Evolution begins with an ant colony

Seeing this, Alzureth gritted his teeth and mumbled, "How dare you; it seems like you still need to be taught where you stand." Alzureth’s purple mana surged outward from his body, his eyes shone brightly as he prepared to escalate things further.

Suddenly, a voice cut through the training grounds, disrupting Alzureth’s "display."

"That will be quite enough now, Alzureth." The voice belonged to a woman who emerged from the castle exit leading to the training grounds. She had dazzling dark blue hair that seemed to have tiny stars in them, glinting in the light like a star-filled night sky. With a pair of fox ears and nine dazzling dark blue tails, her eyes were a pair of dazzling dark purple.

She had dark skin and a dark blue crescent moon crest on her forehead.

She wore a beautiful, dark blue outfit that looked like a kimono with silver star patterns. The sleeves flowed nicely, and a silver sash tied it all together.

Seeing her, Alzureth was irritated and angry, but he had no choice but to release his siblings from the hold of his †Authority†. He sighed and proceeded to do so. Once he did, Vorpax and Elrith ran over to her side.

"Mother, Alzureth did it again, even after he promised!" Elrith yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The woman with dark blue starry hair replied, "That’s enough, Elrith. That’s no way for a grown woman to act. You are old enough to have a child of your own. Will you be crying like this when they bring their problems to you?"

Vorpax, slightly composed but still shaken, spoke up, saying, "Mother, you can’t really blame her. Big brother is really scary, and whenever he has us like that, we can’t even call for help or defend ourselves." He shrugged, placing his right hand behind his head as he spoke, tilting forward slightly while glancing at Alzureth and his sister repeatedly.

The woman then redirected her gaze at Alzureth as she spoke, "Are you also hearing what they are saying, Alzureth? If your father were to see you, he would be disappointed."

The woman’s mention of Delikan hit Alzureth, causing him to get on his knees as he said, "This will be the last of it, Lady Zenith." While this played out, Salden simply smiled, and his glasses glinted.

Zenith, the woman, then added, "I want you to swear by your father’s name that this will indeed be the last time." @@novelbin@@

Her words made Alzureth grit his teeth; reluctantly, he replied, "I swear on the name of my father, the great Demon King Delikan, that this will be the last of this." He was visibly reluctant but had no other choice in the matter.

Zenith then replied with a slightly nonchalant tone, "Good. You see, that wasn’t so hard." She turned around, saying, "Now, Elrith, Vorpax, follow me. There is still a lot I have to teach you both today." Zenith turned around and was on her way.

Elrith then mumbled with a slightly frustrated tone, "Lessons? Again? Oh, come on, we’ve been at this for weeks, Mother." Vorpax simply followed behind without saying anything.

After Lady Zenith left, Alzureth slowly rose from his knees as he asked, his words directed at Salden, "I’m sure you planned all of this, didn’t you?" Alzureth gave Salden a cold, emotionless gaze as he stood by his side, wearing a sinister grin.

Salden tilted his head towards Alzureth. While still wearing his sinister grin, he said, "Whatever do you mean, brother? I have no idea what you are talking about." The left glass in his glasses glinted; the right didn’t, revealing his glowing blue eyes that seemed to have a series of flowing numbers in them.

Adjusting his glasses, Salden then added, "Now, if you will excuse me, I have important things to attend to."

He slowly left, placing both hands in his pockets. Saquin, still wearing a slight hint of fear on her face, decided to follow behind Salden. Discover hidden stories at NovelBin.Côm

As they ascended the stairs and walked back into the castle, Alzureth mused, "I’m sure he planned it all, purposely luring me in like that so I won’t be able to pin him down ever again." Alzureth gritted his teeth as he mused further, "That bastard, he’s still looking down on me."

**

Meanwhile, back In the godforsaken forest, the sun hung directly overhead, showering its warm, golden rays on the dense forest below. The rustle of leaves, followed by by the occasional chirping of birds, created a nice balance of natural sounds.

In the distance, low-grade monsters engaged in small fights over territory and food, their growls and roars echoing through the old trees. The air carried a mix of earthy scents, blending the fragrance of moss and damp soil. The forest, despite its eerie reputation, was filled with life and activity under the radiant embrace of the midday sun.

Akun had already resurrected one of the magic knights that Leandor had slaughtered. It was Hestria, and Akun instructed the beast folk to send two of their tribesmen to escort her to the ant city. He would be waiting for them in his castle.

Akun didn’t want to use his aspect power to carry her to the ant city, feeling that as someone involved in harvesting monster cores, she shouldn’t be shown such a luxury.

Hestria’s escorts were none other than Kazor and Hiandra. Amidst the series of strange occurrences, Hestria couldn’t help but muse inwardly, "I thought I died—no, I did die, according to my memory. My comrades and I found ourselves in the underworld, but then I was suddenly approached by the god of death, Xalender. He took me away from the line of people heading to that old cranky boat.

I’m still not completely sure what happened next, but then I found myself waking up back in that forest. Lord Xalender was there, a woman with golden hair— I think she was also a god— and then a man with silver hair. Lord Xalender called that man his master, he mest be a god too. Lord Xalender said that since things were done here, he has to go back. Was I brought back to life somehow?

I thought something like that was simply impossible, yet here I am, alive, being escorted to who knows where."

"Hey, pick up the pace! We don’t have all day you know!" Hiandra yelled at Hestria. Although Hestria still couldn’t understand her, she grasped the basic sense behind her words, allowing her to reply, "I’ll pick up the pace," as she hurried to catch up to Kazor and Hiandra, who were walking ahead of her.