Alvaric fiddled with his system screen. Nothing seemed interesting anymore. He felt that sleeping was the right choice.
Tomorrow, he would be heading to Chillg City to establish a good relationship with its ruler. Alvaric began to close his eyes, but suddenly, a shadow appeared in his mind.
He saw a demon violently punching someone in the face while screaming that he wasn't a bad person. At that very moment, Alvaric opened his eyes wide and sat back up.
"It came again," he muttered.
It haunted him. Alvaric had tried to forget it all, but he simply couldn't. It truly disturbed his thoughts. Now, he couldn't sleep. He didn't want to close his eyes again because that memory would keep coming back—again and again.
Alvaric looked around. The Ant Bees were moving busily in front of him. They kept carrying food, stones, wood, and all sorts of other things. He had no idea what the purpose was of them transporting branches, rocks, and other seemingly useless materials.
Alvaric wanted to ask, but he held himself back. He chose to remain silent. He just watched them from a safe distance.
While Alvaric was lost in thought, the Queen Ant Bees behind him gently rubbed their heads against him. Not just one, but two of them. They could sense the emotions within Alvaric's heart. That made them anxious, and they tried to comfort him in their own way.
"I'm fine," Alvaric replied.
Hearing that, the two Queen Ant Bees seemed a bit more at ease. One of them grabbed their own food and handed it to Alvaric. It was meat, covered in slime from their saliva. Alvaric took it without hesitation and smiled.
Without any sign of disgust, he ate the food they offered. The Ant Bee colony was his family, and because of that, he would never treat them differently.
"Thank you."
Tring!
[They are approaching!]
Alvaric frowned. "Who?"
Not long after, Niva appeared. She ran toward Alvaric, saluted, and began explaining.
"Master, there are demi-humans outside. It seems they've come with ill intent," said Niva.
Alvaric nodded. "Take me outside."
***
The people of Chillg City were growing anxious due to the increasing number of Ant Bees roaming the forest bordering Chillg and the desert.
Several times, they had encountered Ant Bees and were chased. No one had died, but some were injured and had to be treated.
The citizens of Chillg began reporting this to the city ruler, demanding immediate action due to the growing unease.
"Are you sure their nest is here?" asked Tamae.
The city ruler immediately dispatched envoys to investigate the desert and eliminate the Ant Bees. Even his own younger sister got involved—Tamae, a general of Valanthria.
Tamae was incredibly powerful. Though only 22 years old, she had already risen to the rank of general. Her extraordinary swordsmanship earned her great respect.
"According to the villagers, they did come from this direction," answered Brukk.
Brukk was a commander of Chillg's forces. He was the personal guard of the city ruler and was sent because the city leader didn't underestimate the Ant Bees.
The one they all feared most was the Prince of Ant Bee. That kind of monster was not easily defeated.
In this world, there were two types of living beings: demi-humans and monsters. What separated them was their form.
Monsters closely resembled animals—sometimes a fusion of two or three kinds—and were driven by bloodlust. They loved killing and destruction.
Demi-humans, on the other hand, had beast-like appearances but bore a closer resemblance to humans. They had civilizations, lived peacefully, and built structured societies.
Demi-humans were typically based on one animal type. Tamae, for example, was a tiger-type demi-human. She had a tiger-like appearance, stood on two legs, and could speak.
"If I'm not mistaken, it's about five hundred meters furth—" Brukk gasped.
From a distance, he could already see the Ant Bee nests from a range where they shouldn't have been visible. Brukk's eyes moved quickly, trying to count how many entrance holes were visible.
"There are three entrance holes. This... this isn't what I saw last time."
He swallowed hard. This was serious. Ant Bees were weak monsters, but if their numbers had increased, it could only mean one thing—the Prince of Ant Bee had been born.
An opponent he could hardly defeat.
Tamae's hands were trembling—not from fear, but from excitement. She felt an overwhelming sense of challenge. Her hand was already poised near the sword at her waist.
"Let's move forward!" Tamae urged.
Brukk turned to her, startled. "Are you sure, Lady Tamae? That's the Prince of Ant Bee. A very powerful monster. We need to deploy more troops."
Brukk looked slightly pale. He had heard stories—how it once took three royal generals to bring down the Prince of Ant Bee.
Not to mention, within this desert lived a legendary creature no one dared provoke: the Giant Sandworm. A monster so impossible to defeat that even if all seven royal generals united, they still wouldn't stand a chance.
But Tamae showed no fear. "I'm one of the royal generals. You must understand—I'm very strong."
Brukk wanted to argue, but Tamae had already started walking toward the Ant Bee nest.
Like it or not, he had to follow. As they drew nearer to the nest, they began spotting Ant Bees moving about nearby.
Strangely, many of them ignored the two entirely as if they didn't care.
"This is weird. Why aren't they attacking us?" Brukk muttered.
Ant Bees weren't usually aggressive, but when someone approached their nest, their survival instincts would trigger. They were supposed to attack.
Brukk and Tamae moved closer to one of the nests. As they got close enough, both of their eyes widened.
It wasn't three nests—but ten entrance paths leading underground.
"This doesn't make sense," Brukk muttered as he grabbed Tamae's arm. He had a bad feeling. "Damn it. We shouldn't have come this close."
Just as he tried to pull Tamae back, hundreds of Ant Bees suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere. Their sizes were massive, with piercing eyes.
Not just one type, but several kinds—some that Brukk had never even seen before.
"Shit. Damn it, this is really bad." He looked around, searching for an escape route. "I have to get out of here."
He reached to grab Tamae's hand again, but she struck his head and pointed toward something in the distance.
"There!" she shouted.
Brukk looked in that direction, and his eyes widened even more. His face turned pale, and sweat dripped down his forehead.
"Dead."