormous scrape sounded above.
This time...
The ceiling cracked.
Dust fell.
The ants began to panic.
"MY KING!"
"THE EASTERN TUNNEL!"
"IT'S BREAKING THROUGH!"
The king turned.
"Everyone retreat to the inner chambers!"
A soldier hesitated.
"But the outer workers—"
"Leave them!"
The order was cold.
Instant.
Absolute.
Ethan stared.
The worker ant stiffened.
Ant Instinct filled with anger.
The king noticed.
His eye moved toward her.
"You disagree?"
The worker ant stepped forward.
Ethan immediately knew what was about to happen.
"Wait."
She ignored him.
Her antennae moved sharply.
The king's expression changed.
Not anger.
Recognition.
"You are from the old colony."
The worker ant froze.
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
The king continued.
"I remember your scent."
Silence.
"You served beneath her."
Ethan felt something shift inside him.
Her.
The worker ant's emotions exploded.
Pain.
Anger.
Loss.
And something Ethan had never felt from her before.
Hatred.
Pure hatred.
The king stared directly at her.
"Your queen."
Ethan's body went rigid.
His mother.
Not his biological mother.
He wasn't even sure whether ants thought of their queen that way.
But she had been the closest thing he had to a beginning in this world.
The enormous ant colony had been her home.
And it had been destroyed.
Ethan had always assumed monsters had done it.
But now...
The king knew her.
And he had recognized the worker.
"Why..."
Ethan's voice came out quieter than he expected.
"Why do you know her?"
The king didn't answer.
Another crack shook the chamber.
The ceiling above the outer tunnel suddenly collapsed.
BOOOOOOM!
A wave of dirt and stone exploded into the colony.
Ants screamed.
Soldiers rushed forward.
Then stopped.
Ethan stared.
Something was emerging from the hole.
At first...
He saw a claw.
One claw.
It was enormous.
Black.
Curved.
The tip alone was nearly as large as Ethan's entire body.
It dug into the stone.
Then another claw appeared.
The hole widened.
Something was pulling itself downward.
Ethan slowly backed away.
"...That's a claw."
Pip whispered,
"Yes."
"...I was hoping you'd say it wasn't."
"Sorry."
"You're terrible at comforting people."
The creature continued descending.
First came the head.
Then the shoulders.
Then...
Ethan's brain simply stopped trying to process the size.
It was a beetle.
At least...
It looked like one.
Its body was covered in layered black armor.
Two enormous horns curled backward from its head.
Thin strands of pale blue energy crawled across its shell.
Its eyes glowed like burning suns.
But the strangest thing...
Was the mark on its forehead.
A symbol.
Three curved lines surrounding a vertical slit.
Ethan's remaining antenna suddenly burned.
Pain flashed through his skull.
He staggered.
"AH!"
The creature stopped.
Its enormous eyes turned toward him.
The symbol on its forehead glowed.
Iris spoke.
For the first time...
Her voice wasn't sarcastic.
It wasn't calm.
It wasn't even curious.
It was alarmed.
[Ethan.]
Ethan struggled to breathe.
"What?"
[Do not look at the symbol.]
Ethan's heart stopped.
"...What?"
[Look away.]
The creature's gaze remained fixed on him.
Ethan tried to turn his head.
He couldn't.
Something held his attention.
The symbol pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
And suddenly—
A flood of images crashed into Ethan's mind.
A forest burning.
Ants running.
Something enormous beneath the roots.
The carved symbols.
The glowing mushrooms.
A massive golden eye.
And...
A black silhouette standing beside an ancient stone door.
Ethan screamed.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
The vision shattered.
He collapsed.
Pip grabbed him.
"Ethan!"
The worker ant frantically touched his body.
Ethan couldn't hear them.
His world spun.
His antenna burned.
Then...
The creature spoke.
Not through sound.
Not through pheromones.
Directly into his mind.
"You carry it."
Ethan's eyes widened.
"...Carry what?"
The enormous creature leaned closer.
The pressure alone forced several soldiers backward.
"The unfinished crown."
Ethan's heart began pounding.
Iris went completely silent.
The creature's glowing eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
Then its attention shifted.
Past Ethan.
Toward the crimson king.
The king stood alone in the center of the chamber.
His body was completely still.
The creature stared at him.
The king stared back.
For several seconds...
Neither moved.
Then the creature smiled.
At least...
Ethan thought it was a smile.
The enormous mandibles slowly opened.
"Still alive?"
The king's eye narrowed.
"Unfortunately for you."
Ethan's jaw dropped.
"...You know each other?"
Neither answered.
The creature suddenly slammed one claw into the ground.
BOOOOOOM!
The colony shook violently.
The king launched forward.
And for the first time since Ethan had entered this colony...
He witnessed a battle between monsters that were truly beyond his understanding.
The crimson king's body blurred.
The creature's claw came down.
CRAAAAASH!
Stone exploded.
The king emerged from the dust and struck the creature's face.
BOOM!
The creature barely moved.
It swung.
The king blocked with both forelegs.
KRAAAACK!
The sound of breaking armor echoed through the chamber.
The king was thrown backward.
He crashed through three walls.
Ethan stared.
"..."
"...Level ten."
He looked at the enormous creature.
"...And that's not even scared of him."
Iris finally spoke.
[Ethan.]
"What?"
[Run.]
Ethan looked toward the tunnel.
Then back at the battle.
"...For once..."
"...I completely agree."
He grabbed Pip.
The worker ant followed.
The squirrel sprinted after them.
But before Ethan entered the tunnel...
He looked back one last time.
The creature had stopped fighting.
It was staring directly at him.
And that ancient symbol on its forehead...
Was glowing.
Then it spoke inside his mind again.
"We will meet when you remember what you are."
Ethan froze.
"..."
Then the creature turned back toward the king.
Ethan's remaining antenna trembled.
He didn't know what it meant.
He didn't know what it wanted.
But one thing was certain.
Whatever had just happened...
Wasn't random.
And somewhere deep inside the System...
Something had noticed it too.
[Hidden condition detected.]
[Unknown requirement fulfilled.]
[Future evolution pathway altered.]
Ethan stared at the message.
"...Iris?"
No response.
"Iris?"
Still nothing.
Then—
[We need to leave.]
For once...
Ethan didn't ask why.
He ran.