I Became an Ant Lord, So I Built a Hive Full of Beauties-Chapter 198: New Mark?!

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Akayoroi moved last. She stood over the Frog-Prince’s flattened body, watching the blood pool. "This is for all of us," she said. "For the last fifty. For the hundreds before us. For the broken colony and the mother who was stolen from my life."

The dagger descended one last time, this time across his neck. It was slow. Jagged. She wasn’t trying to be clean.

By the time the frog’s body fell still, the swamp had fallen silent. The air hung thick with death and ash.

One of the assassin ants gently retrieved a shattered carapace from the mud—a fragment of a fallen sister—and placed it atop the frog Prince’s cooling chest.

Azhara walked up beside Kai, licking her bloody claw absentmindedly. "You know," she said, "I thought I’d be the wild one, but I’ve never seen vengeance so thorough."

Kai didn’t smile. "She earned it."

Akayoroi turned to him. Her voice was ragged, but clear. "You saved us. You didn’t just fight for me. You let us have the closure we never thought we’d get. Me and my sister now know who killed our people. One day... one day I will destroy the ones who can’t be named."

Sha stepped forward with a limp. "You came like a knight. From the sky, no less. At our darkest moment. Thank you."

Vel bowed low. "You restored more than our Queen’s safety. You restored our dignity."

Naaro snorted softly. "So... who are you, really?"

They all looked at him with puppy eyes, cute and sexy.

The wind shifted, rustling through the trees. Somewhere in the distance, the air began to quiet—the unnatural tremors that followed the Frog-Prince’s reign faded.

Kai let the silence linger. Then he spoke. "I’m no one important, just a wanderer. My name is Kai."

Akayoroi tilted her head, antennae brushing toward him. "That’s a lie. You fought like a thunder born and saved what is left of my colony. You must be more than a wandering blade."

She added, "Your name is Kai, that’s a good name. I am Akayoroi." she said, voice low yet steady. "Why did you come to this place?"

He met her eyes with that quietly predatory calm. "Nice to meet you Akayoroi! I came here by accident. Can you tell me what this place is called?"

Surprise flickered across her mandibles. "You truly don’t know?"

"Not the locals’ name." He acted.

"This is the Southern Forest, the outermost arm of the Bark-Root Expanse," she answered. "My sisters and I came from the western ridge—we fled thirty-six moons (three years) ago after our hive fell."

Kai glanced past her, gauging tree lines washed in the mist of dust. She looked very beautiful. "How far from here is the eastern border of these woods?"

Akayoroi hesitated, then ventured, "East? The eastern forest border is neither near nor far, perhaps a half moons trek if the rivers cooperate. maybe less if you can fly."

Kai’s antennae dipped. He thinks, "So my crater drop pushed me halfway across a continent." Then says out loud, "I did come from the East."

Azhara, still wiping frog blood from her claws, snorted. "Figures. The accent is different from our place. The frogs were more funny and savage than my clan, in many ways."

Kai ignored the tease. "I need to head back."

Akayoroi’s eyes dimmed—then sparkled with determination. "Our obligations lie scattered in our hands. Many of my assassins sisters are dead, and the eggs we carried are in danger. We need strength—your strength. Please join us as a knight...!"

Kai’s gaze drifted over the exhausted assassins: Vel binding Naaro’s thigh; Sha standing guard, body quivering from fatigue. Loyalty shone in their cracked carapaces. But he could not join them. He got his own kingdom to build.

Before he could answer, the system notifications flickered Inside his mind:

[DING! Luster’s Mark passive protocol engaged.

Target located: Akayoroi – A Carpenter Ant.

Title: Queen of the Crimson Nest

Rank: ★★★ (3-Star Royal-Type Beast)

Species: Camponotus-Royal Ant

Beauty score: 90 / 100

Compatibility threshold met.

Impression Points: +50

Bond potential: HIGH. ]

Kai nearly frowned. "Fifty?" That was absurdly high for a first meeting. The system didn’t miscount; she was undeniably impressed by his arrival, his flash landing, his power, and the restraint he’d shown letting her fallen warriors have justice.

He masked the twitch behind a neutral blink.

Akayoroi tilted her head. "Is something wrong?"

"Just a static echo," Kai said. "Listen beauty, joining your remnants is impossible. I already protect my own people. But—" he drew a slow breath, tasting the iron smoke of charred frog hide—"I have a mountain lair farther east. A safehold carved into stone. If you seek refuge, travel with me instead. I can guarantee you protection, food, and training. You’ll be under my banner."

Vel perked thinking, "A mountain? You are asking a queen and her guardian to live with you?"

Vel tilted her head with a slight smirk, hiding her very loud inner screaming. "He has strong limbs. Imagine what he can do with those limbs. Imagine those claws like hands on my hips, those fangs brushing my neck—DAMN IT, VEL!"

She rubbed her temple. "No. We’re elite killers. Focus. Focus. You’re falling for him because he saved us. That’s just post-battle emotional flooding. Don’t mistake adrenaline for attraction. Don’t mistake your lust for lo—"

Kai bent forward to dust his legs. Vel stared at his ass. "...Yup. I’m doomed."

Sha stood in the shadows of the tunnel as the discussion wore on. Her arms were crossed, but her eyes kept drifting toward the ridge where Kai stood like a lone warlord under the sunlight. His figure was backlit by the glowing roots—broad shoulders, regal posture, bloodstained armor gleaming in the dark like obsidian carved by a god.

Her mandibles clicked nervously.

"He’s... he’s trying to make us join his harem, isn’t he? He saved us, fed us, offered safety... next comes the mating pacts. I’ve read the scrolls. I know how these stories go. One moment you’re saying thank you, the next you’re in his burrow moaning his name!"

This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶