Chapter 83: The Birth Of The Ant King! [FIXED!]

Helga led the retreat, her warhammer raised, her dark eyes scanning the tunnel ahead. Mira flanked her right, daggers drawn. Ylva guarded the rear, her claws extended, her ears swiveling at every sound. Thalion walked beside Mae, his pale eyes fixed on the cocoon in her arms.

The cow woman’s hooves clicked against the stone. Her breathing was heavy. The cocoon pulsed against her chest, warm and alive.

Behind them, the cave collapsed.

A thunderous roar echoed through the tunnels, followed by the crash of falling stone. Dust billowed after them, choking the air, stinging their eyes.

Helga glanced back. The passage they had just exited was now a wall of rubble.

"We can’t go back," she said. "Even if we wanted to."

Mira’s tail flicked. "Then we go forward."

They ran.

The cocoon in Mae’s arms began to twitch, violently.

Mae stumbled, her hooves skidding on the loose stone. The cocoon jerked in her grip, once, twice, three times—then slipped from her arms and hit the ground with a wet thud.

"What the—" Mae started.

Ylva spun around, claws raised. "Move! I’ll kill it!"

She lunged—

The cocoon exploded.

A huge blast of thick, viscous fluid scattered in all directions, splattering across the walls, the ceiling, the floor. It was warm, sticky, and foul. It caught Ylva in the face, blinding her. Mae staggered back, wiping her eyes. Helga growled, shaking her head. Mira froze, her amber eyes squeezed shut.

Everyone was blinded.

"No one could see. Not for a solid five seconds.

When Ylva finally wiped the gunk from her eyes, she scanned the tunnel.

The cocoon was gone. Shredded and empty.

And the ant king had been born.

But he was nowhere to be seen.

"S-So fast!" Ylva muttered under her breath, her ears swiveling, her nose useless against the stench.

Then she saw him for a split second.

A blur of red. A streak of movement. The ant king was already at the far end of the tunnel, his body low to the ground, his limbs a blur. He was small—no larger than a house cat—but his movements were unnatural. Jerky. Predatory.

He blew through the debris in his path like it wasn’t there. Rocks shattered. Rubble scattered. He didn’t slow down.

Thalion’s pale eyes widened. "What the fuck!?"

He had no idea what had just come out of that thing.

The ant king had red skin—smooth, glistening, segmented. It only had two limbs just like Jason and this was the only thing she could make out right now.

A set of mandibles that clicked and chittered as he moved. But his shape was wrong. He wasn’t just an insect. There was something else in his form, something almost... human.

He moved like a demon.

Whatever that thing was, it was leagues above whatever they thought was possible.

Helga raised her hammer. "Someone kill it!"

Mira’s daggers were already in her hands. "I can’t track it. It’s too fast."

Ylva’s claws extended. "Then we corner it."

The ant king stopped at the end of the tunnel. Turned. His eyes fixed on the group as it began to slowly mimic their movement.

Then he tilted his head before turning and continuing on his way, too fast for them to chase or think of chasing.

"It is gone, we need to get out of here!" Helga shouted at them and they all complied, leaving the tunnel at long last.

-

The ant king had no interest in them as it was running entirely on instinct.

On two legs, Powerful and unstoppable. His red, chitinous body cut through the darkness like a blade, his black eyes reflecting no light. Two arms swung at his sides, each ending in three-fingered claws. His mandibles clicked in a rhythm that sounded almost like laughter.

Behind him, the tunnel collapsed further. Rocks fell. Dust rose. But the ant king was already gone, leaving Helga, Ylva, Mira, Thalion, and Mae in his wake.

He had a destination and a purpose.

There was no doubt it was heading towards the queen, towards Jason.

The three-eyed creature stood in the intersection where it had first spoken to Jason. Its massive, three-legged body blocked the passage, its yellow eyes scanning the darkness. The one who had helped Jason and spoken to Jason telepathically.

It sensed the ant king before it saw him.

The air changed. The temperature dropped. The vibrations in the stone shifted from chaotic to rhythmic—a heartbeat, fast and hungry.

Then the ant king appeared.

The three-eyed creature tilted its head. Its forehead eye blinked once. It recognized the small, red, bipedal thing. This was the king. The one Jason had carried.

It tried to speak.

"You are—"

The ant king didn’t hesitate.

Without slowing, without warning, the ant king drove his arm into the creature’s torso.

His three-fingered claw pierced chitin like paper, sliding through flesh, through muscle, through whatever passed for organs inside the massive insect. Black ichor sprayed across the walls. The creature’s three eyes went wide—not with pain, but with surprise.

It hadn’t expected this.

The ant king smiled as the blood spilled onto his face.

Not with a mouth—with his eyes. A cold, predatory gleam that spoke of hunger and purpose. This was what he wanted, what he needed, what he had been born to do.

He opened his mouth.

Wide. Too wide. His jaws unhinged, stretching beyond the limits of any natural creature. His mandibles spread apart, revealing a dark, pulsing throat that seemed to go on forever.

The three-eyed creature tried to pull back. Tried to summon its telepathic voice. Tried to fight but it was of no use.

The ant king held it in place with one arm buried in its chest.

And then he consumed it.

Not bit by bit. Whole. The ant king’s mouth enveloped the creature’s head, then its torso, then its legs. The massive insect was pulled into that dark throat, swallowed in seconds. Chitin cracked. Flesh dissolved. Ichor flowed down the ant king’s chin like wine.

The creature was gone.

And the ant king began to change once again.

His body shuddered. His red skin rippled. From his sides, new limbs sprouted—two, then four, then six, each one longer and sharper than the last. His fingers multiplied, gaining an extra digit. His mandibles grew larger, more intricate, capable of speech now.

His eyes changed too. Not just black anymore. Flecks of gold appeared in the depths, like stars in a void.

He had evolved.

The purpose of that three-eyed creature became clear. It wasn’t a friend. It wasn’t an ally. It was food. A stepping stone. The ant king could evolve with everything he fed on, growing stronger, smarter, more dangerous with every meal because it had assimilated everything this creature had, most important was intelligence.

And now he knew where Jason was.

He could feel him. A pull, a connection. The system had given Jason dominion over him, but the ant king was clearly a threat on its own so how effective would Jason’s control be?

He rushed forward once again.

Faster this time, the new arms helped him climb walls, push off ceilings, navigate the collapsing tunnels with impossible agility. He left craters in the stone where his feet landed. He left scratches in the rock where his claws grabbed.

Just like the queen, he could evolve with everything he fed on. The three-eyed creature had given him intelligence. What would Jason give him?

The ant king smiled again.

His mandibles clicked in anticipation because there was no doubt he salivated at the idea on feeding on his "father".